News

September 22, 2025 - Ethiopia -  Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed deep concern about a recent spike in the arrests of journalists and media workers in Ethiopia, warning that the trend poses a serious threat to press freedom ahead of the 2026 national elections. Since August 2025, at least six media professionals have been detained—some held without charge or access to legal counsel, others incommunicado. Examples cited include three journalists from Sheger FM (102.1)—Tigist Zerihun, Mintamir Tsegaw, and Eshete Assefa—arrested after a broadcast on health workers. Despite compliance with a directive from the Ethiopian...

September 22, 2025 - Iraq/Kurdistan -  The Rojava Film Commune has completed a new cinematic tribute titled Heval Birako, dedicated to the memory of journalist Nazim Daştan. The film is adapted from a story he authored. Directed by Nûman Yigît with a screenplay by Önder Çakar, Heval Birako (113 minutes) began filming on 7 August 2024 and concluded on 7 October 2024. Its world premiere is scheduled for November 2025 at the Rojava International Film Festival in Qamishlo, where it will open the festival. The narrative centers around two siblings forcibly separated by ISIS forces....

September 22, 2025 - Belarus -  Belarusian journalist and social activist Pavel Mazheika was released and deported from Belarus on 11 September 2025, as part of a broader amnesty that saw over 50 political prisoners freed. Mazheika, affiliated with Belsat TV, had been detained since August 2022. Before his release, Mazheika had been sentenced by the Grodno Regional Court in July 2023 to six years in a strict-regime prison on a charge of “assisting extremist activities.”  His jailing was viewed by press freedom groups as emblematic of Belarus’s crackdown on independent media. The Committee to...

September 22, 2025 - Palestine -  Western media’s treatment of slain Gazan journalists often does not reflect tribute or accountability, but a deliberate distancing—reshaping narratives to absolve itself of complicity. In a recent opinion piece, Nour Balousha contends Western outlets report such deaths not to honour the fallen, but to sanitize their own role in normalizing the violence. Rather than centering Palestinian lives or interrogating the structural forces that render journalists vulnerable, Western coverage frequently frames such losses as inevitable tragedies—acts of war beyond moral judgment. The underlying message: journalists who die in Gaza are...

September 22, 2025 - UK -  In Kent, a recent anti-asylum rally turned hostile toward members of the press, as several journalists became direct targets of intimidation and harassment by protesters. The demonstration, which was aimed at opposing asylum policies, quickly created a hostile environment not only for asylum seekers and their advocates but also for those documenting the event. Reporters on the ground described an atmosphere where their very presence was treated as an intrusion to be challenged. Among the more disturbing incidents, protesters deliberately attempted to humiliate reporters. One demonstrator waved what he...

September 22, 2025 - USA - Journalist Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran national and veteran Spanish-language reporter in Atlanta, now faces imminent deportation to El Salvador after a recent ruling by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. Guevara was arrested on June 14, 2025, while covering a protest in DeKalb County, wearing press identification. Though misdemeanor charges stemming from his arrest were quickly dropped, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed him in federal detention. Earlier in July, an immigration judge granted Guevara release on bond, but ICE declined to comply and instead transferred him to another...

September 22, 2025 - Tunisia -  Tunisian journalist, lawyer, and commentator Sonia Dahmani has been chosen as a recipient of the 2025 International Press Freedom Award, as announced by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The award is to be conferred at a ceremony in New York later this year, though Dahmani is expected to remain absent from the event. Dahmani’s trajectory has made her both a prominent voice and a target in Tunisia’s increasingly constrained media environment. Before her 2024 arrest, she made frequent appearances on radio and television, speaking forthrightly on political issues,...

September 21, 2025 - USA -  The Pentagon has unveiled sweeping new restrictions on journalists that critics argue amount to one of the most significant curbs on press freedom in recent U.S. history. A memo issued under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requires reporters covering the Pentagon to sign a pledge agreeing not to publish any information—including unclassified material—unless it has been cleared for release by an authorized official. Those who violate the pledge risk having their credentials revoked. In addition to the pledge, the policy imposes new limits on reporters’ physical access to the Pentagon....

September 21, 2025 - China -  Chinese citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan, known for her reporting from Wuhan at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, has been handed a new four-year prison sentence after being convicted on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Zhang’s previous four-year term, imposed in late 2020 for similar charges, concluded in May 2024. Shortly after her release, she was detained again in August 2024 and later tried in Shanghai, where Western diplomats were reportedly denied access to observe the proceedings. The renewed conviction stems from posts on social media that Chinese...

September 20, 2025 - USA - The Pentagon, under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has introduced a sweeping new policy requiring journalists who cover the Department of Defense to sign a pledge forbidding them from gathering, possessing, or publishing any information—even if it is unclassified—without prior authorization. In effect, reporters who do not comply risk losing their Pentagon press credentials. According to a 17-page memo circulated among credentialed media, information handled by the Pentagon “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” The...

September 20, 2025 - India - Journalists in Tripura gathered at the Agartala Press Club to mark the eighth death anniversary of Santanu Bhowmik, a photojournalist who was killed in the line of duty. Members of the Tripura Journalists’ Union offered floral tributes to his portrait, recalling his contributions to journalism and the tragic circumstances of his death. Bhowmik, who worked for the local cable television channel Dinraat, was stabbed to death on 20 September 2017 while covering a political protest and roadside blockade in Mandai, near Agartala. The protest involved supporters of the Indigenous People’s...

September 20, 2025 - Yemen - An Israeli airstrike on September 10, 2025, devastated a newspaper complex in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing 31 journalists and media support staff. The strike hit the headquarters of the Moral Guidance Directorate, which housed the army-affiliated “26 September” newspaper along with two other Houthi-linked outlets. The attack came in the late afternoon as staff were finishing the weekly edition, ensuring the building was full and amplifying the toll. According to the Houthi Health Ministry, the overall death toll from the bombing reached 35, including a child who was visiting...

September 19, 2025 - Montenegro -  Danica Nikolić, editor-in-chief of the independent Montenegrin news outlet M Portal, has again received death threats, reigniting concerns about journalist safety and impunity. The latest violent email, sent to her work address on 10 September 2025, warns of physical harm and possible travel to Montenegro by the sender. The same anonymous individual has been targeting her since 2022. Nikolić believes these threats are directly tied to M Portal’s investigative work, particularly its reporting on corruption and organized crime in Montenegro. While the police reportedly identified the sender and a...

September 19, 2025 - USA/Germany -  Richard Grenell, former U.S. ambassador to Germany and ally of Donald Trump, has demanded that Elmar Thevessen, head of ZDF’s Washington studio, have his U.S. visa revoked over what Grenell describes as Thevessen’s “repeated calls for violence” and alleged rhetoric likened to extremist ideology. The request has sparked concern among media freedom advocates in both Germany and the United States. According to Gazeta Express, Grenell labelled Thevessen a “left-wing radical” and asserted that Thevessen’s coverage crossed acceptable boundaries. ZDF defended its journalist, stating that his work is protected under...

September 19, 2025 - Palestine -  At a “Together for Palestine” concert on September 18 at Wembley Arena, Mehdi Hasan addressed a crowd of around 13,000 people with a forceful speech accusing Western media of abandoning its duty to truth in Gaza. Hasan, CEO and editor-in-chief of Zeteo, described how mainstream outlets have misled, manipulated, and gaslit the public for nearly two years by failing to adequately spotlight the suffering and sacrifice of Palestinian journalists. Hasan said that while many call for increased access for foreign journalists, the real stories are already being told by...

September 19, 2025 - Russia -  In a groundbreaking investigation, Ukrainian journalists from Suspilne have identified the commander of the Russian regiment responsible for one of the most harrowing war crimes committed during the full-scale invasion: the imprisonment of 369 residents of Yahidne, including 69 children, in a school basement for nearly a month in March 2022. The Russian army used the civilians as human shields, turning the school’s upper floors into their headquarters to deter Ukrainian shelling. Ten people died from suffocation, starvation, or untreated illness, while survivors continue to suffer long-term health effects....

September 19, 2025 - Palestine -  Israeli occupation soldiers reportedly assaulted a Palestinian journalist and a doctor during a raid on the town of Arraba, south of Jenin, in the early hours of Friday. The victims were identified as Ahmad Zaki Al-Aridi, a journalist, and Dr. Nidal Al-Arda, both of whom suffered physical assaults after soldiers stormed and ransacked their homes. Witnesses said the two men were beaten during the raid, with their families also subjected to intimidation as property was destroyed. Reports from local media highlighted the severity of the violence, noting that Al-Aridi...

September 18, 2025 - USA - Voice of America, the United States’ largest international broadcaster, is fighting for survival after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to dismantle it. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has joined the legal fight to overturn the decision, standing alongside VoA journalists Patsy Widakuswara, the network’s White House bureau chief, and Jessica Jerreat, its press freedom editor. Both women were placed on leave as the crisis deepened, but they remain determined to defend the broadcaster’s mission. For more than eight decades, VoA has been a critical source...

September 18, 2025 - USA -  Mario Guevara, a Spanish-language reporter born in El Salvador, has now been held in U.S. custody for 100 days following his arrest on June 14, 2025, sparking concern from press-freedom organizations. He was livestreaming a protest against immigration raids in Georgia when the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office detained him, charging him with three misdemeanors: unlawful assembly, obstruction, and being a pedestrian in the roadway. Two days later, a judge ordered that Guevara be released on bond. Instead, he was handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which...

September 18, 2025 - Spain -  Spanish journalist Román Cuesta, a reporter for the left-wing online newspaper Diario Red, has used video evidence from his own assault to successfully identify those responsible. The 40-year-old investigative journalist was attacked outside his home in Salamanca on August 27, 2025. In a video circulated on social media, a man is seen pepper-spraying Cuesta while a woman records the incident and verbally insults him. After the attack, Cuesta applied open-source investigation methods and published detailed analyses in Diario Red. He identified both the man who posted the video and...

September 18, 2025 - Palestine -  Journalist Mohammad Ala’ Sawalhi was killed in Gaza City while documenting the human toll of Israel’s ongoing offensive. His death came during one of the deadliest phases of the war, as Israeli forces ordered thousands of civilians to evacuate north Gaza and opened the Salahudin Road as a so-called safe passage toward the south. Instead of safety, those who moved along these routes were often exposed to bombardment, with dozens reported dead the same day. Sawalhi was among thirteen Palestinians killed in this latest wave of violence. According to...

September 18, 2025 - Azerbaijan -  Shamshad Agha (also known as Shamshad Aghayev), editor-in-chief of the independent Azerbaijani website argument.az, has been hospitalized in a penitentiary medical facility in Azerbaijan after his arrest in the “Meydan TV” case. Agha was arrested on February 5, 2025, as part of the “Meydan TV case,” in which multiple journalists and media figures have been detained. He faces charges under Article 206.3.2 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, alleging smuggling committed by a group following preliminary conspiracy. Relatives report that Agha suffers from a stomach ulcer condition, which has significantly...

September 18, 2025 - Australia/USA -  The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) was barred from attending a joint press conference between U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, outside London, sparking outrage over press freedom concerns. Downing Street cited “logistical reasons” for the exclusion, though ABC was told it would still have access to other parts of the event. The decision came just days after ABC’s Americas editor, John Lyons, clashed with Trump in Washington. At the White House earlier that week, Lyons asked Trump how much his personal wealth had...

September 17, 2025 – Palestine/United Kingdom -  Mohamed Shalaby, a former BBC journalist, has revealed that he resigned from the broadcaster following disputes over how the BBC reported on the death of Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif. His decision came after a BBC story described Al-Sharif as having worked for a Hamas media team, a claim Shalaby insists was unverified and violated the BBC’s editorial standards. Shalaby explained that when he raised questions about the accuracy of this reporting, his concerns were dismissed internally. He says he repeatedly asked for proof and pointed out that Al-Sharif...

September 17, 2025 – Yemen/United States - On 10 September 2025, Israeli airstrikes hit the offices of 26 September, a Yemeni weekly newspaper affiliated with the Houthi movement, killing dozens of civilians and journalists. The attack on Sanaa struck the paper’s publishing house at a moment when staff had gathered for distribution, ensuring high casualties. At least 35 people were killed, including 31 journalists, making it one of the deadliest single attacks on media workers in years. Human Rights Watch confirmed the scale of the deaths and raised alarm that the strike appeared deliberate, given...