News

A revolution of sorts is under way in Latin America with Uruguay holding the torchlight for the concept of democratic, community media. A draft community media law that says television and radio frequencies in Uruguay should be equitably distributed has already won overwhelming support in the House of Representatives. On June 5, 2007, the Uruguayan Congress (Cámara de Representantes) approved by...

The Sri Lankan government has blocked access from within Sri Lanka to TamilNet, a website hosted in Norway which provides alternative reports on local events. The move marks the employment of a new and more extreme form of censorship than ever before. “This is a blatant and unjustified attack on freedom of expression” said Agnès Callamard, Executive Director, ARTICLE 19. “Until now, control...

A year after the creation of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, Reporters Without Borders today voiced deep concern about the new body’s functioning and, in particular, the obstructionist manoeuvres by member countries that are the worst human rights violators. A year after the creation of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to replace the discredited UN Human Rights Commission...

BOSTON - A CNN reporter gave $500 to John Kerry's campaign the same month he was embedded with the U.S. Army in Iraq. An assistant managing editor at Forbes magazine not only sent $2,000 to Republicans, but also volunteers as a director of an ExxonMobil-funded group that questions global warming. A junior editor at Dow Jones Newswires gave $1,036 to the liberal group MoveOn.org and keeps a blog...

MANILA, Philippines: Philippine marines have killed two brothers who allegedly belonged to the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group and were accused of kidnappings and the killing of a photojournalist, military officials said Thursday. Troops killed Itting Sailani in a clash Tuesday in the hinterlands near Sumisip town on southern Basilan island and then fatally shot his brother, Anni, in an operation...

Fifteen European journalists, who are in the country on a weeklong familiarisation tour, are expected to help Zimbabwe tap into the lucrative European markets. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority's marketing and communications director, Mr Givemore Chidzidzi, said recently the hosting of the journalists from one of Zimbabwe's leading tourist markets was part of the authority's perception management...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has written to the Pakistan government demanding immediate action to ensure the safe release of abducted journalist Latif Khosa. According to local reports Khosa, from the Urdu-language daily Jang, has been held by the army since his June 17 arrest. Khosa was arrested in the southwestern province of Balochistan, reportedly under the orders of an...

GAZA CITY - The captors of BBC journalist Alan Johnston balked yesterday at demands by Hamas to release him and repeated their threats to kill him if Britain failed to free an Islamist prisoner, the SITE Intelligence Group reported. The warning came as Mr. Johnston was spending his 100th day in captivity in the Gaza Strip and Hamas said it was still working to secure his release. "Unless they...

ISLAMABAD, Jun 21 (APP): Minister of State for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warraich informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that efforts were being made for arrest of the killers of Nisar Solangi, Khabron reporter in Khairpur killed on June 17. Speaking on a point of order raised by PPPP leader Manzoor Wasan he said according to FIR registered by the brother of slain journalist he was killed by...

YouTube is set to overtake the BBC as the most popular entertainment website in the UK if current trends continue. According to statistics from internet monitoring company Hitwise, the BBC could find its number one status, which it has held for the past two years, taken by the video-sharing site. Visits to YouTube have risen more than seven-fold since last May. Though the BBC's share of visits is...