Iran's journalists under pressure

Iran's government has shut down two publications as part of a continuing crackdown on pro-reform media voices.

The country's Press Supervisory Board has banned one of the best-selling reformist newspapers and revoked the licence of a weekly magazine.

Both publications had links to Mehdi Karroubi, the opposition politician who angered the authorities again last week by saying that the government was facing  crisis following the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The government says the publications repeatedly violated press laws.

Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi reports from Tehran on the restrictions faced by journalists in the country.

Arab Personality: Shakira Isabel

Shakira Isabel

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known professionally as Shakira, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English, Portuguese and Italian. She also sings in Classical Arabic.

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