News

October 09, 2025 - China - The Beijing High Court has postponed a decision on the appeal of veteran journalist Dong Yuyu, who was sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage charges—drawing fresh criticism from press freedom groups. Dong, 63, once an editor and columnist at the state-run Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 while dining with a Japanese diplomat. He was convicted in November 2024 and filed an appeal in December of the same year. Originally, the court was expected to deliver a ruling by early May. That deadline has already been...

October 09, 2025 - Georgia - During a major anti-government demonstration in Tbilisi on 4 October, at least 11 journalists were physically assaulted while covering the rally, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The protest coincided with a partial boycott of municipal elections and was rooted in growing unrest over the ruling Georgian Dream party’s shift in foreign policy toward the European Union. Clashes broke out when some protesters attempted to approach the presidential residence and were repelled by riot police using tear gas, water cannons, and other crowd-control measures. Multiple journalists were...

October 09, 2025 - Guatemala - Veteran journalist José Rubén Zamora, detained in Guatemala since 2022 on charges widely viewed as politically motivated, has expressed deep concern that he may be killed while incarcerated—despite being under state custody. The warning came through the advocacy arm of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which relayed Zamora’s fears to AFP. At 69 years old, Zamora is the founder of the now-defunct newspaper El Periódico. He has been held for more than 1,100 days, accused of money laundering and other charges that many press freedom groups still dispute as judicial...

October 09, 2025 - USA/Palestine - During a recent White House roundtable on protests, President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Kristen Holmes, a CNN senior White House correspondent. He declined to take her question about a proposed Israel–Hamas peace plan. When Holmes asked whether Trump was personally involved in brokering the deal, the president interrupted her: “This is CNN speaking, by the way … one of the worst reporters that you’ll ever see.” He added that he didn’t “even want to take her question,” calling it “a waste of time.” The exchange came just after Secretary...

October 09, 2025 - Turkey -  In Istanbul, journalist Melisa Gülbaş has been ordered by a criminal court to pay 7,080 Turkish lira (around USD 220) after being convicted on a charge of insulting a public official under Article 125/3 of the Turkish Penal Code. The judgment came at the fourth hearing of her trial in the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Gülbaş did not attend this session; her legal team and representatives from the prosecution were present. The case stems from an investigative article she published on 18 December 2023 on the...

October 09, 2025 - General - In his first major public address as Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network, Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani urged stronger protections for journalists operating in war zones. Speaking on October 8, 2025, at the “Conference on The Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts” in Doha, he declared that “protecting journalists is protection of the truth.” Sheikh Nasser emphasized that the press should not be seen as a participant in conflicts, but as a vital conduit of information. He warned that without sufficient safeguards, many war crimes may...

October 08, 2025 - Pakistan - In a chilling attack in Sindh’s Ghotki district, local journalist Tufail Haiderani Rind was fatally shot while transporting his children to school. The brazen assault occurred near Jerwar Road in Mirpur Mathelo, where assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on his vehicle. Rind died instantly, and, tragically, his eight-year-old niece later died, either from shock or the trauma of witnessing the killing. Rind was no stranger to threats: he had survived a prior assassination attempt and had previously petitioned for protection from local authorities. At the time of his...

October 08, 2025  - Bangladesh/Palestine -  A prominent Bangladeshi activist, participating in the Thousand Madleens / Freedom Flotilla mission to Gaza, has urged supporters worldwide to persist in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. He emphasized the urgency of maintaining pressure, saying: “I appeal to all my comrades and friends to continue fighting for the freedom of Palestine.” The activist in question is Shahidul Alam, a renowned photographer, writer, and director of the Dhaka-based media organization, Drik. He was among a group of approximately 145 activists from 30 countries who were intercepted by Israeli naval forces off...

October 08, 2025 - India -  A coordinated cyberbullying campaign has been launched against Gafira Qadir, a Kashmiri freelance journalist, following her film review that criticized how Songs of Paradise downplayed the political realities of Kashmir. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the attacks as an orchestrated attempt to silence dissenting voices in the region. After her review was published on 15 September, Qadir experienced a deluge of online abuse. Within three days, RSF documented at least 125 posts on platform X, peaking at 58 in a single day. The attacks included personal insults, accusations of...

October 07, 2025 - Bangladesh -  Bangladeshi journalist SM Hayat Uddin, a reporter for the daily Bhorer Chetana, was brutally hacked to death in the Harikhali area of Bagerhat district on Friday night, sparking outrage among journalists and press-freedom advocates across the country. According to witnesses, Hayat Uddin was attacked by several unidentified assailants armed with sharp weapons while returning home around 8 p.m. Locals rushed him to Khulna Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. He was 42 years old. Hayat Uddin was not only an active journalist but also politically engaged, having...

October 07, 2025 - USA - A coalition of journalists, media organizations, unions, and protesters has filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and other high-level officials. They claim that during protests outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, federal agents employed “extreme brutality” — including tear gas, pepper balls, flash grenades, and other forceful tactics — in violation of First Amendment protections. The 52-page complaint accuses agents of targeting journalists who were clearly identifiable by press credentials, injuring at least six reporters. It also recounts incidents affecting protesters and...

October 07, 2025 - Guinea -  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is urging Guinean authorities to take swift action after the 75-year-old father of exiled journalist Mamoudou Babila Keita was abducted by unidentified individuals. The kidnapping took place on September 29, 2025, in Nzérékoré, southeastern Guinea. Witnesses said two men approached Elhadj Adama Keita outside his residence, grabbed him by the neck, forced him into a vehicle, and fled the scene. The day before, unknown individuals were reportedly seen asking for the “family of Babila Keita,” a detail suggesting the abduction was premeditated and...

October 07, 2025 - Palestine -  Israeli occupation forces launched a series of raids across the occupied West Bank on Monday, resulting in the injury of a teenage boy, forced home incursions, and the temporary detention of media personnel. In Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, soldiers shot a 16-year-old Palestinian in the leg with live ammunition. The Palestinian Red Crescent intervened, provided treatment, and transported him to a hospital for further care. Elsewhere, in Kafr ‘Ein (north of Ramallah), forces sprayed tear gas and stormed homes, triggering respiratory distress among several residents. Concussion grenades and...

October 07, 2025 - Palestine - Over the past two years, Gaza has become one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), more than 223 media workers have been killed since the escalation of Israel’s war on Gaza, revealing what the federation calls a systematic pattern of targeting and silencing the press with total impunity. Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, Israel’s devastating military campaign has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, including a shocking number of journalists. The IFJ notes that reporters are not collateral...

October 06, 2025 - Turkey -  On October 1, three unidentified men physically assaulted Evren Demirdaş, a reporter for the critical Turkish daily and broadcaster Sözcü, in the province of Elazığ. In the public attack, the assailants broke his nose and fled without uttering a word, leaving Demirdaş stunned and injured. Demirdaş suspects the assault was retaliation for his investigative reporting into alleged corruption in the region. The beating took place just after a session of Elazığ’s municipal council, raising concerns that his journalism had made him a direct target. Authorities acted quickly: police in...

October 06, 2025 - France/Ukraine/Russia - French prosecutors have initiated a war crimes investigation following the death of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, who was killed by a drone strike while reporting in eastern Ukraine. Lallican, age 37, was embedded with Ukraine’s 4th Armored Brigade in the Donbas region, near the frontline, when a drone strike shattered the vehicle he was in. He and his team were plainly marked as press, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying press insignia at the time of the attack. A Ukrainian photographer traveling alongside him, Georgiy Ivanchenko, was seriously wounded in...

October 06, 2025 - Vietnam - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and an international coalition of human-rights and free-expression groups renewed demands for the release of Vietnamese journalist and activist Phạm Đoan Trang, marking the fifth anniversary of her arrest. Trang, who founded the independent outlets Luật Khoa and The Vietnamese, was detained in Ho Chi Minh City on October 6, 2020. She was held incommunicado for over a year and, in December 2021, given a nine-year prison sentence under Vietnam’s “anti-state propaganda” law—a broadly applied statute frequently used to stifle dissent. According to the coalition,...

October 06, 2025 - Congo -  In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, two journalists have recently been subjected to violent threats and harassment in what rights advocates say reflects deepening suppression of press freedom. In Uvira, South Kivu province, radio journalist Patient Chimusa was attacked on October 1 while boarding a motorcycle taxi. Two assailants confronted him; one slashed his right arm with a knife and then fled. Chimusa had already faced a wave of death threats linked to his radio debates over local unrest, including protests demanding the dismissal of a military-intelligence commander...

October 06, 2025 - Palestine -  Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla—a humanitarian mission intending to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza—say they were subjected to harsh and degrading treatment during their detention by Israeli authorities. Among the complaints: detainees claim they were beaten, mocked, deprived of sleep and medications, forced to lie on floors, and threatened with weapons and dogs. Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi described attacks on his head and back, stating guards laughed as they assaulted those who dared to make eye contact. Greta Thunberg, one of the flotilla participants, was allegedly singled...

October 06, 2025 - Palestine -  A Palestinian journalist, Inas Azmi Ramadan, has been killed in Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike struck the Al-Nasr neighborhood, according to local media reports. The journalist’s death was confirmed by the Palestinian Journalists Protection Center, which said she was 41 years old and died “while performing her duties, or among civilians,” decrying the act as part of a disturbing pattern of targeting media personnel. Ramadan’s death raises the toll of journalists killed in Gaza to alarming levels. In response, a UN expert reiterated that in the current conflict, no place...

October 06, 2025 - Palestine/UK -  Veteran British journalist and activist Yvonne Ridley, 67, has gone missing after being detained by Israeli forces during a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza. Ridley had joined the Global Sumud Flotilla, a convoy carrying aid intended for Gaza. The flotilla was intercepted in international waters by Israeli forces, who detained participants from about 40 vessels. After capture, she was held in Ketziot Prison in the Negev desert, reportedly refusing substitute medications after her own was confiscated. She was placed on a hunger strike amid what her family and supporters...

October 06, 2025 - India -  In Mangaluru, Karnataka, India Post has unveiled a commemorative postage stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of the Dakshina Kannada Working Journalists’ Association (DKWJA). The ceremony took place at the Mangaluru Press Club and drew attendance from prominent journalistic and civic figures. Highlights of the EventThe stamp issuance formed part of a formal celebration of organized journalism's half-century presence in Dakshina Kannada. Senior Superintendent of Posts for the Mangaluru division, Sudhakar Mallya, presided over the event. He remarked that postage stamps have long chronicled India’s history and said the “My Stamp”...

October 06, 2025 - Palestine - In recent months, Israel has sharply restricted international press access to Gaza, intensifying what critics describe as a deliberate shuttering of media visibility in one of the world’s most volatile conflict zones. According to a report by CBC News, the Canadian broadcaster has partnered with European media groups to work around these barriers through collaborative reporting projects—but even such efforts are limited by the Israeli government’s stringent controls. Since the outset of war, Israel has largely barred foreign correspondents from entering Gaza, forcing coverage to rely heavily on Palestinian...

October 06, 2025 - Niger - Niger’s authorities have intensified efforts to silence critical media voices, with four journalists currently detained as part of a broader campaign against press freedom. According to the International Press Institute (IPI), the ongoing state crackdown has created a chilling environment for independent reporting. While details around the specific charges vary, the arrests are widely seen as politically motivated attempts to quash dissent. International media-freedom organisations have condemned the detentions, arguing they violate fundamental rights and undermine the role of journalism in holding power to account. The clampdown must be...

October 06, 2025 - Syria -  In a harrowing incident in Syria’s Latakia province, journalist Batoul Ali and her father, Samir Ali, were seriously wounded when unidentified gunmen stormed their residence in Damserkho village on the northern ring road of Latakia City. According to reports from Hawar News, the attackers arrived in four vehicles, gained entry, and opened fire on the journalist and her father before fleeing the scene. Both victims were rushed to Al-Sayyeda Hospital, where they underwent emergency surgeries. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) corroborated the attack, noting that after the...