Latest Freedom of the press News
Algeria pardons and releases journalist who became a key voice during 2019 pro-democracy protests
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria has pardoned a journalist who emerged as a key voice during the country’s 2019 pro-democracy protests and was later imprisoned for taking foreign funding for his media outlets and threatening state security. Ihsane El Kadi was released from prison...
Duterte says he had a 'death squad' as mayor but didn't order killings as Philippine president
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told a Senate inquiry Monday that he had maintained a “death squad” of gangsters to kill other criminals when he was mayor of a southern Philippine city. Duterte, however, denied authorizing police to gun...
Well-known Cambodian investigative journalist released on bail
TA KHMAU, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian investigative reporter who was charged with a criminal offense after exposing online scams and corruption was released on bail Thursday. Mech Dara told reporters from a car outside the Kandal Provincial Prison complex, south of the capital...
Mexican newspaper offices hit by gunfire in Sinaloa state capital
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Assailants fired a dozen gunshots at a building housing the newspaper El Debate in the embattled northern Mexico state of Sinaloa, the media outlet said Friday. The newspaper is based in the state capital, Culiacan, where rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have...
Prosecutors in Iran target a newspaper over its cartoon mocking internet restrictions
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian newspaper implying that the public needed to have the patience of the Biblical figure Job in waiting for President Masoud Pezeshkian to lift restrictions on the internet now faces potential criminal charges. The reported case against the pro-reform...
Burkina Faso’s junta suspends Voice of America broadcasts over coverage of militant violence
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Burkina Faso’s military junta has suspended Voice of America's broadcasts for three months over its coverage of militant attacks in the country and in neighboring Mali, the state news agency reported, in the latest measure targeting media freedom in the country. ...
Mexico's Sheinbaum keeps doing morning briefings, though her style is unlike her predecessor's
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's new President Claudia Sheinbaum started her day Wednesday much like her political mentor, ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, began most of his: with an early morning news briefing from the National Palace. López Obrador's news briefings, known...
A Cambodian reporter who exposed scams charged over online posts
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian investigative reporter who exposed online scams and corruption was charged on Tuesday with a criminal offense that could land him in prison for two years for material he posted on social media. Freelance reporter Mech Dara was arrested...
A Cambodian reporter who investigated online scam centers has been arrested
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian freelance reporter Mech Dara, noted for investigative reporting in a country with limited press freedom, was arrested Monday, a leading local human rights organization and a journalists association said. Known especially for investigating...
Mexico's populist president held court each morning for 6 years. Now he's retiring from public life
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Every day at 7 a.m., President Andrés Manuel López Obrador strolls onto a stage in Mexico's National Palace, clad in a smart suit and tie, and peers out at a room of bleary-eyed reporters and social media personalities. “Buenos días, look alive!” the 70-year-old leader...