EGYPT

Norway MP, Snorre Valen nominates Julian Assange's whistleblower website WikiLeaks for Noble Prize and hails it for contribution to Tunisian Revolution and the following Arab protests.

Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour had to flee when the mob turned on them

Anderson Cooper, CNN's primary anchor, was attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters in Egypt. Below are the footage of the attack and a video of Cooper explaining what happened.

Stocks finished narrowly mixed in uneasy trading as the political crisis in Egypt seems to be worsening as fighting between forces supporting President Hosni Mubarak and those who oppose him intensify.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, eying protests that threaten to topple Egypt's long-time ruler, indicated on Wednesday he would leave office when his current term ends in 2013, after three decades in power.

Stocks gained for the second day running on Wednesday with Vodacom (VODJ.J) among the top gainers on upbeat quarterly results while metal prices boosted miners.

The Middle East is headed into the unknown, on that everyone agrees -- but the speed of events in Egypt and elsewhere has left analysts and financial markets struggling to find their bearings.

Stocks gained for the second day running on Wednesday with Vodacom among the top gainers on upbeat quarterly results while metal prices boosted miners.

Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak attacked protesters with fists, stones and clubs in Cairo on Wednesday as the Egyptian goverment rejected international calls for the leader to end his 30-year-rule now.

Rioting and rock throwing between pro and anti-government supporters broke in out in bloody clashes in one of Cairo's main squares on Wednesday, just one day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not step down until the next election in September.

The category-five storm, Cyclone Yasi, that has struck Queensland in northeastern Australia (already reeling from deadly floods last month) is likely to hammer global commodity markets, according to media reports.

Egyptian Internet connections appear to be behaving normally, after a rare blackout was imposed by the government last week.

Amidst a dramatic escalation of violence in Cairo between supporters and opponents of president Hosni Mubarak, CNN is reporting that its correspondent Anderson Cooper and his crew were attacked and hit in the head several times by pro-Mubarak forces.

The president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, said he will not seek to extend his term as ruler of this poverty-stricken country beyond 2013, according to media reports, as another domino falls in the wake of political upheavals in the Middle East.

Doha-based Al Jazeera television has reported that an Al-Arabiya correspondent in Egypt's Tahir square has been stabbed by pro-government mobs as clashes between factions raged in the Egyptian capital.

Gold prices eased a touch in Europe on Wednesday after well received U.S. economic data and a spate of upbeat corporate earnings deflected interest away from bullion on to higher-risk, higher-yielding assets.

The Egyptian military has told protesters on Wednesday that they are the ones who can help Egypt to return to normal life, a day after President Hosni Mubarak said he would step down in months.

Credit Suisse said the civil unrest in Egypt and Tunisia could have positive implications on nitrogen and phosphate prices, as Egypt is a key supplier of urea while Tunisia is a major supplier of phosphate rock and fertilizer products.

While airlines are cancelling flights and countries are flying travelers back home, Russian Federal Air Transportation Agency might ban charter flights to Egypt.

China may speed up its soybean imports after the Lunar New Year and slow its vegetable oil buys as floods cut off palm oil supply in Malaysia and if port strikes further stall Argentine soyoil exports.

Here are the top ten most surprising quotes from Egyptiam President Hosni Mubarak's speech in Cairo from Feb. 1, 2010