The world will welcome the lofty ideas that have figured in Obama's Arab Spring speech, but the credibility deficit will remain till the US conduct on the ground matches the President's golden vocabulary, says TP Sreenivasan.

Embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's wife and daughter have fled the country to neighbouring Tunisia, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said."The pressure on the Gaddafi regime has increased to the point that Gaddafi's wife and daughter fled across the border into Tunisia in the last two days," she said."There is an enormous amount of increased messaging going to Gaddafi," she said.

Osama bin Laden extols the "winds of change" blowing in the Arab world and asks Muslims around the world to keep the present day revolutions from running out of steam in a new audio tape apparently recorded a few months before his death.

Political leaders, industrialists and businessmen are increasingly looking to tap the resource-rich countries of the world's second largest continent even as two-way trade between India and Africa is poised to reach $70 billion by 2015 from $46 billion at present.

The UPA thinks that food security can be addressed by importing food. Land must be acquired for the industry to be a vehicle for higher growth. There can be nothing more dangerous than this flawed approach, says Devinder Sharma.

Any government that comes to power in India now and in the future will ignore at its own peril the rising expectations of people who are in no mood to tolerate nonsense from ruling circles.

United States investigation officials have stumbled upon an unreleased video of Osama bin Laden which shows the slain Al Qaeda chief speaking on the recent unrest in the Middle East but has no reference to the uprisings in Libya, Yemen and Syria.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had forecast that India's economy would grow at 8 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.

Pro-Gaddafi forces pounded the port and launched a new armoured incursion into the western besieged city of Misurata on Monday, as the United Nations pulled out its staff from the Libyan capital Tripoli following violence targetting its offices.

IMF says there will be a lot of challenges to deal with, especially because of youth unemployment.

In an unprecedented step in the Arab world, Egyptian prosecutors on Wednesday detained the country's ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to face investigations on charges of corruption and abuse of power. "Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal have been detained for 15 days for questioning on corruption and abuse of authority charges," official news agency MENA reported quoting a statement from Egypt's justice ministry.

Noting that the military action by the coalition forces has significantly degraded the ability of the Libyan regime to defend itself, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said the people themselves would throw Muammar Gaddafi out of power.

Libyan forces on Tuesday struck back at the rebels hampering their march towards Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, as world leaders gathered in London to map out his early exit from power.

The new technology also includes a special application that can be activated if the smart phone is confiscated by security authorities.

Crude prices touched 30-months high of $120 per barrel last month following unrest in Egypt and Tunisia.

'The strength of an uprising is directly proportional to the level of anger simmering among the people. Wherever this anger spills over, people will rise up in revolt. People will not tolerate despotic regimes for long; once they have raised their voice the regime has to listen to them.'

Wary of uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, military troops and security forces backed by tanks on Wednesday cracked down to clear the landmark Pearl Square in Manama, a day after country's Sunni rulers clamped martial law in the violence-wracked gulf kingdom. An official statement read out on television said that the king had authorised the commander of Bahrain's defence forces to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of the country and its citizens.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday arrived in Cairo to engage with the new Egyptian leadership on hosts of issues including Egypt's transition to democracy and bilateral ties.

Food inflation is rampant the world over. In Tunisia -- and to some extent in Egypt -- it actually led to the toppling of the government following riots over high food prices. West Asia and North Africa too have seen similar -- and huge -- protests over the hardships people are faced with due to runway inflation.

India said it looks forward to complete the mammoth operation of evacuating about 18,000 of its nationals from strife-torn Libya by Thursday.

Srikanth Kondapalli says that while China had scuttled popular outpouring a number of times before, a prairie fire is raging across the country.

Armed forces on Tuesday launched fresh air raids on Libya's rebel-held eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf in a bid to prevent protestors from advancing towards Tripoli, amid mounting global calls for enforcing a no-fly zone over the country.Muammar Gaddafi's warplanes dropped missiles near rebel positions in the desert east of Ras Lanuf, reports said, adding there were no casualties or damage.The Libyan ruler's supporters moved eastward in an effort to push the rebels back.

Pro-Gaddafi forces were locked in a fierce battle with rebels in Libya's east to reclaim the lost territory as the regime scrambled hard to quell fresh protests in Tripoli, amid reports that at least 49 people were killed in the fighting and explosions in a military arms depot.

"Muammar Gaddafi has lost legitimacy to lead, and he must leave," Obama said at a White House news conference.

A total of 1,034 Indians arrived in New Delhi by three special flights of Air India on Thursday, from strife-torn Libya, taking the number of evacuees from the north African country to 3,262.

The purpose of the strolls is not to indulge in any noticeable protest activity, but just to get out into the streets in large numbers and take a stroll as a silent mark of their demands.

Nearly a third of 18,000 Indians, stuck in strife-torn Libya, would have been evacuated by Tuesday through air and sea.

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.

Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked anti-regime protesters with machine guns and rocket- propelled grenades at a mosque in Zawiyah leaving nearly 100 people dead, as outraged western nations on Friday prepared to slap sanctions against Tripoli.

Kashmiris are watching with great interest the 'Tunisami' that began in Tunisia and is spreading through the virtual and real world.

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the use of force against peaceful demonstrators in Libya and expressed deep regret at the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

The world over, food inflation is rampant. In Tunisia, it actually led to the toppling of the government following riots over high food prices

Libya's defiant leader Muammer Gaddafi vowed to fight his detractors and die a martyr, as outrage grew over the bloody suppression of anti-government protests in his country.

Libya's anti-government protesters took control of several cities in the north African country and reached capital Tripoli for the first time amid reports that its leader Muammar Gaddafi has fled the country.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against the backdrop of violent protests in Gulf, West Asian and North African regions, which is home to lakhs of Indians. Krishna is understood to have briefed Dr Singh on the various steps taken by his ministry to ensure the safety and security of Indians living in these regions. The prime minister was briefed about the contingency plans of the ministry in case of any threat.

Rediff.com takes a look at Middle East countries where 'dissent' has become a way of life. Click on NEXT to read further...

Rajeev Srinivasan on whether social media can lead to lasting change, or whether it is merely a flash in the pan.

Global growth may be rebounding, but labour markets are not, or only very weakly and unevenly.

The Bhartiya Janata Party will pressure the United Progressive Alliance government in the upcoming Parliament session to act on a 23-point charter formulated by its 'task force' for following constitutional, legal, political and geo-political measures to unearth and bring back the Indian monies illegally stashed abroad.

India needs to be concerned about the implication of restive people wanting to change regime after regime, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.