Vienna  - Austrian Vice Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer stepped down Monday as the Conservatives' leader, one day after his party suffered heavy losses in Austria's parliamentary elections.

As Molterer announced that Agriculture Minister Josef Proell would take over his job at the helm of the conservative People's Party (OeVP), chances for continuing a governing coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe) rose.

Beirut  - An officer believed to be linked to the 2005 assassination of then-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was the target of Syria's blast on Saturday, an Italian report said Tuesday.

Syrian opposition sources told the Italian news agency Adnkronos International that last Saturday's explosion in Damascus targeted the deputy director of the Palestinian Branch of Syrian Intelligence, officer Abdul Karim Abbas.

Washington  - The US House of Representatives was set to vote Monday on a massive deal to rescue the US economy from the brink of financial meltdown, but it remained far from certain that the legislation would be approved.

Congressional leaders forged an agreement Sunday, but lower-level legislators in both parties threatened to derail the process, resenting the need to put taxpayer money on the line to bail out greedy Wall Street investors.

Amman  - King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday accepted the resignation of royal court chief Bassem Awadallah, according to a royal court statement.

Awadallah, a US-educated economist, was recently the target of attacks by lawmakers and the local press for allegedly advocating the privatization of more Jordanian businesses.

He was also accused of encroaching on the powers of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi and forming a type of "shadow cabinet" at the royal court.

New York, Sept. 29: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign to wrest the White House from Republican rival John McCain has gathered steam.

Over the past fortnight, the Illinois Senator has managed to narrow McCain’s lead and is now up by as many as six or seven points.

Pollsters say that’s in part because the vital independent voters are now shifting his way.

“There are still a substantial number of independents that are undecided, principally independent women,” says pollster John Zogby.

Vienna - Austrians started casting their ballots for parliament on Sunday, with the social democratic SPOe and the conservative OeVP vying for the top spot to win the chancellorship.

As many Austrians are disappointed in these two parties that had formed a government coalition since early 2007, polls showed that the conservatives were set gain most in the early elections.