News

February 14, 2025 - General - A dispute between the White House and the Associated Press (AP) arose over the naming of a major body of water. President Donald Trump issued an executive order renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" as the "Gulf of America," a move that drew criticism from the Mexican government, international media, and many observers who viewed it as unnecessary and politically charged. The AP, known for maintaining strict editorial standards, continued to use the term "Gulf of Mexico" in its reporting. The agency justified this decision by citing the name’s long-standing...

February 13, 2025 - Italy - The Italian government faced allegations of using Israeli-made spyware, Graphite, developed by Paragon Solutions, to surveil journalists and migrant activists. The controversy erupted when WhatsApp informed 90 individuals across 24 countries, including Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato and migrant rights advocate Luca Casarini, that their phones had been compromised by the spyware. The spyware, capable of accessing encrypted messages and other sensitive data, was reportedly deployed without the users' knowledge. The Italian government denied any involvement in the surveillance activities. Cabinet Minister Luca Ciriani acknowledged that at least seven Italian...

February 13, 2025 - Egypt -  In a deepening crackdown on dissent and press freedom, Egyptian authorities arrested Nada Mougheeth, the wife of jailed cartoonist Ashraf Omar, on January 16, 2025. Her arrest came shortly after she gave an interview criticizing the government’s treatment of her husband, who has been detained since July 2024 for publishing satirical cartoons critical of the Egyptian regime and economic mismanagement. According to reports, Mougheeth was taken from her home in Cairo by state security officers. She now faces serious charges, including “spreading false news” and “joining a terrorist organization.”...

February 13, 2025 - Georgia -  Mzia Amaghlobeli, a prominent Georgian journalist and founder of the independent media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, has become a symbol of resistance against the Georgian government's increasing authoritarianism. On January 12, 2025, Amaghlobeli was arrested during an anti-government protest in Batumi, initially for placing a sticker calling for a national strike. She was later rearrested and charged with assaulting a police officer after slapping Batumi's police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze, in response to alleged verbal abuse. The charge carries a potential prison sentence of 4 to 7 years. In protest...

February 13, 2025 - Source: News4 -  The Italian government denied Wednesday that it had spied on journalists and migrant activists using spyware but said it would cooperate with an investigation into “vulnerabilities” after at least seven Italian cellphones were apparently hacked with military-grade surveillance technology. Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service informed dozens of people across the European Union on Jan. 31 that they had been targeted in a spyware attack using technology from Israeli cyber firm Paragon Solutions. In a statement provided by Meta’s Italy press office, WhatsApp said it had disrupted what it called...

February 13, 2025 - USA -  Tensions escalated between the White House and the Associated Press (AP) over the renaming of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.” President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14172 on January 20, mandating that federal agencies adopt the new name. Though the order was limited to government use, it quickly became a point of contention with media organizations and the public, who criticized the move as politically motivated and historically inaccurate. The AP maintained its editorial policy of using “Gulf of Mexico” in its coverage, recognizing the...

February 12, 2025 - Madacasgar -  Investigative journalist Fernand Cello, affiliated with the daily newspaper Basy Vava, was arrested at his home in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, and detained at Antanimora prison. His detention has been marked by a lack of access to legal counsel, family, or colleagues, raising serious concerns about due process and press freedom. Cello's arrest stems from a September 2023 Facebook post in which he inaccurately claimed that President Andry Rajoelina and other top officials had fled to France. Although he promptly retracted the statement and issued a public apology, authorities charged...

February 12, 2025 - USA - Belarus released three detainees on February 12, 2025, including an American citizen, Belarusian journalist Andrey Kuznechyk, and opposition activist Alena Maushuk. The surprise move, facilitated through diplomatic coordination with Lithuania and the United States, was welcomed by the White House and international human rights advocates. The American citizen, whose identity remains undisclosed, was reportedly transferred to safety in Vilnius, Lithuania, along with the two Belarusians. The U.S. government confirmed their release and praised the collaborative efforts that led to their freedom, particularly highlighting Lithuania’s role in providing safe passage...

February 12, 2025 - Haiti -  Haiti has become one of the deadliest places in the world to be a journalist, despite not being in an official war zone. Journalists in the country face relentless threats from heavily armed gangs, political instability, and the breakdown of government institutions. The once-vibrant media landscape is now in survival mode, as reporters are targeted with alarming frequency. Gang violence, especially in Port-au-Prince, has made newsrooms direct targets. In March, the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition launched coordinated attacks, setting fire to at least three radio stations, including the...

February 12, 2025 - Palestine -  In 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported a record 124 journalist deaths across 18 countries, marking the deadliest year since the organization began tracking such data over three decades ago. Notably, Israel was responsible for nearly 70% of these fatalities, with 85 journalists killed by the Israeli military during the conflict in Gaza. The majority of those killed were Palestinians, including freelancers and local reporters who continued to document the war despite facing extreme risks. The CPJ highlighted that freelance journalists accounted for over a third of...

February 11, 2025 - Guinea -  Guinean investigative journalist Habib Marouane Camara was violently abducted in Conakry by men wearing gendarme uniforms. Camara, founder of the news website Lerevelateur224.com, was en route to a meeting with businessman Kerfalla Camara when his vehicle was intercepted at Carrefour KPC. Witnesses reported that the assailants smashed his car’s windshield, assaulted him, and forcibly took him to an unknown location. Despite immediate efforts by his family and legal representatives to locate him, Camara's whereabouts remain unknown months later. His wife, Mariama Lamarana Diallo, and lawyer, Salif Béavogui, filed a...

February 11, 2025 - Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov publicly endorsed Elon Musk's proposal to close U.S.-funded media organizations Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA). Musk, serving as head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), labeled these outlets as outdated and questioned the justification for the substantial government funding they receive. President Japarov, in an interview with Kyrgyzstan's state news agency Kabar, echoed Musk's sentiments, suggesting that the role of traditional media outlets like RFE/RL has diminished in the digital age. He stated that platforms such as Azattyk,...

February 11, 2025 - Iran -  Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, granted pardons to journalists Niloofar Hamedi, Elaheh Mohammadi, and Rouhollah Nakhaei. This action coincided with the 46th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hamedi and Mohammadi had been arrested in September 2022 following their coverage of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody—a tragic event that ignited nationwide protests. Hamedi, a photojournalist for Shargh Daily, reported on Amini's hospitalization, while Mohammadi, a reporter for Ham-Mihan newspaper, covered her funeral. Their reporting played a pivotal role in bringing international attention to the incident. In October...

February 10, 2025 - Palestine -  Israeli military actions in Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least seven Palestinian journalists, marking a significant escalation in the conflict's toll on media professionals. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate identified the victims as Omar al-Diraoui, Saed Abu Nabhan, Ahlam al-Taluli, Mohammed Bashir al-Talmis, Aqel Saleh, Ahmed al-Shiah, and Ahmed Hisham Abu al-Rus. Additionally, nine family members of media workers were killed, and six journalists' homes were destroyed during the same period. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented over 210 journalist fatalities since the onset of the...

February 10, 2025 - Congo -  Edmondo Bahati Monja, an investigative journalist for Radio Maria in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was tragically shot and killed by armed assailants. Based in the eastern region of the country, Goma has been a focal point of violence involving rebel and militia groups. Bahati had been reporting on these conflicts, highlighting the grave human rights abuses and escalating violence in the area. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay condemned Bahati's killing, emphasizing that such acts undermine the fundamental human right to freedom of expression. Azoulay called on the DRC...

February 10, 2025 - Somalia -  Somali journalists Sharif Abdi and Omar Yusuf Mohamed (also known as Omar Guux) were released after being unlawfully detained by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and a clan militia, respectively. Their detentions highlight ongoing concerns about press freedom and the safety of journalists in Somalia. Sharif Abdi, a freelance journalist, was arrested on January 25, 2025, by armed NISA officers who tracked his phone after raiding his home in Mogadishu's Waberi district. He was held without a court order at Godka Jilaow, a notorious NISA detention...

February 10, 2025 - Italy -  Italian investigative journalist Francesco Cancellato is, editor-in-chief of Fanpage.It, became the latest target of an alarming spyware campaign that has raised serious concerns about press freedom and digital security. WhatsApp alerted Cancellato that his phone had been compromised by Graphite spyware, developed by Israeli company Paragon Solutions. This spyware is especially dangerous because it can infiltrate devices remotely without any interaction from the user, known as a "zero-click" attack. Cancellato is among nearly 90 individuals worldwide targeted in this campaign, including other journalists, activists, and human rights defenders. The...

February 10, 2025 - Syria -  The return of Khaled al-Fares to Syria has ignited widespread outrage and calls for accountability among Syrians and international human rights organizations. Al-Fares, previously a member of the pro-Assad National Defense Forces and a key figure in the regime's intelligence network, is accused of providing information that led to the 2012 assassination of American journalist Marie Colvin. Colvin was killed in a targeted artillery strike while reporting from Baba Amr in Homs, Syria. Documents obtained by The Media Line suggest that al-Fares was instrumental in identifying Colvin's location, leading...

February 09, 2025 - Afghanistan -  Taliban authorities raided Radio Begum, Afghanistan’s only nationwide women-run radio station, arresting two employees and suspending its operations. The Ministry of Information and Culture cited "multiple violations," including the unauthorized provision of content to a foreign-based television channel, as grounds for the shutdown. Founded in March 2021 by Afghan journalist Hamida Aman, Radio Begum was established to provide educational programming for Afghan women and girls, particularly in the face of increasing restrictions on women's rights under Taliban rule. The station's content, produced entirely by Afghan women, includes lessons on...

February 09, 2025 - Turkey - Turkish authorities detained three journalists from the independent newspaper BirGün after they published a story about a visit by a journalist from the pro-government Sabah newspaper to Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, Akın Gürlek. The detained journalists—Uğur Koç, Berkant Gültekin, and Yaşar Gökdemir—were accused under Turkey’s broad anti-terrorism laws of “targeting individuals engaged in counterterrorism efforts.” This move sparked significant backlash both within Turkey and internationally. The story at the center of the controversy had already been reported by Sabah itself, making the detention of the BirGün journalists even more contentious....

February 08, 2025 - Turkey/Iraq - Veteran Kurdish journalist Aziz Köylüoğlu was killed on January 27, 2025, in a targeted Turkish drone strike in the Ranya district of Sulaymaniyah province, part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Union of Democratic Press of Kurdistan (YRD) confirmed his death, describing the attack as a deliberate attempt to silence his critical reporting on Turkish state policies towards the Kurdish population. Born in 1976 in Diyarbakır (Amed), Turkey, Köylüoğlu began his journalistic career in the early 2000s. He worked across various media platforms, including RojNews, ANHA, and Ronahi...

February 08, 2025 - Turkey -  Turkish journalist Ali Barış Kurt was imprisoned in Istanbul after the Court of Cassation upheld a prison sentence of two years and four months against him. The sentence stemmed from charges related to his social media activity and journalistic work, which Turkish authorities claimed violated anti-terrorism laws. Following his detention, Kurt was taken to the Bostancı District Security Directorate and then remanded in custody at Maltepe L Type Closed Prison No. 1. Kurt’s imprisonment is part of a wider crackdown on press freedom in Turkey, a country where journalists...

February 7, 2025 - Turkey - Öznur Değer, a journalist for the Kurdish women's news agency JinNews, was arrested during a police raid on her home in Mardin, Turkey. Authorities charged her with "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" based on her social media posts and journalistic work. Değer had previously reported on the 2021 massacre of seven members of the Dedeoğulları family in Konya, a case that garnered significant attention due to its ethnic implications. Her posts, such as "I am a Kurd too" and "Kurds are being massacred in Konya," were cited as...

February 7, 2025 - Syria/UK/Austria - Richard Medhurst, a Syrian-British journalist and political commentator, was arrested on August 15, 2024, at London Heathrow Airport under Section 12 of the UK's Terrorism Act 2000. This section criminalizes expressing support for a proscribed organization, including opinions or beliefs that could encourage others to support such groups. Medhurst was detained for nearly 24 hours without being informed of the specific allegations against him. During his detention, his electronic devices and journalistic equipment were seized, and he was denied access to legal counsel until he explicitly requested it. He...

February 07, 2025 - China -  Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist and former lawyer, has been detained since May 2020 for her independent reporting on the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. She was arrested after documenting the city's lockdown and the government's response, sharing her findings on social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, and WeChat. In December 2020, Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," a vaguely defined offense often used by Chinese authorities to suppress dissent. During her imprisonment, Zhang's...