Denver, Colorado - John Lewis, a black congressman who shared the podium when Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous I Have A Dream speech, called Thursday for Democrats to "march on the ballot box" to elect the country's first African-American president.

Lewis spoke at Denver's Denver's Invesco Field on the 45th anniversary of the event, just hours before Senator Barack Obama, 47, was to accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Obama is the first black presidential nominee of a major party in the United States.

San Francisco - Computer maker Dell posted lower quarterly profits Thursday, but said sales increased more than expected as the company tries to overtake Hewlett Packard as the world's biggest computer company.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company reported net income of 616 million dollars, or 31 cents per share, down 17 per cent from a profit of 746 million dollars, or 33 cents per share, that the company reported a year ago.

Sales in the quarter rose 11 per cent to 16.43 billion dollars from 14.77 billion dollars in the same period last year.

Denver, Colorado - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is vowing to end US dependence on Middle East oil within 10 years if elected president, according to excerpts released ahead of his speech to the Democratic Party Thursday in Denver.

"For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: in 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East," Obama said.

Denver, Colorado - John Lewis, a black congressman who shared the podium when Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous I Have A Dream speech, called Thursday for Democrats to "march on the ballot

Washington (dpa) - Wall Street rallied Thursday as strong exports fueled a sharp upward revision in the government's estimated of second-quarter economic growth.

The broad rally saw five listings gaining value for every stock that lost on the New York Stock Exchange. Nine of the 10 industry groups within the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose in Thursday trading.

The Commerce Department, revising its initial estimate of 1.9 per cent, announced Thursday that the US gross domestic product expanded in the April-June period at an annualized rate of 3.3 per cent.

New York  - The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Thursday to discuss the crisis in Georgia, the first meeting of the powerful body since Russia recognized the independence of the two breakaway provinces at the heart of the military conflict.

Russia's decision on Tuesday to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, contrary to previsous Security Council resolutions, drew swift condemnation from the United States and European Union.