News

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expresses concern over the negative impact that a French national security bill known as LOPPSI 2 could have on online free expression. The version of the bill that was passed by the Senate on first reading on September 10 envisages an ineffective and dangerous online filtering system that could jeopardise the work of journalists...

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Turkish state failed in its duty to prevent newspaper editor Hrant Dink’s murder by acting on the information it had about plots against him, and violated his freedom of expression before his murder. The human rights court on September 14 ordered Turkey to pay his widow, Rakel Dink, and his children 100,000 euros in compensation and his brother...

Former interior minister Yuri Kravchenko, who took his own life in unclear circumstances in 2005, was the sole instigator of the September 2000 abduction and murder of opposition journalist Georgiy Gongadze, the Ukraine attorney-general’s office announced on September 14, saying the pre-trial investigation into the case was now virtually concluded. An online newspaper editor who was very critical...

The Guardian has launched a new section on its website dedicated to the reporting on global development. The new site will be jointly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Guardian News and Media. "The site will provide a new space for discussion and interaction on the biggest challenges affecting the lives of billions of people across the developing world, including poverty...

The Pentagon has agreed to revise some of the rules that have restricted what journalists are free to report on from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, resolving a conflict that peaked in May when four reporters were expelled from the naval base there. The new rules contain three major changes: Journalists will no longer run the risk of being expelled or barred from Guantanamo because of information they...

Award-winning Colombian journalist Claudia Julieta Duque has been refused entry to Britain. Duque was invited by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to give a speech about her work in upholding human rights. The UK government had previously praised her work exposing human rights abuses in Colombia. Both NUJ and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have condemned the decision. NUJ...

A 146-year-old weekly newspaper in Northumberland in UK has launched a paid-for digital edition which will be published prior to content being made freely available online. The digital edition of the Hexham Courant, its supplements and special publications, will be placed online each week priced 55p for those who take out a year’s subscription, the Press Gazette has reported. The details: [ Link]...

Madagascar has released on conditions ten Radio Fahazavana employees who have been in pre-trial detention since May 27. Broadcasts of another radio station, Radio Mahafaly, have however been suspended until further notice. The 10 Radio Fahazavana employees who were released on September 8 are editor-in-chief Josiane Ranaivo, five of the station's other journalists (Lolo Ratsimba, Jaona Raôly...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) is supporting a request by Shakil Turabi, the editor-in-chief of the Islamabad-based South Asian News Agency (SANA), for the authorities to carry a rapid and thorough investigation into his 18-year-old son's disappearance since January 5 this year. Turabi believes that military intelligence agencies were involved in abducting his son...

Motorcycle taxi drivers beat freelance journalist Paul Kiggundu to death Saturday evening, according to New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The drivers, commonly known as boda-boda, attacked Kiggundu while he was filming some of them demolishing a house in a town outside of Kalisizio, southwest Uganda. Local journalists told CPJ that the drivers were...