The 16th edition of le ‘Salon du livre francophone de Beyrouth’, previously known as ‘Lire en français et en musique’, will be taking place from October 22, 2009 to November 1st, at the BIEL exhibition center in Beirut.

The Iraqi Ministry of Culture has just taken the unexpected step of launching a program of official censorship of books imported from abroad. The new rule also applies to books published within Iraq, as publishers are required to obtain authorization before printing.