CHICAGO - Be President Barack Obama’s neighbor for a cool $1.85 million. 

The 17-room, 6,000 square foot (557 sq metres) brick house for sale adjacent to Obama’s Chicago home needs work to update the kitchen and bathrooms, but there is no need to worry about break-ins, the seller says. 

“It’s definitely got phenomenal security. A whole team of Secret Service agents is posted 20 feet (6 metres) away” night and day, real estate agent Matt Garrison said.

 ”Some people may view that as a negative thing but we’re looking for buyers who see it as a positive thing,” Garrison said.

 Prospective owners won’t face daily searches, Garrison said, but visitors will likely have to be cleared in advance.

The Obama family, of course, lives in the White House for now and their Chicago home in the Kenwood neighborhood is presumably vacant. The Chicago Police Department recently scaled down its around-the-clock presence at the house.

But when the Obamas and their two daughters were there, they sometimes chatted with neighbor Bill  Grimshaw and his wife, who preceded them in the neighborhood. The Grimshaws, whose children have grown, bought the home for $35,000 in 1973.

There are many large mansions in the area that have sold for $2 million and more, sometimes to overseas investors, but the depressed real estate market has stifled interest.

“We’re talking to a few traditional, nice families. It’s likely the buyer will turn out to be somebody already looking for a house like that in that area. Maybe the Obama factor will put them over the top,” Garrison said.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia in Washington)

Nearly naked, drunken guys dancing around a bonfire and engaging in lewd conduct. And there are pictures and videos. No it’s not a frat party gone wild.  It’s downtime for some private security contractors hired to protect the U.S. embassy in Kabul,  according to the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight.

The watchdog group says the alleged misbehavior by the guards working for ArmorGroup North America — along with serious under-staffing — has jeopardized security at the embassy amid rising violence in the Afghan capital.

The Project sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a lengthy letter documenting complaints about the guards. The group also sent pictures and videos backing its allegations.

And it cited a “‘Lord of the Flies’ environment” among some English-speakers at the camp where the men are stationed, marked by hazing of recruits, drunkenness and lewd conduct.

About 150 guards are Americans or from other English-speaking countries. The remaining 300 were  identified by the Project on Government Oversight as Gurkhas from northern India and Nepal who speak little or no English.

Pictures obtained by the group show male guards, scantily dressed in G-string style garments, dancing around a bonfire and urinating while others snap photographs.

Video show them pouring alcohol down the bare backside of a new recruit and trying to drink it as it spills from the man’s buttocks.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly called the allegations “serious” and said they had been referred to the department’s inspector general.

ArmorGroup North America had no immediate comment on the allegations.

About 1,000 U.S. diplomats, staff and Afghan nationals work at the embassy in Kabul.

Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, urged the State Department to put Kabul embassy security under military supervision and consider initiating suspension proceedings against ArmorGroup and its parent company, Wackenhut Services Inc.

WASHINGTON — What a difference a few days can make in the rough and tumble world of American politics, particularly in the U.S. Capitol. Just ask Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to be U.S. attorney general. 
 
Last week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell named Holder as the only one of Obama’s Cabinet nominees in possible trouble. 
 
There was Republican concern about Holder, particularly his decision, while President Bill Clinton’s deputy attorney general, to back a pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. 
 
But after receiving rave reviews at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Holder seems certain to be confirmed. 
 
Under questioning, Holder admitted he erred in the Rich matter, broke with the Bush administration to call waterboarding “torture” and vowed to run a Justice Department free of political meddling. He also promised to make fighting financial crimes a top priority. 
 
At least two Republicans said afterward that they intend to support him, which should provide enough votes in the Democratic-led Senate to clear any procedural roadblock. 
 
Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, reiterated his support for Holder, predicting he would be a strong attorney general. 
 
And on Friday, Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida came out for Holder after what he described as “a very productive meeting with him.” 
 
“I adhere to the principle that, assuming qualifications, a president gets to choose the members of his Cabinet,” Martinez said. 
 
“Mr. Holder answered a number of questions to my satisfaction,” Martinez said. “I intend to support Mr. Holder’s confirmation and urge my colleagues to do the same.”

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Holder stands to be sworn in for his Jan. 15 confirmation hearing)

WASHINGTON - The million or more people expected in Washington for Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration might want to wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for a whole lot of walking.

Private vehicles will not be able to get anywhere near the action on Jan. 20, when Obama is sworn in as president, under a plan to help with crowd management detailed by the U.S. Secret Service on Wednesday. 

Cars will be banned on major bridges connecting Virginia to Washington.
Streets will be closed across a broad section in the middle of the city.  Visitors’ best bets for getting around will be public transportation, bicycles or walking. 

The Washington Post reported that the street closings were necessary to help manage the record crowds that are expected for the inauguration and to make space for charter buses that will bring many people to the city. 

When you’re done walking through the secured car-free zone, those comfortable shoes will come in handy while you wait to pass through security screenings along the inaugural parade route and at the inaugural balls.

“Please allow for additional time for this security screening, as it is expected that lines may be long,” the Secret Service advises. 

The latest estimates of the number of people expected to converge on Washington range from at least 1.5 million to more than 3 million,  the Post said.

    - Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Briefing on inauguration logistics, Dec. 18)

With the images of death and destruction in Mumbai last week fresh in everyone’s minds, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is set on Monday to name his national security team. 
 
At a 10:40 EST (1540 GMT) news conference in Chicago, Obama is expected to name former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state and nominate Defense Secretary Robert Gates to stay on in that role. In addition he is expected to name Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary, Eric Holder as attorney general and adviser Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations.
    
After a series of three straight news conferences last week focused on the ailing U.S. economy, Obama will switch gears today as he will likely face questions about India and Pakistan and his proposed policies toward the two nuclear-armed nations.     
    
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to India on Wednesday. She has been in contact with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in recent days to ease tensions between the states.

    
Indian investigators said the militants who attacked Mumbai underwent months of commando training in Pakistan, raising tensions between the neighboring nations as recriminations mounted in India. 

In an interview with the Financial Times , Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has appealed to India not to punish his country for the Mumbai attacks, saying militants have the power to precipitate a war in the region.
    
In economic news back home, stocks appeared set to fall after poor manufacturing figures from China and a raft of economic data expected in the U.S. this week.

Though retailers reported a solid start to holiday shopping with consumers spending more on bargains over the Thanksgiving weekend, overall holiday sales are likely to be worse than thought.

The Big Three U.S. automakers will try a second time this week to pursuade Congress to give them $25 billion to rescue their struggling industry. The Financial Times reported that GM, which owns Saab, and Volvo-owner Ford had approached Sweden’s government for financial help.

The Twin Cities have been the scene of sometimes violent protests and a heavy security presence during the Republican National Convention. Kelly Nuxoll of Huffington Post’s Off the Bus talked to two residents about what they think and how they’ve been affected.

Jonathan Hunter, St. Paul

“This is not the world I live in.”

Rick Engman, Minneapolis

“I don’t mind a non-violent protest,  but when people start threatening other people’s freedom of speech like the Republican National Convention’s meeting … then there’s a problem.”

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Nuxoll is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are her own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Republican National Convention.

Click here for more Inside the Tent contributions.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 election coverage.

Pedicab driver Laura Caldwell shares her stories from the Democratic National Convention: Military helicopters, armored golf carts, and teenage anarchists with the utmost respect for traffic laws. This video was shot by fellow pedicab operator Teri Robnett, a contributor to Reuters Inside the Tent.

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Robnett is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are her own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll be moving to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention next week.

Click here for more Inside the Tent contributions.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 election coverage.