India’s most prominent rationalist faces up to three years in prison after Catholic groups brought blasphemy charges against him. They may get more than they bargained for, says Caspar Melville
India: Blasphemy backlash
read more
CATEGORY: Asia and Pacific
Today I was banned from Vietnam
Vietnam is a country that bans authors because of what they write. I know this because it has just happened to me. Two months ago the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam invited me to attend its annual East Sea conference. Today, standing at the airport...
Xi’s the one: What the pundits are saying about China’s next leader
The world's two biggest superpowers are about to choose their next leaders. While the American battle is laid bare for all to see, in China, Beijing's new emperor and his closest advisers are something of a mystery. That hasn't stopped the rest of...
India changes its internet governance position — backs away from UN proposal
Following outrage from India's civil society and media, it appears the country's government has backed away from its proposal to create a UN body to govern the internet. The controversial plan, which was made without consulting civil...
Ai Weiwei does Gangnam Style (really)
Update 26/10: The clip below has now been blocked in China. While Korean pop sensation Psy was teaching UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon how to do the Gangnam Style dance, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei was at work in his Beijing studio mastering the...
Manchester man given eight months jail for cop-killer T-shirt
A man has been sentenced to a total of eight months in prison by a Manchester court for wearing a T-shirt daubed with offensive comments referring the murders of PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes. Barry Thew, of Radcliffe, Greater Manchester...
How Cambodia silences dissent: 71-year-old radio boss jailed for 20 years
Mam Sonando, the 71-year-old director of Cambodia’s only independent radio station, Beehive Radio, was sentenced to 20 years of prison in a Cambodian court Monday. He was found guilty in inciting a rebellion in the eastern state of Kratie, where he...
Sedition laws: India’s colonial-era threat to free expression
Aseem Trivedi’s arrest for his anti-establishment cartoons shocked and outraged India. Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code, under which Trivedi was arrested, is reserved for anyone who “brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or...
India discusses proposals to regulate the internet
The Indian government’s proposal to the United Nations General Assembly, to form a 50-member United Nations Committee on Internet Related Policies (CIRP) to “regulate” the internet has been met with controversy since it was tabled last October. On...
Pakistan: YouTube blocked over anti-Islam film
Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has reportedly ordered the state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block YouTube after the video-sharing website failed to remove a controversial anti-Islam film, The Innocence of...