Watchdog

A journalist with Iran's reformist Sharq daily has been arrested in Tehran.

Sadra Mohaqeq was arrested on September 19 at his home in the Iranian capital, reports said.

The reason for his arrest is not clear.

Mohaqeq was also arrested in 2013 in a crackdown on pro-reform media.

The semi-official Mehr news agency reported that Mohaqeq was arrested by a “security body."

In April, four journalists arrested in November 2015 were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison for "colluding" with foreign governments and acting against "national security".

Media watchdogs say journalists in Iran have to work in a climate of fear and censorship.

A court in Siberia has banned one of Russia's most popular lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) news sites without warning.

The administrators of the BlueSystem.ru said on September 19 that instead of their site's content the text of the Parabel city court's ruling appears on the monitor, saying that the site was banned in May.

The administrators said they had not been informed about the court's decision and their site was accessible all this time.

The reason for the ban has not been published on the court's website either.

Russia has been harshly criticized for its gay-rights record, including a vaguely worded law banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" to minors that many critics say has led to discrimination and attacks against LGBT people.

Based on reporting by The Moscow Times, Novosib-room.ru, and Polit.ru