Wellington - New Zealand's conservative National Party swept into power on Saturday in a general election that saw an overwhelming vote for change after nine years of rule by Prime Minister Helen Clark's Labour-led coalition.

Clark, 58, the first Labour leader to win three elections, immediately announced that she would step down from the party's leadership before Christmas, although she will remain in parliament having retained her Auckland seat.

Washington - In his first radio address as president-elect, Barack Obama on Saturday called for unity among the American people as they seek solutions to the ongoing economic crisis.

He praised voters of all parties for exercising their right to vote in Tuesday's elections, in which he beat Republican John McCain, and said he would work with President George W Bush in a transition of power.

Melbourne, Nov. 8 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has claimed that when Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh indulged in a racist slur against all-rounder Andrew Symonds for the first time in Mumbai in October last year, the team management decided to let him off and give him another chance.

Revealing this in his “Captain’s Dairy 2008”, Ponting is quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that when Harbhajan repeated the same slur of calling Symonds a monkey during the nerve-racking Sydney Test in January this year, a chill went up his spine, and “certainly stopped me in my tracks.”

London, Nov 8 : Victoria Beckham’s friends are “seriously concerned” for the singer’s health and marriage after she was pictured looking more frail and depressed than ever.

A ‘very skinny’ Posh was pictured after she emerged from West End restaurant Cipriani with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana from designer label D&G.

Skeletal Posh was then seen waiting for a cab she gnawed at her finger.

Her pals have said that Posh has been looking like this because she is stunned by hubby David Beckham’s move to AC Milan in a bid to keep fit for the England team.

Melbourne, Nov 8 : In a move to encourage safe sex practices during the celebrations of Schoolies – the Australian tradition of high-school graduates having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams – a health care group has launched a sexual health campaign where youngsters have to just send a text message to get free condoms.

Health care group Marie Stopes International has launched the campaign called, TXT 4 Free Condomz.

Washington, November 8 : Jenna Jameson wants to replace her original name with her porn name by making it official.

The retired 34-year-old, whose autobiographical ‘How to Make Love Like a Porn Star’ spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, insists on being remembered by her signature porn princess name.

The American actress is said to have submitted her legal documents that will help her retain her iconic title in place of her birth name, Jenna Marie Massoli, forever, reports Fox News.

‘The Queen of Porn’, who started acting in erotic films in 1993 after having worked as a stripper and glamour model, allegedly chose her last name from a phonebook.