News

September 05, 2025 - Palestine -  In a recent video tribute, Middle East Eye’s editor-in-chief, David Hearst, honored veteran Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh, describing him as a symbol of resilience and unwavering commitment to the truth. Al-Dahdouh, widely recognized as the face of Al Jazeera’s coverage in Gaza, has continued reporting from the frontlines despite enduring profound personal tragedy and physical injury. Hearst highlighted the extraordinary sacrifices al-Dahdouh has made, noting that “Wael has suffered a huge personal loss, and significant injuries which he bears to this day, yet he has carried on reporting, he...

September 05, 2025 – Brazil/USA -  Veteran journalist Jackson Rangel, 62, endured 368 days in detention—ordered by Supreme Federal Court (STF) Minister Alexandre de Moraes—after making social media posts critical of the Court’s growing reach over Brazil’s democratic institutions. Despite no formal criminal charges ever being filed, Rangel was accused of “spreading fake news detrimental to the Democratic Rule of Law” and was only released provisionally on December 20, 2023, after being arrested on December 15, 2022. His prolonged preventive detention drew international condemnation. On July 30, the U.S. Treasury cited Rangel’s incarceration as an...

September 05, 2025 - Albania -  The State Cadastral Agency (SCA), particularly its Kamëz-Vorë branch, has stated an incident in which journalist Domenika Bajraktari and her cameraman were assaulted while on duty. The agency moved swiftly to clarify that the individual arrested in connection with the case, identified as F.M., 67, is not and has never been an employee of the institution. By stressing this point, the SCA distanced itself from direct responsibility for the act, while nonetheless condemning any form of violence against journalists. Alongside the arrest, authorities have also opened criminal proceedings against...

September 05, 2025 – Saudi Arabia/Yemen – Saudi authorities have detained Yemeni journalist Mujahid Al-Haiqi without charge, drawing strong criticism from press freedom defenders and human rights groups. Al-Haiqi, a freelance reporter who contributes to Aden Al-Ghad, was arrested on August 12, 2025, at Jeddah airport as he prepared to board a flight to Cairo after performing the Umrah pilgrimage with his mother. He was summoned to a security center inside the airport and subsequently taken into custody. No arrest warrant or official explanation has been provided. Family members told rights monitors that Al-Haiqi’s home...

September 05, 2025 - Somalia - Somali journalist and press freedom defender Abdalle Mumin, who recently visited Jersey for a period of respite, is now facing legal intimidation in the United Kingdom. Mumin, secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), has long been a target of harassment in Somalia for his reporting and activism. His visit to Jersey earlier this year, arranged by the Prisoners of Conscience Holiday Fund, provided him with temporary relief. During the trip, local supporters launched a fundraiser that raised over £6,000 to help bring his family to safety in the...

September 05, 2025 - India -  In Assam, northeastern India, authorities have launched three criminal investigations in under four months against The Wire, a New Delhi-based news outlet, and three journalists—including its editor-in-chief Siddharth Varadarajan, veteran journalist Karan Thapar, and freelance reporter Abhisar Sharma—for content considered critical of the government. All are being prosecuted under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India’s revised criminal code. This section, a modern iteration of the colonial-era sedition law, penalizes “acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India,” and carries penalties of up to life imprisonment....

September 05, 2025 – General - Wael al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s veteran Gaza bureau chief, has become emblematic of journalistic resilience under fire—yet his most compelling critique is reserved for his own profession. In a recent interview with Declassified UK, he condemned Western media for “capitulating to the Israeli narrative,” accusing them of failing Gaza by adopting unchallenged accounts without proper scrutiny or impartiality. For Dahdouh, such reporting amounts to a betrayal of truth in the face of mass suffering. His unwavering commitment to journalism is deeply personal. In a candid conversation with The New Arab,...

September 04, 2025 - Russia - A Moscow court has sentenced exiled journalist and LGBTQ+ commentator Karèn Shainyan to five years in prison in absentia, accusing him of financing extremist activities through a small donation to opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Prosecutors alleged that in early 202,2 Shainyan transferred 2,000 rubles—about $25—to the foundation, which was labeled an extremist organization by Russian authorities in 2021. While prosecutors initially sought a six-year sentence, the court ultimately imposed five years. Shainyan, who has lived in exile in London since 2022, was designated a “foreign agent” that...

September 04, 2025 – India – As India marks the eighth anniversary of Gauri Lankesh’s assassination, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is pressing the Karnataka state government to establish a fast-track court to close the prolonged but unresolved case. Lankesh—a fearless editor of the Kannada weekly Gauri Lankesh Patrike—was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, after vocally criticizing right-wing extremism. Despite arrests, no one has been convicted of her killing. Seventeen suspects have been granted bail, and one remains at large. The trial, which finally began in 2022, continues...

September 04, 2025 – Palestine/UK - When journalists across the globe rallied in solidarity to demand an end to attacks on media workers in Gaza, a London branch of their own union sparked internal controversy by discouraging participation. Emails reviewed by Novara Media reveal that union representatives within the BBC’s branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) warned BBC staff against attending an NUJ-organised vigil for Palestinian journalists killed since October 2023. The message, citing BBC impartiality rules, instructed staff to refrain from involvement—even though the vigil was arranged by their own union. The...

September 04, 2025 – Russia - Nika Novak, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Russian Service, remains behind bars in Siberia—and now in solitary confinement. Authorities subjected her to a five-day isolation beginning August 21, after she refused to retract criticism of the conditions in which she is detained. She has since launched a hunger strike in protest. Novak has been imprisoned since December 2023, when security forces arrested her; a closed trial followed, and she was sentenced to four years on charges of “collaboration with a foreign organization” under sweeping legal provisions. Currently housed in a...

September 04, 2025 – Sudan – Sudanese freelance journalist Shamael Elnoor, known for her coverage of politics and Darfur, has returned to a drastically transformed Khartoum—only to discover that her home has been destroyed and once-bustling newsrooms have been emptied and looted. The collapse of Sudan’s media landscape reflects the deep scars the civil war has inflicted on independent journalism. Before the outbreak of hostilities in 2023, Sudan’s press was already under pressure from dwindling revenue and a global shift to digital media. But the arrival of armed conflict—pitting the army against the paramilitary Rapid...

September 04, 2025 – Palestine -  UN experts have urgently appealed to the international community, urging immediate action to protect journalists in Gaza amid a brutal wave of targeted killings. In the past 10 days, Israeli airstrikes have claimed the lives of six more Palestinian journalists, including two women, bringing the total of media casualties to an unprecedented level. The experts—Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, and Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories—condemned both the denial of media access and the targeting of local reporters. They...

September - 03, 2025 - South Africa/ Palestine - South African TV presenter Juliet Newell was removed from the air by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) following an interview in which she challenged guest Dr. Mamphela Ramphele for comparing Israel’s military action in Gaza to the Holocaust. Newell asked whether the analogy was “provocative,” arguing that such a comparison “almost undermines what the Holocaust was all about.” Ramphele insisted: “It is a Holocaust by any definition” because of “deliberate attacks on children… and starvation,” prompting a fraught exchange that ended with both acknowledging their...

September 03, 2025 - Azerbaijan -   Azerbaijan has intensified its assault on independent media by tacking on seven new financial crime charges—including currency smuggling—against ten journalists detained in the long-running Meydan TV case. The move, made public on September 3, 2025, expands the government's legal assault, exposing journalists to potential sentences of up to 12 years. ([turn0search1], [turn0search0]) Simultaneously, photojournalist Ahmad Mukhtar was arrested and detained, joining the growing roster of media professionals targeted under this case. Mukhtar is now the 12th person imprisoned, despite Meydan TV’s editor-in-chief denying any connection between Mukhtar and the...

September 03, 2025 - Iran/USA -  Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh has now endured over a year of harsh imprisonment in Iran solely for practicing journalism—from psychological torment to relentless interrogations—his ordeal laid bare through a poignant Q&A with his brother. Initially held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, Reza was later transferred to the overcrowded and medically inadequate Fashafouyeh Prison, where unsanitary conditions, scarce clean water, and contaminated food severely deteriorated his health. On August 9, 2025, he was reportedly sent back to Evin. A catalyst for his health’s sharp decline was an Israeli strike on...

September 03, 2025 - USA/Lebanon -  A Michigan-based businessman has filed a lawsuit against U.S. special envoy to Lebanon, Thomas Barrack, over remarks he made labeling Lebanese journalists as “animals.” The lawsuit, brought by American-Lebanese entrepreneur Dr. Benjamin Balout, objects not only to the insult but also to the broader implications it has for press freedom and diplomatic credibility. ([turn0search0]) Balout, who heads the trade firm Diplomatic Trade, alleges that Barrack's conduct amounts to defamation and echoes colonial-era arrogance that undermines the United States’ role as a mediator in the region. He argues that such...

September 03, 2025 - Ecuador -  The Foundation Journalists Unbound (FPSC) has sounded the alarm over a disturbing surge in attacks against media professionals in Ecuador during August 2025. The organization recorded 22 separate incidents targeting journalists and media outlets during that month, making it one of the most dangerous in the country’s recent history. This alarming figure contributes to a broader pattern of escalating threats: from January through August, FPSC documented a total of 168 attacks on journalists, revealing a sustained, hostile environment toward press freedom. These attacks range across a spectrum of abuses,...

September 03, 2025 - Iraq -  Iraqi Kurdish journalist and activist Hemn Mamand, host of the popular Sterk TV talk show “Sarinj – Comment”, was gravely wounded in an apparent targeted shooting on September 2, 2025, in Sulaymaniyah. The attack occurred just hours after his program aired, as he was departing a restaurant. Witnesses report that two assailants on a motorcycle opened fire, striking Mamand with five shots—one hitting his arm and shrapnel lodging in his abdomen—before fleeing the scene. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the assault, calling it a clear assassination...

September 03, 2025 - USA -  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security unveiled a proposal to drastically shorten the duration of journalist visas. Under the proposal, foreign correspondents would face fixed-term limits—just 240 days, and even 90 days for Chinese nationals—significantly reducing the previously more flexible, potentially indefinite validity of I-visas and J-visas for foreign media workers.  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) strongly opposes this move, arguing it would erect unnecessary barriers to journalism and create a chilling environment for press freedom in the United States. RSF warns that it would force foreign journalists to constantly...

September 03, 2025 - USA -  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has ignited controversy after singling out a CBS News journalist, echoing the combative media strategy long associated with Donald Trump. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Leavitt referred to the journalist as “stupid,” sparking criticism that the remark was not only unprofessional but also emblematic of the administration’s increasingly adversarial stance toward mainstream press outlets. The exchange quickly spread across social media, drawing both condemnation and praise depending on political affiliation. Leavitt, at just 27 years old, has become one of the...

September 03, 2025 - USA -  U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to take his legal battle with writer E. Jean Carroll to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to throw out a jury’s finding that he sexually abused her and then defamed her in public statements. The dispute stems from a May 2023 New York civil trial in which a jury ordered Trump to pay $5 million in damages to Carroll. Jurors concluded that he assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her by calling her account a...

September 03, 2025 - Palestine -  On September 2, 2025, Gaza’s journalism community suffered another devastating loss with the killing of Eman al-Zamli. She was shot in the head by an explosive bullet while fetching water. The Palestinian journalist was caught in Israel’s latest wave of airstrikes. Al-Zamli was among more than one hundred Palestinians killed in a single day of bombardment that struck homes, streets, and aid gathering points across Gaza City and surrounding areas. Her death came on a day already marked by heavy bloodshed, where dozens of civilians, including children, were also...

September 03, 2025 - Palestine -  On September 2, 2025, the journalist community was dealt another devastating blow with the killing of broadcast engineer Ayman Haniyeh in Gaza City. Haniyeh, who worked with Iraq-based al-Manara Media Company, lost his life in an Israeli airstrike near the Jordanian Hospital. His death was reported just hours after the funeral of fellow photojournalist Rasmi Salem, who had also been killed under similar circumstances. According to reports, Haniyeh was returning from Salem’s funeral when the strike occurred. Witnesses describe it as a deliberate targeting of areas frequented by civilians,...

September 02, 2025 – Palestine – The war in Gaza has claimed yet another journalist, with Rasmi Jihad Salem, a cameraman for Manara Media Company, killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City. His death raises the total number of journalists and media workers killed since October 2023 to 248, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. Officials condemned the attack as part of a deliberate effort to silence the press and urged international institutions to pursue accountability under international law. In a statement, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) World Service mourned Salem as...