On 25 June authorities arrested popular astrologer Chandrasiri Bandara, after he predicted the president would be ousted from office on 9 September. Read more here
Sri Lanka: astrologer arrested
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CATEGORY: minipost
Iran: academics held
Seventy university professors who met with opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi in Tehran have been arrested. Read more here
Jordan: poet sentenced for “slandering Islam”
Poet Islam Samhan has been sentenced to one year in prison and fined of 10,000 dinars (approx. US$14,100), after he used verses from the Quran in his poetry. Read more here
Politkovskaya murder case set for retrial
Russia's Supreme Court has overturned the acquital of three men charged with the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya. A retrial has been ordered Read more here
Calls for Malaysia to release Burmese protesters
Human Rights Watch has called for the district police in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia to free the 14 Burmese asylum seekers arrested on 19 June at a peaceful celebration of the 64th birthday of the Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Read more...
Gambia Press Union members in hiding
The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in Gambia has closed down The Point newspaper and forced two journalists and an executive member of the Gambia Press Union into hiding. Read more here
Staff of Mousavi newspaper arrested
Twenty-five members of the staff of Kalemeh Sabz, a newspaper owned by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, have been arrested in Tehran. Read more here
Habitat uses Iran election tags to generate Twitter hits
Furniture company Habitats Twitter account used hashtags such as #Iranelection and #Mousavi in order to ensure the company’s messages regarding their products would be seen by a mass audience. Twitter members use hashtags to help them narrow their...
Stars and Stripes accuses US military of censorship
Stars and Stripes, the newspaper that receives U.S. military funding to help it cover and get distributed free to American forces in war zones, complained Tuesday of censorship by military authorities in Iraq. Read more here
Earl Spencer denied press ban on divorce hearing
A High Court judge has ruled the media should not be banned from reporting the proceedings of Earl Spencer's divorce hearing. The Earl and his former wife Caroline wanted a blanket ban on publicity, but Mr Justice Munby would not agree. Read more...