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 - A US Army officer on Friday became the first woman in American history to be promoted to the rank of a four-star general, the highest rank in the service.

General Ann Dunwoody received her fourth star in a ceremony at the Pentagon with Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Army Chief of Staff General George Casey.

The promotion marked the steady trend of shattering racial and sexual barriers in the United States, coming less than two weeks after Barack Obama became the first African American to win the White House.

New York - Academy Award winner actress and activist Charlize Theron was named UN Messenger of Peace to lead the campaign to end violence against women, the UN said Friday.

Theron founded The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) to help improve the lives of poor children and their families in her native South Africa, particularly those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

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.

New York - The United Nations on Friday joined some 800 monuments and landmark sites around the world in commemorating World Diabetes Day by lighting its building in blue.

Other sites include the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Niagara Falls, the Tower of London, the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Alamo in Texas.

Pristina - An explosive device was thrown Friday evening at the Pristina office of the internationally-appointed administrator for Kosovo, local police said.

Several cars were damaged and windows were smashed, but no one was injured in the attack, police spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.