Washington - Former presidential candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton has refused to address speculation that president-elect Barack Obama will tap her to become his top diplomat.

"I'm not going to speculate about the president-elect's incoming administration," Clinton told a gathering in New York, adding that any questions should be directed to Obama's transition team.

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.

Washington - Elected on a promise of change, US president-elect Barack Obama is already altering the Democrats' traditional weekly radio address, his staff said Friday.

The 47-year-old leader will now video-record the address and release it on the YouTube video site as well as through radio broadcasts.

Obama will also post the address on his transition team's website www. change. gov, beginning Saturday.

According to the transition team, the weekly video addresses will continue when Obama is in the White House.

Amsterdam - Dutch integration minister Ella Vogelaar's resignation on Thursday highlights a shift to the right on the topic of migrant policy by the Dutch Labour Party.

Undoubtedly, Vogelaar's poor communication skills, painfully exposed by the Dutch media since her tenure began in February 2007, contributed to the fact her own party ousted her. But in the end it was a difference on migrant issues that sparked her departure.