The Indian software industry body, NASSCOM, hailed Barack Obama's historic win in the US elections, hoping that the President-elect would find new ways to partner and boost economies of the two nations in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

London (dpa) - Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with US president-elect Barack Obama on the telephone, Brown's offices said late Thursday in London.

In the ten-minute conversation, the two leaders discussed the financial meltdown, the deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the peace process in the Middle East.

In addition, Brown spoke to US President George W Bush and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama spoke with world leaders by telephone on Thursday, two days after his election and ahead of next week's financial summit of the Group of 20 countries in Washington.

Obama spoke with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and South Korean President Lee, broadcaster CNN reported.

Washington - Democrat Barack Obama won the presidency with a groundswell of support from youth, women, suburbanites and minorities, according to exit polls analyzed by various media organizations since Tuesday's vote.

Both Obama and McCain got 28 per cent of their support from independents, however.

Obama also benefited from what is expected to have been an unprecedented turnout projected at 133.3 million, or 62.5 per cent of eligible voters, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Washington - In an ironic twist, the US will be celebrating the 200th birthday of president Abe Lincoln - the US leader who ended slavery - just weeks after the inauguration of its first black president, Barack Obama.

Thus, it's hardly surprising that the theme of Obama's January 20 historic inauguration will be dominated by Lincoln, a president who also took office as the nation faced huge challenges.

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama made his first White House appointment on Thursday - picking Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, and will meet with President George W Bush to discuss the transition phase on Monday.

Emanuel, a close friend of Obama's, served as a senior advisor in former president Bill Clinton's White House in the 1990s and oversaw the successful Democratic effort to regain control of the House in 2006.