Islamabad, Jan.

Washington/Islamabad, Jan. 24 : The newly appointed U. S. Special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, intends to visit the region as soon as possible, the US State Department said on Friday.

State department spokesman Robert Woods told the daily briefing that he "spoke to Ambassador Holbrooke, and he said he was going to try to get out as soon as he could, but he didn't have a timeframe on that," The News reported.

New Delhi : Emphasizing Kazakhstan's choice to progress through its own model of development and highlighting the landmark achievements of a once raw material supplying country over a period of seventeen years, its visiting President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, said on Saturday that captains of Indian industry should not hesitate or be shy of taking advantage of the positive investment climate in Kazakhstan.

Ramallah  - Only 24 hours after US President Barack Obama had called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stress his commitment for the peace process, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also reaffirmed her commitment for a peaceful settlement to the Middle East conflict in a telephone call she made to Abbas on Thursday, according to a statement issued by Abbas' office.

Washington  - The International Monetary Fund on Thursday forecast a sharp downturn in Germany's economy this year and a slow recovery over the following years.

The IMF said it expects Europe's largest economy to contract by 2.5 per cent in 2009. Growth of only 0.1 per cent will follow in 2010.

Unemployment is likely to rise to 8.5 per cent this year and 9.1 per cent in 2010 as a result.

Washington -