News

August 27, 2025 - Indonesia -  A wave of protests in Jakarta over lawmakers’ controversial housing allowances escalated into violent clashes that left one journalist injured and hundreds of demonstrators detained. According to the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), police arrested approximately 370 people, including nearly 200 minors, during the unrest that broke out on August 25. Demonstrators, largely students and activists, accused parliament members of corruption and condemned what they see as widening inequality in Indonesia. The protests centred on the revelation that lawmakers receive monthly housing allowances of around 50 million rupiah...

August 27, 2025 – Palestine/United States - Investigative reporting by Middle East Eye reveals that U.S. security contractors operating an aid distribution center in Gaza interrogated a source of Middle East Eye journalist Mohamed Salama, seeking information about his identity and whereabouts, just days before Salama was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Salama, who reported for both MEE and Al Jazeera, had relied on anonymity for his own safety while investigating sensitive issues. A person he interviewed, who subsequently became a source, revealed they were briefly detained and questioned by American contractors about Salama’s identity....

August 27, 2025 – United Kingdom/Palestine - David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye (MEE), has issued a blistering letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer following the deaths of two MEE journalists killed in Gaza. In the open letter, Hearst posed a series of pointed questions, demanding an international investigation into Israel’s repeated targeting of journalists. He also sought clarity on whether the UK's Ministry of Defence holds surveillance flight data from early August, which has not been disclosed. The move came amid mounting concern over the unprecedented loss of media lives: since October...

August 27, 2025 – Indonesia - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced the violent assault on eight journalists who were covering an inspection of a lead smelting plant in Serang, Banten, an operation investigating alleged violations in hazardous and toxic waste management. The journalists represented a broad media spectrum, including Radar Banten, Tribun Banten, Bantennews.co.id, SCTV, Tempo, Antara, Banten TV, Jawa Pos TV, and Detik. RSF emphasized that the attack not only endangers media professionals but severely undermines environmental accountability and public awareness. On August 21, 2025, as ministry officials departed the site, security personnel...

August 27, 2025 – Bangladesh -  A Dhaka Cyber Tribunal has cleared journalist Elias Hossain of all charges under the Digital Security Act (DSA), ending a high-profile legal ordeal that began nearly three years ago. Judge Nure Alam delivered the acquittal on August 27, citing that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges against him. Court official Mohammad Jewel Miah confirmed that no witnesses appeared to testify on the scheduled date, prompting the court to close the testimony phase and deliver a clean verdict for Elias. The original case was initiated...

August 27, 2025 – Paraguay - Journalist Jéssica Martínez was violently struck in the chest by a security guard of Justice Minister Rodrigo Nicora while attempting to report outside the Emboscada Antigua Penitentiary. The attack occurred unexpectedly during her routine coverage and was captured on video, sparking immediate outrage among media professionals and observers.  In response to mounting pressure from her colleagues, who demanded at a minimum an institutional apology, the Ministry of Justice issued a statement via WhatsApp. In it, Minister Nicora expressed regret for the "inappropriate action of his guard." The incident prompted...

August 27, 2025 – Argentina - Photojournalist Pablo Grillo, who suffered life-threatening head trauma after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by military police during a pensioners’ protest against President Javier Milei’s government in Argentina in March, has undergone his eighth surgery amid a plateau in neurological recovery. Despite hopes raised by an August 13 procedure implanting skull prosthetics, his family announced on August 27 that Grillo was "not recovering as expected" and urgently required another surgical intervention to address critically low cerebrospinal fluid levels. Following the operation earlier this week, Pablo’s father,...

August 27, 2025 – Palestine -  Fulwell Group CEO Leo Pearlman has deleted a controversial LinkedIn post in which he claimed that slain Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif was a “terrorist masquerading as a journalist.” The post drew immediate outrage from media professionals and human rights advocates, who condemned it as a dangerous smear against a reporter killed while covering Israel’s war in Gaza. Pearlman removed the post after intense backlash, but criticism continued across social media, with many denouncing his remarks as irresponsible and dehumanising. Journalists and press freedom defenders warned that such rhetoric...

Augst 27, 2025 - Palestine - An investigative exposé by +972 Magazine and Local Call reveals that the Israeli military established a clandestine unit—dubbed the “Legitimisation Cell”—with a disturbing mandate: to collect intelligence that smears Gaza-based journalists by falsely portraying them as Hamas operatives, effectively rationalizing their targeting in airstrikes. This tactic is widely viewed as a propaganda tool—part of Israel’s broader hasbara (public diplomacy) strategy—rather than a legitimate security measure. The operation of the “Legitimisation Cell” is both calculated and chilling. Following heightened international condemnation over the killing of reporters, the unit allegedly scoured for...

August 27, 2025 - Lebanon/USA -  A visit by US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, simultaneously serving as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and envoy for Syria, has ignited political tensions in Lebanon following unexpected remarks during a Beirut press conference. Barrack’s mission to bolster regional stability included promoting an ambitious economic initiative that would offer jobs for potential ex-Hezbollah fighters via investment in a southern Lebanon economic zone. The plan, backed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, aims to soften Hezbollah’s entrenched influence by incentivizing disarmament through sustained economic alternatives. Barrack’s diplomatic agenda also involved...

August 27, 2025 – Poland/Ukraine - The dismissal of Ukrainian-born journalist Vitalii Mazurenko from his role as deputy editor-in-chief at the Polish outlet Obserwator Międzynarodowy has sparked debate about free expression and political sensitivity in Warsaw. The decision came after Mazurenko used the word “pachan,” a Russian criminal slang term meaning crime boss, to describe Polish President Karol Nawrocki during a live interview on Polsat News. The editorial board of the publication quickly issued a statement distancing itself from his words. It stressed that the comment reflected only Mazurenko’s personal view and underscored that the...

August 26, 2025 – Belarus -  Belarusian freelance journalist Aleh Supruniuk has been sentenced to three years in prison following a closed trial on August 8. He was found guilty of “participating in an extremist group” after writing at least 43 articles for the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), which the government declared an extremist organization in early 2023. His sentencing was officially announced on August 25 by BAJ, which continues to operate in exile. Supruniuk, based in Brest, had been detained since January 2025 after an earlier administrative arrest in December 2024, when authorities searched...

August 26, 2025 – Belgium - The International Press Association (API‑IPA) has urgently called on Belgian authorities to halt the expulsion of journalist Margarita Zuaui and her 18-year-old son, following the termination of her residency under family reunification grounds. API‑IPA president Dafydd ab Iago emphasised that Zuaui and her son have fully complied with legal requirements and have been living in Belgium for years, stressing the importance of their right to remain and continue working as journalists under European principles of proportionality and fairness. Zuaui, a Russian national and API‑IPA member since 2023, has resided...

August 26, 2025 - General -  On August 25, 2025, Al Jazeera strongly condemned an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis that killed its cameraman, Mohammad Salama, along with four other journalists. The attack, described as a double-tap strike where rescuers and journalists were hit after rushing to the initial blast, killed at least 21 people in total. Al Jazeera said Salama’s death raised the network’s toll to 10 journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023, part of a wider pattern of more than 240 journalist deaths in the enclave. In a...

August 26, 2025 – Somalia - Reporting on critical social issues like poverty, hunger, and police brutality in Somalia remains extraordinarily dangerous. According to Index on Censorship, more than 80 media workers have been killed since 1992, and countless others, journalists and ordinary citizens alike, have been forced into self-censorship or exile to avoid arrest, harassment, or worse. A recent government directive now explicitly forbids any public or media discussion of “insecurity” in the capital, Mogadishu. The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Daud Aweis, has warned that violations could result in prosecution and “severe...

August 26, 2025 – Afghanistan - Afghan journalist Shikib Ahmad Nazari, who reports for Nippon TV News and other international outlets, has been detained by Taliban authorities since July 24 following a raid on his Kabul office by approximately 15 intelligence and morality police agents. He was initially held at a morality police detention centre for a week before being transferred to a Taliban intelligence prison, according to reports by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This arrest drew immediate and sharp criticism from press freedom advocates. CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Director, Beh Lih Yi, demanded Nazari’s...

August 26, 2025 – Palestine -  Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli has provoked outrage after openly endorsing the killing of Palestinian journalists during a “double-tap” Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. Speaking on i24 News, Yehezkeli portrayed the targeted media workers not as civilians or professionals but as legitimate targets, remarks widely condemned as an attack on journalism itself and a justification for war crimes. His comments reflect a disturbing trend within segments of Israeli media, where the deaths of Palestinian journalists have been celebrated rather than mourned. An article in Haaretz titled “Better Late Than...

August 26, 2025 - Iran -  Iranian journalist Omid Faraghat, based in Karaj, was sentenced to three months in prison by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The court ruled that his interviews with Persian‑language media outside Iran constituted “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, a charge he firmly denied. The verdict comes after a separate court in Karaj acquitted him of similar charges, including propaganda and disturbing public opinion, highlighting inconsistencies between judicial rulings. Faraghat’s sentencing is part of a broader and intensifying crackdown on journalists in Iran. Over the past years, the authorities have detained, summoned, or prosecuted...

August 26, 2025 - General -  Canadian photojournalist Valerie Zink, who worked with Reuters as a stringer for nearly a decade, announced her resignation on August 26, 2025, citing the agency’s handling of the Gaza war and its treatment of journalists reporting from the besieged enclave. Zink accused Reuters of betraying its own principles and enabling what she described as the systematic targeting of media workers in Gaza, where at least 245 journalists and media professionals have been killed since October 2023. In a public statement, Zink said it had become “impossible to continue” under...

August 26, 2025 – Nigeria -  Journalist Azuka Ogujiuba, a prominent publisher of Media Room Hub, has been subjected to repeated arrests and harassment by Nigeria’s police, a move strongly condemned by the Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI). The IPI described the actions as "blatant harassment aimed at silencing a journalist for performing her lawful duties," stressing that such tactics are unacceptable in a democratic society. Ogujiuba, formerly a reporter with ThisDay, has faced two arrests and multiple summonses to Abuja, despite residing and working in Lagos. The IPI emphasized that...

August 26, 2025 - General -  The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, issued a powerful rebuke to members of the global press—“Shame on all journalists not raising their voice against the massacre of their brave Palestinian colleagues while documenting the genocide.” She made the statement on the social media platform X, reposting an image of a damaged camera labeled “The Weapon Israel Fears the Most,” suggesting it belongs in a future “Genocide Memorial” to honor the countless victims in Gaza. This scathing call comes in the wake of fresh...

August 26, 2025 - Crimea/Russia -  A recent report from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reveals that Crimean Tatar journalist and human rights defender Lutfiye Zudiyeva is now facing renewed legal action prompted by her continued reporting on Russian oppression in Crimea. This move represents yet another chapter in a troubling pattern of attempts to silence independent media voices under the guise of legal proceedings. Zudiyeva, known for documenting abuses and amplifying the perspective of her community, has been proactively targeted by Russian authorities. This new prosecution is not just an isolated event—it’s emblematic...

August 25, 2025 - Africa/Palestine -  A new pan‑African coalition, African Journalists Against Genocide (AJAG), has emerged, uniting media professionals from more than 20 African countries to forcefully denounce the systematic targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Spearheaded by Nigerian broadcast journalist Ireti Bakare‑Yusuf, the coalition seeks to elevate global awareness, press for justice, and call out Israel’s role in the escalating media crisis inside the enclave. AJAG’s founding follows the deadly toll of the Gaza war on journalists—over 250 media workers have been killed since October 2023, marking it the deadliest conflict...

August 25, 2025 - Palestine -  In a profoundly emotional broadcast, Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary struggled to maintain her composure while reporting on the Israeli double-tap airstrike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, which tragically claimed the lives of multiple journalists. It was a moment that cut through the usual journalistic reserve, revealing raw human grief under the weight of tragedy. As she narrated, one voice quivered with heartbreak: “Palestinian journalists right now are crying.” The image of her visibly shaken, almost whispering through tears, intensified the impact. This wasn’t merely a report—it was a shared wound, an...

August 25, 2025 - Palestine - A deadly double-tap airstrike struck the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, killing at least 22 people, including Middle East Eye and Quds News Network correspondent Ahmed Abu Aziz. The hospital attack—widely condemned for targeting press and medical personnel during rescue operations—intensified global scrutiny on the rising toll of journalists killed in Gaza. Ahmed Abu Aziz, age 29, was among five journalists killed as they covered the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the hospital. According to profiles published by The Guardian, he was recognized for his perseverance amid danger and his pursuit of academic...