Rahm Emanuel – Democratic Congressman from Illinois, and a veteran of the Clinton administration - has accepted the President-elect Barack Obama’s offer to become the new White House chief of staff. Informing Obama of his decision on Thursday, Emanuel said he would step down as the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives to help guide the Obama administration.

Washington, Nov 7 : Now, with Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden being elected in the just concluded elections, speculations are rife as to who would fill their seats in the Senate, which would soon fall vacant.

Obama and Biden have until Inauguration Day (on Jan. 20) to resign their Senate seats, but it is likely they will step down sooner to prevent their replacements from losing seniority to fellow senators who are sworn in on Jan. 6.

London, Nov 7: Unknown foreign entity or organisation sought to gather information on policy issues of US presidential elect Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain by hacking their computer systems, Newsweek magazine has said.

The Telegraph quoted the magazine as saying that a federal investigation was opened after both the campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyber attack.

Washington, Nov 7: The stress of campaigning has left U. S. President-elect Barack Obama looking older than his actual age, say reports.

A website, which runs a program called Realage. com, reckoned that Obama, who is 47 years and 3 months old, is actually 49 years and 8 months old in "true age".

Obama, who has been campaigning for two years, has been leading a stressful life, which has left him with crow''s feet and smile lines that belie his age.

London, Nov 7: On/off couple Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer may not agree upon everything, but there’s one thing that the two certainly have in common – excitement for Barack Obama's White House triumph.

Aniston and Mayer partied into the early hours at pal Courteney Cox''s house following Obama's landslide victory.

Lately, they've been seeing quite a lot of each other, reports the Sun.

Just two months after Mayer dumped the former ‘Friends’ star, the singer reportedly started wooing her with soppy text messages.

London, November 7: U. S. President-elect Barack Obama, 47, follows much heavier an exercise routine as compared to most of his predecessors.

He says that exercise lets him remain fresh and focused despite a lot of pressure.

"The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress. My blood pressure is pretty low and I tend to be a healthy eater," the Guardian quoted him as telling American fitness magazine Men’s Health.