LIBYA

The Libyan conflict is heading for stalemate, the top U.S. military officer said on Friday, and Senator John McCain urged the United States to recognize the rebels and transfer frozen Libyan funds to them.

Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned that the civil war in Libya is moving towards stalemate, while conceding that air strikes by NATO and the U.S. have destroyed 30 percent to 40 percent of Moammar Gaddafi's ground forces.

U.S. Sen. John McCain - a strong proponent of additional U.S. military action in Libya - visited rebels in the city of Benghazi on Friday, calling them his 'heroes.'

Brent oil futures seesawed near unchanged after slipping off a 32-month high Thursday as traders took some money out of recently rising energy markets before a holiday weekend.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has stated that President Barack Obama approved the use of armed, unmanned Predator drone aircraft to assist the coalition military campaign in Libya.

Famed television comic Jerry Seinfeld has pulled out of an event connected to Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, because of the latter’s aggressive attacks on President Barack Obama, particularly his insistence that Obama was not born in the U.S., according to a report on CNN.

Two news photographers were killed in the conflict zone in Libyan rebel stronghold of Misrata where Muammar Gaddafi's forces have intensified attacks on rebel positions.

Bullion powered to a lifetime high for a fifth consecutive session on Thursday on a sharply weaker dollar, while lingering tensions in the Arab world, worries about the euro zone crisis and U.S. fiscal health offered additional support.

Tim Hetherington, a well-known British photojournalist, was killed in Misurata, Libya, while covering the civil war in that country, the UK Foreign Office stated.

Italy has now joined France and Britain is sending military advisers to assist rebel forces in Libya.

The French government has stated that it will send a small group of military officers to Libya to help advise rebel groups in that country who are fighting a brutal war against Moammar Gaddafi.

Iran, prominent member of the oil cartel Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and long-time adversary of the U.S, has objected to the move by certain members of the oil exporting cartel to raise output in order to clam markets and ease oil prices.

Brent crude oil futures fell below $120 on Tuesday for the first time in two weeks, pressured by concern over the economic outlook and the risk that high prices could erode demand.

A court in Tunisia has dropped charges against a policewoman whose dispute with a fruit vendor inadvertently sparked a crisis that ultimately led to the downfall of the nation’s dictator and spread the seed of revolution across the Arab world.

Donald Trump’s promise to make foreign countries pay up has become a cornerstone of his unofficial 2012 presidential campaign.

Donald Trump's PR campaign has been built around questioning the validity of President Obama's birth certificate. But recently Trump has also broached on foreign policy, adding another angle to his PR campaign.

The British government has said that it will send military officers to Libya to help rebel forces seeking to topple Moammar Gaddafi.

Security forces in the city of Homs in Syria have opened fire to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters, according to media reports and witness accounts.

Brent crude oil fell on Tuesday, slipping below $120 a barrel for the first time in two weeks, pressured by concern about the economic outlook and that high prices could erode demand.

Oilfield service company Halliburton Co's quarterly profit topped Wall Street forecasts as a surge in its North American business overshadowed a hit to its Libyan operations.

As the Libyan inferno continues to elicit China's muted response punctuated by its anti-NATO stand, it has, however, evoked multiple questions about its underlying motivation.