Washington  - The White House, reeling from the congressional defeat of its 700-billion-dollar plan to bail out Wall Street on Monday, was evaluating what to do next to stave off a broader economic collapse.

"It's a disappointment," Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, told CNN. "We thought there would be enough support for this legislation."

Washington  - In a shocking development that plunged the United States back into uncertainty Monday, the US House of Representatives rejected a massive government plan to rescue the economy from the brink of financial meltdown.

The House voted 228-205 against the bill. Republicans led the opposition, voting 2-1 against the 700-billion-dollar bail-out plan. There was a small possibility the bill could come up again with some new amendments included.

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.