Daily Archives: November 5, 2008

Barack Obama, premier président noir des États-Unis.

par John Whitesides

05/11/08

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Le démocrate Barack Obama a remporté l'élection présidentielle américaine, devenant le premier président noir de l'histoire des Etats-Unis et tournant la page de huit années républicaines à la Maison blanche.

Barack Obama, 47 ans, succédera officiellement à George Bush le 20 janvier 2009, après sa victoire aux dépens de John McCain.

Il pourra s'appuyer, pour mettre en oeuvre les changements qu'il a promis pendant une campagne entamée il y a presque deux ans, sur une majorité élargie des démocrates au Congrès, où l'on renouvelait mardi la totalité de la Chambre des représentants ainsi que 35 des 100 sièges du Sénat.

Des scènes de liesse ont salué à travers le pays l'annonce de la victoire du sénateur métis, notamment dans son fief de Chicago, où il a prononcé un discours d'une dizaine de minutes devant plus de 200.000 personnes massées dans le Grant Park.

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Rebel General Defends Assault In Eastern Congo.

By Gewn Thompkins

11/03/08

When asked what quality he valued above all others in a general, Napoleon said he liked the lucky ones. And Monday, at a military base in a remote village in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gen. Laurent Nkunda was feeling his luck.

The general was in a good mood: His rebel army now controls more ground than ever in the region, and his hand is stronger than ever in determining the future of eastern Congo, and perhaps even Congo itself.

Nkunda's eyes were shining behind his spectacles. "Today we are strong because the international community understands that we are a cry for freedom," he said. "We are, that is, spiritual, we are not physical."

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Obama sweeps to victory as first black president.

By DAVID ESPO

11/05/08

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation's first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. "Change has come," he told a jubilant hometown Chicago crowd.

The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Iowa and more. He captured Virginia and Indiana, too, the first candidate of his party in 44 years to win either.

Obama's election capped a meteoric rise — from mere state senator to president-elect in four years.

Spontaneous celebrations erupted from Atlanta to New York and Philadelphia as word of Obama's victory spread. Supporters filled Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

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