Bangkok ­ One thing is for sure: the next US president will come to the White House with some first-hand experiences in Asia.

Republican John McCain, 72, a decorated war hero, was shot down on a bombing mission in 1967 over North Vietnam, captured and tortured in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton," where he was kept as a prisoner of war until 1973.

Democrat Barack Obama, 47, spent part of his peripatetic youth in Indonesia, where he attended a public Muslim school - not a Madrassah as some of his critics have alleged - in Jakarta between 1969-71.

New York, Oct 25 : With the economy in tatters at home and two wars still raging abroad, Senator Barack Obama’s team is preparing for a fast start, should he win the election, to what could be the most challenging and volatile transition between presidents in 75 years.

Obama’s advisers are sifting résumés, compiling policy options and discussing where to hold his first news conference as president-elect, the New york Times reported.

Democrats say Obama hopes to name key members of his White House, economic and security teams soon after the election. His transition chief has even drafted a sample Inaugural Address.

Washington, Oct 25: Seventy percent of voters say that the media wants Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to win the presidential election while just nine percent said the press favored McCain.

According to a Pew Research Center survey of 1,003 adults conducted from October 17-20, among Republican respondents, the figure was 90 percent, and even 62 percent of Democratic respondents agreed with the idea that “most journalists are pulling for Obama.”

Washington, Oct 25: American rapper Jay-Z has decided to hold another free concert in support of U. S. presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Washington, Oct 25 : American voters have a heady sense of historic occasion, a phenomenon that favors Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

He would be the nation’s first Black president, and many people want to be a part of the momentum. A record turnout is expected, the Washington Times has said.

“This is indeed a historic election of epic proportions. It looms large on the Richter scale of history, so to speak,” said Bruce Buchanan, a presidential historian at the University of Texas at Austin.

“The maltreatment of African Americans has been the great stain on the American experiment and has been at the heart of our politics since the beginning,” Buchanan said.

Washington, Oct 25 : President George W Bush and first lady Laura Bush on Friday cast their votes for Republican candidate John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, filling out an early voting ballot that will be sent by mail back to Texas.

“Today the President and Mrs. Bush cast their ballots for the 2008 election during the early voting process,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

“The ballots will be mailed back to Texas today. They plan to be here at the White House on election night,” she said.