2005-2014

International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) members have urged the international community and media to respond to the attacks on journalists in Lebanon. CLARION CALL: Siham Tueni, right, widow of Gibran Tueni, raises her hand, while a speaker repeats Gibran's call, made in March, on Christians and Muslims to remain united for ever, during a sit-in to observe an hour of silence, a week

The Kiev Court of Appeal on Monday will launch a preliminary hearing in the case of murder of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, agency ITAR-TASS has reported. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko had announced in March that the crime had been solved. He also said then that the murderers had detained and interrogated. Yushchenko set the task to "find the mastermind and contractor of the

BEIRUT: Ghassan Tueni, dean of the Arab media whose anti-Syrian journalist son was assassinated last week, has become for many Lebanese a symbol of national survival in the face of adversity. "Ghassan Tueni is like Job, but a stoic and warrior Job," prominent writer and journalist Elias Khoury told AFP as he described the 79-year-old former government minister, MP and diplomat who owns the...

BEIRUT: The father of slain anti-Syrian Lebanese MP and journalist Gebran Tueni is suing Syria's Ambassador to the UN for derogatory comments about his son. Veteran Lebanese diplomat Ghassan Tueni charged that Syria's UN ambassador Faisal Mekdad compared his son to a "dog" in comments reported Wednesday by the U.S. daily, The New York Sun. "I will sue him [Mekdad] before the American courts,"...

The New York Times has disclosed that George W. Bush secretly waived rules restricting electronic surveillance inside the United States, allowing spying on hundreds of Americans that normally would require a court warrant. But almost as stunning was the Times admission that it had held the story for a year. Indeed, it appears the information about Bush's secret spy order was leaked before Election...

A group of journalists exiled in South Africa have decide to form an association to deal with their frustration at not being able to work in South African newsrooms, writes Bate Felix. "This is an association of journalists based in South Africa, who because of oppressive media laws in their countries, cannot practice and have decided to cross the border," said Magugu Nyathi, the group’s...

KUWAIT CITY -- A Kuwaiti parliamentary committee approved on Saturday a new draft press law that if passed would end nearly three decades of a government freeze on new licenses for daily newspapers. The reformist bill also bans the closure of newspapers without a final court verdict and allows citizens whose applications for licenses are rejected to sue the government in court, said MP Faisal Al...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) and Friends of Maldives have launched an international campaign for the release of the daily Minivan's young photojournalist Jennifer Latheef, who completed Sunday her third month of a 10-year prison sentence for a supposed "terrorist act" based on her involvement in the September 20, 2003 civil unrest. Jennifer Latheef Latheef is being held in appalling conditions

Leaked documents obtained by Minivan have revealed that the President’s ‘social security and welfare’ fund will pay hundreds of thousands of ruffia to pro-regime newspapers in 2006. Documents from the 2006 budget reveal that three newspapers, Haveeru, Aafathis and Miadu – papers staunchly supportive of the president – will receive Rf. 300,000 ($21,000) next year if the budget is approved. Minivan...

Asharq Al-Awsat, New York - Asharq Al Awsat exclusively interviews Detlev Mehlis, Head of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1595 into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. FAKHRY: Let me start, firstly, by asking you about the reasons as to why you are leaving the Investigation...