News

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) is exasperated by the UN's inability to resolve the problem of Taiwanese journalists who want to cover the annual World Health Assembly in Geneva. Their requests for accreditation were refused again this year on the sole grounds that they are Taiwanese. "It is incredible that the same week that Ma Ying-Jeou was sworn in as Taiwan's new president, the United Nations...

The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed concern at delays in the trial of two government officials accused of ordering the 2005 murder of columnist Marlene Garcia-Esperat. The trial has been brought to an indefinite halt because of questions surrounding jurisdiction. The Cebu Court of Appeals issued an injunction last week that bars the Cebu City Regional Trial Court from proceeding...

Kosovan journalist Baton Haxhiu pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of publishing the name of a protected witness during the war crimes trial of Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, according to a Reuters report. Prosecutors at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague had indicted the Kosovan journalist and had him arrested on Tuesday for contempt of court. He was the third Kosovo...

A journalist was beaten up and an editor assaulted and robbed of his valuables in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Kathankudi, in seemingly election-related incidents, according to the Free Media Movement (FMM). Kathankidi has been a scene of election-related violence as well as widespread electoral malpractice in the recently-held eastern provincial council election. Freelance journalist JL...

A court of appeals in the Philippines has issued prohibited the a regional trial court from proceeding with the case against the suspected masterminds in the 2005 murder of journalist Marlene Esperat, according to the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). Cebu is a province approximately 562 km south of Manila. In a five-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Francisco Acosta...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has voiced concern about the danger of continuing to detain journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand after he suffered an attack of dizziness Monday in his cell in Tehran’s Evin prison. He has been held since last July and his family is unable to raise the money for his bail, set at 150 million toumen (145,000 euros). “There seems to be no limit to the persecution of...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has voiced serious concern after it was confirmed that Jesús Lemus Barajas, editor of the daily El Tiempo, in La Piedad, Michoacán state in south-west Mexico, is being held in preventive custody in a drugs case. Paris-based RSF on Tuesday called on the federal authorities to produce clear and compelling reasons for his detention and expressed anxiety that he had...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on the authorities in Afghanistan to do everything possible to protect women journalists, several of whom have been attacked or threatened since the start of the year. One, Niloufar Habibi, has continued to receive death threats since leaving hospital after being stabbed on May 15 in the northwestern city of Herat and has to change residence every day....

Google has surpassed Yahoo to become the most popular website in the United States, according to comScore Inc's rankings by the number of unique monthly visitors, says an Associated Press (AP) report. Google Inc has long been the Internet's leader in search, but its audience has trailed Yahoo Inc's when counting other services such as e-mail and photo sharing. April's numbers, which Internet...

The International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) is changing its name to "reflect the evolution of its member newspapers and lead the newspaper industry toward its multi-media future," according to a statement. The Dallas-based organization is dropping "newspapers" from its nameplate and will be known as the International Newsmedia Marketing Association, Editor & Publisher reported. INMA's...