A Bill to protect freedom of speech and reform the libel laws is to be introduced into Parliament, it was announced in the Queen's Speech.

Plays are the most ephemeral of the creative arts, and it always strikes me as odd that most revivals fall into two camps: musicals or Shakespeare. Lately we've had a few reinventions, such as One Man, Two Guvnors, but many plays don't get revived because they are topical, only partially well-received by the public, or too expensive to restage. Charles Wood has fallen foul of all three of these factors at once.

Intrusive as it sounds, a stranger being able to hack into a private email account and root around for information may sometimes be in the public interest. And journalists urgently need a public-interest defence so they can do just that.

Rights groups say situation in flashpoint country is being ignored while 'commercial interests' are put first

The former literary scout sets his debut novel in post-apartheid South Africa – and creates another, fictional writer. By James Kidd

The manner in which parts of the media condemn the various investigations into their conduct highlights how they got into trouble in the first place. In the past, some journalists behaved as if they were above the law. Some appear to expect now a higher threshold of leniency or tolerance compared with everyone else. At the very least they demand a generous sense of proportion that they do not apply when reporting on politicians or others.

The Government's planned changes to English libel laws should not wait or be delayed by the outcome of Lord Justice Leveson's review of press ethics and practices, according to a leading campaigner on defamation reform.

For over a half a century and for tens of millions of Spaniards the grainy baritone voice of the actor and film dubber Rogelio Hernandez was indistinguishable from those of some of Hollywood's greatest stars, from Marlon Brando and Tony Curtis to Richard Harris and Cary Grant.

Rant

It's been a dreadful week for free speech. A meeting at a prestigious London college had to be abandoned on Monday evening when members of the audience were filmed and threatened by an Islamic extremist. Then the president of a student society at another London college was forced to resign after a Muslim organisation called for a ban on a joky image of the Prophet Mohammed. Finally, on Friday, the author Sir Salman Rushdie cancelled an appearance at India's largest literary festival, saying he feared an assassination attempt after protests by Muslim clerics.

Fashion: Oil for one, one for oil

The owner of Russia's top media holding company fired an editor and a senior manager on Tuesday over what he described as an "ethical breach," but some media rights activists and journalists called it an attempt to muzzle criticism of alleged vote fraud during this month's national election.

You couldn't fault him for a lack of ambition. But for a telecommunications minister, India's Kapil Sibal appears to be lacking in an understanding of telecommunications.