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Alexander Zverev steht in den Achtelfinals, auch Carlos Alcaraz erreicht die zweite Turnierwoche. Während die beiden relativ problemlos weiterkommen, bekundet Aryna Sabalenka ein bisschen mehr Mühe.

Eine Koalition tschechischer Umweltorganisationen hat bei der EU-Kommission Beschwerde eingereicht. Sie wirft den tschechischen Behörden vor, die EU-Umweltgesetzgebung im Zusammenhang mit dem Kohlekraftwerk Počerady nicht durchzusetzen.

L'accord de cessez-le-feu dans la guerre de Gaza fait suite à 15 mois de combats entre Israël et le Hamas.

Après la récente tentative présumée des services spéciaux ukrainiens d’attaquer le gazoduc TurkStream en Russie, la Bulgarie a pris des mesures pour protéger Balkan Stream, le prolongement du même gazoduc qui fournit du gaz à des clients en Europe.

Wer einen Blick in die Zukunft Europas werfen möchte, muss dieser Tage nach Berlin schauen.  Im Konrad-Adenauer-Haus hat Friedrich Merz am Freitag die Spitzenpolitiker von Europas konservativer Parteienfamilie, der Europäischen Volkspartei (EVP), zur Klausurtagung geladen.   

Les dirigeants des deux principaux partis séparatistes catalans ont décidé de joindre leurs forces pour faire pression sur le Premier ministre espagnol, Pedro Sánchez, afin d'obtenir davantage de concessions politiques en faveur de la Catalogne.

Credit: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 17 2025 (IPS)

The year 2024 has been one of the most devastating for journalists covering conflicts worldwide– with 361 behind bars, the second highest since the global record of 370 imprisoned back in 2023.

According to a new report released January 16, by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), China, Israel, and Myanmar were the leading jailers of reporters, followed by Belarus and Russia.

The main drivers of journalist imprisonment in 2024 were ongoing authoritarian repression, war, and political or economic instability. Many countries, including China, Israel, Tunisia, and Azerbaijan, set new records for imprisonment.

“These numbers should be a wake-up call for us all,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “A rise in attacks on journalists almost always precedes a rise in attacks on other freedoms – the freedom to give and receive information, the freedom to assemble and move freely, the freedom to protest.”

“These journalists are being arrested and punished for exposing political corruption, environmental degradation, financial wrongdoing – all issues that matter to our day-to-day lives.”

Asia remained the region with the highest number of journalists behind bars in 2024, accounting for more than 30% (111) of the global total.

In addition to the leading jailers – China, Myanmar, and Vietnam – journalists were also behind bars in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines.

A total of 108 journalists were imprisoned in the Middle East and North Africa, almost half of those detained by Israel.

Last year, U.N. legal experts determined that Israel violated international law in its detention of three Palestinian journalists. CPJ has previously called on Israel to investigate the cases of these and others held in Israeli custody for lengthy periods without charge, hold accountable those responsible for these rights violations, and provide compensation to journalists who have been arbitrarily detained.

Dr Ramzy Baroud, an author, a syndicated columnist, editor of Palestine Chronicle & a Senior Research Fellow at Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), told IPS while the report by the CPJ highlights the alarming state of global press freedom, it doesn’t fully capture the scale of the situation.

Israel’s treatment of Palestinian journalists is particularly egregious. Over 200 journalists have been killed, hundreds more injured, and many have been jailed and tortured. This makes Israel one of the leading violators of press freedom in the world, he pointed out.

“It’s important to recognize that the targeting of journalists is part of a broader pattern of repression against freedom of expression. These actions reflect a systemic denial of basic human and civil rights.”

What is especially disturbing in the case of Israel is the lack of accountability. Unlike other countries where press freedom is violated, Israel faces little scrutiny or consequence for the murders, detentions, and torture of journalists. Many Western political leaders continue to hold Israel up as a model of freedom and democracy, despite these serious violations, he argued.

Such reports must go beyond mere documentation and demand real accountability. Pressure must be placed on all relevant parties to hold those responsible for violating press freedom accountable, ensuring this issue isn’t confined to occasional press releases but leads to tangible action, declared Dr Baroud.

Dr James Jennings, President, Conscience International, told IPS dictators and tyrannical governments use disinformation as their stock in trade. They realize that controlling newspapers, television, and the Internet are vital to their survival.

“That makes it dangerous to be a journalist in such countries for simply telling the truth”.

He pointed out honest reporting can get you arrested in Russia, kicked out of Israel, and jailed in China, Egypt, Belarus, and many other countries. Telling the true story sometimes means that journalists are liable to be killed as has happened frequently in Gaza over the past 15 months.

“It’s a great time to be an autocrat. Savvy politicians realize that they can reach the hearts and minds of people directly through their hand-held communication devices. “Flooding the Zone” with lies is easy. Searching for and prying out the truth in a messy situation is much more difficult, but that’s exactly the job of reporters.

If, as is often said, journalism is the first draft of history, then every country will benefit by honoring and protecting journalists. Instead, today they may get lengthy punishments, said Dr Jennings.

According to CPJ, pervasive censorship in China, for years one of the world’s top jailers of journalists, makes it notoriously difficult to determine the exact number of journalists jailed there.

However, jailings are not limited to the mainland, traditionally considered highly repressive. Those jailed include British citizen and Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, who has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong since 2020 and is currently on trial on retaliatory charges of collusion with foreign forces.

Outside of Belarus (31) and Russia (30), Azerbaijan’s (13) continued crackdown on independent media made it one of the leading jailers of journalists in Europe and Central Asia in 2024. Turkey (11) is no longer among the top jailers of journalists but pressure on independent media remains high.

This is also the case in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, where the number of jailings is lower than in other regions but where threats against journalism persist. Mexico, for example, has no journalists in jail but is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist outside a war zone.

In Nigeria, with four journalists behind bars on December 1, dozens of journalists were attacked and detained as they sought to cover protests and civil unrest. Senegal, which held one journalist in prison on the 2024 census date, also arrested and assaulted journalists covering political protests.

Globally, CPJ found that more than 60% – 228 – of the imprisoned journalists faced broad anti-state charges, including often-vague charges of terrorism or extremism in countries including Myanmar, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Venezuela, Turkey, India, and Bahrain. These accusations were commonly leveled against reporters from marginalized ethnic groups whose work focused on their communities.

Tackling journalist imprisonment is a key focus for CPJ, which provides journalists with financial support to cover the cost of legal fees, as well as resources to help journalists and newsrooms better prepare for or mitigate threats of legal harassment and action. The organization also makes concerted efforts to advocate for the release of journalists whose cases could revert or stem the tide of criminalization.

Andreas Bummel, executive director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS: “Freedom of the press is the only way to ensure effective public scrutiny of the government. Political persecution of journalists is absolutely unacceptable and must receive greater international attention, including at the United Nations, where the governments concerned meet.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Le ministère roumain de l’Énergie a mis en garde contre un risque pour la sécurité nationale lié à la vente potentielle du fournisseur d’énergie local E.ON au groupe hongrois MVM, en raison de ses liens avec la Russie.

Bruno Kernen hat in Wengen seinen wichtigsten Weltcupsieg gefeiert, aber auch viele schmerzvolle Momente erlebt. Nach seinem Rücktritt als Skirennfahrer hat er vom Lauberhorn-OK ein aussergewöhnliches Denkmal erhalten. Teil 2 der Serie zu legendären Lauberhorn-Siegern.

Die Rechtsaußen-Partei Konfederacja hat den Europaabgeordneten Grzegorz Braun rausgeworfen, nachdem er überraschend seine Kandidatur für die Präsidentschaftswahl verkündet hatte – ein Schachzug, der der oppositionellen PiS-Partei in die Karten spielen könnte.

Einen solchen Vorgang gibts wohl nur im Curling. Die Topteams verzichten freiwillig auf den Einsatz von neuen Super-Besen. Diese entsprechen zwar dem Reglement, doch sie gefährden die Integrität des Sports. Jetzt werden Massnahmen gefordert.

Oliver Pocher und seine Ex-Frau Sandy Meyer-Wölden nahmen am Donnerstag im Zürcher Volkshaus live ihren Podcast auf. Das Duo sprach über persönliche Erfahrungen in der Schweiz, aktuelle Ereignisse und das Dschungelcamp – und natürlich über Pochers Ex-Frau Amira Aly.

Die Landwirtschaftsfrage hat erneut die tiefen Gräben innerhalb der EU-Fraktionen offengelegt. EU-Handelskommissar Maroš Šefčovič muss sich zum ersten Mal seit der Unterzeichnung des EU-Mercosur-Handelsabkommens einem Kreuzverhör stellen. 

Die Los Angeles Kings feiern einen Kantersieg – auch dank Kevin Fiala. Noch besser ist Nico Hischiers Tor-Ausbeute. Er trifft doppelt.

The EU's likely next leadership trio believe they are keeping Europe from sliding far-right – it won't be so easy.

The post Meet the conservative German trio that could rule Europe appeared first on Euractiv.

Persönliches Erfolgserlebnis für Kyshawn George. Er erzielt so viele Punkte wie noch nie in der NBA. Seinem Team nützt das nichts, die Wizzards verlieren trotzdem.

Der 17. Januar ist der «Wirf-deine-Jahresvorsätze-über-Bord-Tag». In dieser frivolen Ermutigung steckt viel Menschenkenntnis. Weil heute auch die italienische Küche und die Kunst gefeiert werden, ist es ein grossartiger Tag.

Das Autojahr 2025 bietet eine Menge Überraschungen. Neben diversen Modellauffrischungen rollen auch einige komplette Neuheiten zu uns. Hier findest du alle neuen Autos im Premiumsegment.

Wie geht es den Schweizer Firmen? Was läuft an der Wall Street? Und wie entwickelt sich der Goldpreis? Im Liveticker halten wir dich über die neusten Entwicklungen an den Märkten auf dem Laufenden.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about a split in the Polish far right likely giving PiS an edge in the upcoming presidential election, Catalan separatist leaders uniting to pressure Sánchez, and so much more. 

The post Polish far-right split hands PiS an edge in presidential election appeared first on Euractiv.