News

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES welcomes the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill by the Legislature-Parliament, unanimously approved on 18 July 2007. The new law ensures: the right of every Nepali citizen to obtain any information from government bodies as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are operating with the support of the government, a foreign country or international...

(PPF/IFEX) - On 18 July 2007, police stopped two senior journalists and a cameraman from entering the North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan that border Afghanistan. Dr. Shahid Masood, the host of a locally popular TV show, and Rahimullah Yusufzai, the executive editor of "The News" in Peshawar, were en route to Miranshah, the administrative...

(FXI/IFEX) - After two attempts by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to obtain court interdicts this week, the SABC's legal head Mafika Sihlali succeeded where his employer failed. Last night's gag order was granted against the Mail & Guardian (M&G), Media 24 "or any other person", which appears both vague and overbroad. The order by Pretoria High Court Judge Lettie Molopa is an...

Dieter von Holtzbrinck, an heir to a German publishing empire, resigned from Dow Jones & Co.’s board of directors to protest the board’s decision to endorse a $5 billion offer from News Corp. “Although I’m convinced that News Corp. offer is very generous in financial terms,” he wrote in a letter to directors Thursday, “I’m very worried that Dow Jones unique journalistic values will long-term...

On 19 July 2007, police in Lusaka prevented Q-FM, a private radio station, from mounting their Outside Broadcasting (OB) equipment to cover live a demonstration organised by the OASIS forum and Collaborative Group on the Constitution, outside the gates of Parliament. Police said that the permit issued to the conveners of the demonstration did not include mounting the OB unit for live coverage of...

Reporters Without Borders voiced relief on learning that, on 20 July 2007, the Ethiopian government heeded international pleas and pardoned 38 opposition members, including four journalists, who had been given jail terms ranging from six months to life on 16 July. The four journalists to receive pardons were: "Ethiop" editor Andualem Ayele, "Abay" editor Mesfin Tesfaye, "Asqual" editor Wonakseged...

MANILA — Fifty-three journalists have been killed in the Philippines since 2001, when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power. Known in their communities as radio and TV broadcasters, as newspaper reporters and as columnists as well as publishers, 33 were killed for reporting or commenting on a public issue. The reasons for the killing of the remaining 20 vary from undetermined to personal grudges...

The recent decision by the San Antonio Express-News to temporarily remove its border correspondent from its Laredo bureau was a judicious move. The paper temporarily withdrew reporter Mariano Castillo after a U.S. law enforcement source warned that an unspecified American journalist was on the hit list of a Mexican criminal group. In the current context of rampant violence, the threat must be...

With their grit and drive, they could be making headlines. But this group of women from Uttar Pradesh write them instead in their fortnightly newspaper Khabar Lahariya that goes to 200 villages and represents the best in journalistic courage and ethics. Meera, Shanti, Kavita, Mithilesh... from the Chitrakoot and Banda districts in the heart of India's most populous state are award-winning...

July 19, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- An independent Uzbek journalist and laureate of a prestigious international journalism award says he fears he's worn out his welcome with U.S. authorities. Ruslan Sharipov served a prison term in his native Uzbekistan for what he and activists insist were trumped-up child-molestation charges. He fled his homeland after what he describes as threats against his life by...