THIS year — June 26 — marked the 20th anniversary of the murder of Veronica Guerin by drug criminals. Five years later, in September 2001, another journalist, Martin O’Hagan, was murdered by the Loyalist Volunteer Force. He was the only journalist to be killed in Northern Ireland’s 30 years of tit-for-tat terror, which, compared with the fate of journalists in many of the world’s conflict zones, is pretty remarkable.

Two Italian journalists who wrote books detailing Vatican mismanagement are to face trial, along with three people accused of leaking them the information.

With an investigation barely under way, Mexican journalist protection groups are already expressing fears that authorities will not consider the brutal killing of a photojournalist as being related to his work — even though he fled the state he covered fearing for his safety.

The EU would be wise to facilitate Turkey’s accession process as its prospective membership will change the dynamics of the EU and the region for the better, writes Volkan Bozkir            

The retrial of two Al-Jazeera English journalists who face terror-related charges in a case widely criticised by human rights organisations and media groups has been postponed until March 8.

The UN special envoy on Ebola says the number of cases is probably doubling every three to four weeks and the response needs to be 20 times greater than it was at the beginning of October.

After the execution of James Foley, the old framework in which reporters are generally tolerated may be coming to an end, writes Jack Shafer.

At least 65 journalists have been killed since the Syrian conflict began and kidnappings are rife. Former war reporter Janine di Giovanni writes about the risks involved in filing from the frontline.

A Swedish journalist has been shot to death while he was talking to a translator on a street in Kabul, the second killing in two months to strike foreigners in an affluent and well-guarded area of the Afghan capital.

A popular game show that was punished for its subtle support of last summer’s anti-government protests appears once again to have become the victim of Turkish media censorship as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government scrambles to contain a corruption scandal.

A suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad and another detonated his explosives inside a cafe north of the capital, the deadliest of several attacks across Iraq today which killed at least 48 people.

ON Jul 20, in a basement of the London offices of Britain’s Guardian newspaper, a senior editor and an IT expert used angle grinders and sledgehammers to destroy computer hard drives containing copies of secret files leaked by Edward Snowden, the computer whiz who disclosed details of top-secret US and British government surveillance programmes to the press.

An American journalist has been missing in Syria since he was kidnapped more than one month ago, his family said today, less than two years after he was held by government forces in Libya while covering that country’s civil war.

If you are looking for some cheer in a pretty gloomy world, consider the growing consensus among some of the world’s smartest money that the next big emerging market may be Africa.

UN human rights officials are condemning Iran’s use of stoning as a form of capital punishment among a number of “deeply troubling” rights violations, many of which are “systemic in nature,” according to a report.

Journalists in Nigeria, already the target of threats and bribes, face a new danger after a radical Islamist sect bombed the offices of a major newspaper and vowed to “hit the media hard” in Africa’s most populous nation.

Burma’s repressive government was allowing access to banned news websites today for the first time in years, including several operated by exiled dissidents.

Four New York Times journalists, including a Briton, have been reported missing while covering the fighting in Libya.

CBS NEWS correspondent Lara Logan was released from hospital and recovering at home yesterday from a sexual attack and beating she suffered while reporting on the tumultuous events in Cairo.

A top US news correspondent was subjected to a horrific sex attack and beating while reporting on the tumultuous events in Egypt.

European leaders have urged Egyptian authorities to protect reporters covering the country’s crisis.

Egyptian protesters trying to topple the regime of President Hosni Mubarak called on their supporters to fill every square in the capital Cairo today.

AN explosion in southern Afghanistan killed a British journalist, a US Marine and an Afghan soldier, Britain’s military said yesterday.

A roadside bombing has wounded journalists from news organisation the Associated Press.

An American journalist jailed in Iran has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison just days after she was tried behind closed doors, her lawyer said today.

Thai police were today urged to drop complaints against a BBC reporter accused of slandering the country’s king.

China will allow a modicum of dissent at the Olympics, setting up special protest zones far from the main sports venues, in a shift supporters and detractors said was meant to safely channel criticism and avoid disrupting the games.

A car bombing in Baghdad has left at least 51 killed, Iraqi police said tonight.

Gaza erupted in the worst day of violence in a month, with at least 20 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers dead, and putting Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire in jeopardy.

A 16-year-old boy is among a group of people facing the death sentence in Sudan for their alleged role in the assassination of a local newspaper editor last year, Amnesty International said tonight.

A correspondent for The Washington Post has been shot and killed while on an assignment in Baghdad, the newspaper says.

At least one Briton was among five human rights activists detained in Russia trying to attend a conference commemorating murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

An Iraqi journalist working for The Associated Press has been missing for more than a week, and relatives and a witness say he was taken prisoner by masked gunmen while travelling to Baghdad.

The body of an Iraqi newspaper editor kidnapped last week was found today in Baghdad, police said.

Russian authorities have detained two suspects over the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, it was claimed today, although her newspaper dismissed the report as “absolutely wrong".

An Associated Press photographer was released late tonight after a harrowing day in the hands of Palestinian gunmen who abducted him at gunpoint in Gaza - the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreigners in the chaotic area.

Russia’s top prosecutor today took charge of investigating the murder of a journalist who was a prominent critic of the war in Chechnya and planned to publish a story about torture and abductions in the region.

Masked Palestinian gunmen ambushed a car carrying a news crew for a US broadcaster in Gaza City today and kidnapped two of the journalists inside, according to witnesses.

The Islamic militia that has seized control of Somalia’s capital said today the killing of a Swedish journalist was planned by a foreign enemy that wants to shatter weeks of relative peace in the Horn of Africa nation.

Four US Marines died in Iraq when their tank rolled off a bridge into a canal and they drowned, the military said today.

A US MARINE amphibious assault vehicle on patrol during combat operations near the Syrian border hit a roadside bomb yesterday, and 14 marines were killed in one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq against US forces.

Steve Gutterman, Moscow

Press freedom advocates came together around the world today at a grim time when reporters face rising threats of killings, kidnappings, jailings and other abuse just for doing their jobs.