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U.S. officials called Koussa's resignation "very significant," and an example of growing splits inside the Libyan government. The foreign minister has been a close confidant of Mr. Gadhafi and served as his intelligence chief for more than a decade.

In Washington, the White House repeated that no decision has been made to provide arms to rebel forces in Libya. Wednesday's statement was issued amid reports that President Barack Obama has approved a secret authorization for covert efforts to support anti-government rebels.

The New York Times reported that the CIA has put an  Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price.unknown number of operatives into Libya to gather intelligence and make contact with anti-Gadhafi forces. The newspaper said the CIA declined comment on the report, which quoted what it called current and former British officials as saying British special forces and intelligence officers also are in the North African nation.

Earlier Wednesday, Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price. troops loyal to Mr. Gadhafi drove anti-government rebels from key coastal cities they had seized days before, reversing opposition gains made since international airstrikes began.

Libyan rebels retreated amid intense fighting  Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price.around the strategic oil towns of Ras Lanuf and Brega. Many opposition fighters fell back to the city of Ajdabiya, from where residents were seen fleeing along the road toward the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.

Pro-Gadhafi forces were shelling Brega and a rebel military spokesman said he expected the loyalists to enter the city by Wednesday night.

Lindsay Lohan has one less legal worry after prosecutors announced they would not pursue any charges against her over a December scuffle with a rehab worker.

Riverside County District Attorney's spokesman John new fashion 2011 nike running shoes onlineHall said prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to pursue a misdemeanour battery case against the actress.

Police were called to a Betty Ford Centre facility in Palm Desert around 1am on December 12 after a worker accused Lohan of hurting her during an altercation.

The worker, Dawn Holland, later spoke about the incident on camera with TMZ and was fired by Betty Ford for violating patient confidentiality rules.

Lohan was nearingnew fashion 2011 nike running shoes online the end of her three-month court-ordered treatment at the centre after violating her probation on a 2007 drunken driving case.

Prosecutors had sought further investigation from police agencies that responded to the call, but ultimately found there was not enough evidence to file charges.

The Mean Girls star faces a far more new fashion 2011 nike running shoes onlineserious case in Los Angeles, where she is accused of felony grand theft after a jewellery store claimed she took a 2,500 dollar necklace without permission.

Lohan has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer has said she is innocent. The actress last week rejected a plea deal that included guaranteed time in jail and is due in court on April 22 for a preliminary hearing during which prosecutors will lay out some of their evidence against the starlet.

The Giants took the AT&T Park field Monday night for the first time since Game 2 of the World Series, but they did so without closer Brian Wilson.

It's looking more and more likely that Wilson will be a spectator on opening day, as well.

Manager Bruce Bochy Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price said it is "less than 50-50" that Wilson will be ready by Thursday's season opener in Los Angeles. Wilson is still in Scottsdale rehabbing a left oblique strain suffered during a March 17 appearance.

"The chances are he will not start with  Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale priceus," Bochy said. "But we still want to give him the benefit of the doubt."

Wilson is scheduled for an 8-10 minute  Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale pricebullpen session Tuesday.

"We aren't going to rule him out completely, although we'll have a better answer tomorrow," said Bochy, who added that Wilson being ready by opening day would "really be pushing it."

The 2010-11 college basketball awards season began in earnest Monday with BYU’s Jimmer Fredette collecting two huge prizes for his outstanding play in leading the Cougars to their first. Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in 30 years.

Fredette was selected as the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy by the United States Basketball Writers Association, given annually to the best player in college basketball by the 900 or so journalists who belong to the USBWA.

The senior guard was also named Associated. Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price Press first-team All-America, earning 64 of the 65 first-team votes for the honor. Duke’s Nolan Smith, Purdue’s JuJuan Johnson, UConn’s Kemba Walker and OSU’s Jared Sullinger also made the first team.

Fredette is BYU’s first All-American since Danny Ainge in 1981.

“If you go out and play your game and have confidence in yourself, you can accomplish great things,” Fredette said. “That’s what I’ve always said in my head, and it has worked out.”

The AP said the voting was done before the NCAA Tournament.

“I think that it is a great accomplishment.. Buy cheap nike mens sandals st wholesale price Unbelievable,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “It shows how good his work ethic is. He’s a player who has worked his way into an All-American. What he’s meant to our program over the last four years — it is really kind of immeasurable.”

The Robertson Award will be presented to Fredette by Oscar Robertson himself in Houston on Friday in conjunction with the Final Four.

The other three major national player of the year awards — the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year, the Associated Press Player of the Year and the John Wooden Award — will be presented in April.

Fredette is the second Robertson Trophy winner from the Mountain West Conference. He joins Utah’s Andrew Bogut, who won the award in 2005.

Utah State’s Tai Wesley and Utah Valley’s Isiah Williams were named Honorable Mention All-Americans.

Egypt's stock exchange surged by about 5 percent early Sunday as investors previously cautious about its nearly two-month closure returned to the market and began reversing the earlier losses.

The broader EGX100 index traded up

almost 5.1 percent within five minutes of the market's opening, forcing the suspension of trading for 30 minutes in a pattern repeated since the Egyptian Exchange resumed operations on Wednesday.

The exchange had been shuttered since Jan. 27, just two days after the mass protests that eventually forced President Hosni Mubarak from power began. It had fallen over 16 percent before closing down, and on its first day back in business, the benchmark EGX30 index closed down almost 9 percent, and fell another roughly

 3.7 percent the following day.

On both those days, trading was suspended within minutes of the market's opening.

But individual investors who had largely stood on the sidelines last week, stepped back in the market, while institutional investors were seen the still selling, though at lower volumes than before, traders said.

"The buyers are mainly Egyptians and

 (Gulf) Arabs," said Khaled Naga, a broker with Mega Investments who on Thursday had predicted that most shares could move back into the black after spending the first two days of the market's reopening trading at or near their 10 percent limit down.

Barnes was given the moniker "Barnesbot" by fans for his emotionless knack to rip an opponent's heart out. Or pulling off an incredible play sans any sort of acknowledgement for the human life around him. He was all business, even when he was good. Really good. That super sturdy posture, a look-ahead, killer-eyed demeanor. All that was missing was the emotion.

Against Kentucky, Barnes found his mean streak. Very mean. He'd shown it here and there in recent weeks, but nothing like the verbal sparring match he and Wildcat DeAndre Liggins had for the majority of the second half. They stole evil looks at each other -- most frequently when the other was looking away.

"Sit your [expletive] [expletive] down," Barnes scolded Liggins at one point in the second half after Liggins picked up a foul and Kentucky coach John Calipari immediately tugged him from the game. After the vigor and intensity from the game wore off, Barnes easily praised the player who held him in check for a large portion of the game.

"DeAndre Liggins, you know, I mean, he's a good player," Barnes said. "Known for his defense, mostly, but he has an offensive game as well. Just being able to go against him, that was great."

The spirit from Barnes on Sunday night was great to see, but soon after he helped bring North Carolina back to within two, 67-65, with a personal 8-2 run, he never scored again. His emotional excursion didn't lead to his lack of production; it's just unfortunate the two never locked together for long stretches of play.

"I was trying to give my team what it needed," Barnes said. "We were short on scoring; I tried to take it

upon myself to will my team to win. And, unfortunately, I came up short."

Barnes finished with 18 points in the loss. He didn't lead the team in scoring -- that was Zeller, who had 21 and joined Barnes on the East Regional All-Tournament team -- and grabbed six rebounds. Barnes forced the issue at times. He was 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

He only got to the foul line twice, making two of those three shots.

His potential remains largely untapped. He'

s seen as a top-five pick in this year's NBA Draft. But he's just a freshman. Like Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, he wasn't asked to join his coach in front of the horde of media in the postgame press conference. Unlike Sullinger, Barnes didn't sit in the locker room and make a definitive declaration about his future.