The offices of daily newspapers in the Nigerian cities of Abuja and Kaduna were bombed on 26 April. In a statement issued yesterday, Nigeria’s State Security Services said that a total of five persons were killed in the blasts, including the suicide bomber responsible for the bombing in Abuja. The attacks are said to bear the hallmarks of the actions of Islamist group Boko Haram.
Legislation which aims to prevent attacks on USA infrastructure and private companies has been approved, despite objections from Barack Obama’s administration. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) encourages companies to share internet collected information in an attempt to prevent cyber attacks from criminals, foreign governments and terrorists. The Republican controlled House of Representatives backed the legislation in a vote of 248-168.
Access to the website of Ethiopia’s leading weekly newspaper has been blocked within the country. The website of privately-owned weekly, The Reporter, has been inaccessible since 21 April, other than through a proxy server. Though the reason for the blocking is unclear, it has been speculated that the block is being carried out by the state-owned company Ethio-Telecom, the only ISP in the country. The site usually has 30,000 visitors per day.
Thousands of Malaysians plan to demonstrate in favour of electoral reform this week. But the country’s new security laws are set to make political dissent and free speech more difficult, says Malik Imtiaz Sarwar
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