Eric Linton

Financial markets are unlikely to be derailed by mass euro zone downgrades, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

The U.N. chief told Bashar al-Assad Sunday to stop killing your people and the Syrian leader offered an amnesty for crimes committed during a 10-month-old revolt against him.

The United States and Israel have postponed a joint military exercise due to be held in the coming weeks until later in the year, an Israeli security source told Reuters Sunday.

Iran said Sunday it had received a letter from the U.S. government about the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial oil shipping lane that Tehran has threatened to close if sanctions prevent it exporting oil.

The euro zone's bailout fund can hold onto its AAA rating with Standard & Poor's through higher guarantees from the euro zone's remaining triple A countries or lower lending capacity, a senior euro zone official said Sunday.

The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, the militant movement that poses the gravest security threat to the country, was believed killed by a U.S. drone strike, four Pakistan intelligence officials told Reuters Sunday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, scrambling to keep his U.S. presidential bid alive, accused the Obama administration Sunday of overreacting to a videotape that shows four Marines appearing to urinate on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Pieces of a failed Russian Mars probe plummeted into the Pacific Ocean far off the Chilean coast on Sunday, a military official told Russian news agencies.

Asian shares rose to a one-month high and the euro clung near its strongest in a week Friday as strong demand in Spanish and Italian debt sales tempered risk aversion ahead of another auction from Rome later in the day.

Congressional Republicans, who are urging President Barack Obama to give a permit to the Keystone XL oil pipeline project, are working on a plan to take the reins of approval from the president should the White House say no.

Marines to investigate video showing what seems to be American soldiers in Afghanistan urinating on corpses of Taliban fighters.

Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp is suing 19 current and former executives, including its current president, for up to almost $50 million in compensation, as it struggles to recover from one of the nation's worst accounting scandals.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch is cutting around a fifth of its managing directors across its Asia investment banking division, sources said Monday, in a bid to cut costs as the outlook sours in a once-booming region.

The Securities and Exchange Commission wants American banks to publish more details about their exposure to European sovereign debt, a factor in the recent bankruptcy of the futures brokerage MF Global Holdings.

U.S. authorities are investigating allegations that an Indian spy unit hacked into e-mails of a U.S. commission that monitors economic and security relations between the United States and China, including cyber-security issues.

As the U.S. government nears a deal with top banks to resolve mortgage abuses, the Justice Department has begun reaching out to other banks to gauge their interest in joining the wide-ranging settlement, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Hostess Brands Inc, a wholesale baker, is again preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Alcoa Inc posted a fourth-quarter loss Monday due to a steep plunge in aluminum prices, but its revenue beat expectations and the company gave a positive outlook for global demand for the metal, especially in the aerospace and automotive markets.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, locked in a violent struggle against a wave of unrest, is to make a speech Tuesday on the internal issue and international and regional developments, state media said Monday night.

On the eve of a widely expected victory in New Hampshire, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney struggled to repel attacks on his business record Monday as rivals tried to weaken him before a tighter vote in South Carolina.

Olympus said Tuesday it was suing 19 current and former executives, including President Shuichi Takayama, for up to 3.6 billion yen in compensation and that all current board members subject to the lawsuit would resign in March or April.

Signs the recovery is gaining strength suggest the Federal Reserve may not need to buy any more bonds to spur growth, a top policymaker said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his country would not recognize a ruling by a World Bank tribunal in a multibillion-dollar arbitration case with Exxon Mobil.

South African President Jacob Zuma led a purification ceremony at the site in Bloemfontein where the African National Congress was born 100 years ago. Many say the party needs cleansing itself.

The Arab League urged the Syrian government Sunday to stop its violence against protesters and allow Arab monitors in the country to work more independently, but stopped short of asking for United Nations experts to bolster its peace mission.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he would veto a European-wide financial transaction tax unless it was adopted globally, deepening a confrontation with European Union heavyweights France and Germany.

Iran will in the near future start enriching uranium deep inside a mountain, a senior official said Sunday, a move likely to further antagonize Western powers that suspect it is seeking nuclear weapons capability.

The $190 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry is about to begin its annual winter extravaganza in Las Vegas, where the latest toys, gadgets, smartphones, video games, TVs, cameras, tablets and laptops will be unveiled - some not to be available until late in 2012.

Rick Perry's team essentially calculated that Rick Santorum, who emerged in Iowa as the leading conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, isn't a strong enough candidate to hold that position in future contests.