The young, first-term US Senator from Illinois defies the odds and startles the world by becoming the first African-American elected to the most powerful office in the world.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 3:12:19 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43164/sources-napolitano-tapped-for-homeland-security.html?refid=rss_all_defaultArizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is Barack Obama's first choice to head Homeland Security, transition insiders tell CNN. Napolitano, the focus of Cabinet speculation for week, plans to accept the job following vetting from the president-elect's team, according to sources. Napolitano's office, contacted by the Arizona Republic , declined to confirm—or deny—the reports.http://www.newser.com/story/43164/sources-napolitano-tapped-for-homeland-security.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 19 Nov 2008 22:49:45 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43129/finally-mac-wins-missouri.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMissouri, the last state up for grabs, looks to have gone Republican by less than a 1% margin, leaving John McCain with 173 electoral votes to Barack Obama’s 365, the Kansas City Star reports. There are still 3,000 uncounted provisional ballots, but McCain’s margin is large enough to declare him the winner of the state’s 11 electoral votes.http://www.newser.com/story/43129/finally-mac-wins-missouri.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 19 Nov 2008 13:28:48 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43118/obama-talks-to-gates-about-staying-at-pentagon.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama and Robert Gates are negotiating policy issues with a view toward Gates remaining Defense secretary, the Financial Times reports, a move that would make the Bush appointee a key member of a bipartisan cabinet that resembles Abraham Lincoln's “team of rivals.” Gates, a former CIA chief, is respected for being tough, but in a less abrasive manner than predecessor Donald Rumsfeld.http://www.newser.com/story/43118/obama-talks-to-gates-about-staying-at-pentagon.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 19 Nov 2008 11:24:12 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42993/obama-girls-join-exclusive-white-house-sorority.html?refid=rss_all_defaultIf Malia Obama sneaks a boy into the White House, it won’t be an action without precedent. The generations of girls who occupied what Margaret Truman billed “the Great White Jail” form a sort of underground society, Lauren Collins writes in the New Yorker . The Johnson sisters, for example, planted notes to welcome the Nixon ladies to the home where they surreptitiously entertained dates.http://www.newser.com/story/42993/obama-girls-join-exclusive-white-house-sorority.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 18 Nov 2008 10:26:07 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43096/al-qaeda-boss-calls-obama-house-negro.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSeeking to persuade Muslims and Arabs that Barack Obama does not represent a change in US policies, al-Qaeda's No. 2 calls the president-elect, along with Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, “house negroes” in a message on militant websites today. In the audio tape, Ayman al-Zawahri calls Obama “the direct opposite of honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X.http://www.newser.com/story/43096/al-qaeda-boss-calls-obama-house-negro.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 19 Nov 2008 9:07:00 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43046/clinton-still-undecided-on-cabinet-post-aides-say.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPress reports to the contrary, Hillary Clinton still hasn't decided whether to accept the post of secretary of state, Politico reports. She remains genuinely torn on whether to leave the Senate and give up her fight for health care reform, several anonymous aides say. The Obama camp is still vetting the business dealings of Bill Clinton and has not made a formal offer.http://www.newser.com/story/43046/clinton-still-undecided-on-cabinet-post-aides-say.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 18 Nov 2008 20:53:30 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43026/fellow-black-woman-hails-michelles-butt.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAmong the top qualities Michelle Obama brings to the White House is a “class-A boo-tay,” Erin Aubry Kaplan writes in Salon, hailing an era in which black women (like herself) no longer have to cover up their, er, assets. Too occupied with her words during the campaign, Kaplan “hardly looked south” to notice Michelle’s curves: “Talk about a power base.”http://www.newser.com/story/43026/fellow-black-woman-hails-michelles-butt.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 18 Nov 2008 13:49:30 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43033/obama-vows-to-engage-vigorously-in-climate-fight.html?refid=rss_all_defaultIn an unexpected video appearance today at a conference on climate change, President-elect Barack Obama promised to fight global warming, saying the stakes are too high to continue delaying action and denying global warming. He vowed to usher in a “new era of global cooperation” come January and says he'll “engage vigorously” in international negotiations, AFP reports.http://www.newser.com/story/43033/obama-vows-to-engage-vigorously-in-climate-fight.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 18 Nov 2008 14:31:53 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42957/hang-onto-that-blackberry-barack.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThis weekend was full of stories about how Barack Obama will have to give up his beloved Blackberry as president—but that’s wholly unnecessary, writes Stephen Wildstrom in BusinessWeek . The only good reason to dump the phone would be because it's a timesuck, but “Obama has shown himself to be nothing if not disciplined,” Wildstrom notes. Other arguments to lose it are “specious” or misinformed.http://www.newser.com/story/42957/hang-onto-that-blackberry-barack.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 18 Nov 2008 10:15:22 CST