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(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has welcomed the arrest in Trinidad and Tobago of Ceferino García, suspected head of a drug cartel, alleged to have ordered the murder of Mauro Marcano, a programme host on a local Venezuelan radio station, Radio Maturín 1.080 AM, and columnist with the Venezuelan daily newspaper "El Oriental". The organization, however, condemned delays in the investigation and the failure to...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has shut down a Chinese magazine's outspoken Web site, apparently because of the reported killing of a villager trying to stop demolition of his home, the editor said on Thursday. The online edition of the Baixing (People) Magazine, based in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu, was closed on Wednesday, editor Huang Liantian told Reuters. The Web site contained reports...

SAN DIEGO – Like a surreal outtake of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” a crazed couple didn’t heed Will Ferrell’s character Burgundy’s “stay classy” advice. Two accused real estate scammers wailed viciously on a hapless local newsman reporting their alleged dirty deeds on live television. A television reporter was bitten and beaten as he and his cameraman, who captured the attack on video...

Kathmandu - A visiting international press freedom group advised Nepal's new government Thursday to make changes to preserve and strengthen press freedom in the country that emerged in April from direct rule by King Gyanendra. The group - headed by Christopher Warren, president of the International Federation of Journalists - gave a five-point recommendation to the ruling Seven-Party Alliance...

New York, September 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that an Iraqi journalist on trial for defamation has been missing since Sunday morning. A source told CPJ that Ahmed Mutair Abbas, managing editor of the defunct daily Sada Wasit in the southern city of Kut, called Sunday morning to say that he was on his way from Kut to Baghdad to attend his trial hearing...

MANILA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Philippine national police said on Thursday they arrested an officer from a local force and two other men over the shooting of a newspaper reporter last month, at least the tenth attack on journalists this year. Roger Panizal, who covers the crime beat for the "Tiktik" tabloid in northern Manila, survived five bullet wounds, including one behind his ear. Other Filipino...

New York, September 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision of the Iraqi government today to close the Baghdad bureau of the Dubai-based satellite channel Al-Arabiya for one month. The station reported that police entered its Baghdad offices to halt operations after the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the suspension. Al-Arabiya Executive Editor...

About 23 years ago, when I started an advertising agency, there were two initial, formidable hurdles to clear. The INS (then IENS) accreditation, and a DAVP accreditation. The Indian Newspaper Society accreditation seemed logical. After all, if publishers were going to give me 60 days credit and 15 per cent commission for any business I placed with them, they had to safeguard their interests. What...

MODERN newspapers face some tough decisions, but there is still a bright future for those that remember why they exist in the first place. The Australian passionately rejects the view of the London-based weekly, The Economist, that newspapers face bleak prospects. On the contrary, good newspapers that know how to break news, are clear in what they stand for and have the confidence to challenge and...

The threat was delivered in May by text message - quit journalism or you’ll be beheaded. The IWPR reporter ignored the warning on his cell phone and got on with his job - but more intimidation followed. In his hometown Hawije, in Kirkuk province, people tend to take such threats very seriously, as it’s a stronghold of Sunni insurgents who frequently target Iraqi and multinational troops. The...