2005-2014

The US military has freed Afghan journalist held Jawed Ahmad who was held as an "enemy combatant" at the main American base in Afghanistan. Ahmad, who worked for Canadian TV network CTV, was handed over to Afghan authorities Sunday, a spokesman of the US-led coalition announced. He is no longer considered a threat. Ahmad, 22, was detained October 26, 2007, at a NATO base near the city of Kandahar...

The world newspaper industry is heading for another showdown with Google. The Paris-based World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has asked competition authorities in Europe and North America to block the advertising agreement between Google and Yahoo on anti-competitive grounds. The deal, WAN insists, would have a negative impact on the advertising revenues that the search giants provide to

The arrest of a prominent blogger and a journalist under Malaysia's draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) is being seen by free speech advocates as the start of a wider crackdown ahead of an anticipated opposition push to gain control of parliament. Malaysia's leading blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a staunch government critic on his website Malaysia Today, was the first to be taken into custody

The Union government has decided to allow the publication of local editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines in India. The 26 per cent cap on foreign direct investment into Indian news print ventures, however, will continue. The Union Cabinet cleared the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry proposal on Thursday. Till now, Indian editions of only foreign scientific, technical and...

A bomb blast outside Iraq's national journalists' union in central Baghdad wounded the union's head and three others on Saturday. The explosion apparently targeting Muaid al-Lami, head of the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate, caused no deaths, news agencies reported. Reuters reported: "Some vehicles outside caught fire and it shattered all the glass in the building," union member Hassan al-Aboudi, who...

The Nigerian government should immediately lift its suspension of Channels TV and release four staff members being held by State Security Services, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. Security agents closed the Lagos and Abuja offices of Channels TV on Tuesday after the station mistakenly aired a fabricated report that President Umaru Yar’Adua might step down for health reasons...

A Moroccan court decision Thursday overturned a two-year prison sentence and a fine against blogger and journalist Mohamed Erraji. On September 9, the court in Agadir, in southwest Morocco, convicted Erraji in a 10-minute trial¸ sentencing him to prison and a fine of 5,000 dinars (US$626), according to his family and local news reports. Erraji, 29, is a contributor to HesPress, a Moroccan daily...

The Al-Jazeera television network has broadcast a film clip of kidnapped Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and an Australian colleague, says a Canadian Press (CA) report). Lindhout, a freelance television and print reporter, and photographer Nigel Brennan, were abducted almost a month ago while on assignment in Somalia. The Al-Jazeera video shows Lindhout wearing an Arab robe and surrounded by...

Several journalists in Andhra Pradesh are nursing political ambitions and are keen on testing their fortunes in the next elections, according to the Times of India. Analysts say that though it is not new for journalists taking to politics, what is interesting is that they have not seen such a rush before. Some colourful details: Sources say that many of them were inspired to take the political...

In a week of violent confrontations between supporters and opponents of Bolivian President Evo Morales's government in the departments of Santa Cruz, Cobija, Tarija and, to a lesser degree, in the city of La Paz, several media outlets and journalists have been the target of threats and attacks, according to Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS). On September 9, approximately 200 youths who oppose the...