China has scaled back its plans to install controversial net filtering software, “Green Dam Youth Escort” on its citizens’ computers. The government has now said that citizens can choose whether they use the program, although installations on public computers will still go ahead. Read more here
French officials have banned a Muslim woman from swimming in a public pool while wearing a swimsuit that covers her entire body. The woman known only as Carole had previously swum in July in the pool in Emerainville, east of Paris, in the “burkini” – a loose-fitting garment resembling a wetsuit with a hood. The management said this was for hygiene reasons, but she believes it was a political problem. Read more here
Christopher Galley doubts that the latest recommendations will protect whistleblowers. Investigations into leaks need to be wholly independent of politics (more…)
The Associated Press has reported that two of its journalists who were embedded with the United States military in the south of the country had been wounded in a roadside bombing. Photographer, Emilio Morenatti, television news videographer, Andi Jatmiko, were both were immediately taken to a military hospital in Kandahar. Jatmiko suffered leg injuries and two broken ribs, while Morenatti, had his foot amputated . Read more here