Libel: Lord Sugar gets litigious
The Apprentice star and multi-millionaire’s pursuit of journalist Quentin Letts is yet another example of how England’s defamation laws favour the rich and powerful, says Toby Young
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Zambian journalist tried over “pornographic” images
Chansa Kabwela, Editor of Zambia’s largest newspaper, the Post, is on trial over supposed distribution of “pornographic” images. Kabwela sent two images of women giving birth on hospital grounds without medical assistance to Zambian vice-president, George Kunda. Kabwela was hoping to highlight the negative consequences of a recent nurses strike, however, her supporters believe that the current charges may be politically motivated as the Post has in the past exposed a great deal of government corruption.
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Russia: Politkovskaya retrial begins
The retrial of three men allegedly involved in the murder Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya opens before a military court today (5 August) in Moscow. They are former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, who is accused of helping to organise the contract-style killing, and two Chechen brothers, Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov, who are accused of being accessories. They are being retried because prosecutors appealed successfully against their acquittal by a jury last February. But the main protagonists of Politkovskaya’s murder will not be in court tomorrow. They are the alleged the trigger-man, Rustam Makhmudov, who is on the run and believed to be abroad, and those who contracted the killing, whose identity is still unknown.
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US Marines ban social networks
The US marine corps have banned the use of social networking sites, after officials expressed concern about potential security risks. An order sent out to marines on 4 August informed them that they could no longer use sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter in case enemy groups used the information they contained to their advantage. The move is being seen by some as a signal that the Pentagon could enact a blanket ban on social networks across the entire military system. Last year the Pentagon used a fresh tactic to try and control the flow of information by launching TroopTube — a military-sponsored version of YouTube that allows serving personnel to share videos with only their friends and family members. All videos placed on the site must be checked by a Department of Defense worker before they are approved.