Islamabad: Pakistani authorities on Friday took the Aaj TV news channel off cable networks after it aired a show by an anchor that had been blacklisted by the military regime. Aaj went off the air as it was beaming the programme Bolta Pakistan hosted by Nusrat Javed. Authorities had briefly ordered Aaj off cable networks on February 6 when Javed had appeared on another show.

Javed's show was taken off the air when President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule in 2007. Musharraf shut down all foreign and Pakistani news channels after he imposed emergency on November 3. The channels were allowed to return only after signing a government-mandated code of conduct.

Pak authorities ban access to YouTube for 'blasphemous' content

Pakistani authorities on Friday banned access to the popular video-hosting website YouTube for allegedly featuring blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority directed internet service providers across the country to block access to youtube.com.

A statement issued to customers by Micronet Broadband, one of Pakistan's leading internet service providers said, 'Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has directed all ISPs of the country to block access to YouTube for containing blasphemous web content/movies'. The website would remain blocked till further orders from PTA.

Micronet urged Internet users to 'write to YouTube to remove the objectionable web content/movies because this removal would enable the authorities to order un-blocking of this website'. The blasphemous cartoons had triggered widespread protests across Pakistan when they were originally published. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry recently registered a strong protest with the Danish government against the republication of the cartoons in that country.

Source : PTI