LIBYA The chief of Libya's former rebels arrives in Tripoli, greeted by a boisterous red carpet ceremony meant to show he's taking charge of the interim government replacing the ousted regime of Moammar Gadhafi. But even as Libya's new leaders try to consolidate control over the vast country, Gadhafi loyalists push back hard against an assault on the town of Bani Walid, one of Gadhafi's remaining strongholds, in a sign that the battle is far from over. ___ SYRIA The head of the Arab League meets with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss ways of ending the bloodshed in the country, even as activists report at least five people killed in the government's crackdown on a 6-month-old uprising. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby describes the talk with Assad as a "frank conversation," but offers few details. ___ EGYPT The storming of the Israeli Embassy by a mob of Egyptian protesters inflicted a "severe injury to the fabric of peace" between the two countries, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns, as both sides' leadership tries to contain the worst crisis in ties since their 1979 peace treaty. The ambassador and the entire embassy staff except for one deputy ambassador are evacuated from Egypt along with their families in the face of the overnight rampage at the Nile-side embassy in Cairo. ___ YEMEN A Yemeni military official says forces have driven al-Qaida-linked militants out of part of the southern city of Zinjibar, held by the fighters for nearly four months. Islamic militants seized the town in late May and another a month earlier, taking advantage of the political turmoil unleashed by months of protests against Yemen's longtime ruler.
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