KUWAIT CITY -- A Kuwaiti parliamentary committee approved on Saturday a new draft press law that if passed would end nearly three decades of a government freeze on new licenses for daily newspapers. The reformist bill also bans the closure of newspapers without a final court verdict and allows citizens whose applications for licenses are rejected to sue the government in court, said MP Faisal Al...
Leaked documents obtained by Minivan have revealed that the President’s social security and welfare’ fund will pay hundreds of thousands of ruffia to pro-regime newspapers in 2006. Documents from the 2006 budget reveal that three newspapers, Haveeru, Aafathis and Miadu papers staunchly supportive of the president will receive Rf. 300,000 ($21,000) next year if the budget is approved. Minivan...
Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) and Friends of Maldives have launched an international campaign for the release of the daily Minivan's young photojournalist Jennifer Latheef, who completed Sunday her third month of a 10-year prison sentence for a supposed "terrorist act" based on her involvement in the September 20, 2003 civil unrest. Jennifer Latheef Latheef is being held in appalling conditions
Asharq Al-Awsat, New York - Asharq Al Awsat exclusively interviews Detlev Mehlis, Head of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1595 into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. FAKHRY: Let me start, firstly, by asking you about the reasons as to why you are leaving the Investigation...
As part of a general relaxation of state controls over the media sector, the Kyrgyz authorities have announced plans to privatise government-owned newspapers. But editorial staff are doubtful that they will win complete independence. A decree by President Kurmanbek Bakiev on December 8 announced that two of the three main national papers, Slovo Kyrgyzstana and Kyrgyz Tuusu, are to be sold off. All...
Management and staff at Piramida, an independent television and radio broadcaster in Kyrgyzstan, are up in arms at a takeover they say could undermine their freedom of speech. The new shareholders say the change in ownership is perfectly legal and will not alter editorial policy at Piramida. The case highlights the politically-charged atmosphere surrounding any major change in company ownership in...
WANA: A tribal journalist’s family escaped unhurt after his house was attacked with bombs that damaged a wall of the journalist’s house. Dilawar Khan Wazir, a Wana-based tribal journalist working with BBC World Service and a Pakistani English daily, told Daily Times on Friday that apparently he was the target of the explosion, which took place at 5am on Friday. "It is no longer safe to live in...
ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has suspended PTV’s Chief Editor (Current Affairs) for imposing a ban on coverage of members of the so-called "forward bloc" of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League who are seeking removal of party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. The prime minister responded when the members presented the matter in the National Assembly through a privilege motion and later...
HONG KONG -- At first glance, it looked like a spirited online discussion about an essay written 80 years ago by modern China's greatest author. But then again, the exchange on a popular Chinese bulletin board site seemed a bit emotional given the subject. Lu Hsun's "In Memory of Ms. Liu Hezhen," which he wrote in 1926 after warlord forces opened fire on protesters in Beijing and killed one of his...
The managing director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in a meeting with a number of reporters and officials in charge of the Russian television networks here Saturday called for expansion of media cooperation between Iran and Russia. Ahmad Khademolmelleh added that to change the unilateral flow of information from west to developing countries into a bilateral and fair process, he is...
