Rediff.com takes a look at Middle East countries where 'dissent' has become a way of life. Click on NEXT to read further...
United States President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drones in Libya against forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, in an effort to provide "precision capabilities" to international coalition forces in the North African state, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out invading Libya against a United Nations mandate, amid concerns that the forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi were using cluster bombs to gain control over rebel strongholds.
Libyan rebels on Saturday regained control of the strategic oil town of Ajdabiya after a week-long airstrikes by western coalition crippled Muammar Gaddafi's forces, amid indication that the tide may be turning against the emabattled leader.
A United States war plane crash landed in Libya as coalition forces hit several defence targets across Tripoli on Tuesday, but there was no let up by Muammar Gaddafi's military which pounded rebel-held towns of Misurata and Ajdabiya.
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy envoy to the United Nations, who had turned against Muammar Gaddafi, has called on the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution imposing a no-fly zone in the North African country within the next 10 hours.
Launching a major evacuation drive, India has brought back over 530 of its nationals from strife-torn Libya by two special Air India planes, even as 88 others crossed over by road to Tunisia from the North African nation facing large-scale protests against the Gaddafi regime.
A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has indicated that it is close to signing a deal with a leading international team to tour the country, which has not hosted a Test nation since 2009. Najam Sethi, who heads the PCB's executive committee, said on a television channel that he cannot disclose the name of the concerned team, but it was a leading side.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) will not be sending match officials to Pakistan for the tour of Zimbabwe should the limited overs series go ahead, the governing body said on Sunday.
Pakistan is in no mood to give up its right to host the Asia Emerging Nations Cup in April despite strong resistance from the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI).
Elton Chigumbura's Pakistan tour came to an abrupt end after the Zimbabwe captain was slapped with a two-match suspension for his team's slow over-rate in Tuesday's first One-Day International in Lahore.
United States-backed Libyan forces said they captured the Islamic State group's headquarters in Sirte on Wednesday, the militants' final bastion in Libya.
Libyans from all walks of life gave Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi a rapturous welcome on his return to his native Libya late Thursday night, even as the survivors and relatives of those killed condemned his release and clamoured for justice.
Sri Lanka registered a 35-run victory over Pakistan in the second T20I
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accused IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of betraying the PCB after none of the 11 Pakistani players got a buyer in the third IPL auction in Mumbai and said he will take up the matter with BCCI.
Two months after resigning as Pakistan Cricket Board's Director-General, Javed Miandad on Monday returned to the post with more powers and the backing of PCB patron-in-chief and the country's President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan face international sporting isolation after gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore on Tuesday in a chilling reminder of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre.
The silver lining is that an awakening is visible in the Pakistani opinion and in the civil society regarding the imperative of strongly meeting the scourge of terrorism. It is in India's interests to foster and encourage this trend rather than score propaganda points, says M K Bhadrakumar
A group of Indian nurses, who were evacuated from Libya by the government, arrived in Kochi in the early hours of Friday morning.
In a move that surprised most of the media critics, the Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party launched a stunning attack on the Pakistan government for its failure to provide protection to the players of the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
Should the government, in the interests of security, insist that the IPL not be held on schedule? Should IPL chief Lalit Modi postpone the tournament to a more conducive moment? Can he?
Sri Lanka vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara said all his team members are safe and out of danger following the attack by gunmen on the team's bus near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Tuesday morning. 'There are a few injuries but everyone is safe and all the players are out of danger,' Sangakkara said.
The Sri Lankan players and officials have been airlifted from the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore by a Pakistan airforce helicopter to facilitate their return to Colombo at the earliest. Six Sri Lankan players suffered minor injuries when around a dozen gunmen attacked the team's bus as it was on its way to the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore to resume play on Day 3 of the second Test against Pakistan.
While it is too early to assess as to who might have been responsible for the attack and why, one has to recall past instances of contacts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the Harkat ul Mujahideen (known as the Harkat ul Ansar before 1997), a member of the International Islamic Front of the Al Qaeda and the role played by the commercial ships of the LTTE in the 1990s in facilitating heroin smuggling from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has bought four bulletproof buses as it tries to convince other teams to shed their security apprehensions and visit the country. Pakistan has largely been shunned by teams since 2009 when gunmen attacked a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers, injuring six players and killing six security personnel and two civilians. The incident has forced Pakistan to play their 'home' matches at the United Arab Emirates and the country has since remained starved of international cricket at home, barring Zimbabwe's limited-overs tour in 2015.
A year has passed since he survived the Lahore terror attacks on Sri Lankan players but match referee Chris Broad on Wednesday said "cricket's 9/11" would remain with him till he dies.
Television reports said at least 3 people had been injured in the blasts that went off as a music show was in progress in the Al-Hamra Complex near the stadium.
Veteran batsman Sanath Jayasuriya on Tuesday said the Sri Lankan team managed to escape with minor injuries after their team bus was attacked by gunmen in Lahore on their way to the Gaddafi stadium.
Sri Lanka vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, who suffered minor injuries after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team's bus in Lahore, said the entire cricket team is a state of shock. 'Everybody is safe. They are a few injuries, but all of them are out of danger. We all are a bit shocked but fine,' Sangakkara told CNN-IBN.
Skipper Mohammed Ashraful scored his second one-day hundred to lead Bangladesh to a comprehensive 96-run win against against United Arab Emirates in a Group A match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament in Lahore on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka trounced top-ranked Pakistan 3-0 after a 13-run victory in the third and final Twenty20, in front of 27,000 fans at the Gaddafi Stadium, in Lahore, on Wednesday. Needing 54 runs off the last five overs, with eight wickets in hand, Pakistan again stumbled in its run-chase for the third successive time in the series and were restricted to 134-6.
Libya said both the countries can play a major role as Libya is the northern gate for Africa, and India is an active member seeking to play an essential role in Asia.
Pakistan won 24 of its 53 Test matches under Misbah and, for the first time, occupied the top Test rankings last year before a dip in form set in.
Temperamental fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has gone on the warpath with the Pakistan Cricket Board insisting he will not respond to any notices sent to him by the PCB over his recent critical statements in the media.
Just as they were about a kilometre away from the stadium, Taufel says, he heard something that sounded like firecrackers.
Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, would host the two semifinals
Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, would host the two semifinals
A suicide bomber who "always talked of jihad" blew himself up in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, injuring two policemen, while 15 persons were hurt in a blast near Lahore's Gaddafi Cricket Stadium.
South Africa beat Pakistan by 14 runs in the fifth and final ODI to clinch the five-match series 3-2.
Seamers Rao Iftikhar and Umar Gul shared six wickets and Mohammad Yousuf hammered a century to guide Pakistan to a 25-run win over South Africa in the second one-dayer at the Gaddafi stadium on Saturday.
