LIBYA

Here is a brief rundown of important events around the world Tuesday morning, August 23, 2011.

Gold prices retreated more than 1 percent from record highs on Tuesday as a recovery in appetite for assets seen as higher risk, such as stocks, took the steam out of a rally that many saw as overdone above $1,900 an ounce.

A son of Muammar Gaddafi, previously reported captured, made a surprise appearance with jubilant supporters in Tripoli overnight, urging loyalists to fight off rebels who say they control most of the Libyan capital.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague said Tuesday it had never received official confirmation from the Libyan rebels that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had been captured.

Brent crude rose toward $109 on Tuesday as fighting in Libya continued and in anticipation of a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles.

World stocks, the euro and commodity prices advanced on Tuesday after gauges of Chinese and German manufacturing activity were not as weak as some had feared.

Brent crude neared $109 Tuesday as fighting in Libya continued and in anticipation of a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles.

The United States has pressed for Moammar Gadhafi to step down, but a leadership vacuum raises concerns about the security of Libya's weapons stockpiles and the danger of them falling into hostile hands, officials said Monday.

The battle to take over Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli will be fierce, but anyone inside has little chance of escape, a rebel spokesman told Al Jazeera television on Monday.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, one of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's seven sons, appeared in Tripoli early Tuesday morning, greeting supporters in the face of the rebel presence in the city.

Berlusconi has invited the head of the rebel government to Italy, while urging Gadhafi to give himself over to authorities.

China will respect the will of the Libyan people and hopes for a return to stability in the war-torn country, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, as Libyan rebel fighters clashed with government forces in Tripoli.

President Barack Obama and his family are on a 10-day vacation at Blue Heron Farm in Martha's Vineyard. Though his free time was interrupted by Libya briefings, Obama has been golfing, shopping, and eating out at the Vineyard's famous seafood restaurants.

Libyans around the world, in places such as Greece, Turkey and Sudan, celebrated the arrival of rebels in Tripoli over the weekend.

Brent crude edged lower on Monday in choppy trading as investors hoped the process to restart oil exports from OPEC member Libya would begin soon as the country's six-month-old civil war neared an end.

The rebels in Libya took Tripoli over the weekend, and along with the capital they also apprehended two of Gaddafi's sons.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman praised the ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi even though he has been a vocal critic of U.S. intervention in the country.

Muammar Gaddafi, who for decades enjoyed strutting before the public in his finery, has disappeared from the stage as rebels take over his former stronghold Tripoli.

Moammar Gadhafi's regime will fall within 10 days, but Gadhafi will not surrender, Libya's former prime minister predicted on Monday.

Brent crude edged lower on Monday in choppy trading as investors hoped the process to restart oil exports from OPEC member Libya would begin soon as the country's six-month-old civil war neared an end.

Italian oil company Eni led the charge back into Libya on Monday as rebels hailing the end of Muammar Gaddafi's rule warned Russian and Chinese firms that they may lose out on lucrative oil contracts for failing to support the rebellion.