News

October 17, 2025 - Russia/Ukraine - A dramatic incident in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has resulted in the death of a Russian state-media correspondent. According to reports from the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, military correspondent Ivan Zuev was fatally struck by a Ukrainian drone strike in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region. His colleague, Yuri Voitkevich, sustained serious injuries while working alongside him. The attack reportedly occurred on 16 October 2025, when Zuev and Voitkevich were on assignment near the front lines. RIA Novosti described Zuev as “killed on assignment” as a direct result of the strike. Zuev...

October 17, 2025 - Palestine -  RSF has issued an urgent appeal to Israeli authorities demanding the prompt and unconditional release of 16 Palestinian journalists who remain in detention after being arrested by Israeli forces during the past two years in Gaza and the West Bank. The organization states that only three journalists were freed on 13 October 2025 as part of a prisoner-exchange deal with Hamas — the rest remain behind bars. According to RSF, the three freed individuals — Alaa al‑Sarraj, Emad Zakaria Badr al‑Ifranj, and Shady Abu Sedo — were among nearly...

October 17, 2025 - Italy -  On the night of 16 October 2025, Italian investigative journalist Sigfrido Ranucci—host of the television program “Report” on RAI—was the victim of a bomb attack outside his home in the Roman suburb of Campo Ascolano. Around 22:17 CEST, a rudimentary explosive device weighing approximately one kilogram detonated near the front gate of his house. The blast—believed to have been planted between two flower pots—destroyed Ranucci’s car and the vehicle of his daughter; thankfully, no one was injured. Ranucci, who has been under police protection since 2021 following repeated threats...

October 16, 2025 - Palestine -  Shadi Abu Sido, a Palestinian photojournalist from Gaza, was released from Israeli custody under a recent ceasefire agreement and immediately confronted a shocking lie: Israeli prison guards had told him that his wife and two children were dead. Upon his release on October 13, 2025, Abu Sido reunited with his family in their home in Khan Younis—alive, contrary to what he had been told in captivity. Abu Sido’s ordeal began in March 2024, when he was detained at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza during the conflict. Throughout his detention, he...

October 16, 2025 - Palestine -  The CPJ has formally filed an amicus brief alongside the Foreign Press Association in Israel’s Supreme Court, challenging the Israeli government’s ongoing prohibition of independent international media access into the Gaza Strip. According to CPJ, Israeli authorities have denied independent press access to Gaza since October 7, 2023, spanning a continuous 741-day ban despite the recent ceasefire. The organization argues that this blanket exclusion contradicts Israel’s obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which safeguards freedom of expression and the press. CPJ...

October 16, 2025 - Ecuador -  In the wake of nationwide protests in Ecuador triggered by fuel-subsidy reforms, press freedom groups have documented a worrying escalation in violence against media professionals. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that at least 55 journalists have suffered attacks since 22 September, as of mid-October 2025. The protests, led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), are centered around Decree 126, which removes diesel subsidies and has sparked demonstrations across multiple provinces. Among the most serious incidents occurred on 14 October in the city of Otavalo (Imbabura province),...

October 16, 2025 - Afghanistan -  An Afghan journalist, Abdul Ghafoor Abed (also spelled Abed/Abid), was killed, and another reporter, Tawab Arman, sustained injuries while covering cross-border hostilities between Taliban forces and Pakistan on October 14, 2025. The incident unfolded in Khost province, notably in the Zazai Maidan district, close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. The two belonged to Paktia National Television (PNT) and were reporting on Taliban military operations in the border zone when they came under attack, reportedly from Pakistani forces and possibly via a drone strike. According to the Afghan Independent Journalists...

October 16, 2025 - USA -  In mid-October 2025, more than 30 news organizations pulled out of the Pentagon press pool, returning their press badges and vacating offices in response to newly imposed restrictions by the U.S. Department of Defense. The new policy, spearheaded by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, mandates that journalists acknowledge a detailed 21-page document setting limitations on their movement, questioning, and reporting practices within the Pentagon. Under the new regime, reporters may forfeit their credentials if they solicit information deemed unauthorized, even if that information is unclassified. The Pentagon has framed the...

October 15, 2025 - Turkey -  A shocking attack targeted Turkish publisher Mehmet Nafiz Koca, head of the Elazığ Press and Media Society and owner of the newspapers Günışığı and Yeni Ufuk. Koca was shot with a shotgun outside his office in the eastern Turkish city of Elazığ. Surveillance footage reportedly captured the moment the assailant approached and opened fire while Koca was seated in a gazebo in front of the newspaper building. Koca was hit in the leg, suffering a serious wound but avoiding life-threatening injuries. He was immediately transferred to Fırat University Hospital,...

October 15, 2025 - Palestine - In Khan Younis, Gaza, a once–beloved family home now lies in unrecognizable ruins, torn apart by the consequences of conflict. Ruwaida Amer, the author of a feature in +972 Magazine, recounts how she waited anxiously for confirmation of her home’s survival after Israeli forces withdrew. What she received instead was a video showing only a mound of debris—no walls, no roof, no remnants of the life once lived there. The home was located in Al-Fukhari, a neighborhood evacuated and later returned to under a ceasefire. Neighbors, who ventured back...

October 15, 2025 - Turkey -  Turkish freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Hakan Tosun has died from severe injuries sustained in a violent assault in Istanbul, intensifying fears over the safety of journalists in Turkey. He had been reported missing since October 10, before being found unconscious in the city’s Esenyurt district and taken to the hospital, where he passed away on October 13. Tosun, 50, was known for his reporting on environmental destruction, social inequality, and corruption, often challenging powerful interests. His disappearance and the subsequent discovery of his critically injured body triggered widespread...

October 15, 2025 - USA -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has issued a public admonition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), calling on the agency to respect the rights of journalists and adhere to its own internal rules amid mounting reports of assaults on press personnel. The criticism follows documented instances between September 26 and 30, during which at least seven journalists allege having been physically attacked by ICE agents while covering protests and court actions. One high-profile incident occurred at the Federal Plaza Immigration Court in New York City, where an ICE agent...

October 15, 2025 - General -  In its call surrounding the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, UNESCO is pressing governments, civil society, media organizations, and international bodies to strengthen collective efforts to investigate and prosecute attacks on journalists. UNESCO stresses that the death of a journalist should not mark the end of the search for truth, and that those who threaten, harm, or kill journalists—or fail to act—must be held accountable. The day itself—celebrated annually on 2 November—was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2013 to spotlight and combat the...

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has increasingly made use of in absentia convictions against exiled journalists and foreign media figures as a tool of transnational repression. Over 44 months, nearly 70 journalists have been targeted via arrest warrants or court sentences issued without their presence. These judicial maneuvers carry multiple functions: they bar the convicted journalists from returning to Russia (where immediate detention is certain), they signal intimidation, and they enable pressure against relatives who remain inside Russia. Because the procedures are opaque, many targets are neither informed nor allowed...

October 15, 2025 - Turkey -  Turkey’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Ambassador Gülnur Aybet, has urged the organization to apply a consistent and impartial standard when condemning the killings of journalists in Gaza. Speaking at the 222nd Executive Board session, she highlighted what she described as a troubling discrepancy between the number of journalists killed in the conflict and the number of cases UNESCO has publicly acknowledged. According to Aybet, since the escalation of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, around 250 journalists and media workers have been killed. UNESCO, however, has issued public...

October 15, 2025 - Malta -  On the eve of the anniversary of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s death, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and a coalition of 17 international media-freedom groups issued a call to action urging Malta to adopt a National Action Plan on Media Freedom and Journalist Safety. In their joint statement, they reaffirm that all those responsible for her assassination must be held to account, and demand that legal proceedings related to her case move forward transparently and without obstruction. Also on 15 October 2025, the International Federation of Journalists...

October 15, 2025 - Portugal -  António Pedro Santos, a photojournalist associated with the Portuguese news agency Lusa, has been awarded the Gazeta de Fotografia prize by the Clube de Jornalistas. His winning portfolio comprises images that accompanied reports under the collective title “Hope Has Won in Syria,” produced in the aftermath of the deposition of Bashar al-Assad on 8 December 2024. The recognition forms part of the 40th edition of the Prémios Gazeta 2024, in which other categories were also awarded. For instance, the Gazeta de Mérito was given to journalist Mário Zambujal for...

October 14, 2025 - Palestine -  Instagram has removed the account of slain Palestinian journalist Saleh Al-Jafarawi, which boasted about 4.5 million followers. The deletion extends beyond the account itself: archived snapshots on the Wayback Machine appear to have been disabled, raising fears that efforts are underway to erase public records of his work. Al-Jafarawi was reportedly killed on October 12 while covering clashes involving militias in Gaza during a fragile ceasefire. His death and the account removal together have provoked alarm among media watchers, who warn that silencing digital footprints of journalists undermines documentation,...

October 14, 2025 - Nigeria - A disturbing incident has drawn attention to the security risks faced by journalists in Nigeria. Salis Manaja, a multimedia reporter affiliated with PRNigeria and Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), was abducted by armed assailants while traveling toward Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, to attend the organization’s media fellowship. According to multiple accounts, Manaja departed from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, heading toward Kwara when he went missing along the highway section passing through Kogi State, which has become notorious for banditry and abductions in recent years.  His communication line reportedly...

October 14, 2025 - USA/Palestine -  Noa Avishag Schnall, an American photojournalist aboard a Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla, has publicly alleged that she endured horrific mistreatment while in Israeli custody. According to her account, she and other detainees were subjected to beatings across multiple parts of the body, including the face, back, stomach, and skull. In one instance, she says guards lifted her by metal shackles attached to her wrists and ankles and seated a guard on her face, restricting her breathing. Schnall further claims the detainees were roused from sleep with explicit threats of rape....

October 14, 2025 - Afghanistan/India -  During a high-profile visit to New Delhi, Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, held a press event that sparked major controversy after female journalists were reportedly barred from attending the initial session.  The exclusion prompted strong reactions from Indian media, civil society, and opposition figures, who interpreted it as a stark reinforcement of gender discrimination under Taliban rule even beyond Afghanistan’s borders. In response to mounting criticism, Muttaqi convened a second press conference two days later, this time allowing women journalists to participate and publicly defending the earlier...

October 14, 2025 - Belarus -  Yauhen Nikalayevich, a former video correspondent for Media-Polesye, has been released after completing a one-and-a-half-year prison term tied to his alleged involvement in protests that took place in 2020. The Pinsk City and District Court had convicted him of engaging in acts that severely disrupted public order — charges tied to his journalistic coverage of the demonstrations in Pinsk during that period. His arrest in early 2024 followed his return to Belarus after having left the country amid prior detention actions. During earlier protests in 2020, he had been detained...

October 14, 2025 - Palestine -  Lawyers and rights advocates are pushing the United Nations and the International Criminal Court to open investigations into the killing of Saleh Aljafarawi, a Palestinian journalist who was reportedly abducted, tortured, and then murdered in Gaza City. They say his disappearance and subsequent death represent a “grave injustice” that demands accountability at the highest international levels. According to legal filings, advocates are lodging formal complaints to both the UN and ICC, accusing parties connected to the killing—allegedly involving an “Israeli-backed gang”—of orchestrating a deliberate attack on a media worker. The...

October 14, 2025 - Georgia -  The International Press Institute (IPI), in collaboration with International Media Support (IMS), has named Mzia Amaglobeli a 2025 World Press Freedom Hero. The award recognizes her steadfast dedication to independent journalism in the face of political pressure and her ongoing imprisonment in Georgia. Amaglobeli is the co-founder and leader of two respected independent news outlets, Batumelebi and Netgazeti, both of which have played critical roles in Georgia’s media landscape. Her prosecution and detention have become emblematic of the shrinking civic space and efforts to silence dissenting journalism in Georgia....

October 14, 2025 - Iran -  Shirin Saeedi, a veteran economic journalist in Iran, was released from Evin Prison in mid-October 2025 after being held for more than 21 months. Her release came under a general amnesty and directive for sentence reduction, though the precise reasons and legal mechanism behind the decision have not been publicly clarified. Saeedi was arrested in late December 2023. According to public reports, her detention followed a summons to the court, and she was then transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison after interrogation. In March 2024, she was convicted...