News

July 25, 2025 - Russia/Azerbaijan -  Veteran journalist Mikhail Gusman, the first deputy director general of Russia's state-run TASS news agency, was abruptly dismissed after attending a media forum in Azerbaijan, triggering speculation about deepening diplomatic rifts and the suppression of press independence within Russia. Gusman, an ethnic Jew born in Azerbaijan, had worked with TASS for over three decades, playing a key role in international media relations. His participation in the Global Media Forum held in Shusha, a culturally significant city in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, sparked criticism from Russian ultra-nationalist circles. At the...

July 25, 2025 - Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused accreditation to 16 journalists working for Radio Azattyq, the Kazakh-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), citing violation of accreditation rules as the only justification. Earlier, in mid‑June, seven other Azattyq journalists—including the Almaty bureau chief—had their renewals blocked; applications submitted in February were delayed past their expiration in April, without a transparent explanation. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) described the move as a clear assault on press freedom, emphasizing that the affected journalists are effectively barred from doing their jobs...

July 25, 2025 - Palestine -  Great Reporter published a harrowing exposé titled “Starving the Storytellers,” revealing that freelance journalists in Gaza—including those working for AFP, Reuters, AP, and BBC—are enduring intentional starvation under Israel’s blockade and ban on foreign press access. These journalists, who are the last eyewitnesses inside Gaza, are collapsing mid-reporting, barely able to carry their gear, and often weak from days of fasting or inadequate nourishment. One BBC freelancer described barely managing one story a day and fainted while filming; others suffer dizziness, fatigue, and delirium as hunger worsens. Humanitarian agencies...

July 25, 2025 - Ireland/Palestine -  GCN (Gay Community News) reported that Dublin-based queer journalist David Monaghan is undertaking a symbolic 24‑hour fast on July 29, as part of the ongoing Hunger for Justice: Gaza campaign. The initiative, coordinated by Nenagh Friends of Palestine and allied groups, involves a daily chain of volunteers refraining from food and drink (except water) for a full day, spotlighting the mass starvation facing Gaza’s population under blockade and bombardment. Monaghan's fast marks Day 412 of the rolling campaign, which has seen over 400 volunteers participate so far. His dedication is a tribute...

On July 25, 2025 - Turkey -  A classified memo dated June 18, 2025, from Turkey’s Security General Directorate (Emniyet) reveals clandestine efforts to circumvent INTERPOL’s political screening protocols to issue a Red Notice against Levent Kenez, a Turkish journalist now residing in exile in Stockholm. Currently, the editor of Nordic Monitor, Kenez, fled Turkey in 2016 amid politically motivated charges that have repeatedly been rejected by INTERPOL as impermissible under its charter. Signed by İskender Güray Keskin, deputy head of the Interpol‑Europol Department, the memo was widely circulated across Turkey’s intelligence, justice ministry, and several...

July 25, 2025 - Nigeria -  Ayo Aiyepekun, a photojournalist working for Inside Story in Lokoja, Kogi State, was brutally murdered by a close friend and colleague, Adebayo Pelumi, who also lives in the same compound. The Kogi State Police confirmed the killing on July 23, describing the attack as "sad and unfortunate". Witnesses report that Pelumi lured Aiyepekun to his in-compound poultry farm under the guise of needing help and then struck him multiple times with an iron rod, instantly rendering him unconscious. The suspect allegedly dismembered Aiyepekun’s body, placed the remains into a deep freezer, loaded...

July 25, 2025 - Philippines -  Filipino journalist Christian Esguerra, once a prominent figure at the country’s largest broadcaster ABS-CBN, has redefined his career after being laid off amid political pressures. Known for his hard-hitting political commentary, Esguerra was removed from his role in 2022—just a week before his son was born—after expressing criticisms of then-President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration. His termination came after ABS-CBN lost its broadcast license in 2020 in what many viewed as a politically motivated decision under Duterte. Though Esguerra initially continued working with the network, his role diminished until...

July 24, 2025 - Palestine - Eleven‑year‑old Lama Nasser Al‑Badrasawi, known as an aspiring journalist for the Palestine Chronicle, and her entire family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 15, near Gaza City. Lama had contributed homemade reports, emulating professional journalists and often recording field testimonials alongside friends, to a young storytelling project documenting life under siege. The project, launched in response to professional journalists being driven from many frontline areas, aimed to give Gaza’s youth a voice during the escalating violence. In her last known video, Lama delivered a moving message about the...

July 24, 2025 - Congo -  Rosie Pioth, a prominent Congolese journalist and correspondent for France 24, has gone into hiding after receiving death threats for her reporting on the 43rd anniversary of the 1982 bombing of Maya-Maya International Airport in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. The bombing, which killed multiple people, remains a deeply sensitive topic in the country, having been largely erased from public memory with no official commemoration or acknowledgement. Pioth published an article on July 17, 2025, marking the anniversary and questioning the lack of national recognition for the tragedy. Shortly...

July 24, 2025 - Ghana -  Three journalists covering the parliamentary by-election rerun in Ablekuma North, Ghana, were physically attacked in separate incidents involving both a police officer and unidentified individuals. The incidents have drawn sharp criticism from press freedom organizations and media advocacy groups. Kwabena Agyekum Banahene, a reporter for GHOne TV, was slapped and shoved by a uniformed police officer at the Church of Pentecost polling station while attempting to access the inner perimeter for reporting. He sustained facial injuries and was hospitalized. The Ghana Police Service responded by suspending the officer and...

July 24, 2025 - Palestine  -  Agence France‑Presse, Associated Press, Reuters, and BBC News issued a rare joint statement expressing “desperate concern” for journalists operating in Gaza, many of whom are now facing the threat of starvation. These independent reporters—often Palestinian freelancers and stringers—have become the primary source of international coverage from inside the enclave, and they are now enduring the same dire conditions as the civilians they document. The statement warned that many journalists cannot adequately feed themselves or their families, making it increasingly impossible to continue reporting. The news groups emphasized that journalists in...

July 24, 2025 - UK -  Lancaster-based artist and musician Fiona Frank has relaunched her touring exhibition, “For Dom, Bruno and the Amazon,” at Halton Mill to honor British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. The two were murdered in June 2022 while reporting in the Amazon rainforest, where Phillips was researching a book on environmental preservation. Created in 2022, the exhibition features 15 striking panels combining photography and storytelling. These works document the dangers facing the Amazon, including illegal logging, mining, and fishing. Updated for 2025, the exhibition now reflects political...

July 24, 2025 - USA - Two Ohio-based journalists, Madeline Fening and Lucas Griffith, have had felony charges dropped following their arrest during a protest over immigration enforcement. The protest, held on July 17, 2025, took place on the Roebling Suspension Bridge connecting Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. Demonstrators were rallying against the detention of Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant facing deportation. Fening, a reporter with CityBeat, and Griffith, a photo intern, were covering the event when they were arrested alongside at least 13 others. Both were charged with first-degree rioting, a felony under Kentucky...

July 23, 2025 - Palestine - A devastating Israeli strike overnight claimed the lives of freelance journalist Wala al-Jaabari, her husband, and their five children as they slept in their Gaza City home. The Al‑Shaer family, unable to eat for days, went to bed hungry before their home was hit amid a wave of more than 100 airstrikes and gunfire across Gaza in 24 hours. The health ministry confirmed at least 111 starvation-related deaths in that period and an ongoing hunger emergency throughout the enclave. Local sources reported their corpses were removed in white shrouds,...

July 23, 2025 – Liberia – Alex Seryea Yormie, a Liberian radio journalist working with Voice of Tappita in Nimba County, was abducted on July 20 by members of a traditional community group in Lofa County. The incident occurred after Yormie broadcast a segment critically analysing a newly introduced government agricultural subsidy policy. He was held for nearly three days in a remote location before being released on July 23 following pressure from local elders and national press freedom organisations. Yormie is known for his bold reporting on local governance and policy implementation. His recent...

July 23, 2025 – Kashmir – A disturbing incident unfolded at Sher‑i‑Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SMHS) hospital when protesting doctors physically assaulted and verbally heckled journalists covering their demonstration. Among those targeted was an RK cameraman who suffered minor injuries after being struck with a placard. Female reporters also faced harassment when they attempted to film the protest. According to on‑site witnesses, tensions rose when media crews arrived to document the doctors’ grievances, primarily over working conditions, staffing shortages, and salary disputes. A sudden shift in mood turned the protest hostile, leading some doctors...

July 23, 2025 – Palestine – Al Jazeera Media Network has issued an urgent appeal for the global journalistic community, press freedom organizations, and legal bodies to take decisive action to protect journalists in Gaza, following AFP’s recent evacuation plea. The network reports that after more than 21 months of Israeli bombardment and blockade, Gaza’s nearly 2 million residents, including its journalists, are facing forced starvation and relentless targeting. Al Jazeera cites heartbreaking social media posts from July 19, like that of correspondent Anas AlShariff, who shared: “I haven’t stopped covering for a moment in 21 months...

July 23, 2025 – Palestine – Over 100 humanitarian organisations have issued an urgent warning that Gaza is facing mass, forced starvation due to Israel’s continued blockade and obstruction of aid. In a joint letter, major international groups, including Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Médecins Sans Frontières, accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. They report that nearly all of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are now suffering from acute food insecurity, and at least 111 deaths linked to malnutrition and starvation have been recorded in recent weeks. The blockade, which has severely restricted...

July 23, 2025 - Egypt - A coalition of 23 organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), has renewed calls for the immediate release of Egyptian cartoonist and photojournalist Ashraf Omar, who has spent over a year in pretrial detention under vague and politically charged allegations. Omar was arrested on July 22, 2024, and faces accusations of “joining a terrorist group” and “spreading false news”—charges frequently leveled against journalists in Egypt to stifle dissent. Omar’s arrest followed his expression of critical views on social media and through his cartoons, which touched on sensitive political...

July 23, 2025 – India – Index on Censorship reports a disturbing wave of internet censorship across India as news stories critical of the government are being deliberately scrubbed from public access. Journalists and editors reveal that investigative articles detailing human rights abuses, military misconduct, and surveillance, especially those published before 2019-now return “404 error” pages. One journalist from Kashmir, Afraaz Hussain (a pseudonym), said the entire archives vanished, erasing long-form work that once exposed government actions in Jammu and Kashmir. Veteran journalist Ruben Banerjee described this trend as “404 journalism." Notable victims include the now-deleted “Hate...

July 23, 2025 – Syria – New York Times Istanbul bureau chief Ben Hubbard has published a behind-the-scenes account of his long-awaited reporting trip across Syria, marking his first opportunity to travel freely through the country following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. After years of restricted access, Hubbard and his colleagues spent 16 days in February driving across Syria to document the destruction, hear from survivors, and capture the human cost of 13 years of civil war. For more than a decade, Hubbard had reported on Syria from neighbouring Lebanon, speaking...

July 23, 2025 - Palestine -  On July 21st, Palestinian journalist Tamer al-Zaanin was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a military operation in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, a coastal area that had been designated by Israel as a humanitarian “safe zone." Al-Zaanin was reportedly documenting conditions in the area when Israeli special forces launched a raid on a medical facility sheltering displaced civilians. The attack, according to eyewitnesses and humanitarian groups, involved live fire that struck multiple people, including media workers and medics. Al-Zaanin’s death adds to the devastating toll on Gaza’s press corps....

July 22, 2025 – Mexico – A court in Campeche has issued a sweeping gag order against retired journalist Jorge Luis González Valdez and the digital newspaper Tribuna. The ruling mandates that any content referencing Governor Layda Sansores must first be reviewed and approved by the court. González Valdez, who retired in 2017 after 30 years as Tribuna’s editorial director, is also prohibited from making public statements or publishing articles about the governor without judicial supervision. The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the decree, calling it “nothing less than a gag order” and accusing state authorities of...

July 22 2025 - Palestine/Israel -  Agence France-Presse (AFP) has issued an urgent alert: its remaining journalists in Gaza are on the brink of starvation and could die unless immediate action is taken. The AFP journalists’ union warns that the few local reporters still working in the besieged territory are enduring extreme hunger, exhaustion, and fear. Despite continuing to document the war, they now face the very real threat of death not from bombs, but from hunger. Only ten AFP contributors are left in Gaza: one writer, three photographers, and six videographers. Many have lost...

July 22, 2025 – Palestine – Agence France-Presse (AFP) has urgently appealed to Israeli authorities to allow for the immediate evacuation of its freelance journalists and their families from Gaza, citing severe food shortages, lack of clean water, and mounting safety risks in the war-ravaged enclave. The agency described the situation facing its local contributors as “appalling” and “untenable,” emphasizing that many are now too weak to carry out their reporting duties. The appeal follows a statement from AFP’s journalists’ association warning that their Gaza-based colleagues risk dying of starvation, amid a blockade that has...