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.

Two German journalists working for the country’s national broadcaster and travelling on their own through northern Afghanistan were killed by gunmen today, the first foreign journalists murdered in the country since late 2001, officials said.

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.

Ethiopian authorities said they have now freed more than 8,200 people who were seized after days of political unrest that claimed the lives of at least 46 people and rocked the nation.

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.

The owner and editor-in-chief of a regional monthly newspaper that circulated in central Colombia has been shot dead, police said.

The owner and editor-in-chief of a regional monthly newspaper that circulated in central Colombia has been shot to death, police said.