Egyptian blogger jailed for four years|The Register

An Egyptian blogger found guilty of insulting both Islam and the country’s president has been jailed for four years, Reuters reports.

An Alexandria court sentenced former law student Abdel Karim Suleiman for eight articles he wrote in 2004. He had been in custody since November last year over the polemical outpourings which included one claiming that “al-Azhar in Cairo, one of the most prominent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, was promoting extreme ideas”.

Another ill-advised musing - headlined The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it - reportedly “accused Muslims of savagery during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Alexandria in 2005”.

Regarding Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Suleiman “likened him to the dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.”

China locks up online “addicts” for harsh rehab|The Seattle Times

No one is comfortable talking about the third floor of the clinic, where serious cases — usually two or three at a time — are housed. Most have been addicted to the Internet for five or more years, Tao said, are severely depressed and refuse counseling. One sliced his wrists but survived. These teens are under 24-hour supervision.

Led by Tao Ran, a military researcher who built his career by treating heroin addicts, the clinic uses a tough-love approach that includes counseling, military discipline, drugs, hypnosis and mild electric shocks.

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