Los Angeles  - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he is ready to take a job at the White House if president-elect Barack Obama feels he can be of service.

Schwarzenegger told Fox News Thursday that the two had talked earlier in the week in the wake of the devastating wildfires in California, when the dialogue turned to body-building and maybe a future job.

Los Angeles (dpa) - Sales at Dell Inc dropped 3 per cent in the quarter, but the company said Thursday that it increased its earnings per share by cutting jobs.

The Texas-based computer maker said that the global economic slowdown pushed third-quarter sales down to 15.16 billion dollars from 16.21 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Total earnings were 727 million dollars, down from 766 million dollars a year ago. But earnings per share rose 9 per cent to 37 cents, thanks to Dell's aggressive share buy back programme.

Los Angeles - Seventeen years after their last record, the super rockers of the 1980s, Guns N' Roses, Thursday released their long-delayed new album Chinese Democracy exclusively on website MySpace.

Also showing digital awareness was ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who unveiled his new album on the social networking site. The album, Electric Arguments, is by McCartney's group The Fireman.

Los Angeles - Suri Cruise, the 2-year-old daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, has been named Hollywood's most influential baby by business magazine Forbes.

The title is far from academic. According to Forbes, the growing need to generate magazine sales and Web traffic in a softening economy, means that media outlets are increasingly turning to the star babies that readers can't resist.

The ranking was decided through an examination of media coverage and through a poll that judged public awareness of the babies and the popularity of their celebrity parents.

Los Angeles  - Australian actor Hugh Jackman, 40, was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine Wednesday, topping the annual list ahead of James Bond actor Daniel Craig who came in at number two, and past favourites such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and last year's winner Matt Damon.

"You can't go wrong with Jackman," People correspondent Michelle Beadle told CBS after revealing the selection. "He's Australian, first of all. He's adorable. He's got one of the best bodies ever. And he's a family man. We all love that.

"He's not on the party scene. He loves his kids, he loves his wife. He likes to stay home and make pancakes. He's almost too perfect!"

Los Angeles - After four days of widespread devastation, California firefighters on Tuesday had three large fires under control, and evacuated residents returned to find hundreds of homes gutted by the flames.

Aided by lighter winds, firefighters in southern California were gaining the upper hand on three wildfires that have devastated the region. They were hopeful of containing the blazes by mid-week.