Moammar Gadhafi, Self-Styled Feminist

You can't make this stuff up. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a speech to more than 700 prominent businesswomen and female politicians in Italy. Among his thoughts:

He brought as an example the fact that in some Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive, but added that it's not up to governments to recognize that right.

"If anything, it's up to her husband, her brothers, or the father to give her permission," Gadhafi said, drawing loud boos from the audience.

Freedom House 2009 Report

Freedom House released its 2009 Freedom of Press Report, which shows a global decline in freedom of press. Apparently Israel, Italy and Hong Kong have all slipped from "Free" to "Partly Free." The post on the Foreign Policy blog gives a partial explanation:

The worst offenders are all usual suspects, but I suspect the most attention will be garnered by the three countries that slipped from "free" to "partly free": Israel, Italy, and Hong Kong. Here's the explanation on Israel from the report's overview essay:

Israel, the only country in the [Middle East] to be consistently rated Free, moved into the Partly Free range due to the heightened conflict in Gaza, which triggered increased travel restrictions on both Israeli and foreign reporters; official attempts to influence media coverage of the conflict within Israel; and greater self- censorship and biased reporting, particularly during the outbreak of open war in late December.

Also, Sunday, May 3 is World Freedom of Press Day!

Update:

The report says Israel fell due to restrictions on journalists and official attempts to influence coverage during the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The study says Italy slipped because the country is limiting free speech with libel laws and the intimidation of journalists by organized crime.

Freedom House says it downgraded Hong Kong because Beijing is exerting growing influence over the media there.

The executive director of Freedom House, Jennifer Windsor, says the journalism profession is fighting to stay alive, which she warns has enormous implications for democracy. "Declines have been registered in established democracies, as well as partly free countries, and the most repressive regimes have continued to tighten their grip in order to control the information flows that have become increasingly globalized and out of their control," she said.