Dubai/Karachi, Feb. 16 : The ICC has briefed the Pakistan and Sri Lanka players, backroom staff and officials on the new ICC Anti-Doping Code (2009) which came into effect on January 1,2009.

The code has several changes from the ICC's previous anti-doping regulations, including the adoption of the International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP), made up of the leading players (according to the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings) from each of the top eight ranked ODI teams.

Riyadh  - Saudi Arabia has appointed the country's first-ever female cabinet official on Saturday as part of a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle.

Saudi King Abdullah appointed Nour Fayez as deputy minister for women's education, in a move considered a milestone in Saudi Arabia, a country in which women only started to vote five years ago.

In the religiously conservative country women are banned from driving, and rights groups have frequently condemned the legal status and treatment of women.

The country, governed via a strict interpretation of Islamic law, prevents unrelated women and men from mixing in public. Women only make up to 5 percent of the workforce in Saudi Arabia, the lowest proportion in the world.

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia has appointed the country's first-ever female cabinet official on Saturday as part of a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle.

Saudi King Abdullah appointed Nour Fayez as deputy minister for women's education, in a move considered a milestone in Saudi Arabia, a country in which women only started to vote five years ago.

In the religiously conservative country women are banned from driving, and rights groups have frequently condemned the legal status and treatment of women.

Dubai, Feb. 11 : Shortly after the Indian Premier League (IPL) slapped a year long ban on Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif , the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday said that it would not tolerate doping scandals in the sport.

ICC's Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said the apex international cricket body maintains a zero tolerance on doping.

The ICC also confirmed that it had received notification about Asif's ban from IPL, and it expects other members of the Council to respect it.

Dubai, Feb. 11 : The second annual two-day ICC Broadcaster and Sponsor Forum was held in Dubai this week.

The forum brought together all ICC's major commercial partners - ESPN STAR Sports, Reliance Mobile, LG Electronics, Pepsico, Yahoo!, Emirates Airline and Reebok - as well as the ICC's main suppliers and service providers.

The theme of the forum was partnerships and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat told the meeting that it was incumbent on the ICC to forge successful partnerships with the commercial sector.

Lyon, France  - The international police organization Interpol said on Tuesday it had issued an unprecedented global alert for 85 terrorists suspected of planning attacks against Saudi Arabia from abroad.

The 83 Saudis and two Yemenis are wanted by Saudi Arabia on terrorism-related charges, including links to al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan, Interpol said in a statement issued in Lyon, where its headquarters are located.

"Never before has Interpol been asked to alert the world about so many dangerous fugitives at one time," the organization's secretary-general, Ronald K. Noble, said.