Censored

The Committee to Protect Journalists' website, www.cpj.org, is blocked in the Main Press Centre and at least one other Olympic press venue, according to a number of foreign journalists there. CPJ is calling on the Chinese authorities to provide the free Internet access they promised foreign reporters when they were awarded the Games. “We call on China and the International Olympic Committee to...

Security service agents in Egypt recently confiscated copies of the independent newspapers Al-Dustour and Al Badil from stores, following the newspapers' publication of a story about an Egyptian businessman's connection to the murder of the well-known Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has reported. The seizure of...

Voice of the People, a radio station operated by the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was closed down by Hamas in Gaza City on August 2. "The Islamist party Hamas must stop arbitrarily targeting news media just because they do not blindly relay its propaganda," Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. "Press freedom is under serious threat in the Gaza Strip...

Iranian authorities have banned the evening edition of a large circulation newspaper for publishing news they said was harmful to the economy, according to news reports. "By a decision of the press supervisory board, Hamshahri evening edition has been banned. The reason for banning this publication was the propagation of untruthful news with the aim of creating disruption in the country's economic...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on Iranian authorities to release journalist Mahboubeh Karami of the government news agency ISNA at once. She has not seen a lawyer since her arrest in Tehran on June 13 after criticising the police for beating up demonstrators. The organisation is also concerned about the suspension of two weekly newspapers in the west of the country. "Mahboubeh Karami's...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has criticised Turkish authorities over censorship of Hayat TV, a Turkish satellite television network supporting workers' rights. The network was suspended from broadcasting last week on the orders of the High Council for Turkish Broadcasting (RTUK) for allegedly providing film of the Kurdish New Year celebrations to Roj TV, a station based in...

The Kuwaiti government's issuing of a resolution to prevent official staff from writing in newspapers is a harsh blow to press freedom and freedom of expression, taking Kuwait back decades and violating several constitutional articles that ensure the freedoms of opinion and expression. Al Qabas newspaper revealed a governmental document, which has been under preparation since February 2008, that...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called for the reopening of Afaq TV, a Palestinian commercial TV station based in the West Bank city of Nablus which Israeli soldiers closed on July 10 for one year on the grounds that it was a "terrorist" media outlet. The station has stopped broadcasting and seals have been place over its entrance. "Palestinian journalists must be allowed to enjoy the same...

Ecuadoran government agents seized two private television stations early Tuesday morning and shuttered a critical radio station late Monday night. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by allegations that the actions were politically motivated. Members of the government’s Deposit Guarantee Agency (AGD), backed by dozens of police officers, seized the Quito offices of local...

One month before the start of the Beijing Olympics, China needs to make enormous progress to ensure the free access it promised journalists when the Games were awarded, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Tuesday. Twenty-six Chinese journalists remain in prison and heavy government censorship remains in place despite Beijing's broad assurances—made in its 2001 bid to host the event...