TV journalist Siddique Bacha Khan has been shot dead in the city of Mardan in Pakistan’s restive North West Frontier Province. Unidentified gunmen ambushed Bacha Khan, news correspondent for the independent Aaj TV channel, and shot him at close range before fleeing the scene. The journalist was critically injured and died en route to the hospital, according to Aaj TV and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. Read more here
Australia has announced plans to amend its anti-terrorism legislation to give more power to the police. Australia has gradually extended laws on detaining and interrogating terrorism suspects since 2001. There are plans to broaden the definition of a terrorist to include individuals planning to inflict psychological damage as well as those intending to cause physical injury. Read more here
The U.S. government is covertly testing technology in China and Iran that lets residents break through screens set up by their governments to limit access to news on the Internet. The “feed over email” (FOE) system delivers news, podcasts and data via technology that evades web-screening protocols of restrictive regimes, said the U.S. government’s Broadcasting Board of Governors. Read more here
Journalists, writers and booksellers united in Baghdad today to stage a protest against censorship. The protesters are concerned about encroachments by the government on the freedom of writers, both in print and online. The demonstration took place in front of Baghdad’s Mutanabi Street book market, with the crowd chanting: “Yes, yes for freedom. No, no to silencing journalists.” Read more here