OBAMA elected US President

Projected results from Tuesday's election have yet to be announced for the states of North Carolina and Missouri, which are believed to be too close to call. But with most precincts tallied, Mr. Obama's share of the popular vote stands at 52.4% (349 electoral college points), compared with Mr. McCain's 46.3% (162 electoral college points).

In his speech, Mr. Obama promised to reverse the economic downturn afflicting the US, withdraw troops from war fronts, tackle climate change and restore the nation's standing in the world.

President-elect OBAMA said: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century."

Simon Woolley, OBV Director, said: This is a moment in history that we can all celebrate. A good man and a brilliant politician who just happens to look like us. No wonder Black Britain is ecstatic. Today the world has irrecoverably changed. Here is a President who unashamedly describes himself as a 'Black man'. A man who has pledged to fight inequality, racism and restore to his people the great ideal of the American spirit, and he does it with such humility, style and a manner that globally inspires.”

Ashok Viswanathan, OBV Assistant Director said: "Leaders of Barack Obama's calibre are rare indeed. I'm too young to have witnessed Dr. Martin Luther King alive. But like King, Obama is a man of great destiny. What's more, his election will be a path for the Obama generation to follow. His historical precedent as the United States’ first Black President is an inspiration in for getting more black faces in high places in the UK and across the World.”