New York, Dec 12 : President-elect Barack Obama has distanced himself from the political scandal swirling around Governor Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, saying that he never talked to the governor about who would replace Obama in the Senate.

Obama added that he was “absolutely certain” his staff was not involved in any deal-making regarding his successor, The New York Times reported.

“That would be a violation of everything that this campaign has been about,” he said at a news conference in Chicago.

New Delhi, Dec. 12 : Remember the uproar that Barack Obama caused when in August 2007 he said, "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won''t act, we will."

Washington, Dec 12 : It was not just Barack Obama who promised his daughters a puppy if he stuck it out through the presidential election - Vice President-elect Joe Biden too was given the same word by his wife, it has emerged.

According to a local newspaper report, Biden picked out a German shepherd pup last weekend from a breeder near his Delaware home.

Biden was promised the post-election dog by Jill, who would tape pictures of different dogs on the back of the seat in front of Biden on his campaign plane, according to reports.

Washington, Dec 12 : In case you are hoping for some gossip from U. S. President-elect Barack Obama's former campaign manager David Plouffe's book, then it might be a bit disappointing for you to know that the tome will have no secret tales to tell.

Plouffe's yet-to-be-written book, which has put the publishing world in a bidding frenzy, will be "nothing but great, adulatory about the president."

"I'm not there to tell secret tales. We'll see if there's an interest in that. I'm not just going to do that," Politico. com quoted him, as saying in an interview with Portfolio. com.

The book has been tentatively titled The Audacity To Win, a reference to Obama's million-selling The Audacity of Hope.

Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama on Thursday tapped former senator Tom Daschle to help revamp the country's outdated health care system, one of the top domestic campaign issues during the general election.

Daschle will head both the US Department of Health and Human Services and a new White House Office of Health Reform, giving him tremendous leeway to lead the incoming Obama administration's push for legislative reforms to lower costs and extend access to more than 40 million uninsured.

Washington  - US president-elect Barack Obama Thursday called on Congress to prevent a collapse of the country's automotive industry, but Senate Republicans were almost certain to block a legislative deal.

The House of Representatives approved a 14-billion-dollar emergency loan for the car industry Wednesday night, a move that would keep General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy at least for the coming few months.