News

September 06, 2025 – Syria/France - As the Assad regime crumbled in December 2024, Syria’s atmosphere transformed — and Iraqi-born photojournalist Salwan Georges was on the ground to witness and record every moment. In a recent France 24 Perspective segment, Georges spoke movingly of returning to a country where citizens had nearly given up hope. “Hope is a new thing for them,” he said. Georges, a photographer for The Washington Post, grew up in Syria and returned after decades abroad to chronicle what he described as “the fall of Assad.” His assignment has become more...

September 06, 2025 – Tanzania – In a landmark moment for press freedom, Tanzania has launched a bold initiative to bolster journalist safety through multi-stakeholder collaboration. The National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Journalist Safety and Security, held at UNESCO’s UN House in Dar es Salaam and convened by the Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC) in partnership with UNESCO and the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC), brought together key actors—journalists, police, human rights advocates, and development organizations—to confront long-standing safety gaps facing the media. The centerpiece of the event was a powerful pledge by Inspector...

September 06, 2025 – Palestine - An unassuming Excel spreadsheet has become one of the most haunting symbols of war: a meticulously documented record listing the names, dates, and places of 198 journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) maintains this file, which now serves simultaneously as a memorial and as vital evidence of the unprecedented scale of media worker casualties. The first entry memorializes Ibrahim Marzouq, a logistics staffer at Gaza’s Palestine Today TV, who perished along with his family in an airstrike on October 24, 2023. The most...

September 06, 2025 – Bangladesh – A recent analysis by Eurasia Review paints a troubling picture: journalists in Bangladesh are increasingly vulnerable amid escalating violence, political chaos, and targeting by both authorities and extremist actors under the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. The report underscores that, rather than heralding improved freedoms, the post-Hasina transition has subjected media workers to physical attacks, harassment, and fear. The article begins with the mysterious death of Bibhu Ranjan Sarkar (71), Senior Assistant Editor of Ajker Patrika, whose body was found in Munshiganj’s Meghna River on August...

September 06, 2025 – Palestine – The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has revealed that August 2025 was one of the deadliest months for media workers in Palestine. According to their report, Israeli forces killed 15 journalists, including three women—Marwa Muslim, Mariam Abu Daqa, and Islam Abed—marking a devastating blow to press freedom in the occupied territories. Beyond the fatalities, the PJS documented a staggering 86 violations against media professionals across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These violations spanned physical assaults, arrests, intimidation tactics, and impediments to safe reporting—exposing how journalists today face risks not...

September 06, 2025 – Turkey – Turkish courts have ordered the blocking of YouTube channels belonging to two prominent journalists—one exiled, the other detained—marking a deepening crackdown on dissenting voices and independent media. An İstanbul court has directed that the YouTube channel of exiled journalist Can Dündar be blocked on grounds of “national security and public order.” The ruling came after Dündar encouraged members of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and its supporters to protest the government’s appointment of trustees to the party’s leadership. Known for his fearless reporting and advocacy, Dündar now broadcasts from...

September 06, 2025 – Palestine - A visual investigation by The Times of Israel has significantly challenged the Israeli military’s account of the deadly August 25 strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza—an attack that killed 22 people, including five journalists. The hospital, one of Gaza’s last operating medical centers, was hit in a so-called “double-tap” strike: a second hit followed rescue efforts, suggesting intent to target responders. This technique may amount to a war crime. The video analysis reveals discrepancies between the IDF’s official narrative—which claimed the attack targeted a Hamas-operated surveillance camera—and...

September 05, 2025 - Palestine -  In a recent video tribute, Middle East Eye’s editor-in-chief, David Hearst, honored veteran Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh, describing him as a symbol of resilience and unwavering commitment to the truth. Al-Dahdouh, widely recognized as the face of Al Jazeera’s coverage in Gaza, has continued reporting from the frontlines despite enduring profound personal tragedy and physical injury. Hearst highlighted the extraordinary sacrifices al-Dahdouh has made, noting that “Wael has suffered a huge personal loss, and significant injuries which he bears to this day, yet he has carried on reporting, he...

September 05, 2025 – Brazil/USA -  Veteran journalist Jackson Rangel, 62, endured 368 days in detention—ordered by Supreme Federal Court (STF) Minister Alexandre de Moraes—after making social media posts critical of the Court’s growing reach over Brazil’s democratic institutions. Despite no formal criminal charges ever being filed, Rangel was accused of “spreading fake news detrimental to the Democratic Rule of Law” and was only released provisionally on December 20, 2023, after being arrested on December 15, 2022. His prolonged preventive detention drew international condemnation. On July 30, the U.S. Treasury cited Rangel’s incarceration as an...

September 05, 2025 - Albania -  The State Cadastral Agency (SCA), particularly its Kamëz-Vorë branch, has stated an incident in which journalist Domenika Bajraktari and her cameraman were assaulted while on duty. The agency moved swiftly to clarify that the individual arrested in connection with the case, identified as F.M., 67, is not and has never been an employee of the institution. By stressing this point, the SCA distanced itself from direct responsibility for the act, while nonetheless condemning any form of violence against journalists. Alongside the arrest, authorities have also opened criminal proceedings against...

September 05, 2025 – Saudi Arabia/Yemen – Saudi authorities have detained Yemeni journalist Mujahid Al-Haiqi without charge, drawing strong criticism from press freedom defenders and human rights groups. Al-Haiqi, a freelance reporter who contributes to Aden Al-Ghad, was arrested on August 12, 2025, at Jeddah airport as he prepared to board a flight to Cairo after performing the Umrah pilgrimage with his mother. He was summoned to a security center inside the airport and subsequently taken into custody. No arrest warrant or official explanation has been provided. Family members told rights monitors that Al-Haiqi’s home...

September 05, 2025 - Somalia - Somali journalist and press freedom defender Abdalle Mumin, who recently visited Jersey for a period of respite, is now facing legal intimidation in the United Kingdom. Mumin, secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), has long been a target of harassment in Somalia for his reporting and activism. His visit to Jersey earlier this year, arranged by the Prisoners of Conscience Holiday Fund, provided him with temporary relief. During the trip, local supporters launched a fundraiser that raised over £6,000 to help bring his family to safety in the...

September 05, 2025 - India -  In Assam, northeastern India, authorities have launched three criminal investigations in under four months against The Wire, a New Delhi-based news outlet, and three journalists—including its editor-in-chief Siddharth Varadarajan, veteran journalist Karan Thapar, and freelance reporter Abhisar Sharma—for content considered critical of the government. All are being prosecuted under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India’s revised criminal code. This section, a modern iteration of the colonial-era sedition law, penalizes “acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India,” and carries penalties of up to life imprisonment....

September 05, 2025 – General - Wael al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s veteran Gaza bureau chief, has become emblematic of journalistic resilience under fire—yet his most compelling critique is reserved for his own profession. In a recent interview with Declassified UK, he condemned Western media for “capitulating to the Israeli narrative,” accusing them of failing Gaza by adopting unchallenged accounts without proper scrutiny or impartiality. For Dahdouh, such reporting amounts to a betrayal of truth in the face of mass suffering. His unwavering commitment to journalism is deeply personal. In a candid conversation with The New Arab,...

September 04, 2025 - Russia - A Moscow court has sentenced exiled journalist and LGBTQ+ commentator Karèn Shainyan to five years in prison in absentia, accusing him of financing extremist activities through a small donation to opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Prosecutors alleged that in early 202,2 Shainyan transferred 2,000 rubles—about $25—to the foundation, which was labeled an extremist organization by Russian authorities in 2021. While prosecutors initially sought a six-year sentence, the court ultimately imposed five years. Shainyan, who has lived in exile in London since 2022, was designated a “foreign agent” that...

September 04, 2025 – India – As India marks the eighth anniversary of Gauri Lankesh’s assassination, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is pressing the Karnataka state government to establish a fast-track court to close the prolonged but unresolved case. Lankesh—a fearless editor of the Kannada weekly Gauri Lankesh Patrike—was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, after vocally criticizing right-wing extremism. Despite arrests, no one has been convicted of her killing. Seventeen suspects have been granted bail, and one remains at large. The trial, which finally began in 2022, continues...

September 04, 2025 – Palestine/UK - When journalists across the globe rallied in solidarity to demand an end to attacks on media workers in Gaza, a London branch of their own union sparked internal controversy by discouraging participation. Emails reviewed by Novara Media reveal that union representatives within the BBC’s branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) warned BBC staff against attending an NUJ-organised vigil for Palestinian journalists killed since October 2023. The message, citing BBC impartiality rules, instructed staff to refrain from involvement—even though the vigil was arranged by their own union. The...

September 04, 2025 – Russia - Nika Novak, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Russian Service, remains behind bars in Siberia—and now in solitary confinement. Authorities subjected her to a five-day isolation beginning August 21, after she refused to retract criticism of the conditions in which she is detained. She has since launched a hunger strike in protest. Novak has been imprisoned since December 2023, when security forces arrested her; a closed trial followed, and she was sentenced to four years on charges of “collaboration with a foreign organization” under sweeping legal provisions. Currently housed in a...

September 04, 2025 – Sudan – Sudanese freelance journalist Shamael Elnoor, known for her coverage of politics and Darfur, has returned to a drastically transformed Khartoum—only to discover that her home has been destroyed and once-bustling newsrooms have been emptied and looted. The collapse of Sudan’s media landscape reflects the deep scars the civil war has inflicted on independent journalism. Before the outbreak of hostilities in 2023, Sudan’s press was already under pressure from dwindling revenue and a global shift to digital media. But the arrival of armed conflict—pitting the army against the paramilitary Rapid...

September 04, 2025 – Palestine -  UN experts have urgently appealed to the international community, urging immediate action to protect journalists in Gaza amid a brutal wave of targeted killings. In the past 10 days, Israeli airstrikes have claimed the lives of six more Palestinian journalists, including two women, bringing the total of media casualties to an unprecedented level. The experts—Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, and Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories—condemned both the denial of media access and the targeting of local reporters. They...

September - 03, 2025 - South Africa/ Palestine - South African TV presenter Juliet Newell was removed from the air by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) following an interview in which she challenged guest Dr. Mamphela Ramphele for comparing Israel’s military action in Gaza to the Holocaust. Newell asked whether the analogy was “provocative,” arguing that such a comparison “almost undermines what the Holocaust was all about.” Ramphele insisted: “It is a Holocaust by any definition” because of “deliberate attacks on children… and starvation,” prompting a fraught exchange that ended with both acknowledging their...

September 03, 2025 - Azerbaijan -   Azerbaijan has intensified its assault on independent media by tacking on seven new financial crime charges—including currency smuggling—against ten journalists detained in the long-running Meydan TV case. The move, made public on September 3, 2025, expands the government's legal assault, exposing journalists to potential sentences of up to 12 years. ([turn0search1], [turn0search0]) Simultaneously, photojournalist Ahmad Mukhtar was arrested and detained, joining the growing roster of media professionals targeted under this case. Mukhtar is now the 12th person imprisoned, despite Meydan TV’s editor-in-chief denying any connection between Mukhtar and the...

September 03, 2025 - Iran/USA -  Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh has now endured over a year of harsh imprisonment in Iran solely for practicing journalism—from psychological torment to relentless interrogations—his ordeal laid bare through a poignant Q&A with his brother. Initially held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, Reza was later transferred to the overcrowded and medically inadequate Fashafouyeh Prison, where unsanitary conditions, scarce clean water, and contaminated food severely deteriorated his health. On August 9, 2025, he was reportedly sent back to Evin. A catalyst for his health’s sharp decline was an Israeli strike on...

September 03, 2025 - USA/Lebanon -  A Michigan-based businessman has filed a lawsuit against U.S. special envoy to Lebanon, Thomas Barrack, over remarks he made labeling Lebanese journalists as “animals.” The lawsuit, brought by American-Lebanese entrepreneur Dr. Benjamin Balout, objects not only to the insult but also to the broader implications it has for press freedom and diplomatic credibility. ([turn0search0]) Balout, who heads the trade firm Diplomatic Trade, alleges that Barrack's conduct amounts to defamation and echoes colonial-era arrogance that undermines the United States’ role as a mediator in the region. He argues that such...

September 03, 2025 - Ecuador -  The Foundation Journalists Unbound (FPSC) has sounded the alarm over a disturbing surge in attacks against media professionals in Ecuador during August 2025. The organization recorded 22 separate incidents targeting journalists and media outlets during that month, making it one of the most dangerous in the country’s recent history. This alarming figure contributes to a broader pattern of escalating threats: from January through August, FPSC documented a total of 168 attacks on journalists, revealing a sustained, hostile environment toward press freedom. These attacks range across a spectrum of abuses,...