Pakistan blocks 2 independent news channels critical of the government without explanation

October 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has said officials of the private US security firm, Blackwater, are moving freely in Pakistan and has criticized the Gilani government for following the policies of former President General Pervez Musharraf. Khan claimed that the Blackwater has established its office in Peshawar.

September 7th, 2009 Anti-Chavez TV faces possible 72-hour shutdownCARACAS, Venezuela — A leading television channel aligned with Venezuela's opposition said Monday that it could be shut down amid a new investigation of alleged violations of broadcasting laws. Globovision TV — the last major channel on Venezuela's regular airwaves strongly critical of President Hugo Chavez — has been formally notified of the investigation by the telecommunications commission.

August 24th, 2009 Afghan TV journalist gunned down in NW PakistanJAMRUD, Pakistan — Gunmen shot dead an Afghan television journalist and severely wounded his colleague Monday in northwestern Pakistan. Janullah Hashim Zada was gunned down as he traveled on a public minibus from Torkham on the Afghan border to the main northwestern city of Peshawar, said Khyber Agency official Omair Khan.

August 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) (PML-Q) leader, Bushra Rehman has blamed Bollywood for spoiling the youth in the country. Speaking in the National Assembly, Rehman said cable operators and certain television channels are telecasting Indian movies which is affecting the culture of the country adversely.

July 22nd, 2009 Chavez eyes handing radio stations to socialistsCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that hundreds of radio stations his government plans to seize for allegedly operating illegally could be turned over to Venezuelans who share his socialist vision. "We are going to retake control of the radio waves," Chavez told a crowd of supporters.

July 18th, 2009 Prosecutors charge head of anti-Chavez TV channelCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan prosecutors filed charges against the head of an opposition-aligned TV news channel on Friday, accusing him of usury and conspiracy to commit a crime after authorities seized 24 new vehicles on his property. Guillermo Zuloaga, president and owner of Globovision, called the charges "harassment" as he left a prosecutors' office, insisting he has done nothing illegal.

July 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - : Cricketer-turned politician, Imran Khan has charged the PPP-led government of being subservient to the United States, saying that government has rented out the country's army to the US in exchange of 1.5 billion dollars. "We have rented our military out to US in exchange of mere 1.5 billion dollars while US is spending sixty billion dollars on its army comprising 55,000 troops in Afghanistan," The News quoted Khan, as saying.

July 5th, 2009 LAHORE - Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has said that terrorism should not be linked with Islam. Talking to media persons after visiting Jamia Naeemia to express grief over the assassination of country's top religious scholar Sarfaraz Naeemi here, Khan termed the suicide bombings as a 'political issue.' "No religion can allow suicide bombing.

June 29th, 2009 Foreign broadcasters walk a fine line in IranLONDON — Inside the studios of BBC Persian television, dozens of journalists have been working around the clock at their computers and telephones, trying to report the news to Iran — or, according to the government in Tehran, stirring up trouble. Since Iran's disputed election on June 12, the BBC and a handful of other Farsi-language broadcasters around the world, from Amsterdam to Jerusalem, have supplied millions of Iranians with independent reports in their own language about the country's most serious turmoil since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

June 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan may have vehemently opposed the military offensive against the Taliban and other extremists in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) terming the offensive as 'suicidal', but Khan apparently is unsure about what he really wants to achieve by showing a soft corner towards the extremists, an editorial in a leading Pakistan daily said. Khan is of the view that the operation against the militants would not be successful, and said that it would only add to the country's woes by creating more anarchy in the region, over which the government has already lost its control.

June 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly rang Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who also happens to be the UN's Goodwill Ambassador for Refugees, on June 22 to thank her for financial aid. According to reports, Jolie, 34, and her partner Brad Pitt, 45, had donated 1 million dollars to help displaced people in Pakistan.

June 14th, 2009 Venezuela TV outlet calls for talks with presidentCARACAS, Venezuela — A pro-opposition television station called on Saturday for talks with President Hugo Chavez after the Venezuelan leader warned the broadcaster to behave or be shut down. Stepping up his recent verbal attacks on Globovision, Chavez warned its executives Thursday to "reflect" on the station's tough criticism of his government or else it "won't be on the airwaves much longer." Globovision, the last stridently anti-Chavez channel left on the regular airwaves, said Venezuela's socialist president should sit down with the station's managers to discuss the rising tensions between them.

May 26th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Indyarocks.com, the leader in Indian entertainment based social networking, Tuesday announced the launch of 16 free premium video channels in partnership with nautanki.tv, an online video distribution platform. This partnership will enable over three million users of www.indyarocks.com free online access to premium video content from various youth, news, general entertainment and movie channels.

May 9th, 2009 Media groups win battle against UK govtLONDON — Media groups won a legal battle against the British government on Wednesday when judges agreed to reconsider their previous ruling to keep information about a former Guantanamo detainee's alleged torture secret. The case focused on intelligence discussions between the United States and Britain involving the alleged torture of former British resident Binyam Mohamed.

May 9th, 2009 Sri Lanka arrests 3 UK television journalistsCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police arrested three journalists for London-based Channel 4 television news Saturday on charges of tarnishing the image of government security forces, authorities said. Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera said the trio were arrested in the eastern city of Trincomalee on Saturday.