2005-2014

US Government has condemned the police raid on the Standard Group offices and called for the prosecution of those who carried out the acts. In a statement, it asked the Government to respect the freedom of media and expression. "These acts of thuggery have no place in an open democratic society. We deplore the current campaign of vilification and harassment of a selected media. Clearly, their...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will continue to pay Iraqi media to publish reports favorable to American forces following an investigation into the controversial practice, the top U.S. general in Iraq said on Friday. Army Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. forces there, told reporters in a teleconference from Iraq that the investigation by a Navy admiral ordered by Casey "found that we...

TUNCELI, Turkey, March 3 (Reuters) - A Turkish court heard charges on Friday that nine journalists and human rights workers, including a reporter for Reuters, had given help to Kurdish rebel fighters. But Judge Murat Tekmen said there were faults in the case and set June 2 for the next hearing, saying those involved needed more time to prepare their testimony. The reporter for Reuters, Turkish...

March 3, 2006 -- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says it wants an explanation from Belarusian authorities for the deportation of some Ukrainian journalists and activists who arrived to cover its upcoming presidential election. Belarusian authorities detained the six journalists and three activists from the Ukrainian youth party Pora on March 2. One of the activists says the six were deported the same...

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- A court sentenced a publisher to prison for defamation Friday after his newspaper published the names of prominent alleged gays and lesbians in a case that has riveted this conservative West African nation. Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, publisher of the weekly L'Anecdote, was ordered to serve a four-month jail term and pay a fine of 1 million CFA francs (about $1,800 or 1...

ROME, March 3, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A Vatican-controlled magazine urged Muslims to fight "extremism" and called for the West to firmly defend its principles following the row sparked by the publication of cartoons lampooning Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him). "If one must ask the West to avoid all forms of offence to religious feeling, one must also ask those...

The police in Belarus Thursday turned the heat on journalists trying to cover an attack by plainclothes policemen on an opposition candidate in the ensuing presidential polls. BAD PRESIDENT: Belarus security agents, one of them in a riot police uniform, foreground left, jostling with Alexander Kozulin in Minsk, March 2. Security agents beat and detained Kozulin, an opposition candidate in this

Nosir Zokirov, a correspondent for the Uzbek service of the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was released from prison on Sunday after serving a six-month sentence for insulting a security officer, the broadcaster reported. BLOODBATHED: The Uzbekistan government of President Islam Karimov has pursued independent journalists since foreign media carried news of the May

A reporter of Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal has been forced to flee home after receiving death threats for reporting on abuses by right-wing militants. Jenny Manrique fled Bucaramanga in the western province of Santander in January. ALWAYS ON GUARD: Police officers stand guard in Rivera, 150 miles southwest of Bogota, Colombia, February 28. Eight town council officials were killed in a

The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday registered a case against the editor of India Today for publishing a picture of Islam's holiest shrine of Mecca on a playing card in the magazine's latest edition. Since Islam prohibits gambling, protestors in the state are regarding the picture of the shrine on a playing card as an insult. THROW BACK: Policemen throw back stones at protesters during a...