Almost three months into the campaign of air strikes, Britain and its Nato allies no longer believe bombing alone will end the conflict in Libya, well-placed government officials have told the Guardian.

Instead, they are pinning their hopes on the defection of Muammar Gaddafi's closest aides, or the Libyan leader's agreement to flee the country.

"No one is envisaging a military victory," said one senior official who echoed Tuesday's warnings by Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, head of the navy, that the bombing cannot continue much beyond the summer.

Stanhope, whose comments caused fury in Downing Street, was expressing publicly what many senior defence officials say in private, officials made clear.

The conflict is also straining relations between Washington and its European allies. Although few Nato countries are taking part

No sooner had Michele Bachmann hijacked the Republican presidential contenders' debate to declare she is indeed a candidate for the White House than her newly minted campaign website said she is on her way to "reclaim America".

Americans may know far less about the first congresswoman from Minnesota than they do of that other darling of the Tea Party movement, Sarah Palin. But they are about to learn fast.

Her performance in Monday night's Republican candidates' debate marked her out as a serious threat, not only to Palin's ambitions but by having the potential to force issues onto the agenda – even if she faces an uphill struggle to build enough support to win the nomination.

Politico rated her as runner-up in the debate to the favourite in the

The controller of BBC1 has hailed chain-smoking EastEnders stalwart Dot Branning as an example of a Christian living out her faith in a "day to day way".

Danny Cohen made the remarks after being challenged to provide instances of ordinary believers on television who were not "freaks, geeks or antiques".

Branning, played by June Brown and better known as Dot Cotton before she remarried, is one of the longest-serving characters on the BBC1 soap having joined shortly after its launch in 1985, although the actor took a break from the show in the 1990s. The character is in her 70s and known for her devout Christian faith, chain-smoking, gossiping and hypochondria.

Cohen told delegates attending this year's Church and Media conference on Tuesday: "She is a single example of someone who lives out her faith

Austria's government has stopped the planned sale of two alpine mountain peaks next month after national uproar.

The 2,600-metre Rosskopf and the 2,700-metre Grosse Kinigat, in the easternmost part of Tyrol province, are on offer for a total of €121,000 (£107,000).

Ernst Eichinger, of the agency in charge of the sale, said his office had been bombarded with calls and emails ranging from "indignation to abuse", and the deal, originally set for 8 July, was suspended pending review.

Gerhard Hausser, who heads the Tyrol branch of the rightist-nationalist FPO party, said any such deal would be "a cheap step toward the sellout of our homeland". An association of provincial parliamentarians warned: "Whoever wants to sell our mountains seeks to sell the soul of our country.

Any future buyer will be bound by a range of restrictions on use, meant to allow holidaymakers and alpinists free access to the peaks. Local authorities have wide jurisdiction prohibiting future owners from displaying offensive or shrill advertising or erecting buildings that do not fit the region's character.

The economics minister, Reinhold Mitterlehner, said the preferred buyers would be Tyrol itself, the village of Kartisch at the foot of the peaks or the federal forestry authority. "The privatisation of the mountain peaks makes no sense," he said. "I therefore support keeping Grosser Kinigat and Rosskopf in the Austrian and public sector."