Washington, January 6 : Streets were closed around the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, D. C., for the arrival of U. S. President-elect Barack Obama and his family Monday.

People were stunned to the security arrangements that led to the placement of barricades, and gridlock outside the hotel.

"They''''ve never closed off any streets that I can remember," the Washington Times quoted said Jim Calderon, who moved to the District 30 years ago, as saying.

Melbourne, January 6 : Hackers have managed to break into US President-elect Barack Obama's Twitter account, the social networking site said.

According to co-founder Biz Stone, the cyber criminals had invaded the software used by staff to administer accounts.

After taking over the system, the tech-trouble-makers uploaded derogatory and nasty messages to 33 celebrity profiles, including that of Britney Spears and CNN personality Rick Sanchez.

Chicago, Jan. 6 : Former Illinois Attorney General Ronald Burris has defiantly said that he is the legally appointed junior senator from the state.

Calling himself "the magic man," Burris on Monday said he is going to Capitol Hill as Barack Obama's replacement.

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama said Monday he was receiving daily briefings on the situation in the Gaza Strip but did not signal whether he would alter the current US policy on the conflict.

Obama stuck to his position of not commenting on foreign policy before President George W Bush leaves office January 20.

"It is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now, and we can't have two voices coming out of the United States," Obama said attending a series of meetings with members of Congress.

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former congressman and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency, the New York Times reported online Monday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Panetta would take over an agency responsible for tracking down al-Qaeda leadership, and also one that has experienced turmoil during the administration of President George W Bush.

Panetta, 70, is widely respected in Washington as a bipartisan operative, but he does not have a deep background in the field of intelligence. He served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, which made recommendations in 2006 for revising policy in Iraq.

San Francisco - A mysterious team of hackers has managed to hijack the Twitter account of US president-elect Barack Obama along with celebrities like Britney Spears, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez and Fox