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Television news channel illegally suspended in Karachi

Pakistan Press Foundation A private television news channel, Saama TV, was forced to go off the air in several areas of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, for unknown reasons on Wednesday December 10, 2014. Earlier on October 25, 2014, several television news channels had gone off the air for about six hours in Karachi and other parts of Sindh province after threats were issued by unidentified men over the telephone to some cable operators. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) General Secretary Amin Yousuf strongly condemned the suspension of Saama TV transmission and demanded its immediate restoration. G.M. Jamali,…Read more

Official launch of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015

Official CHOGM 2015 Website On November 21 Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma launched the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2015 to be held in Malta next November. The theme will be 'The Commonwealth - Adding Global Value'. - See more at: http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/official-launch-commonwealth-heads-government-meeting-2015#sthash.tt7wCxVW.dpufRead more

Journalists launch legal challenge over police surveillance in U.K.

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today joined the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) – its affiliate in Great Britain – in supporting six members who have taken legal action against the Metropolitan Police and the Home Secretary. The legal challenge concerns the monitoring and recording of their lawful journalistic and union activities by police since 2008. According to the NUJ, Jules Mattsson, Mark Thomas, Jason Parkinson, Jess Hurd, David Hoffman and Adrian Arbib have been under police surveillance, as part of the police monitoring of the so called…Read more

Bloggers on hit-list posted by supposed Islamist group in Bangladesh

Reporters Without Borders A group identifying itself as Islamist has claimed responsibility for three murders, including that of Rajib Haider, a blogger whose throat was cut on 15 February 2013, and has named other future victims including Asif Mohiuddin, a blogger who narrowly survived a stabbing on 14 January 2013. The group, which calls itself Ansar al Islam Bangladesh (Defenders of Islam), posted the message on a newly-created Facebook page on 15 November, just hours after the fatal stabbing of sociology professor Shafiul Islam, one of the murders claimed by the group. Since then, the Facebook page seems to have…Read more

CPU MT Chairman elected to top European post

European Newspaper Publishers Association (EPNA) 11th November, 2014, Brussels – ENPA, representing publishers of newspapers and news media in Europe, announced today the appointment of Lord Black of Brentwood (Guy Black), Executive Director of the Telegraph Media Group (UK), as the new President of the association. Lord Black was elected during ENPA’s General Assembly which took place in Oslo at the weekend.A prominent figure in the international publishing sector, Lord Black has spent 20 years working for press freedom at national and global level. He has been director of the Press Complaints Commission in the UK…Read more

Zimbabwe’s first lady lashes out at privately-owned media

Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) MISA-Zimbabwe notes with very grave concern recent attacks and threats against the privately owned media, by Zanu PF and government officials, including the First Lady Grace Mugabe, which pose serious risks to the safety and security of journalists. While the media is not immune to criticism, the First Lady's inciting statements particularly against journalists working for the Daily News at a Zanu PF rally in Marondera on 17 October 2014, were indeed frightening, as experienced and recounted by the affected journalists. Daily News journalist Fungai Kwaramba was among the posse…Read more

Cameroon journalists questioned in military court for withholding information

Committee to Protect Journalists Two journalists in Cameroon accused of withholding information from the state have been interrogated by a military court and ordered not to leave the country, according to news reports. A closed military court in Yaounde on Tuesday questioned for several hours Félix Cyriaque Ebolé Bola, a senior reporter for the privately owned daily newspaperMutations and the president of Cameroon's National Union of Journalists, and Rodrigue Tongue, a senior reporter and the head of the political desk for the privately owned daily Le Messager, according to news reports. A lecturer at a journalism school, Baba…Read more

World’s Press Calls for Greater Protection for Journalists

WAN/IFRA The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has called on governments worldwide for greater protections for media working in conflict areas, in the wake of the widely reported murders of two photojournalists in the Middle East. A resolution issued by the Board of WAN-IFRA, meeting Sunday on the eve of the World Publishing Expo in Amsterdam, also called for a concerted global effort to end impunity for the killers of journalists. “The targeting of journalists represents a serious threat to maintaining free, independent media. Stronger protections, more resources and better…Read more

Fiji rejoins Commonwealth as a full member

Commonwealth Secretariat Fiji was reinstated as a full member of the Commonwealth following a decision by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) at their 44th meeting in New York. The group concluded that Fiji’s suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth should be lifted in recognition of the credible elections held on 17 September 2014 and the assumption of office by a democratically elected government. The Pacific island state was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth in 2006 following a military coup d’état. This meant that Fiji could not attend intergovernmental Commonwealth meetings,…Read more

Sunday Standard editor Outsa Mokone arrested in Botswana

Committee to Protect Journalists The image of Botswana as a bastion of press freedom and good governance has been dented following the arrest of an editor of a privately owned newspaper, and the seizure of his computer. A tweet from a reporter in Botswana on Tuesday morning alerted the Committee to Protect Journalists to the arrest: "Editor Outsa Mokone arrested and veteran reporter Edgar Tsimane flees Botswana says he fears for his life!"   The local press reported that police had arrested Sunday Standard editor Mokone on Monday when he could not account for the whereabouts of…Read more