Previously obscure American extremist preacher Pastor Terry Jones has been barred from the United Kingdom, the Home Office said in an announcement yesterday.

76-year-old Alan Shadrake has been sentenced to jail in Singapore for a book which criticises the country's judiciary over the death penalty.

Irish President Mary McAleese has signed into law the Defamation Act, which includes clauses that create the offence of "blasphemous libel". Civil rights campaigners are dismayed.

The Australian Human Rights Commission is encouraging submissions to a consultation about the current state of freedom of religion and belief in the country. The deadline for receiving them is 31 January 2009.