Nasrin to remain in India
Novelist Taslima Nasrin, in exile in India after her writings led to threats in her native Bangladesh, has had her visa extended by the Indian government.
Globovision under threat
Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz has been asked to investigate independent TV station Globovision, after allegations it had “undermined” President Hugo Chavez by broadcasting a news report that showed him chewing coca leaves.
Read more here
Sudan: newspaper censored
Security officials in Sudan yesterday blocked the publication of opposition newspaper al-Rai al Shaab, because of articles on the alleged support provided by the Sudanese government for recent rebels attacks in Chad. The Khartoum government has consistently denied backing the rebels.
Read more here
What happened to debate?
The banning of a “preacher of hate” raises far more problems than it solves, writes Abdul-Rehman Malik
The recent denial of a visa to Yusuf al Qaradawi, the influential Qatar-based scholar accused of preaching hatred against homosexuals and encouraging terrorism amongst Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, is unsettling. The reasons for the rebuff are based on ad hoc, inconsistent policy and more importantly on a fear that a certain segment of our population is so particularly gullible and immature that they cannot be trusted to filter good ideas from bad ones.
The truth is that the UK welcomes all kinds of nefarious characters to its shores, whether they are retired despots (like Augusto Pinochet) or leaders of autocratic regimes (the list is rather long).