Washington, Dec 29 : With Barack Obama's Inaugural ceremony drawing near, virtually every class of accommodation near the venues of various events are being let by Washington residents, for cashing in on the historic arrival of the country''s 44th president.

Inauguration-goers need to have enough money in their pockets and they can rent an entire town house in Foggy Bottom for just 15,000 dollars.

For those looking for a room, the starting bid is only 6,000 dollars for a four-night stay in a king-size bed at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown.

New York, December 29 : President-elect Barack Obama has his rigorous work-out and a careful diet to thank for his impressive pectorals and tight 33-inch waist.

The 47-year-old, who was recently snapped shirtless while holidaying in Hawaii, sweated it out for six days a week for about 45 minutes - hopping between cardio routines and weight circuit training.

"Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts," the New York Daily News quoted him as telling Men''s Health magazine.

Washington, Dec 29 : In a statement given to a news channel, Obama's senior White House advisor David Axelrod has said that the renewed conflict in the Mideast is now a major agenda item for the President-elect, who is committed to peace in the region.

Speaking on CBS News' `Face the Nation', Axelrod told guest host Chip Reid that Barrack Obama "recognizes the special relationship between the United States and Israel", and that he wants to help bring about peace.

Melbourne, December 29: While Barack Obama has already made history by being the first African American to be elected U. S. President, his aides are wondering whether his favourite spot for vacationing Hawaii will go down in history as a place to host most of his presidential holidays.

Washington, Dec 27 : Hawaiian people are leaving no stones unturned to make Barack Obama's holiday vacation a special one and are giving him special gifts like three bean salad, bicycle license plate and a book.

A Navy officer on the military base where the president-elect works out gave presented Obama with a book called "The Golden Thirteen," about the first black naval officers, a U. S. S. Lake Erie hat, and a blue-and-gold Navy basketball jersey and warm-up.

As Obama's press pool waited outside near the Obama's beachfront vacation home, a neighbour came up on his bicycle with a Christmas card for the future first family.

New Delhi, Dec 27 : Chinese experts have said that it is difficult to predict China's response to US President-elect Barack Obama's proposal to resume exchanges with Chinese nuclear weapons laboratories in order to accelerate bilateral nuclear energy cooperation.

Obama had said in an interview with Arms Control Today magazine that in addition to holding a strategic nuclear dialogue with China, he wants to resume "laboratory to laboratory exchanges that were terminated in the 1990s," China Daily quoted the Washington Times, as saying.