Briefs | Russia cancels short-lived Wikipedia ban

Russia yesterday canceled a ban on the Russian-language Wikipedia, which barely lasted a few hours and caused a storm among Russian online users. The Russian communications watchdog sent out notifications to Internet providers late on Monday, instructing them to block access to Wikipedia in Russian after a provincial court ruled that its entry on hashish contains banned information. Internet users across Russia were reporting in the late hours of Monday that they weren’t able to access Wikipedia’s Russian version. The agency removed Wikipedia from the list of banned websites early yesterday morning, saying that the information in the article had been edited — thus complying with the court decision. Internet users noted that Wikipedia didn’t seem to have edited the entry but only renamed its title. Recent laws passed in Russia which classified as “banned” any information about drug use, suicide and anything that could be interpreted as inciting hatred have allowed authorities to clamp down on dissent and block access to any website. Russia’s Federal Communications Agency has come under fire before for what has been described as attempts to stifle dissent online. The agency has blocked access to opposition websites as well as blogs of popular opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny.

Zimbabwe | Safari guide killed by lion

A lion charged and killed a safari guide who was leading a group of tourists in the same national park in Zimbabwe that was the home of Cecil the lion who was killed by a bow hunter in July. Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said yesterday that Quinn Swales was in Hwange National Park when he spotted six lions on Monday. “One of the lions had cubs and they became hostile. Mr. Swales at first manage to scare the lions away but then the male lion later made a U-turn and attacked him,” Charamba told The Associated Press. None of the tourists was harmed, she said. Swales was leading six tourists on a walking safari when he spotted fresh lion spoor and decided to track a pride of lions consisting of two females, two cubs and two males, according to the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. The collared lion, named Nxaha, attacked Swales, the parks authority said. Cecil’s killing in July by American dentist James Walter Palmer just outside the park sparked outrage in the United States. The collared lions are being monitored for an Oxford University study.