News

New demands have been made by a Taliban group that is holding captive two French television journalists, Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, translator Mohammed Reza, and the group’s driver, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). They were taken in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul, in December. Speaking alternately in English and French, the two French reporters appeared...

Sudanese authorities have pressed criminal charges against prominent journalist and opposition party member Al-Haj Ali Warrag, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The National Press Council's lead attorney charged Warrag on Sunday under the Sudanese Penal Code with “waging war against the state,” in connection with an article published on April 6 in the independent daily Ajras...

The current situation of the media in Kyrgyzstan reflects the confusion and uncertainty that has prevailed in the country as a whole since the unrest that allowed the opposition to seize power six days ago, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Although the ousted president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has fled the capital, he is still refusing to stand down. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE...

The Turkish interior ministry has asked the judicial authorities to investigate five police officers attached to the Security Directorate in Istanbul on suspicion of failing to take the threats against newspaper editor Hrant Dink seriously and failing to protect him, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Dink, who was of Armenian origin, was gunned down in January 2007. The five policemen...

Iraqi journalist Omar Ibrahim Al-Jabouri, the satellite TV station Al-Rasheed’s head of public relations, lost both of his legs Tuesday as a result of a targetted car-bombing in Baghdad, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). A total of three people were seriously injured when the bomb, attached to the underside of Al-Jabouri’s car, exploded as he set off this morning for work with two...

Rwanda’s Media High Council on Tuesday suspended two independent weeklies just months prior to presidential elections. At a press conference, attended only by state broadcasters and the pro-government radio station Contact FM, the Media High Council announced an immediate six month suspension of private local language weeklies, Umuseso and Umuvugizi. The council accused Umuseso of insulting the...

Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto was fatally shot during armed exchanges between Thailand soldiers and antigovernment protestors on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Muramoto, a Japanese national, was shot in the chest while filming an early-afternoon confrontation and was pronounced dead at a Bangkok hospital, according to local and international news reports...

The Press Council of India has found two newspapers, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran, guilty of publishing advertisements masquerading as news before the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The decision in the case, along with all the case papers, has been sent to the Election Commission for further action. These newspapers published a one-sided news item in the form of an advertisement in favour of...

Indian newspaper publisher Jagran Prakashan Pvt Ltd on Thursday said it is in talks with smaller rival Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd for a "strategic alliance", as it seeks to expand its presence in the world's second-largest print media market, according to a zeenews.com report. Jagran Prakashan--publisher of India's most-read Hindi-language newspaper, Dainik Jagran—has signed a-non disclosure agreement...

The Thai government should restore access to news outlets censored after a state of emergency was declared Wednesday in response to antigovernment protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. Journalists reporting on the unrest are increasingly vulnerable to physical assault as clashes between protesters and authorities escalate. A number of opposition websites and at least one...