U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Syrian National Council will demonstrate at international talks in Tunis on Friday that there is an alternative to President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"We believe that the Syrian National Council, which will be there sitting at the table, will show that there is an alternative to the Assad regime, one that respects the rights of all Syrians," she told reporters in London on Thursday.

International powers called Thursday for urgent action on Somalia, warning at a meeting in London that the world will "pay the price" for failing to tackle political unrest, Islamist militants and pirates.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon were among officials from about 50 countries and organizations gathered to discuss a roadmap for Somalia's fragile government.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday called Egypt's foreign minister to discuss the country's economic and political situation, as well as events in Syria, the State Department said.

It said the telephone call covered the same ground as President Barack Obama's discussion with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Friday, which the White House said was focused on Egypt's need for a democratic transition.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Thursday that Lebanon is an active member of the international community and the Arab world.

He said after holding talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov: “No one can isolate Lebanon and it will not be isolated from the international and Arab communities.”

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stressed on Wednesday the need for Lebanon to continue its cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He said after holding talks with Prime Minsiter Najib Miqati that he does not believe that Lebanon wants to wage a confrontation with the Arab and international communities.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Myanmar Wednesday on the first top-level U.S. visit for half a century, seeking to encourage a "movement for change" in the military-dominated nation.

Clinton flew into a little-used airport in Naypyidaw, the remote city where Myanmar's generals abruptly moved their capital in 2005, in a stark test of U.S. efforts to engage the strategic but long-isolated country.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that another one-way ticket awaits former Prime Minister Saad Hariri if he returns to Lebanon, noting that the Syrian crisis is over.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “He can say whatever he wants. Who asked him not to return? There is another type of one-way ticket if he wants to return to Lebanon and he knows it.”

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s ministerial council voiced its full support for Lebanon’s stability, unity, and security, reported the daily al-Liwaa on Monday.

It hoped during its meeting in Jeddah Sunday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government would succeed in achieving the stability that the Lebanese people aspire for.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday she was "deeply disappointed" over the eight-year prison sentence given to two Americans who have said they had strayed unwittingly into Iran.

"We are deeply disappointed that Iranian judicial authorities have sentenced Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal to eight years in prison," Clinton said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asked why Washington has not yet explicitly called for the Syrian president’s departure, said Thursday her country wanted such a call to come from “around the world,” not just from the White House.

“What we really need to do to put the pressure on Assad is to sanction the oil and gas industry. And we want to see Europe take more steps in that direction. And we want to see China take steps with us,” Clinton added in an interview with CBS News.