WELL, IT'S ONE WAY TO SHUT THE CRAZY FROG UP

In a bid to "fend off foreign influences", Saparmurad Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan has banned recorded music. The ban covers public events, weddings and television. If this seems a little extreme, you have to remember that Niyazov has already renamed the days of the week after his family and banned all opposition parties. And all opposition generally, come to that. And introduced strict exit visas to stop people leaving. Oddly, the nation somehow seems to get overlooked when Bush is getting all enthusiastic about bringing democracy to the world - perhaps because nobody does business in Turkmenistan without Niyazov's approval, and there's quite a big oil pipeline running through the country.

MTV is unlikely to be expanding into the country soon.

music Saparmurad Niyazov turkmenistan