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US is preparing to pull its attack planes out of the coalition airstrikes in Libya - as rebel fighters are pushed back to the eastern town of Brega by Colonel Gaddafi's advancing troops.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said American combat missions would end on Saturday, with Nato partners and other coalition nations picking up the slack.
Mr Gates said no-one should be surprised by the move, but he called the timing "unfortunate".
After coalition airstrikes began on March 19, the rebels raced forward to recapture the towns of Ajdabiyah, Brega and Ras Lanuf.
Mr Mullen said 25% of Libyan military hardware had been destroyed.
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are expected to fly out to Libya this week to help enforce the no-fly zone over the country.
after confrontations between anti-government protesters and police intensified over the weekend.
postponed race after protests - Telegraph: "Violent anti-government protests in the island kingdom had placed the race in grave doubt. And with teams, sponsors and drivers all privately expressing deep concerns about the image it would send out to go racing in a country still burying its dead, the sport's power brokers had little option but to cancel.
may be on his way to Venezuela: "Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague says there are indications that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi has left the country and is on his way to Venezuela.
and his family, 10 days after the longtime president resigned in the face of a popular uprising.
? | Jakob Augstein | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "Hamburg is Germany's most English city. The wind blows from the North Sea, its buildings look like London townhouses and moments of extreme joy and despair are usually handled with a stiff upper lip. Sunday's celebrations among the city's social democrats, however, were atypical of its famously reserved citizens. Winning 48% of the vote in a key regional election, the SPD reached an absolute majority, something it hadn't managed in nearly a quarter of a century. In the Berlin headquarters of Angela Merkel's CDU the news was received with pale faces. A loss in Hamburg had appeared inevitable for some time, but the crushing nature of the defeat was a blow nonetheless.
holds the largest crude oil reserves in Africa, and the moves drove some stock prices down and a crucial oil benchmark to a three-year high.
- Crime, UK - The Independent: "Heritage chiefs will this week launch a national crackdown on thieves and vandals targeting Britain's national treasures. Growing numbers of attacks are being recorded on heritage sites ranging from the vandalism of prehistoric burial mounds to thefts from churches. Experts warn that it is resulting in the disappearance of priceless historical artefacts as well as multimillion-pound repair bills.
- Mail Online - Euroseptic: Mary Ellen Synon in Brussels: "I'm at the European Council meeting, and just out from a press briefing by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. It was meant to be an explanation of the 'grand bargain' the two are right now presenting over lunch to the other 25 heads of state and government. The 'bargain' is a deal all about how the eurozone is going to make itself competitive by means of a centralised European economic government.
-- 500 million people and 20 million companies. Governments committed to a broad sweep of market reforms, linking national and regional electricity grids and gas pipelines by 2014 to allow power to circulate freely and cheaply, from those who produce it and have surpluses to those who don't and need it.
gangs, warns Yvette Cooper | News: "THE OLYMPICS will make London a 'magnet' for human trafficking unless ministers launch an urgent crackdown, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper warned today.
