Irena Maryniak talks to Sadeq Saba, head of BBC Persian service, about the channel’s future, signal jamming and impartiality
Iran’s satellite silence
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CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Israel: Director to appeal banning of spy documentary
Nir Toib, director of a banned film which exposed an espionage scandal within the Israel Defense Forces[IDF], is to appeal the documentary film's banning at the Supreme Court. The Secret Kingdom features interviews with Brigadier General Yitzhak...
Syria: Human rights activist jailed for three years
Lawyer and human rights activist Muhannad al-Hassani was sentenced to three years in prison by the Damascus Criminal Court on Wednesday 23 June. Having publicly called for the immediate release of political prisoners and condemned their unfair...
Egypt: Protestors arrested following clashes
On 13 June, Cairo security forces arrested 32 demonstrators, angry at alleged police involvement in the death of activist Khaled Mohammed Said. Clashes broke out outside the Egyptian Interior Ministry, where around 200 protestors gathered to argue...
Kuwait: Protesters call for release of jailed journalist
On 9 June, hundreds of Kuwaitis attend a rally to call for the release of opposition journalist and lawyer Mohammed Abdel Qader Al-Jassem. Accused of harming the national interest and undermining the Kuwaiti ruler, al-Jassem has been held in...
Iran: Beyond Twitter, the new revolution
Iran’s green movement will be reborn in small media, says Mahmood Enayat
US soldier arrested over Wikileaks Iraq video
Federal officials have arrested an Army intelligence analyst who boasted that he had given a classified US combat video and top secret State Department records to whistleblower site Wikileaks. Brad Manning is alleged to have leaked a video...
Bahrain bans advisor’s memoir
The diary of a British advisor to Bahraini government has been banned after new material was added to the latest edition. The 600 page book narrates historically significant events during Charles Belgrave's time in the country from 1926 to 1957....
Mordechai Vanunu jailed again in Israel
Mordechai Vanunu, the former Israeli nuclear plant technician who spent 18 years in prison for exposing the country’s nuclear arsenal, was jailed again on 23 May. He was found guilty of “unauthorised meetings with foreigners” which include...
Egypt: Minister accuses journalist of libel
Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit filed a lawsuit against opposition writer Hamdi Kandil for insult and libel on 19 May. Kandil wrote an opinion piece in Al-Shuruq newspaper, entitled Huan al Watan Wa Huan Almutan (Humiliation of homeland...