News

An Argentine radio station political commentator has been fired allegedly motivated by pressure from the Cristina Kirchner government over a controversy unleashed in the country's news media. Journalist Nelson Castro had signed a contract to host the program "Puntos de vista" (Points of View), aired by Radio del Plata radio station, through to the end of 2009, but it was cancelled after he...

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has expressed concern over recent death threats made against journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to information received by SEEMO, Bakir Hedziomerovic, editor-in-chief of the programme "60 Minutes", broadcast by the television channel FBiH, and one of the country's leading investigative journalists, received multiple death threats in...

Cook Islands has launched the country's Official Information Act (OIA) implementation plan, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) has said quoting Cook Islands News. "We are the first Pacific Island jurisdiction to introduce a freedom of information regime and there is a lot of interest from other Pacific Island countries who are considering a similar thing," said deputy Prime minister Sir...

Supporters of Namibia's ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) party, under the umbrella body of the SWAPO Elders Council, have criticised the Namibian newspaper and radio stations for what they allege to be insults and criticism levelled against the party's leaders, current President Hifikepunye Pohamba and former president Sam Nujoma. Party supporters say they want the Namibian...

The International Press Institute (IPI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) have reiterated earlier calls for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to refrain from verbal attacks on the media. This latest call follows the January 30 assault on journalists during a public speech in which the prime minister condemned the press for being biased in their coverage of the recent...

Swaziland's Prime Minister, Sibusiso Dlamini, notorious for harassing and closing down media houses during his previous term as prime minister between 1993 and 2003, has assured journalists that they will enjoy media freedom during his new term. Dlamini was recently re-appointed by the king. Speaking to editors during a breakfast meeting on January 29, 2009, Dlamini said the media shouldn't be...

The International Press Institute (IPI) has welcomed a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resolution urging Ukraine to do more to capture those behind the gruesome 2000 killing of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. The resolution, approved on January 27, applauded the recent convictions of three former police officers, but expressed its deep concern at the lack of progress in...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has demanded the release of four journalists imprisoned in Cameroun on libel charges. The four Cameroonian journalists have been in prison since last September following allegations of "critical reports" against President Paul Biya and the Cameroonian authorities. "We demand the immediate release of the detained journalists and the...

A journalist from the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiyya has been expelled from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, allegedly because of his coverage of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, and its aftermath, Media Line website has reported. Police belonging to the Interior Ministry in the Hamas’ Gaza-based deposed government ordered Al-Arabiyya correspondent, Wa'il Issam, to leave the Gaza Strip...

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush faces trial next week for assaulting a foreign leader after an appellate court refused to reduce the charge, the Associated Press (AP) has reported quoting a judicial official. Muntadar al-Zaidi, 30, who won folk hero status throughout the Arab world for his protest, has been in custody since the December 14, 2008 outburst...