Eric Linton

Syrian opposition figures who met in Istanbul to form a council said Thursday that they needed more time to consult with activists inside the country on its composition.

Libya's new masters have offered a million-dollar bounty for the fugitive Moammar Gadhafi, after he urged his men to fight on in battles across parts of the capital.

President Barack Obama is finalizing a jobs package that could include a program to refurbish school buildings nationwide and tax breaks to encourage firms to hire workers.

Beverage firms led Europe's top shares lower Wednesday, as mixed corporate results and cooling hopes over the prospect of further economic stimulus in the U.S. saw the recent rebound lose steam.

A research center near Tripoli stocks uranium and other material that could be used to make a nuclear dirty bomb and Libya's rebels will need to secure it, a former U.N. inspector said Wednesday.

Brent crude prices steadied above $109 Wednesday as investors pinned their hopes on the U.S. Federal Reserve to inject fresh stimulus to boost the world's largest economy.

The U.S. ambassador made a surprise trip to a southern Syrian town Tuesday, his second visit to an area rocked by protests against President Bashar al-Assad and a move likely to antagonize the authorities in Damascus.

Hurricane Irene strengthened back into a Category 2 storm as it approached to the Bahamas early Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The Washington Monument has been closed to the public after Tuesday's earthquake, and will remain so until a proper safety assement can be completed, officials said.

Yemen's prime minister became the first senior politician injured in a June assassination attempt on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to return home from Saudi Arabia, a government official said Tuesday.

Asian shares fell Wednesday as a rally fueled by speculation that the Federal Reserve may further shore up the struggling U.S. economy swiftly petered out, while gold rebounded from its sharpest one-day slide in 18 months.

Gold rebounded more than 1 percent Wednesday after posting its biggest drop in 18 months, as risk appetite retreated after Moody's downgraded Japan's debt rating and strong buying interest in Asia's physical market lent support.

Moammar Gadhafi said in audio remarks broadcast Wednesday morning that he is at large in Tripoli and residents must cleanse the Libyan capital from rebels.

China urged a stable transition of power in Libya Wednesday and said it is in contact with the National Transitional Council, in the clearest sign yet that Beijing has effectively shifted recognition to rebel forces.

The chief of Standard & Poor's will step down soon, to be replaced by a senior Citibank executive, in a move announced a few weeks after the credit rating agency downgraded U.S. government debt and sparked a row with Washington.

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

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will likely resign next week, his economics minister said Tuesday, but who will succeed him as the country confronts a nuclear crisis and a long list of economic difficulties remained up in the air.

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.

Moammar Gadhafi's put up scattered, last-ditch resistance in Tripoli Monday after rebels swept into the heart of the Libyan capital, cheered on by crowds hailing the end of his 42-year rule.

The implosion of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year-old rule will put a new spring in the step of the Arab revolutions and demonstrate once again that these entrenched autocratic governments are not invincible.

Israel and the Hamas Islamist group which controls the Gaza Strip have agreed to a ceasefire after five days of cross-border violence, officials said Monday.

Brent crude dropped more than $3 on Monday to below $106 a barrel, while U.S. oil fell more than a dollar to below $82, on the potential for a resumption of exports from OPEC-member Libya as a six-month civil war there appeared close to an end.

Libyan government tanks shelled parts of central Tripoli Monday after rebels swept into the heart of the city and crowds took to the streets to celebrate the expected downfall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Rebel fighters swept into the heart of Tripoli Sunday night and crowds took to the streets to celebrate the impending fall of Muammar Gaddafi, but the dictator's loyalists were reported fighting back as dawn broke Monday.

Egypt and Israel tried Sunday to defuse a diplomatic crisis over the killing of five Egyptian security personnel during an Israeli operation against cross-border raiders, as crowds of Egyptians protested angrily at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.

Brent crude dropped by more than $2 on Monday to around $106 a barrel on the potential for a resumption of exports from OPEC member Libya as a six-month civil war there appeared close to an end.

As for the threat of a military action ... any action against Syria will have greater consequences (on those who carry it out), greater than they can tolerate, the President said.