BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s rebel leader has sacked his cabinet to try to rebuild confidence in the opposition that was damaged by the murky killing of the rebels’ own military commander.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, leader of the rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC), dismissed his 14-member executive committee on Monday after they were held responsible for blunders linked to the assassination of Abdel Fattah Younes.

BENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Libyan rebels on Monday
dissolved their executive committee, or cabinet, after
procedural errors in the handling of the unexplained shooting
dead 12 days ago of their military chief.

The 14-member executive committee, including officials
responsible for defence and interior affairs, was sacked and a
new one will be nominated by Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril,
National Transitional Council (NTC) media director Shamsiddin
Abdulmolah said.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels Saturday said they had launched a push to capture the coastal oil town of Brega, but were advancing slowly because Muammar Gaddafi’s forces had sown landmines on the approaches to the town.

“There’s a big movement on all fronts around Brega, we are attacking from three sides,” said rebel spokesman Mohammad Zawawi.

BENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 5 (Reuters) – - Libya’s rebels said on
Friday a NATO air attack had killed Muammar Gaddafi’s powerful
son Khamis, who serves as commander of one of the Libyan
leader’s most loyal and best-equipped military units.

A rebel spokesman said the air strike had killed 32 people
in Zlitan, a frontline town where Khamis Gaddafi’s 32nd Brigade
is believed to have been leading the stand to defend the
outskirts of Tripoli, 160 km (100 miles) away.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s son has made a bid to divide the fractious Libyan rebellion, telling a newspaper he was forging an alliance with Islamist rebels against their liberal allies.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s comments, in an interview with the New York Times, were a sign that the Libyan leader’s camp hopes to exploit divisions among the rebels revealed by the assassination of their military commander last week.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s son said his camp was nearing a deal with Islamists within Libya’s rebellion to isolate more liberal members of the insurgency, as a seized cargo of government-owned fuel docked in a rebel port.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s comments, in an interview with the New York Times, underscored attempts to exploit divisions within the rebels as they seek to recover from the killing of their military commander and push toward Tripoli on three fronts.

SINGAPORE, June 15 (Reuters) – Asian stocks opened higher on
Wednesday after a torrid start to the week, as positive data
from the world’s two largest economies encouraged investors to
buy back into growth-sensitive assets.

Chinese data showed the world’s second biggest economy may
avoid a hard landing as some had feared, while a U.S. consumer
spending report that was not as weak as expected lifted U.S.
stocks , oil and other growth-oriented markets on Tuesday.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The euro pulled up from near a record low against the Swiss franc on Tuesday after Chinese inflation figures provided some relief that the country would not get more aggressive on tightening policy, providing a broad boost to risky assets.

China’s consumer prices rose 5.5 percent in May, a tad faster than the 5.4 percent estimated by a Reuters poll of economists, while retail sales came in marginally higher than forecast and industrial output was slightly lower.

SINGAPORE, June 14 (Reuters) – The euro fell to a record low
against the Swiss franc on Tuesday as investors sought safety on
worries about a possible Greek debt default, while added
concerns about the faltering U.S. economy and slowing Chinese
growth kept prices across markets under pressure.

Asian stocks opened flat amid another bout of nerves about
Greece’s fiscal woes, which have dimmed risk appetite, and ahead
of a slew of Chinese data.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – U.S. Senator John Kerry will push Pakistani leaders on Monday to explain how Osama bin Laden was able to hide in their country for years, without further inflaming Pakistani anger over the U.S. raid that killed the al Qaeda chief.

U.S. special forces flew in from Afghanistan on a secret operation to find and kill the al Qaeda leader on May 2, nearly 10 years after he orchestrated the September 11 attacks on the United States.