Unrest, Moammar Gadhafi | featured news

The downfall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is likely to pave the way for increased Western attention to Syria and embolden protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

Libyan rebels pushed past the oil town of Brega on Sunday, moving toward the major refinery at Ras Lanuf in the second day of a counterattack aided by allied airstrikes against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces.

A woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli Saturday and fought off security forces as she told journalists that she had been raped and beaten by Qaddafi militia members.

Opposition fighters took control of Ajdabiya overnight after allied fighter jets bombed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's tanks that were entrenched at the city's gates, according to an opposition spokesman.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking after an emergency summit of world powers in Paris, announces 'our planes are stopping attacks' on Benghazi and that France and its partner nations are determined to stop Moammar Kadafi's 'killing frenzy.' Sarkozy says the summit agreed to demand and enforce an 'immediate cease-fire' in Libya.

The New York Times says four of its journalists who were reported missing while covering the Libya conflict have been found. The Times reported on its website that the four were captured by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and will be released Friday....

Moammar Gadhafi's troops pummeled rebel forces Tuesday in the last major city outside their stronghold of Benghazi.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that the better-equipped forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will over the long term prevail.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi's speech appears to put to rest rumors reported in some international media that the 68-year-old leader had been considering stepping down.In a defiant speech broadcast early Wednesday, Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi derided opponents who have seized the eastern half of the country as "traitors" and blamed foreigners and Al Qaeda for perpetrating the unrest roiling the North African state he has ruled for more than four decades.

Opposition forces trying to reach Surt, the hometown of Moammar Kadafi, retreat to the desert outpost of Ras Lanuf after a ground and air assault.