Ethiopia’s popular singer, Teddy Afro, was freed from prison last Thursday after serving 18 months of a two-year sentence because of good behaviour. Teddy, whose real name is Tewodros Kassahun, was found guilty of the killing of a homeless man in a...
Saudi Arabia has begun blocking the Twitter pages of activists in the country. Human rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair and businessman Khaled al Nasser said their Twitter pages have been blocked since about Monday by the official government Internet...
One of Sri Lanka's most eminent academics has received an anonymous death threat, officials say. The threat in a letter was sent to the home of Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). He is the...
A Japanese horror film entitled Grotesque has been refused an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification. BBFC director David Cooke said that he and other colleagues had made the decision as “the chief pleasure of the film seemed to...
In the northern town of Varallo Sesia in Italy, women wearing the "burkini", a garment made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings, face a fine of €500 if they are spotted at swimming pools or rivers. The mayor of the northern Piedmont town said:...
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Borders are among stores stocking versions of the Lesbian Vampire Killers film with stickers obscuring the word “lesbian” and a photo of cleavage that appears on the sleeve. The sticker in certain stores states...
Authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat state have banned a controversial book on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The book has been written by Jaswant Singh, who was expelled as leader of the Hindu nationalist main opposition...
Vogue cover girl has won a precedent-setting court battle to order Google to unmask an anonymous blogger who called her a “skank” on the internet. Model Liskula Cohen says she has not ruled out suing the blogger. The anonymous remarks targeting...
Israelis have reacted furiously to an allegation in a Swedish newspaper that its soldiers have killed Palestinians in order to harvest their organs. Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest-circulation daily newspaper, carried the headline: "Our sons are...
British broadcasters have not changed their plans for covering the Afghan election after the country's government ordered media organisations not to report on any violence during the polls. The BBC said it would proceed with its plans for covering...
Short-term restrictions on freedom of expression in the run up to Thursday’s Afghan vote may mask deeper and longer term steps to curtail the rights of the media that independent journalists may find harder to resist, says Rohan Jayasekera
The six Gambian journalists whom were recently imprisoned will be launching an appeal against their two-year sentences and heavy fines, on the grounds that the convictions were unconstitutional. Hearing is most likely to begin in October as the...