News

(JED/IFEX) - On 23 February 2007, the Gikondo local court in Kigali ordered the 30-day detention of Bukavu Catholic University (CUB) professor Idesbald Byabuze, who is also director of the newspaper "Mashariki News", published in Bukavu, South-Kivu province's main city, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Byabuze was arrested in Kigali on 16 February by the Rwandan police, while he was...

The Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) Thursday launched the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) in Europe to continue its work and offer an extended range of products and services as part of a broader mission that incorporates technology, events, public policy and education. The new institute's vision is to increase safety, decrease fear and expand the benefits of the increasingly...

Well-known columnist and former editor of the Times of India, Sham Lal, died here today due to age-related illness, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. He was 95. He is survived by wife, two daughters, one of them Neena Vyas, a journalist, and a son. A master in reviewing books of all genre, he died in his sleep at his residence in Gulmohar Park. He had been unwell for the past couple of days...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. reached agreements in February to pay $405 million to settle lawsuits brought by shareholders related to past accounting problems at AOL, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. The owners of the Warner Bros. movie studios, AOL Internet service and HBO cable network said the agreement was to settle suits from shareholders who opted out...

Despite continued difficulties with security and reconstruction, television is gaining ground in Afghanistan as the most important news and entertainment source in urban areas, particularly the capital, Kabul, a recent survey has found. Tolo TV newsdesk at work. The capital’s viewers can choose from six privately run channels. InterMedia found that Tolo TV, funded by an Australian based Afghan...

Just when newspapers are talking local, here’s a research study which should make newspapers think again – 67 per cent of the respondents of the study never visited their local daily newspaper’s website in 2006. The number is down from 70 per cent in 2003, but up 3 percentage points from 2005. The authors, however, cautioned newspapers about interpreting users’ behaviour on these sites – “some of...

KABUL: One British and three Afghan journalists working for Al Jazeera television were captured by Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, held overnight and released yesterday, one of the team said. The four men were captured in the volatile province of Helmand, Al Jazeera producer Qais Azimy said. "We were captured by Taliban. They behaved well with us," he said by telephone. "Today before...

Yahoo! is hoping a quirky take on the news will strike a chord as its next original programming effort. The Web giant confirmed Wednesday that it will launch a new initiative before the end of this quarter that will feature a journalist-cum-crooner who will sing the news. While a Yahoo! spokesman declined to elaborate on the video project, which will be titled "Odd News Underground," he did issue...

BEIRUT - Lebanon's press court fined two staunchly anti-Syrian newsmen Thursday for libelling under-fire pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, judicial sources said. Al-Mustaqbal daily director Toufic Khattab and journalist Zahi Wehbeh received fines of 50 million Lebanese pounds (more than 33,000 dollars) each for having "libelled and damaged the reputation of President Lahoud" in a 2005 article...

(IFJ/IFEX) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today supported a call by Members of Parliament (MP) in Uganda that the government allows private Nation Television (NTV) to resume its broadcasts after state regulators shut the channel down 19 days ago allegedly because some transmission equipment does not conform to technical standards. Yesterday some MPs backed a motion ordering...