Footballer Wayne Rooney is launching a libel claim against The Sun newspaper over stories that suggest he booked a holiday which would take place during the closing stages of the World Cup before England was knocked out. The two articles, published...
UK: Lily Allen’s half-sister to sue magazine for libel
Singer Lily Allen's half-sister has launched legal action against Now magazine over an article about her famous relative. Gala Talbott is suing the publication's owner IPC Media, seeking libel damages of up to £15,000. The nineteen-year-old claims...
UK: Matt Lucas to sue the Daily Mail
Little Britain actor Matt Lucas is taking legal action against the Daily Mail over a story that he claims breached his privacy. Entitled How Matt Lucas learned to laugh again, the article detailed how the actor was affected by the suicide of his...
Uganda: Sedition law declared unconstitutional
The Constitutional Court has declared Uganda's law on sedition null and void. Journalists will no longer be legally prevented from criticising President Yoweri Museveni or his government. A panel of five judges ruled on 25 August that the law...
Germany: New law to stop employers checking Facebook
A proposed data privacy law could prevent companies from checking potential employees' Facebook profiles. Employers will be allowed to search applicants on Google, but the use of social networking sites in the selection process will be banned. The...
Iran: Three newspapers closed and one journalist sentenced
Three newspapers have been closed and a jail sentence has been imposed on one journalist in the past few days. The Commission for Press Authorisation and Surveillance, the censorship arm of the ministry of culture and Islamic orientation, has...
China: Blanket media ban on Xinjiang bomb
China's Central Propaganda Department has placed a blanket ban on covering the explosion at Xinjiang, Western China, including the state-owned Xinhua News Agency who had allegedly already reported that the explosion was caused by a bomb. The...
Russia: Activists arrested at U2 concert
Police arrested human rights campaigners and prevented them from gaining signatures for petitions at U2's first concert in Russia, on 25 August. The tents of Amnesty International, Greenpeace Russia, and U2's own charity the ONE campaign for Aids,...
Ukraine: Missing journalist feared dead
Police in eastern Ukraine have reclassified the case of a missing journalist as "premeditated murder". Vasyl Klymentyev, chief editor and reporter for newspaper Novyi Stil, was last seen on 11 August getting into a BMW with an unknown man. The...
Index award winner wins radio licence fight
Carlos Flores, winner of the Index on Censorship and Guardian award for Journalism has won his fight to have his radio licence returned. Flores' radio station, Radio La Voz, was closed by the Peruvian government for allegedly inciting violence in...
Bosnia considers face veil ban
The Bosnian Central Parliament is to discuss new legislation on 1 September that would ban the wearing of a face veil, or niqab. The new law would impose a 24-hour curfew on veiled women, and those violating the ban could be fined 50 euros. Muslim...
Russia: Opposition activists charged after march
An opposition leader and two other activists have been charged with "resisting police" and "holding an unsanctioned march". Former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov was arrested, along with activist Mikhail Schneider and human rights campaigner...