Talking points

Bloggers are set to stage a rally to protest against controversial new rules they say will muzzle freedom of speech. A coalition of 34 prominent bloggers named "Free My Internet" are taking the action a week after surprise regulations came into force on June 1 requiring news websites to obtain licences from the city-state's official media regulator. The bloggers will also replace their homepages with black screens featuring the words "#Freemyinternet" for 24 hours on Thursday.

Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the US Internal Revenue Service, leaves his post after he was forced to resign on May 15. The US Secretary of Treasury asked for and accepted Miller's resignation after it emerged his personnel targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny in a move that harmed the agency's reputation for political independence. Miller's decision to step down was widely interpreted as an act of contrition on behalf of Barack Obama's administration, despite it becoming apparent later that the 25-year career IRS employee was reaching the end of his term and would have had to leave his post anyway.