News

November 17, 2025 - Ukraine/Russia -  In a haunting reaffirmation of the cost of bearing truth in wartime, the family and colleagues of Ukrainian freelance journalist Viktoria Roshchyna are pressing for justice after she died in Russian captivity under torture-laden circumstances. Roshchyna, 27, vanished in August 2023 while reporting from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. Her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn, said he lost contact after 15 August and filed a missing-person report shortly thereafter. Eight months later, a letter from the Russian defence ministry confirmed she was in detention, and in April 2024, he briefly...

November 16, 2025 - Philippines -  At the annual Rappler Social Good Summit in Manila, prominent human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney announced the launch of a new initiative focused on expanding legal assistance to women journalists and media professionals in Southeast Asia. During her keynote address, she stressed that access to justice is essential for protecting press freedom and ensuring that critical reporting by women can continue in the face of increasing threats and harassment. Clooney outlined that the project will partner with local media organisations and legal aid groups to establish a regional support network...

November 16, 2025 - India -  At the Press Council of India (PCI)’s National Press Day event in New Delhi, Chairperson Ranjana Prakash Desai issued a firm call for journalists to prioritise accuracy over haste and truth over trends. In her address, Justice Desai expressed deep concern about the erosion of press credibility, citing the rampant spread of unverified information and the misuse of technology in mass communication. She urged media professionals to recognise their role not simply as reporters of events, but as verifiers, interpreters, and ethical narrators of fact. ∙ “Accuracy should be...

November 16, 2025 - Kuwait -  The 4th GCC Women Journalists Forum opened on Sunday under the patronage of Abdulrahman Al‑Mutairi, Kuwait’s Information and Culture Minister, emphasizing a unified media message and the vital role of women in Gulf journalism. Held under the theme “The Gulf Narrative of Women in Media,” the forum is being led by the Gulf Journalists Union in cooperation with the Kuwait Journalists Association and brings together female media professionals from across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Minister Al-Mutairi remarked that the event reflects Kuwait’s ongoing cultural and media momentum,...

November 15, 2025 - Palestine -  A new documentary titled Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk portrays the life of Palestinian photojournalist and poet Fatma Hassona, documenting her work in Gaza through her own lens and remote conversations. The film was crafted by Iranian-French filmmaker Sepideh Farsi after she was unable to enter Gaza and instead connected with Hassona via regular video calls from April 2024 to April 2025. The structure of the documentary stems from their hour-long video chats, often conducted under disrupted internet connectivity and amid bombardment. Hassona, then around 24-25...

November 15, 2025 - Saudi Arabia -  Renowned Saudi business correspondent Jamal Banoon has released his new book, The Truth Behind the Numbers, designed to equip emerging economic journalists in the Kingdom with practical skills and tools for high-quality reporting. The publication was officially accredited by the International Union for Press and Media’s Higher Economic Council as part of a formal training curriculum. With more than four decades of experience covering business and economic affairs in Saudi Arabia, Banoon expresses that the book responds to a growing need for journalists to move beyond surface-level reporting...

November 15, 2025 - Ukraine - In central Kyiv, a powerful installation of vacant chairs was placed at Sophia Square in a visual protest organised by PEN Ukraine together with the Center for Civil Liberties. The symbolic arrangement commemorated Ukrainian journalists, writers, artists, and human-rights defenders who are missing, unlawfully detained, or still held captive as a result of the war unleashed by Russia. The empty chairs bore the names of cultural figures whose absence reflects the human cost of the conflict. As one organising statement explained, the chairs represent those who “cannot be with...

November 14, 2025 - UK/USA -  British political commentator Sami Hamdi has returned to the United Kingdom after being held in U.S. immigration detention for over two weeks, and described his experience as a direct challenge to freedom of speech. Hamdi was detained on 26 October at San Francisco International Airport while on a speaking tour in the United States. U.S. authorities revoked his visa without prior notice, citing immigration violations, and transferred him into custody under the authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). His family later confirmed that the U.S. government agreed...

November 14, 2025 - China -  A Beijing high court has officially rejected the appeal of veteran journalist Dong Yuyu, upholding his seven-year prison term on espionage charges, his family and press-freedom groups say. Dong, aged 63, was arrested in February 2022 while lunching with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing, and has been held in custody ever since. Dong is a long-time editor and columnist at the official newspaper Guangming Daily, affiliated with the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and has also been a visiting scholar in Japan and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He...

November 14, 2025 - Mexico -  Mexican independent journalist Rodolfo Franco has reported a campaign of threats, cyber-attacks, and legal harassment following publication of a major investigation targeting Jesús Figueroa Ortega, the former Attorney-General of the state of Aguascalientes. Franco’s investigation revealed alleged irregularities tied to Figueroa Ortega’s term in office. Shortly after the first installment of his exposé went live, he says his platform “Rodolfo Franco Informa” suffered a major hack, his investigative files were compromised, and new legal proceedings were opened against him. He asserts that these actions are part of a coordinated...

November 13, 2025 - Turkey -  The Rahime Karvar trial concluded at the Istanbul 24th Heavy Penal Court, with the journalist handed a prison term of 2 years and 1 month on charges of “aiding a terrorist organisation”. The hearing marks the fourth session since her indictment, and comes amid heightened concerns over press freedom in Turkey. Karvar, a feminist journalist who previously moderated a television programme, rejected the allegations, saying that her work falls within journalistic practice and that reporting on topics related to the Kurdish region does not constitute terrorism. Her lawyer argued...

November 13, 2025 - USA -  A judge in Kenton County, Kentucky, has officially dismissed all remaining charges with prejudice against journalist Madeline Fening of the Cincinnati-based media outlet CityBeat. Fening’s arrest occurred on 17 July while she was reporting on an immigration protest that crossed the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge linking Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. During the demonstration, participants marched in support of former hospital chaplain Ayman Soliman, who had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As protesters moved onto the bridge roadway, law-enforcement officers issued an order to disperse;...

November 13, 2025 - Nicaragua -  Exiled Nicaraguan journalist Jennifer Ortiz—a naturalised Spanish citizen and director of the investigative platform Nicaragua Investiga based in Costa Rica—has revealed that Costa Rican authorities advised her to cease her journalistic activity after she reported receiving death threats. According to Ortiz, she approached Costa Rican officials weeks ago seeking protection. Instead of supportive action, she claims she was presented with a “risk analysis” that concluded with alarming recommendations: abandon journalism, erase nearly eight years of work from her outlet, and delete her personal social-media presence. She recounted: “Due to certain...

November 13, 2025 - Palestine -  Legal teams representing Palestinian victims of the conflict in Gaza have formally submitted extensive files to the International Criminal Court in The Hague detailing alleged organ theft, mistreatment of prisoner remains, and direct attacks on journalists working in the occupied territory. The submissions mark a significant escalation in ongoing legal efforts to hold individuals accountable for what are described as “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.” According to the documentation, one core memo focuses on the condition of bodies of Palestinian prisoners returned from Israeli detention, reportedly bearing signs...

November 13, 2025 - Brazil -  A producer from Brazil’s national television network TV Globo was physically attacked while on assignment in the capital city of Brasília, according to recent reports. During the afternoon of the incident, the crew was filming a story near a branch of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) when a man, as yet unidentified, suddenly confronted the producer and placed him in a chokehold. The segment being filmed focused on the illicit activities of so-called “puxadores” — individuals who approach INSS beneficiaries offering to expedite their social-security disbursements for...

November 13, 2025 - Nicaragua -  After sixteen months entirely off the public radar, Nicaraguan journalist Fabiola Tercero reappeared on 11 November, stating on pro-government media in the presence of her mother. The broadcast claimed she had remained at home the entire time, but press freedom watchdogs say the circumstances raise serious concerns about her autonomy. Tercero and her mother, Rosalina Castro García, declared that Tercero was “healthy” and had never been missing. In a segment aired on state-aligned channels, Tercero stated, “Here I am, with my mother, and thank God I’m healthy at the...

November 13, 2025 - Sudan -  Two Sudanese journalists have vividly recounted their ordeal during the siege of El‑Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, exposing the brutal repression of media workers by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The testimonies were gathered by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which warned of severe human-rights violations and urged the international community to intervene. One of the journalists—whose identity is withheld for security reasons—stayed in El-Fasher for more than 18 months to cover the conflict between the RSF and the national army. As the RSF launched a major assault...

November 12, 2025 - General -  The news-agency Anadolu Agency (AA) is currently running the 28th edition of its “War Journalism Training” programme, in collaboration with the Turkish Police Academy and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), aimed at equipping journalists for the rigours of conflict, disasters, and emergency reporting. The course, held between 3 and 14 November 2025, brings together nine Anadolu journalists and 15 participants from nine African and Arab countries, including Djibouti, Tunisia, Senegal, Niger, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, and Chad. Over two weeks, trainees receive both...

November 12, 2025 - Belarus/Poland -  Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut has been awarded the Order of the White Eagle—the highest state honour in Poland—recognising his courageous service amid ongoing persecution. The award was announced on November 11, 2025, Poland’s Independence Day, by President Karol Nawrocki in recognition of Poczobut’s “outstanding services to Poles in Belarus, in particular for the struggle for human rights and unyielding position in opposing the manifestations of resurgent totalitarian regimes.” Poczobut, a veteran correspondent for Poland’s leading daily Gazeta Wyborcza and the leader of the Polish minority in Belarus,...

November 12, 2025 - Mexico -  In a chilling act of intimidation, crime reporter Paco Cedeño, known for his coverage of public safety issues in the eastern Mexican state of Morelos, was targeted with a direct death threat when a human head was discovered beside a sign addressed to him. Residents alerted authorities in the municipality of Cuautla on 10 November after spotting the grotesque scene along the Mexico–Oaxaca highway: a severed head placed next to a handwritten message apparently signed by a criminal organisation, threatening the journalist by name. Cedeño operates the news portal pacocedeño.com...

November 12, 2025 - Iran -  Three Iranian journalists have been arrested after covering the case of 20-year-old university student Ahmad Baledi, who died following a self-immolation protest in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. The arrests come in the wake of the demolition of his family’s kiosk by municipal agents and police officers on November 2, 2025. According to reporting by IranWire, the journalists—identified as Hassan Salamat, Javad Saedi, and Seyed Sadegh Alboshokeh—were detained after documenting Baledi’s critical condition in the hospital and the broader protests triggered by his act. The three were reportedly held...

November 12, 2025 - Cameroon -  Freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Hans Achomba has been missing since November 5, 2025, prompting urgent appeals from press-freedom groups for Cameroonian authorities to launch an immediate and transparent investigation. Based in Bamenda, Achomba is known for covering politically sensitive issues in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, including security abuses, electoral tensions, and government accountability. His disappearance was first reported by the International Press Institute (IPI) on November 11, which warned that the circumstances surrounding the case suggest a serious threat to his safety and potentially to press freedom itself. Two...

November 11, 2025 - Kyrgyzstan -  The independent press environment in Kyrgyzstan is under serious threat as authorities move to label major investigative media outlets as “extremist” and apply sweeping legislation against journalists critical of the government. According to civil-society organisation ARTICLE 19, a district court in the capital Bishkek on 27 October 2025 declared three prominent outlets—Kloop, Temirov Live, and Ayt Ayt Dese—along with their founders, to be “extremist organisations”, thereby banning their operations and rendering any engagement with their content potentially criminal. The ruling cited vaguely defined offences such as “information extremism” and...

November 11, 2025 - Ireland -  The trade union National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has delivered a detailed submission to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in response to its call for evidence on policing and security in Northern Ireland. The union’s document highlights enduring threats to press freedom and the safety of journalists, particularly concerning covert surveillance practices. In its submission, the NUJ urges the UK Government to enact legislation creating a dedicated Commissioner for Covert Law Enforcement in Northern Ireland, endowed with the authority to oversee covert policing techniques. It also calls for an...

November 11, 2025 - Turkey -  Turkish journalist and political commentator Sedef Kabaş has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after a court in Istanbul convicted her of “spreading false information” over a social-media post referencing the Central Bank President. The sentencing, detailed by IFEX and local rights monitors, marks yet another flashpoint in Türkiye’s escalating crackdown on dissenting journalism and highlights the sweeping reach of the country’s disinformation legislation. Kabaş, a well-known media figure with decades of experience, was prosecuted under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code — a provision introduced in...