News

August 29, 2025 - Philippines - As the Philippines marks its National Press Freedom Day on August 30, 2025, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and a coalition of press freedom organizations are urgently calling for the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, the country’s only journalist currently detained. Cumpio has been held for five years without conviction, facing charges that critics say are based on fabricated evidence, such as allegations of illegal firearms possession. Cumpio, 26, formerly served as executive director of the independent outlet Eastern Vista and hosted a community radio program in Tacloban covering issues like...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  Deutsche Welle (DW) Director-General Peter Limbourg has strongly condemned the “unacceptable” attack on DW journalists in the occupied West Bank, calling such hostility toward press representatives “absolutely unjustifiable.” The targeted incident occurred in the village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, where a DW correspondent and their cameraman—clearly identifiable by their press vests—were attacked by radical Israeli settlers. Stones were hurled, and they were chased in a violent assault on media freedom. Despite managing to escape unharmed, their vehicle sustained significant damage. DW, alongside the German Journalists’ Association (DJV) and...

August 29, 2025 - Peru -  At the conclusion of a well‑intended congressional discussion on an Amnesty Law, journalist Katherine Ayarza, from the news outlet Epicentro, became the target of a troubling incident. The event on August 26, organized under the Democratic Tuesday initiative by Peru’s Congressional Citizen Participation Office, was meant to foster civic dialogue. Instead, it ended with a disconcerting attack directed at a media professional. As the session wrapped up, a group of attendees aggressively encircled Ayarza. Over shouts and demeaning remarks intended to undermine her work, they forcefully knocked her cellphone...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  Two successive Israeli strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, killing at least 20 people, among them five journalists—Reuters contractor Hussam al‑Masri, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Salama, AP freelancer Mariam Abu Dagga, freelance video journalist Moaz Abu Taha, and reporter Ahmed Abu Aziz. Human rights groups and legal experts condemned the “double tap” nature of the strikes—targeting the hospital then striking again as first responders and journalists arrived—as a serious violation of international law. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urgently called for a complete and independent investigation into the killings. CPJ criticized Israel’s initial military...

August 29, 2025 - Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia is intensifying its efforts to cultivate a new generation of environmental journalists as part of its broader push to achieve the sustainability objectives outlined in Vision 2030. The initiative is led by the National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC), which has emphasized the urgent need for skilled reporters who can interpret complex ecological issues, raise awareness, and connect public opinion with policymaking processes. According to Saad Al-Matrafi, NCEC’s executive director of media and communication, environmental journalists must go beyond standard news reporting. He explained that they...

August 29, 2025 - Palestine -  A rights group has revealed a sharp uptick in the detention of Palestinian journalists by Israeli occupation forces, underscoring deepening restrictions on press freedom amid escalating conflict. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), as of August 29, 2025, a total of 55 Palestinian journalists are currently held in Israeli prisons. Among them, 50 were arrested since the onset of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, including one female journalist. Further clarifying the detention landscape, a July 2, 2025, report by PPS noted that 22 of those journalists are being...

August 29, 2025 - Azerbaijan -  Azerbaijani authorities have intensified their pressure on independent media with the arrest of photojournalist Ahmed Mukhtar, who has become the 12th individual detained under the wide-ranging investigation into the so-called “Meydan TV case.” His detention has drawn sharp concern among press freedom advocates, who view it as part of a broader effort to silence dissenting voices and intimidate media workers in the country. Mukhtar was arrested in Baku and placed under 40 days of pretrial detention by the Khatai District Court. The charges against him have not been publicly...

August 29, 2025 - USA -  A powerful and intimate new documentary titled Armed Only With a Camera, directed by Craig Renaud and produced by photojournalist Juan Arredondo, pays tribute to the life and tragic death of award‑winning American journalist Brent Renaud. Brent was the first U.S. journalist killed during the Russia‑Ukraine war, gunned down on 13 March 2022 by Russian soldiers while filming an independent documentary in Irpin, Ukraine. Arredondo was seriously wounded in the ambush but survived. The film premiered at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, receiving widespread acclaim before later...

August 29, 2025 - India -  A district court in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has delivered a landmark verdict, sentencing five lawyers for their violent attack on senior journalist Ghanshyam Patel inside the Ujjain court in February 2009. The incident, deeply troubling given its location, has been condemned for breaching the sanctity of the judicial system. On August 28, 2025, Additional Sessions Judge Shrikrishna Dagliya sentenced Dharmendra Sharma, Shailendra Sharma, Bhavendra Sharma, and Purushottam Rai to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, while Surendra Sharma, nearly 90 years old, received a three‑year simple imprisonment term in view...

August 28, 2025 - Palestine - An incendiary editorial published by Middle East Monitor, titled “Yes, we kill journalists and the world can go to hell,” calls out what it describes as a systematic Israeli strategy of eliminating media workers in Gaza while dismissing global outcry. The piece highlights an emerging pattern: journalists are increasingly vilified as militants, following their deaths in strikes, rather than recognised as civilians protected under international law. The editorial cites the strike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital on August 25, where multiple media professionals were killed in what appears to have...

August 28, 2025 - Belgium/Palestine -  approximately 400 journalists and citizens gathered at Mont des Arts in Brussels to voice their support for Palestinian media workers who have been killed while reporting from Gaza. Organized collaboratively by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), the Belgian AJP‑VVJ, and the UK‑Ireland NUJ, the demonstration aimed to honour the memory of the 219 journalists who have died since the Gaza conflict began on 7 October 2023. The event featured 44 journalists reading aloud the names of their...

August 28, 2025 – Australia/China - The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has confirmed the return of its China bureau after nearly five years, appointing Allyson Horn as its new Beijing correspondent. Horn will begin her posting in the coming weeks, marking a crucial expansion of the ABC’s international presence. Horn brings extensive experience to the role; her first foreign assignment was in 2022 as the ABC’s Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem. She is described by ABC News Director Justin Stevens as "a formidable journalist" whose reporting is "brave and authoritative" and steadfast in giving...

August 28, 2025 – United Nations/Palestine - In a deeply emotional address to the UN Security Council, Algeria’s ambassador Amar Bendjama broke into tears while reading a heartfelt farewell letter penned by Palestinian journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital earlier this week. Abu Daqqa, an Associated Press visual journalist, had written the letter to her 13-year-old son, Gaith, just days before her death. Bendjama described her words as carrying “more truth than any official statement.” The letter’s poignant message—"When I die, pray for me, not to...

August 28, 2025 – United Kingdom - Dozens of journalists gathered outside 10 Downing Street in central London on August 27, holding a vigil and reading aloud the names of more than 200 journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The demonstration, organized by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), followed a particularly deadly airstrike in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis—which claimed the lives of at least 20 Palestinians, including five journalists working for Al Jazeera, Reuters, and AP. The NUJ presented a letter demanding accountability and stronger action from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and...

August 28, 2025 – Australia - Veteran MP Bob Katter, founder of Katter’s Australian Party, incited controversy during a press conference in Brisbane when he shook his fist at Channel 9 reporter Josh Bavas after being questioned about his Lebanese heritage. The outburst, broadcast live, sparked immediate condemnation and raised concerns about media-hostility from public officials. Katter, who was addressing his support for an upcoming anti-immigration rally, interrupted Bavas’s question by shouting, “I’ve punched blokes in the mouth for saying that,” while accusing the reporter of being “a racist.” He emphasized his long Australian lineage,...

August 28, 2025 - Palestine/UK -  A disturbing development has emerged from the UK: Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) and retired British Army major, publicly suggested that Israel should target more journalists, particularly those associated with Al Jazeera. In a social media post following the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al‑Sharif, Fox provocatively asked: “When does a journalist become a legitimate military target? Maybe not often enough.” Fox went further, asserting that “information warriors” could be seen as participants in hostilities—a broad interpretation that risks dissolving one of the core...

August 28, 2025 - France/Algeria -  In a development that has reverberated across media and diplomatic circles, French freelance sports journalist Christophe Gleizes—a specialist in African football and contributor to So Foot and Society magazines—was sentenced in June 2025 to seven years in prison by a court in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria. His conviction includes charges of “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing publications harmful to national interest,” accusations his family and rights groups have vigorously condemned as “totally absurd.” Gleizes, who had been under a judicial control order since his arrest in May 2024, appealed immediately and...

August 28, 2025 - Somalia -  The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) reported that a woman journalist based in Mogadishu was arrested and physically assaulted after she exposed an armed robbery committed by uniformed personnel. According to SJS, when the journalist challenged the authorities about the basis of her detention, she was grabbed by the neck and physically threatened by two armed officers. The assault underscores a deeply disturbing pattern in Somalia, where media professionals are increasingly targeted for reporting on abuses by those in positions of power. SJS strongly condemned the incident, calling it an...

August 28, 2025 - Ukraine/Russia -  The International Press Institute (IPI) warmly welcomed the release of two Ukrainian journalists — Dmytro Khilyuk and Mark Kaliush — who were recently freed from Russian detention. The announcement on August 27, 2025, marked a hopeful moment in a long-standing humanitarian plight. IPI celebrated the exchange as a positive but limited step toward restoring press freedom. While acknowledging the relief of seeing Khilyuk and Kaliush return home, IPI also renewed its urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of nearly thirty additional journalists still held in Russia—many detained...

August 28, 2025 – Palestine – Israel’s military has come under scrutiny for reportedly establishing a covert intelligence unit—dubbed the “Legitimization Cell”—tasked with manufacturing narratives to justify the deaths of journalists in Gaza. Over 200 journalists have reportedly died during Israel’s military operations, prompting alarm over claims that Palestinian reporters are being deliberately targeted. According to independent Israeli Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine, the unit was created in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks to salvage Israel’s international image. Its key function: discredit journalists by asserting—even tenuously—that they have links to Hamas. Political scientist Ahron...

August 28, 2025 - Palestine -  The latest Haaretz column highlights a deeply unsettling reality: Western media is failing Gaza—treating local journalists not as valued colleagues, but as disposable headlines. Khoudary, the author, accuses foreign outlets of rapidly discarding their commitment to Gaza-based reporters once tragedy strikes, abandoning them instead of standing by a shared humanity. This collapse of trust carries grave consequences. As Gaza has become the deadliest place for journalists in the 21st century, with over 170 to 220 local reporters and media workers killed since late 2023, Palestinian journalists have borne the...

August 28, 2025 - USA -  The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced a new proposal that would significantly change the way foreign students, exchange visitors, and journalists are granted permission to remain in the country. Under the current system, these visas operate on a “duration of status” model, meaning holders can stay in the U.S. as long as they maintain their programs or assignments. The proposed rule seeks to impose fixed time limits, marking a major policy shift that would bring stricter oversight and greater restrictions. For students and exchange visitors, the...

August 28, 2025 - Palestine -  In the ongoing Gaza conflict, where the death toll among journalists continues to climb, Reuters has made a critical shift in its security protocol. After witnessing a surge in fatalities among media professionals, the news agency has ceased sharing the real-time locations of its reporting teams operating in Gaza with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This decision underscores how dire the situation has become for journalists on the ground. NBC News first reported this change following multiple high-profile incidents in which journalists were killed by Israeli strikes. Among the...

August 28, 2025 - Palestine -  On August 25, 2025, the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis—the only fully functioning hospital in southern Gaza—was struck twice in quick succession by Israeli forces in what is known as a “double‑tap” strike. The first attack hit the hospital’s upper floor, and just minutes later, a second shell struck the same area while rescue workers and journalists rushed in, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 civilians, including five journalists. Among those killed were: Hussam al‑Masri, a Reuters cameraman. Mariam Abu Dagga, a 33-year-old freelance journalist for the...

August 27, 2025 – Maldives - At least five journalists were detained during protests against the proposed Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill, which critics say grants the government disproportionate control over the media. The detentions occurred as demonstrators, journalists among them, gathered outside the People’s Majlis and later the Presidential Office to oppose the bill’s passage. Among those detained were Muzayyin Nazim of Dhauru News, Mohamed Shahuzaan and Ahmed Aaidh of Adhadhu, and veteran journalist and former Media Council member Moosa Rasheed of Citizen News. They were released after receiving legal warnings, although police...