Washington - President-elect Barack Obama plans to meet with his former rival John McCain next week to discuss the transition phase, Obama's office said Friday.

McCain, an Arizona senator, is likely to remain a key Republican figure in Congress in the new year despite his failed presidential bid.

Though McCain and Obama ran a tense and at times nasty election campaign over the summer, McCain has pledged to work with an Obama administration to help bring the country out of a series of domestic and international crises.

The two leaders will meet at Obama's Chicago headquarters on Monday.

London, Nov 13 : Politicians who run for Prime Minister or President must go for an independent health examination and make their medical records public to ensure their ability to govern, a doctor has urged on the online British Medical Journal.

John McCain, the Republican candidate who lost the battle for US Presidency to Barack Obama, did not reveal his malignant melanoma diagnosis, despite happily revealing his medical records from Vietnam.

Washington, Nov 12: Making his first public comment a week after he lost the election to Barack Obama, John McCain joked with “The Tonight Show” host Jay Leno that his defeat was “all the press’ fault” and that he’s ready to go again in 2012.

McCain’s appearance, which was tied to Veteran’s Day and follows two days of televised interviews with his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was aired on Tuesday night on NBC stations.

Washington, Nov 8: Senator John McCain’s top two aides during the presidential campaign have denied the anonymous accusations circulating in the press about his running mate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

“The towel story categorically is not true,” The Washington Times quoted Steve Schmidt, top former McCain campaign aide, as saying.

Washington, Nov 7 : Senator John McCain, who lost to Democrat Barack Obama in US presidential race, will be returning to Congress and continue to reach across the Senate to remain a powerful voice for the Republican Party, strategists and experts have said.

Even though reports of agitation between the McCain and Palin camps bubbled up in the final weeks of the campaign, as Barack Obama began pulling away and the GOP duo was unable to regain the momentum, when the defeated team of McCain and Palin split up in Arizona on Wednesday, the personal differences were starkly visible.