Tag: media

Israeli troops raid, order closure of Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau

By Andrew Mills DOHA (Reuters) -Israeli forces raided the bureau of media network Al Jazeera in the West Bank city of Ramallah early on Sunday morning, issuing it with a military order to shut down operations, the network and the Israeli military said on Sunday. The Qatar-headquartered channel aired live footage of Israeli troops entering the office with their weapons drawn and handing a military court order to Ramallah bureau chief Walid al-Omari forcing the […]

Ex-BBC presenter Huw Edwards given suspended sentence for indecent child images

LONDON (Reuters) -Former British TV presenter Huw Edwards, the long-time face of the BBC’s flagship news programme, was given a suspended sentence at a London court on Monday after admitting making indecent images of children. Monday’s sentencing sealed a fall from grace for Edwards, a household name in Britain for around two decades who as the BBC’s leading news anchor announced the death of Queen Elizabeth to the nation in 2022. Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty […]

Hong Kong court convicts former Stand News editors of sedition

By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong court on Thursday found two editors of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles in a case that has drawn international scrutiny amid a security crackdown in the China-ruled city. The two editors, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, could be jailed for up to two years when they are sentenced on Sept. 26. Their conviction is the […]

Russia jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years

YEKATERINBURG, Russia, July 20, 2024 (AFP) – US reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced by a Russian court on Friday to 16 years in prison for “espionage”, a verdict slammed as “despicable”, “disgraceful” and a “sham” by Western governments and his employer. Gershkovich was sentenced after just three court sessions in a secretive closed-door trial in the Urals City of Yekaterinburg, the city where he was arrested while on a reporting trip in March 2023. After […]

Poland sees ‘Russian cyberattack’ behind fake military draft report

By Anna Maria JAKUBEK WARSAW, May 31, 2024 (AFP) – The Polish government said Friday that a false story stating that Poles would be mobilised to fight in Ukraine that appeared on the state news agency was likely a Russian cyberattack. Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the hacking attack as part of Russia’s attempts to destabilise the European Union ahead of next month’s European Parliament elections. The fake report was published Friday as NATO’s foreign […]

Netanyahu: govt to ‘close’ Al Jazeera TV in Israel

  JERUSALEM, May 5, 2024 (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government has decided to shut down the Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, with which his administration has had a long-running feud. The government “unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel”, Netanyahu said on X, formerly Twitter. “There will be no freedom of speech for the Hamas trumpets in Israel,” Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said […]

Sticky-fingered journalists on Air Force One put on notice

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – Normally they’re the ones grilling Washington power players. But the tables have been turned on the White House press corps. A news report made waves Friday in the US capital with its humorous — but detailed — investigation into rampant theft from the press section of Air Force One, the president’s official plane. “For years, scores of journalists — and others — have quietly stuffed everything from engraved whiskey […]

Russia sentences journalist to 2 years in prison, detains others

MOSCOW, March 28, 2024 (AFP) – A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a journalist to two years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive on Ukraine, as police in Moscow detained five other reporters over a 24-hour period. Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who defy the Kremlin’s narratives. A court in the western exclave of Kaliningrad said […]

French news editor suspended over Macron-related headline

MARSEILLE, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – The news editor of a regional French daily has been suspended after a front-page headline critical of President Emmanuel Macron, management said Friday, causing outrage across the newsroom. Macron on Tuesday launched a major operation against drug trafficking in the southern port city of Marseille and elsewhere, saying that gangland battles that last year left dozens dead had made life a misery for residents. Following Macron’s Marseille visit, La […]

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch to marry girlfriend Elena Zhukova at 92

NEW YORK, March 8, 2024 (AFP) – Media magnate Rupert Murdoch is not giving up on love — even at age 92. Murdoch announced Thursday that he plans to wed his girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, in June, The New York Times reported. Murdoch has been married four times before. His roller-coaster personal life is often fodder for the tabloid newspaper industry that he helped create on three continents. Last year, Murdoch announced his engagement to dental […]

Reliance, Disney announce giant India media merger

MUMBAI, Feb 29, 2024 (AFP) – India’s Reliance Industries and Walt Disney have agreed to merge their Indian media businesses, creating a $8.5 billion entertainment giant in the world’s most populous nation. India’s entertainment market is already one of the world’s biggest, with the merger expected to further shake up the multi-billion-dollar industry. The two companies had signed “binding definitive agreements” to form a joint venture that will combine the businesses of Reliance-backed Viacom18 and […]

Shock as Warner Bros Discovery shutters major N.Zealand news outlet

WELLINGTON, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – US entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery announced plans to shutter major New Zealand news outlet Newshub Wednesday, in what the deputy prime minister called a “disaster for this country’s democracy”. Citing cratering advertising revenues, the US firm said it was closing “all Newshub’s multi-platform news operations” in June, with a reported loss of about 300 jobs. The announcement effectively spreads the impact of massive recent US media cost-cutting beyond […]