Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will arrive in Israel and the West Bank next week on her first trip to the region aimed at feeling out ways to revive the peace process.

Clinton's trip is not meant to push forward on any new initiatives, but to "take the pulse of the various leaders" about how to advance the peace process and build a lasting ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militants ruling the Gaza Strip, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

Washington - US President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010, sharply reducing the American presence but keeping in place thousands of soldiers to support and train Iraqi forces.

Obama plans to keep about 35,000 to 50,000 soldiers in Iraq to help train and equip the Iraqis and participate in special counterterrorism missions. There are presently more than 140,000 US troops in Iraq.

Washington - The US economy shrank by 6.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2008, far worse than initially estimated and the worst fourth-quarter showing by the country since the recession of 1982, the US Commerce Department said Friday.

The annualized figure was revised from an earlier estimate of an only 3.8-per-cent drop and underscored the severity of the recession in the US economy. Most economists are expecting a similar contraction in the first three months of 2009.

Washington  - The US economy shrank by 6.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2008, far worse than initially estimated and the worst fourth-quarter showing by the country since the recession of 1982, Washington reported Friday.

In its latest estimate of the gross domestic product (GDP) performance, the US Commerce Department annualized figure was much worse than the initial estimate of a 3.8 per cent drop in the last quarter.

Washington, February 27 : Superstar singer Whitney Houston has warned Rihanna against reconciling with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown after an alleged bust-up with him.

Cops are probing whether Brown made criminal threats after allegedly attacking the `Umbrella' hitmaker, following a pre-Grammys party on February 8.

Rihanna's father has already confirmed that her relationship with Brown is "over".

Houston has now advised the 21-year-old star to end the troubled romance for good.

Washington, Feb 27 : U2''s 1991 hit single ''One'' has been named the Irish band''s greatest song ever in a new poll.

HMV''s social networking site getcloser. com asked its users to name their favourite track by Bono and co, reports Contactmusic.

Over 1,000 people voted in the poll, which is still open, and ''One'' from U2''s classic album Achtung Baby is currently top of the chart.

''With Or Without You'' came second while ''I Still Haven''t Found What I''m Looking For'' landed the third spot.

Beautiful Day rounded off the top five.

The top 25 songs in the greatest ever U2 track poll are:

1 One - 20.1 per cent
2 With Or Without You - 15.2 per cent