MEDIA: Deaths Down, But Iraq Still Top Danger Zone

The improved security in Iraq has had benefits for everyone there. This has included fewer Iraqi civilian deaths, U.S. casualties, and, says a new report, journalists.

MEDIA-PHILIPPINES: Journo Killings Threaten Press Freedom

Three years after Marlene Esperat was shot dead in her living room, she continues to symbolise the plight of journalists in the Philippines who are increasingly being victimised or murdered in a country which prides itself on having a free press.

POLITICS: Scant Support for U.S. Naval Forces in the Gulf

A new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org conducted in 21 nations around the world finds widespread opposition to the United States maintaining naval forces based in the Persian Gulf.

ARGENTINA: Bringing Films and Filmmaking to Indigenous Communities

With the assistance of experts from Bolivia, indigenous communities in the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco are learning how to make films, as a means of helping the rest of the world understand their way of life and the problems they face.

RIGHTS: Less Freedom in Older Democracies

The older the democracy, the less there seems to be now of freedom of expression and right to information, according to a new study by the London-based group Article 19.

MEDIA-DR CONGO: Journalists Murdered Near Police Stations

Since the November 2004 murder of Frank Kangundu, journalist with the Congolese daily ‘La Référence Plus’, and his wife, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has entered a sad cycle of killings of media professionals.

EUROPE: And the Lobbying Award Goes To…The Worst

An unconventional awards ceremony was held in Brussels Dec. 9. The 'Worst EU Lobbying Awards' gave recognition to those corporate interest groups that have resorted to deceptive tactics while seeking to shape legislation in their favour.

MEDIA-INDIA/PAKISTAN: Post-Mumbai Journos Struggle Against Hostilities

Pakistani and Indian journalists and columnists, who forged personal relationships over the past two decades during countless joint media consultations and seminars, are struggling to overcome hostilities between their countries since the Mumbai carnage.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Hoax Call Hyped by Media – Get Hostilities to Brink

A hoax phone call from India to Pakistan’s President threatening military reprisals in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Mumbai city, hyped up by media, brought the nuclear-armed neighbours close to conflict.

Q&A: "I Don’t Believe a 12-Year-Old Was Born to Kill"

A group of around 20 people settle into their seats in a small conference room in a hotel in the Salvadoran capital. They are here to watch "La Vida Loca", a 90-minute documentary about the Pandilla 18 youth gang, directed and co-produced by French-Spanish filmmaker Christian Poveda.

FILM-BRAZIL: “An Artist Only Bows His Head to Thank the Audience”

The first three times he saw the film he could not watch it through to the end; he was so overcome by emotion he burst into tears. The next five times he did manage to see the whole movie, but tears were constantly streaming down his cheeks. Brazilian Maestro Mozart Vieira was "extraordinarily" moved by seeing his own story on screen.

BRAZIL: War Against Child Pornography on the Internet

The Brazilian government has announced the creation of a web site to centralise the reception of complaints about child pornography on the Internet, as a further step towards fighting the phenomenon which is growing globally, alongside child trafficking and sex tourism.

LATIN AMERICA: Indigenous Journalists Plant a Seed

Journalists from indigenous communities in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala and Bolivia came together in La Paz to take the first step towards creating a network to work together and support each other.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Reporting From Tribal Areas Highly Risky

Reporting from Peshawar - hub of Pakistan’s tribal areas, currently the focus of a pincer movement between the Pakistan army and the United States-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan - has become a highly risky affair.

MEDIA: IPS Signs Development Aid Agreement with Spain

Federico Mayor Zaragoza, chair of the IPS Board of Directors, and Soraya Rodríguez, Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, representing that country’s Foreign Ministry, signed an agreement for media coverage of development-related issues Wednesday.

CUBA: Films that Tackle Touchy Social Issues

"Viviendo al límite" (Living to the Limit), a documentary by Cuban filmmaker Belkis Vega that follows the lives of five HIV-positive people, will be shown for the first time on Cuban television this week, four years after its release.

RIGHTS: Proposals on Right to Information Kept Hidden

New concerns have arisen over the weakness of model legislation being drafted by the Council of Europe on the right of access to information.

MEDIA: Sustainable Development in a Doomed City

The sea encroaching on the streets of this Caribbean resort city in northern Colombia dramatically underlines the challenges that 60 journalists, winners of awards from the Latin American Avina foundation, discussed over the weekend.

EUROPE: Criticising Bush, And Copying Him

Outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush has been unpopular in Europe, but his policies in fighting the 'war on terror' have found many takers.

CULTURE-INDONESIA: Anti-Porn Law Reveals Growing Islamist Power

An exhibition of sculpture that opened here this month offers a stark reminder of the importance of the human form in Indonesian art.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Alarm at Move to Regulate Media

A government proposal to set up a media council to ‘regulate’ news reporting has alarmed journalists who see it as an attempt to add yet another layer of control over their profession.