The Chinese authorities limited access to video site YouTube over the weekend, after clips of clashes between police and protesters in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, were uploaded. Read more here Read translations of blogs from Tibet at Global...
Iran’s culture ministry yesterday closed down nine lifestyle magazines, claiming they used ‘photos of artists, especially foreign corrupt film stars, as instruments to arouse desire’. The motivation for the ban is unclear. None of the magazines...
The repeal of the blasphemy laws could be a Pyrrhic victory if other laws are used to provide greater protection for religion, writes Padraig Reidy Secularist groups greeted the first step in the repeal of the blasphemy laws with delight last week....
Nihat Ergun of Turkey's ruling AK party has said he does not know when a proposed amendment to Article 301 of the Turkish penal code will be raised in parliament. Article 301, which criminalises the denegration of 'Turkishness' has been used...
The Jordanian ministry of the interior has announced increased restrictions on Internet cafés, which are widespread in the country’s cities. Internet café owners will be obliged to install cameras for the purpose of identifying customers. They will...
The Advertising Standards Agency has ordered a hair product commercial to be withdrawn as it risks causing ‘serious offence’ to Christians. The advert, for ghd IV hairstyling equipment, features erotic images of women alongside text extracted from...
An Afghan magazine editor has been detained in Iran and continues to be held without charge. Ali Muhahiq Nasab, editor of the monthly Haqoq-e-Zan (Women’s Rights), was apparently detained by Iranian officials on 4 March in Qumm, near Tehran....
On 4 March, to mark the publication of its latest issue, 'How Free is the Russian Media?', Index on Censorship hosted a discussion in London and Moscow on the future of the Russian media under President Medvedev. The discussion featured John...
On 5 March, Silvia Blyden, the publisher of privately owned daily newspaper the Awareness Times, was arrested for allegedly ridiculing President Ernest Bai Koroma. Blyden was later released after several hours in custody. The arrest relates to a...
Sihem Bensedrine and her husband Omar Mestiri were seized by customs officials upon their arrival at la Goulette port on 3 March. Awarded the 2008 peace prize by the Danish Peace Foundation, Bensedrine is president of the working group on press...
Shahab Al-Tamimi, president of the Iraqi Union of Journalists, has died after being shot last Saturday. Mr Al-Tamimi’s car was attacked by gunmen last Saturday as he left a meeting in Baghdad. His son Rabi was also injured in the attack. Read more...
The makers of Channel 4 documentary Undercover Mosque are to sue West Midlands Police, after the police force claimed the programme makers had edited the film misleadingly. Broadcast regulators OFCOM cleared the documentary of any wrongdoing in...