News

December 01, 2025 - Niger - In Niger State, Nigeria, journalists warn that the administration of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has launched a concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation against reporters who cover insecurity and bandit violence — driving many to self-censor or abandon critical coverage altogether. The crackdown gained widespread attention after a prominent incident in early May 2024, when freelance journalist Ibrahim Ndamitso — then working for BBC and Channels TV — asked Bago at a public event what his government was doing to rescue a kidnapped family. The governor reacted by accusing...

November 30, 2025 - Palestine/Italy -  A special session convened at the Italian Parliament in Rome on 28 November 2025 spotlighted a powerful investigative report by Al Jazeera that retraces the killing of Palestinian child Hind Rajab. The investigation — part of the programme Ma Khafi A‘zam (What Is Hidden Is Greater) — was presented by journalist Tamer al‑Mishal before members of parliament, human rights advocates, media professionals, and campaigners. The session served as the first time the case of Hind Rajab has been formally documented at a European legislative venue, signalling international attention to...

November 30, 2025 - USA -  In recent weeks, a growing chorus of opinion voices has pointed to what many consider a dangerous pattern of public abuse against women journalists by powerful political figures — most notably Donald J. Trump — hiring their remarks as part of a broader campaign undermining trust in and safety for the free press. According to a commentary in one major outlet, when a president openly ridicules women journalists, it does more than demean a person. It shifts focus from their questions — questions that often demand accountability — to...

November 29, 2025 - Canada/Iraq/Kurdistan - A reporter with New Canadian Media has been awarded a prestigious prize by PEN Canada, highlighting international solidarity with persecuted media and reaffirming the global importance of press freedom. The honour comes amid growing concern for journalists worldwide who face threats to their safety simply for practicing their profession. In a separate but related move, Iraqi Kurdish activist and writer Diary Marif was named the recipient of the 2025 Marie‑Ange Garrigue Prize after his committed efforts to defend imprisoned Kurdish reporters — among them Sherwan Sherwani — in the...

November 28, 2025 - Crimea/Russia -  A Russian military court has sentenced Vilen Temeryanov — a Crimean-Tatar journalist and citizen reporter — to 14 years in prison, in what press-freedom advocates call yet another act of repression against independent journalism in occupied Crimea. On November 26, 2025, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found Temeryanov guilty of alleged involvement with the banned group Hizb ut‑Tahrir, accusing him of participating in its activities and preparing a violent seizure of power.  Prosecutors claim the deeply contested verdict reflects supposed “terrorist activity,” yet journalists who worked with...

November 28, 2025 - General -  New reporting from UK outlets has resurfaced the final moments of American journalist James Foley, whose 2014 beheading by the Islamic State remains one of the most haunting tragedies in modern journalism. Foley, who disappeared while reporting on the Syrian conflict, was held captive for nearly two years before ISIS released a brutal video documenting his execution. Recent articles in the Irish Mirror and the Express revisit his ordeal, drawing renewed attention to the six devastating words he reportedly spoke just before he was killed. Those words reflected the...

November 28, 2025 - Ukraine - The Operation Midas has taken a troubling turn as concerns mount over alleged surveillance and intimidation of journalists. On 28 November 2025, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn — chair of the parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech — formally called on Ukraine’s human-rights commissioner, police, prosecutor’s office, and state investigators to launch an inquiry into reported unlawful gathering and distribution of sensitive information about media workers by suspects linked to the probe. Yurchyshyn warned that the gathering of dossiers on journalists harkens back to the 1990s and early 2010s, when political actors...

November 28, 2025 - Algeria -  Veteran Algerian journalist Saâd Bouakba, aged 79, was placed under provisional detention on 27 November 2025 after a court accepted a defamation complaint filed by the daughter of Ahmed Ben Bella, the country’s first president. The complaint accuses Bouakba of disseminating false information and insulting state symbols and independence-war figures — charges stemming from a recent interview broadcast on the YouTube channel Vision TV News. In that interview, Bouakba reportedly discussed allegations of irregular distribution of funds by the FLN during the independence struggle. According to the public prosecutor’s...

November 28, 2025 - Turkey -  A court in Istanbul has acquitted four journalists who had faced trial for covering mass protests earlier this year. This decision marks a significant moment for press freedom in Turkey. The defendants include photographer Yasin Akgul from Agence France-Presse (AFP) and journalists Ali Onur Tosun (NOW Haber) and freelancers Bulent Kilic and Zeynep Kuray. They had been arrested in March during dawn raids amid a sweeping wave of demonstrations triggered by the detention of opposition political figures. The charges against them centered on alleged violations of Turkey’s laws regulating...

November 28, 2025 - India -  The home of veteran Jammu journalist Arfaz Ahmad Daing in the Narwal area of Jammu was demolished by officials from the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) last Thursday, triggering uproar and sparking a political storm across the Union Territory. Authorities claim the structure sat on government land; the family and neighbours contest that the house was their longtime residence of nearly 35–40 years. Calls for accountability came swiftly. The region’s Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary demanded that JDA clarify who ordered the demolition, warning that responsible officers could face...

November 28, 2025 - Russia -  A new documentary is drawing stark attention to the fate of independent journalism in Russia through the eyes of those who risked everything to speak truth to power. The film My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow — made by Julia Loktev — offers a raw, immersive portrait of young journalists who continued to report on societal abuses even after being tagged as “foreign agents” by the Russian government. Loktev began filming in Moscow in October 2021, capturing daily life inside the independent media outlet TV...

November 27, 2025 - Turkey -  A court in Istanbul on November 26, 2025, sentenced veteran journalist Fatih Altaylı to four years and two months in prison after finding him guilty of “threatening” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The verdict stems from remarks Altaylı made in a June 2025 broadcast on his YouTube channel, where he referenced historical cases of Ottoman sultans being deposed or killed — comments prosecutors interpreted as a veiled threat against Erdoğan. Altaylı, 63, has been detained since June, days after the video went viral. The broadcast criticized a proposed lifetime...

November 27, 2025 - France -  A wave of solidarity has swept French media as more than 300 outlets unite in calling for the immediate release of sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, currently jailed in Algeria on charges critics say turn basic reporting into “terrorism.” Gleizes, 36, was arrested on May 28, 2024, while covering the storied football club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JS Kabylie) in the Kabylie region. Last June, a court in Tizi Ouzou sentenced him to seven years in prison for “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to national interests.” Advocacy groups argue...

November 26, 2025 - Nigeria -  Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for the immediate release of journalist Friday James Alefia, who has been detained since September on cybercrime charges tied to his reporting on governmental corruption and land-grabbing allegations. According to the charge sheet reviewed by CPJ, Alefia, publisher of the online outlet Naija News Today, faces five counts, including “making false statements” via media and social-media platforms under the provisions of the Cybercrimes Act. He was arrested at his home in Ikorodu, Lagos State, and transferred to a detention facility in Gudu, Abuja....

November 26, 2025 - Yemen - The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) — in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) — convened a solidarity meeting to support women journalists in Yemen confronting violence, incitement, and smear campaigns. The meeting aligned with the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender‑Based Violence. The gathering was prompted by growing concern over threats aimed at female media professionals. Among the concerns was the situation of a television journalist from Aljomhouriya TV, Ahad Yaseen, who has become the target of coordinated attacks by influential religious and political figures....

November 26, 2025 - Ecuador -  The city of Guayaquil was shaken on the morning of November 26, 2025, by the killing of Darwin Fernando Baque, a cameraman-turned-digital reporter and administrator of the news page Guayaquil al Rojo Vivo. According to police reports, Baque, 38, was fatally shot in the south-side neighbourhood of Florida 1 (Guasmo Sur) at approximately 00:30, after leaving a family gathering. Witnesses say two unidentified assailants approached Baque on a motorcycle and opened fire, inflicting multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators later recovered at least 12 spent 9 mm shell casings at the...

November 26, 2025 - General - Al Jazeera Media Network has secured a string of prestigious awards, including its first-ever International Emmy Award, underscoring the network’s global influence and journalistic impact in 2025. At the 53rd International Emmy Awards held on November 24, 2025, in New York, Gaza: Search for Life — the episode of the Arabic-language series The Story Continues (in Arabic, “للقصة بقية”) — won the Emmy in the News category. Selected against 64 international nominees, Al Jazeera stood out as the only Arab network to reach the final shortlist this year. The award-winning...

November 25, 2025 - Turkey - Ali Barış Kurt, a journalist imprisoned in Turkey, has had his conditional release postponed by six months, according to recent reports from 24–25 November 2025. Kurt was handed a two-year and four-month sentence earlier this year, a conviction upheld by the highest court. He was sent to Maltepe No. 1 L-Type Prison on 8 February 2025 after the ruling. The decision to delay Kurt’s release came from the Prison Administration and Observation Board, which cited his alleged “lack of remorse” and claimed he remained a “security risk.” According to...

November 25, 2025 - Turkey -  A criminal case has been launched against two Kurdish journalists — Öznur Değer and Osman Akın — for publishing a report that alleged torture by security forces during a 2024 raid in the village of Marînê, in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province. According to the indictment, their article accused a senior gendarmerie commander of torture, naming Kamil Aksoy, and the prosecutor’s office argues that the piece constitutes “targeted defamation” rather than protected journalism. The report in question was published on July 16, 2024. It detailed serious allegations, including...

November 25, 2025 - Palestine -  Shadi Abu Sido, a journalist from Gaza recently released after 20 months of detention by Israeli forces, has shared harrowing details of his time in custody. His account — first published on November 24, 2025 — reveals a prolonged period of physical and psychological torture beginning in March 2024, when Israeli forces raided Al‑Shifa Hospital and rounded up thousands of Palestinians, including journalists. According to Abu Sido, what began as a detention escalated into what he later called “20 months of psychological warfare.” During his confinement, he suffered repeated...

November 25, 2025 - Palestine -  International journalists remain barred from independently entering the Gaza Strip more than two years after the war began. On November 25, 2025, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) and other media-rights groups learned that the Supreme Court of Israel had again granted the government’s request to maintain the ban, prolonging the media blackout for the foreseeable future. When the war erupted in 2023, the authorities closed Gaza’s borders to foreign press, citing security concerns. The FPA challenged the ban on indoor courts, arguing for independent coverage. That petition was rejected,...

November 25, 2025 - USA -  Media organisations in the United States are confronting an intensifying legal campaign from former President Trump, who is leveraging lawsuits and threats to challenge reporting he deems unfavourable. According to a recent piece in TheWrap, major outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian now face an increasingly hostile climate as editorial decisions come under scrutiny. In a public statement to TheWrap, Patrick Healy — assistant managing editor for trust and standards at The New York Times — noted that the old model of...

November 25, 2025 - Afghanistan/Pakistan -  Afghan journalist Noorullah Akbari was arrested by Pakistani police on November 23, 2025, in the Faisal Town neighborhood of Islamabad, according to multiple media-rights sources. He was subsequently transferred to a temporary holding center known as “Haji Camp,” where migrants are often detained before deportation. This arrest appears to be part of a broader crackdown on Afghan migrants and refugees in Pakistan, a campaign that has significantly intensified in recent months. The sweep has targeted not only undocumented migrants but also Afghan media workers, raising serious concerns about the safety...

November 25, 2025 - Russia/Ukraine - A harrowing escalation in attacks on media workers has unfolded on the Ukrainian front lines. In October 2025, a UNITED24Media news crew came under fire from a Russian First-Person-View (FPV) drone. The assault was described as an “ambush”: the drone struck a car carrying journalists, forcing them to leap from the vehicle seconds before impact. The attack illustrates a disturbing evolution in the threats faced by frontline reporters. That same month saw tragic consequences: Antoni Lallican, a French photojournalist working with UNITED24Media, was killed by a Russian FPV drone...

November 25, 2025 - Turkey -  A new wave of death threats has once again put the safety of Turkish-Cypriot journalists under the spotlight. On 24 November 2025, Pınar Barut — editor-in-chief of the online outlet Özgür Gazete Kıbrıs — revealed that she and her family have been targeted with serious threats. Threatening messages demanded a ransom of one million US dollars per person within two days and warned that failure to pay would result in violence, including burning her home and workplace. The senders also threatened her children and spouse, referencing personal details such...