2005-2014

A high-profile Croatian journalist has narrowly escaped an apparent murder attempt. Ivo Pukanic, the owner the Nacional weekly, was walking to his home just before midnight on April 10 when a man approached him and fired once from a gun with a silencer, the BalkanInsight.com website has reported. Pukanic quickly reacted and the bullet missed. The attacker tried to fire again but the gun failed to...

A proposed bill to amend the law on extremism will impose further restrictions on press freedom in Russia. Drafted by the prosecutor-general’s office, the bill was presented at a meeting organised by the Duma’s security committee on April 10. The proposed changes would allow prosecutors to exercise additional control over publications, especially websites. They would, for example, make it...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Monday began a four-day official visit to China aiming to put in place measures that will protect journalists facing new threats as political confrontation intensifies in the run up to the Olympics. "In the last few weeks the political heat has been turned up over Tibet and the Olympics and journalists have found themselves in the crossfire," said...

A British journalist abducted in the southern Iraqi city of Basra two months ago has been rescued by Iraqi troops. Richard Butler, who worked for CBS News, was found with a sack over his head and his hands tied inside a house in Basra, Lt Gen Mohan al-Fireji told the Associated Press (AP). He said Butler was in "good" condition. In a statement, CBS said: "We are incredibly grateful that our...

Kyrgyzstan authorities have closed the investigation into the October murder of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics), according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is the second time authorities have officially closed the investigation in as many months. The Saipov family told New York-based CPJ that the local bureau of the Kyrgyz...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern at the detention and deportation from Havana of Camagüey-based independent journalist Ernesto Corría Cabrera this week. Corría Cabrera, a reporter for the Miami-based press agency Nueva Prensa Cubana, told New york-based CPJ that he travelled from his home in the eastern city of Camagüey to Havana on Saturday to print the news...

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a local journalist in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Monday. Khadim Hussain Sheikh was on his way to the office with his brother Ishaq on a motor-bike when unidentified gunmen intercepted them and shot them at close range. Khadim died instantly. Ishaq was seriously injured and has been admitted to hospital. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists...

The new Pakistani government’s move to lift restrictions on media imposed by President Pervez Musharraf last year has been welcomed by press freedom organisations. Information Minister Sherry Rehman Friday last introduced a parliamentary bill to repeal amendments made to media laws when Musharraf suspended the constitution in November 2007, . In comments made to journalists, Rehman also promised a...

Over the past few days, a major controversy has erupted over the terms and conditions set by the Indian Premier League (IPL), particularly with reference to the prohibition on use of photographs taken by media organizations at sporting events hosted by the IPL. Various media organizations such as the Editors’ Guild of India (EGI) the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) and the Indian

Two indigenous women radio presenters have been shot dead in Mexico. On April 7, Teresa Bautista Flores and Felicitas Martínez, working for La Voz que Rompe el Silencio (“The Voice that Breaks the Silence”), a community radio station serving the Trique indigenous community, were shot in Putla de Guerrero, in the southern state of Oaxaca. The two young women were returning from doing a report in...