News

October 13, 2025 - Burkina Faso -  In mid-October 2025, a violent turn of events shook Burkina Faso’s media and justice sectors when three appellate court magistrates and two senior journalists were reported abducted or missing. The journalists affected included Ousseni Ilboudo, editor-in-chief of L’Observateur Paalga, and Michel Nana, deputy editor of Le Pays. Ilboudo was forcibly taken from his newsroom by men claiming to be intelligence officials; Nana was similarly seized while at work. Among the magistrates, two were kidnapped on Friday and Sunday, and a third has been unaccounted for since Saturday. This...

October 12, 2025 - Afghanistan -  When Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited New Delhi in October 2025, he faced sharp criticism after women journalists were initially excluded from a press conference. The decision sparked outcry and was condemned as gender discrimination—and once the backlash mounted, a second press session was convened that included female reporters. Reporter Arpan Rai described how she and her female colleagues were forced to wait outside while male counterparts entered the venue without hindrance—despite efforts to secure interviews in the days leading up to the delegation’s arrival. At the...

October 12, 2025 – Palestine/Europe – In the wake of a ceasefire taking effect on 10 October 2025, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has issued a forceful demand: international journalists, investigators, UN rapporteurs, and fact-finding commissions must be granted full, unrestricted entry into Gaza to document the destruction and prevent further erasure of evidence. The group frames this access as a legal and moral imperative. It argues that without transparent coverage and forensic investigation, grave violations—including what it calls genocide—could be hidden, obscured, or denied. Euro-Med also notes that Israel has, over the course of hostilities,...

October 12, 2025 – Germany – A year has passed since Adonis Alkhaled, a journalist working for Deutsche Welle (DW), was violently assaulted, yet the wounds—both physical and institutional—remain largely unsettled. German authorities continue to investigate the episode, which occurred in the context of a concert by Syrian singer Al Shami. According to available reports, Alkhaled and a colleague were covering the concert when tensions flared. Despite having clear “PRESS” identification, he was attacked near the venue by security personnel. The assault reportedly followed insults and intimidation during their interview with Al Shami.  The incident...

October 12, 2025 - Palestine -  Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi was killed on Sunday while covering clashes in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. He was 28 years old. His death marks yet another devastating blow to Gaza’s press community, which has already lost hundreds of journalists since the war began in October 2023. Aljafarawi was reported missing earlier in the day before footage emerged showing his body on the back of a truck, still wearing his press flak jacket. The circumstances of his death are tied to heavy armed confrontations that erupted in Sabra...

October 11, 2025 – Syria - A veteran war photographer, Jonathan Alpeyrie, shared harrowing details of his abduction in Syria, revealing that militants he had been documenting ultimately betrayed him and “sold” him as a hostage at a checkpoint. Alpeyrie, who had covered major conflict zones including Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine, described how he had once been filming militants when they turned against him. Despite having visible “PRESS” credentials, his captors handed him over to other armed actors who detained him. He recounted that the betrayal occurred during a routine filming assignment. After being escorted...

October 11, 2025 – France/Russia/Ukraine – On 3 October 2025, French freelance photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed in eastern Ukraine when a Russian-controlled drone attacked his position near Komyshuvakha, in the Donetsk region. His Ukrainian colleague, Georgiy Ivanchenko, was severely injured. Lallican, 37, had been covering the war in Ukraine since 2022 for a wide set of French and international outlets (including Le Monde, Libération, Paris Match, Der Spiegel, Die Welt, Le Temps, among others) and also worked through the Hans Lucas photography agency. He and Ivanchenko were accompanying the Ukrainian 4th Tank Brigade, reporting...

October 11, 2025 - Palestine - An AFP photojournalist, identified as Jaafar Ashtiyeh, was injured on October 10, 2025, while covering the olive harvest in the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus, when Israeli settlers launched a violent assault. Ashtiyeh, a seasoned photographer with three decades of experience, said he had never before encountered such brutality. “If I hadn’t managed to escape, they would have killed me,” he later told AFP reporters. According to his account, two groups of some 70 settlers, armed with sticks and stones, descended on the harvesters and accompanying media...

October 10, 2025 – Palestine – As a fragile ceasefire took hold in Gaza, five journalists—four based inside Gaza and one in exile—shared haunting reflections on the physical, emotional, and moral toll of covering a conflict they describe as genocide. The truce, implemented midday Friday, marked a pause in the bombardment and an opportunity for many displaced civilians to return north. But for journalists, the ceasefire also signals a reckoning with what they have endured—and what lies ahead. In Gaza City, Huda Skaik described a tremor of cautious hope when she first heard the news....

October 10, 2025 – South Africa KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has called for lawmakers to empower the State Security Agency to surveil media outlets and for journalists deemed to spread “misinformation” to be jailed. Mkhwanazi made these remarks during his testimony before a parliamentary committee investigating alleged “capture” of the criminal justice system. While he insisted he had “no issue with journalism as a profession,” he refused to withdraw his proposal. He also accused certain reporters of being “handled” by rogue elements within police intelligence, as part of a misinformation campaign....

October 10, 2025 - Palestine - At least 36 Palestinians, including journalists, were injured in a wave of violence involving Israeli troops and illegal settlers around Nablus in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that among the injured, two were struck by live ammunition, while others sustained bruises, cuts, and suffocation from tear gas and physical abuse. The attacks unfolded in Beita, Huwara, and Deir Sharaf—areas known for olive cultivation—where settlers reportedly assaulted olive pickers and media crews, burning vehicles and hurling stones. AFP photographer Jaafar Ishtayeh was among those targeted: his...

October 10, 2025 - Vatican City/Palestine - Pope Leo XIV has publicly honoured journalists who brave conflict zones like Gaza, emphasising that much of what the world knows about beleaguered regions comes at great personal cost. “If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them,” he asserted during a gathering of global news agency leaders. Speaking at the 39th Conference and Extraordinary General Assembly of MINDS International, the pontiff pressed news organizations not to compromise integrity for clicks or profit. He...

October 10, 2025 - Finland/Palestine - A Finnish journalist was briefly detained after posing a pointed query to President Alexander Stubb during a press moment, asking whether Finland should continue arms purchases from Israel in light of United Nations accusations of genocide. Video footage shared online shows the journalist, identified by his first name Tuomas, asking: “President Stubb, is it appropriate for Finland to continue arms purchases from Israel, a country that has been accused of genocide by the UN and ICJ?”  The president declined to respond. Soon afterwards, police officials intervened, escorting Tuomas away...

October 10, 2025 - Georgia - In a forceful appeal dated October 10, 2025, media freedom advocates and civil society organizations have raised alarms about an accelerating crackdown on Georgian journalists and press freedom defenders and called on the international community, especially the European Union, to act decisively. According to the joint statement, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) government has ratcheted up both institutional pressures and physical harassment against the press. On October 4, at least 11 journalists were targeted—both by independent outlets and state-aligned media—during municipal election protests, signalling a broader trend of suppression....

October 10, 2025 - Vietnam - Vietnamese authorities arrested Huynh Ngoc Tuan at his home in Buon Ho town, Dak Lak province, on October 7, 2025, accusing him of “propagandizing against the state” under Article 117 of the penal code—a provision that carries penalties of up to 20 years’ imprisonment. Tuan is a well-known independent writer and social commentator who frequently criticizes the Vietnamese government via posts on his Facebook page, particularly on issues of human rights, governance, and foreign affairs. His arrest marks the latest in a long history of harassment: over the years,...

October 10, 2025 - Egypt - In a provocative move against critical voices, an Egyptian court has sentenced commentator Abdel Khaleq Farouk to five years behind bars on charges widely interpreted as aimed at suppressing dissent. The case reflects broader tightening of restrictions on public discourse under the current regime. Farouk, known for his sharp political commentary, was convicted on unspecified charges tied to alleged threats to national security and spreading false information. The verdict follows a pattern in Egypt, where authorities increasingly deploy stringent laws to silence journalists, critics, and commentators who challenge the...

October 10, 2025 - Serbia - The Basic Court in Mitrovica has resumed hearings against Slavko Simić, deputy leader of the Serbian List (Srpska Lista), and Uroš Vukašinović, accused in connection with a violent assault on journalists during a June 2023 protest in Leposavić, northern Kosovo. According to the prosecution’s indictment, Simić is charged with inciting protesters to target journalists and participating in a mob intent on committing criminal acts, categorized under hooliganism. Vukašinović, meanwhile, is accused of direct assault and the same crowd-related offenses. During the attacks on June 16, 2023, reports state Albanian...

October 10, 2025 - Palestine - In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian reporters have paid tribute to their Gaza-based counterparts who have lost their lives covering the war. The phrase “You gave everything” has become a refrain in memorials honouring the risks and sacrifices made to document the conflict. Journalists in Hebron and elsewhere said that many in Gaza accepted the possibility of death to carry reports of suffering to the outside world. From the relative distance of the West Bank, they grapple with both grief and frustration—they too face Israeli military operations, tight movement...

October 10, 2025 - Lebanon/Palestine - Lebanon’s Cabinet has instructed the Ministry of Justice to explore legal avenues to hold Israel accountable for attacks against journalists, with a special focus on the fatal shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and affected his colleagues. The initiative originated from a proposal by Information Minister Paul Morcos, endorsed by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. During a recent session at Beirut’s Grand Serail, the Cabinet approved the motion, citing prior resolutions calling for the inclusion of an independent Dutch report on Abdallah’s killing in Lebanon’s...

October 10, 2025 - USA -  In a decisive ruling, a U.S. federal judge has issued a 14-day temporary restraining order barring Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents from using riot control arms or physical force against journalists covering protests and immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area. The order also prohibits arrests, threats of arrest, or dispersal against identifiable journalists—unless there is specific probable cause that they have committed a crime. Judge Sara Ellis (Northern District of Illinois) extended the protections to agents from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, requiring them to...

October 10, 2025 - Russia/Azerbaijan - Following a high-level meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Azerbaijan has transferred Igor Kartavykh, the executive director of Sputnik Azerbaijan, from prison to house arrest. Kartavykh and several of his colleagues had been detained in June, amid rising tensions between Moscow and Baku. The Russian state media outlet Sputnik was under investigation after Azerbaijani authorities ordered its closure and scrutiny of its ties to Rossiya Segodnya. According to Reuters sources, the decision to ease his detention coincided with the diplomatic encounter—and may...

October 10, 2025 - Afghanistan/India - Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, visiting New Delhi, held a press conference at the Afghan Embassy—but no women journalists were allowed to attend. The exclusion was widely criticized as a blatant act of gender discrimination. Journalists at the scene noted that invitations were extended only to a select group of male reporters. One remarked sarcastically, “Apparently, Indian women journalists cannot attend a presser … because the Taliban likes it that way.” The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) sharply condemned the decision, faulting both the Taliban and the...

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...