China has ordered its media to report only positive news and imprisoned a pro-democracy dissident amid a clampdown on dissent ahead of the most important meeting of the Communist party in five years.
Media controls have been tightened, Aids activists detained and NGOs shut down as the president, Hu Jintao, prepares for the 17th party congress, when the next generation of national leaders will be unveiled in a politburo reshuffle. [Full Text]
[Image: Interviews with inconvenienced commuters or images of over-crowded buses have been banned. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP]