Asia

An investigative journalist in Sri Lanka has been facing death threats after he made startling revelations about Sri Lanka’s purchase of Mig-27 fighter jets from Ukraine. Press freedom organisation have urged European and US embassies to do their utmost to protect Iqbal Athas of the Sunday Times, after receiving an email from the journalist in which he said he feared for his life and had gone into...

Reporters Without Borders insisted today that Yahoo! was responsible for the conviction of Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao and possibly other Chinese cyber-dissidents as well after the US Internet company called on 27 August for the dismissal of the lawsuit brought against it in the United States by relatives of these two imprisoned cyber-dissidents. “Wang and Shi were both convicted thanks to...

The Burmese junta is resorting to all methods possible to prevent journalists, including those working for the foreign media, from covering a wave of unrest in response to an increase in the price of fuel. “The military’s response to the wave of protests against price increases since 19 August has again been heavy-handed repression, intimidation and censorship of Burmese journalists,” Reporters...

(CNSNews.com) - American Internet companies' operations in China are back in the spotlight, as Yahoo fends off a lawsuit brought on behalf of imprisoned dissident journalists and press freedom groups, who are expressing concern about a new "self-discipline" pledge designed to tighten controls on Chinese bloggers. Yahoo on Monday asked an Oakland, Calif., court to throw out the case brought by a...

Since fighting resumed in 2006 between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Tamil-populated Jaffna peninsula has become a nightmare for journalists, human rights activists and the civilian population in general. Murders, kidnappings, threats and censorship have made Jaffna one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists to work in. Seven media...

The Burmese military dictatorship may be tightening the already restricted telecommunication channels in the country to prevent information about the ongoing mass protests and arrests in Rangoon from leaking out. Members of the Burmese National League for Democracy shout slogans during a protest in front of the Burmese embassy in Seoul August 8, 2007. The protest was held in conjunction with the...

Local journalists are being assaulted, detained and harassed by security forces in Bangladesh attempting to enforce the indefinite curfew imposed Wednesday on capital Dhaka and five other cities in response to growing unrest across the country. On Wednesday, the military-backed interim government announced an indefinite curfew in six urban centres that had been the scene of violent clashes between...

Twenty leading blog service providers in China, including Yahoo.cn and MSN.cn, have signed a “self-discipline pact” to end anonymous blogging. People use computers at an internet cafe in Suining, southwest China's Sichuan province, January 11, 2007. Under the new pact, blog service providers in China are being “encouraged” to register users under their real names and contact information before...

The Chinese government’s announced crackdown on “false news” and “illegal news coverage” could be yet another direct threat to media freedom in China, Human Rights Watch has said. The crackdown adds to the Chinese government’s existing arsenal of vaguely-worded prohibitions, such as laws against “spreading rumours,” which help stifle independent reporting through the threat of serious legal...

A Tamil journalist was attacked with acid in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo just as he left hospital where he was undergoing treatment after an assault by soldiers in June, the Free Media Movement (FMM) has reported. A Sri Lankan policeman stands guard beside the bed of KP Mohan (right), an ethnic Tamil Journalist, in the National Hospital in Colombo August 16. An unidentified gang threw acid at...