Asia

Malaysia has withdrawn a ban on a Catholic newspaper's Malay-language edition imposed in a row over the use of the word "Allah", an official said Thursday. The decision was made after the Herald weekly threatened to sue the government, the Home Ministry's publications control unit secretary Che Din Yusof told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "We received their letter. We have reviewed the decision and...

The abductors of Canadian freelance journalist Beverly Giesbrecht in Pakistan have made ransom demands, according to Canadian Press news agency. The Pakistani International News website, citing unnamed sources, reported that the abductors want the equivalent of about $150,000 and the release of their colleagues from the Bagram jail in Afghanistan, in exchange for the release of Beverly Giesbrecht...

The editors of two leading Vietnamese newspapers were fired on January 2, the latest in a series of measures by the Vietnamese government to stifle criticism and dissent, Human Rights Watch has reported. In December, the government announced strict new regulations banning internet blogs that disseminate politically sensitive content deemed subversive by the government. During the last three months...

Thai authorities have blocked 2,300 websites for allegedly insulting the country's monarchy, with 400 more awaiting a court order to restrict them, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has reported. The Economic Times Online quoted Information and Communication (ICT) Minister Ranongruk Suwanchawee as saying on January 6 that "The blocking of websites that disseminate content and pictures...

Gunmen on a motorcycle Thursday shot and killed the editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper critical of the government, the second violent attack on media this week. Sunday Leader Chief Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga was in a car on his way to work when he was attacked, Wickramatunga's brother Lal told Reuters. "The gunman smashed the window of the vehicle and shot at him," Lal Wickramatunga said. Doctors...

Myanmar's (Burma) censorship board has stopped issuing licenses to 11 weekly journals and 20 magazines which failed to renew their license, sources in the Yangon (Rangoon) literary community said, according to Mizzima news agency. Mizzima reported: [ Link] An editor of a weekly journal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the censorship board, which is under the Ministry of Information, has...

At least seven people, three of them policemen and two journalists, were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the Government Polytechnic College near an imambargah in Dera Ismail Khan district of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on January 4, the Dawn newspaper has reported. The suicide attack followed an explosion of low intensity. Over 20 people were injured, most of...

A Davao broadcaster was released on December 23, 2008 after having spent almost two years in prison in Davao del Norte following his conviction on charges of libel, according to Manila-based Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). Davao is a province located approximately 946 km south of Manila. Libel is a criminal offence in the Philippines. Alexander Adonis, formerly of Bombo Radyo...

Over thirty armed men belonging to the Sindh Nationalist Front (SNF) political party in Pakistan stormed the offices of Sindhi-language daily Awami Awaz and threatened its staff on New Year's Day, Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has reported. The intruders, who were led by Anwar Gujjar, SNF's media coordinator, held the staff hostage for about half an hour and inquired into the whereabouts of the...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed the ten-point agreement between the Nepal government and the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), which led to the cancellation of a nationwide demonstration over growing attacks on the media. In signing the agreement on January 5, Information and Communications Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara reportedly said that the government...