Palash Ghosh

The government of Syria has apparently shut down all Internet activity in the country, coming on the heels of a similar web suspension by riot-torn Egypt, according to a report in Al Arabiya.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron said he is committed to maintaining his program of deep spending cuts in order to eventually free Britain from the strain of high budget deficit, despite the short-term negative impact on economic growth and employment.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace laureate who returned to his Egyptian homeland to participate in anti-government protests, has been placed under house arrest by security officials, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister, suggested that time may be near to increase the size of The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the European Union’s financial bailout fund reserve.

U.S. diplomats were gravely concerned about Egypt’s poor human rights record (including the use of torture by police and the jailing of dissidents) and expressed misgivings about President Hosni Mubarak’s plans to allow his son to succeed him, according to cables released by WikiLeaks.

Taco Bell is introducing an advertising campaign to defend itself against accusations of a lawsuit which alleges that the fast-food chain doesn’t fill its tacos with real beef.

Sarah Palin has blasted President Obama’s State of the Union address in a lengthy diatribe of Facebook that some analysts believe is an attempt by the former governor of Alaska to establish herself as a Republican candidate for the White House in 2012.

Troubled actor Charlie Sheen was rushed to the hospital this morning, according to TMZ. A source at the hospital told TMZ that “it’s serious.”

The ongoing anti-government protests on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities represent the biggest public demonstration in the country since the famous ‘bread riots’ which occurred exactly 34 years ago.

Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Kamel Morjane has resigned from the embattled country's new interim government, according to state TV, in the wake of street demonstrations who demand the removal of any ally of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from the new regime.

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive officer of JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) defended the banking industry during a question-and-answer session with the media at a symposium at the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, set out his vision for “sustainable and balanced” growth in the 21st Century, at Davos world economic forum.

Bill Clinton appears at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The number of elderly Japanese people committing acts of shoplifting has surged to an all-time high, a bizarre manifestation of the country’s economic stagnation, breakdown of social standards, and a rapidly aging population.

In a scenario that is likely to be repeated all across Great Britain, the Liverpool City Council reported that it will eliminate 1,500 jobs over the next two years due to the government’s spending cuts.

An American diplomat has shot and killed two Pakistani men riding on a motorcycle in the city of Lahore, apparently in self-defense, according to local police.

A gay rights activist who sued a newspaper last year for “outing” him, has been found murdered in Uganda.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, defended the integrity of the euro currency at the World Economic Forum in Davos, by asserting that neither his country nor Germany will permit it to fail.

In response to the reconstruction costs associated with the floods that have devastated Queensland and Victoria provinces, the prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, has unveiled a new “flood tax” to help pay for the rebuilding.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the sovereign credit rating of Japan, the third-biggest economy in the world, to AA- from AA.

Governor Deval Patrick unveiled a fiscal 2012 budget that will cut $570 million, or 1.8 percent, from last year's budget – the largest such cut in 20 years -- and particularly hammer social services, health care and aid to municipalities.

A new study by The Violence Policy Center (VPC), a non-profit educational and research organization, sheds some chilling light on the epidemic of murder raging through the African-American community, especially among young males.

The Iraqi government is mulling the idea of promoting polygamy after years of war has left the nation with more than 1-million widows and a shortage of young unmarried men.

American singer Jimmy Buffett has been hospitalized in Sydney, Australia after he tumbled off the front of the stage during a concert on Tuesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept its key interest rate unchanged at the record low range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent, as widely expected. The FOMC also remained committed to its $600-billion Treasury purchase program.

Full-text of FOMC policy statement of Jan. 26, 2011.

In his opening speech at the Davos world economic forum in Switzerland, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev touched on a number of subjects, including why he was late to the confab – the suicide bombing in a Moscow airport that killed 35 people.

The family of Egypt’s embattled President Hosni Mubarak has not fled the country, according to a source in the U.S. Embassy in Cairo who spoke to CBS News.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) got some bad news and some good news on either side of the U.S.-Canadian border.