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The Cuban government should release 22 imprisoned independent journalists in keeping with an international accord protecting free expression that was signed Thursday by Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded. Pérez Roque signed at the UN headquarters the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides “the...

Conditions for domestic journalists remain poor in China despite the government’s promises to improve the press freedom environment before the Beijing Olympics, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Thursday. Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia Programme Coordinator, told the commission in Washington that China is holding at least 25...

Karan Thapar has been appointed editorial advisor of INX's soon-to-be-launched English news channel NewsX. INX News, a part of INX Network, has signed up with Karan's company ITV (Infotainment Television Private Limited) as the editorial advisor and the services will comprise a review of the progress and consultancy on future editorial development of the channel, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS)...

The Belarusian Supreme Court has ordered the early release of Aleksandr Sdvizhkov, former deputy editor of the now-shuttered independent newspaper Zgoda, who was sentenced in January to three years in a high-security prison for reprinting controversial Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in 2006. “We’re relieved at the Belarusian Supreme Court’s decision to grant early release to Aleksandr...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the Moroccan Supreme Court’s decision to reject an appeal by journalist Mustapha Hurmatallah and to force him to complete a seven-month jail sentence in connection with his story in Al-Watan Al-An newspaper that published extracts from internal government documents on security and terrorism. “We are outraged by this decision from...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on Belarus’s Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that found Aliaksandar Zdzvizhkou, former deputy editor of Zhoda newspaper guilty of inciting religious hatred for re-printing the Danish caricatures of the prophet Mohammed in 2006. “This prosecution is an attack on press freedom that the government has tried to disguise by claiming...

The Supreme Court Wednesday asked Zee news scribe Vijay Shekhar to apologise once again for tricking an Ahmedabad court in 2004 into issuing an arrest warrants against former president APJ Abdul Kalam and former chief justice of India VN Khare, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) has reported. A bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan insisted that Shekhar apologise, while his counsel Arun Jaitley...

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has created a new category in its 2008 World Young Reader Prize awards to encourage the use of newspapers to help people learn to read. The Newspapers & Literacy award will honour a project that helps improve basic reading and writing skills. Projects can target a wide variety of audiences, including parents, families, immigrant populations and young...

The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum have called on China to immediately release three journalists who are being held in violation of Chinese laws against lengthy detentions without trial. The journalists — two reporters and a photographer — were arrested in June 2007 after reporting on a case of corruption in the Communist Party. Chinese authorities failed to release them...

CNN is entering YouTube territory with iReport.com, a new website built entirely on user-produced news. Unlike CNN's own properties—where only iReport submissions that have been handpicked by editors and checked for accuracy ever make it online or on air—the new site will be wide open, allowing users to post whatever content they choose, says a Reuters report. Some details: The new site looks and...