Australian clerics in media ban
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Five of Australia's most powerful Islamic clerics are banned from talking to the media by Muslim leaders.
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Iraq's interim government extends a month-long ban on the Arabic TV news channel, al-Jazeera.
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The Malaysian government reverses its decision to ban a Christian newspaper for using the word Allah to mean God.
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Berlin's local government on Monday banned a planned Islamic conference in the German capital that security officials feared would be a forum to preach support for terrorism.
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Lebanon has banned Dan Brown's bestselling novel "The Da Vinci Code" after Catholic leaders complained it was offensive to Christianity.
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Saudi Arabian officials have reportedly detained a blogger whose writing has criticized religious extremism in the country, according to the two press freedom groups and a regional human-rights organization.Blogger and IT professional Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan, 32, was taken into custody on December 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported on Wednesday. His Arabic-language site now has a &quot;Free Fouad&quot; banner in English across the top.In a letter sent to friends shortly before his arrest, al-Farhan wrote that he had been told that the interior ministry was investigating him and would pick him up within two weeks. At the time he described the worst case as being jailed for three days, but he was still being held without charge as of Friday, according to Joel Campagna, Middle East program coordinator for the CPJ in New York.Al-Farhan&#39;s blog promotes political reform and bears the tagline, &quot;Searching for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, Shura and all the remaining Islamic values which are missing,&quot; along with a dedication to his daughters, according to a report on the website of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. Some of his more critical commentary has dealt with the question of religious extremism, Campagna said. Al-Farhan also recently posted a blog item criticizing ten well-known personalities who have close ties to the Saudi royal family, he said.The Saudi government&#160;heavily censors Internet content, both political criticism and pornography, Campagna said. Contentious news or political commentary sites are frequently blocked.There have been previous incidents of online writers suffering retaliation. In 2006, Saudi journalist Rabah al-Quwai&#8217;, who had criticized religious extremism, was held for 13 days. In order to obtain his release he had to confess to having denigrated Islamic beliefs, and promise to would defend Islamic values in his future work, the CPJ reported.Reporters Without Borders Thursday released a statement calling for al-Farhan&#39;s release; its current list of &quot;13 Internet Enemies&quot; includes Saudi Arabia.Research into Internet content filtering by the OpenNet Initiative shows substantial blocking activity by the government of Saudi Arabia. The group says that filtering content for political reasons is the common denominator across the Middle East.The CPJ last year detailed Saudi media censorship in its report, Princes, Clerics and Censors.&#160;
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Muslim clerics at a leading seminary in India have asked people to refrain from using verses from the Quran as ringtones for their mobile phones, saying the practice was un-Islamic.
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Australia's controversial Muslim cleric Sheikh Hilali says he is to form a political party for upcoming elections.
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Australian authorities have cancelled the passports of three Sydney men who allegedly underwent guerrilla training with a radical Islamic group linked to Al-Qaeda.
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Comment is free: Giles Fraser: Uniting in homophobia, the Anglican church has delivered another blow to the battle against global religious fascism.
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Australia's dwindling number of Catholic priests has appealed to the Vatican to overturn a centuries-old ban on married clergy in an effort to stem the serious decline in their ranks.
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An Australian magistrate has ridiculed as &quot;farcical&quot; a government order banning a terrorism suspect from contacting the world's most wanted man, Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
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A top Shiite cleric called on Muslims Friday to keep religion out of politics and not use mosques and religious events for the interest of political groups, sects or personalities.
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Muslim clerics warn against using verses from the Koran "for entertainment." In Gear Factor.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 7 -- Under mounting domestic and international pressure, the Pakistani government on Thursday suspended stringent media restrictions that critics said were designed to muzzle the free press.
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Bishops in Australia's largest city Sydney are pulling out of the Anglican Church's top global meeting this year in a dispute over gay bishops and same-sex marriages, their archbishop said.
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The Indonesian government has quietly imposed a ban on foreign journalists traveling to provinces it fears could be at risk of breaking away, as well as to several other areas that have been conflict zones in the past, officials said.