Monrovia, Liberia (PANA) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has expressed umbrage at displays on social media that are “extremely inimical” to the survival of the country’s peace and democracy. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Saturday condemned unequivocally the molestation of a journalist by a traditional chief in Ghana. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Cameroonian authorities to immediately halt the prosecution of three journalists after a judge on 9 October changed the charges against them in mid-trial.Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The 58 members of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Executive Board on 13 October nominated Audrey Azoulay of France for the position of Director-General of the Organization, replacing outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – Last Saturday night’s explosion at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) filling station in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, that has claimed seven lives, injured scores of people, destroyed vehicles and other property and triggered directives by the government to forestall future accidents dominated the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Kelvin Lewis, has called on journalists not to cover political party events where their safety could not be guaranteed. Full text...

Washington, D.C., US (PANA) - The US announced on Thursday that it has decided to withdraw from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and will seek to establish a permanent observer mission to the UN cultural agency but the UN agency has expressed profound regret at the US' action. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Zimbabwean authorities to immediately release NewsDay journalist Kenneth Nyangani and drop all charges against him. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The Ghanaian media last week highlighted the verdict by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in a maritime dispute between West African neighbours Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire that favoured Ghana. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The 58 members of the UNESCO’s Executive Board will hold their 202nd session from 4 to 18 October, chaired by Ambassador Michael Worbs of Germany, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday slammed the communications regulator for 'draconian' penalties, including closure, slapped on scores of radio stations, warning that they have grave implications for press freedom and media pluralism in the country.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's communications regulatory body has swooped on radio stations operating in the country slapping various sanctions on 131 of them including hefty fines and revocation of licences following a nationwide FM Spectrum Audit. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - An Accra-based radio station highly critical of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the government has been shut down by the communications regulatory authorities over unpaid licence fee, the local media in the Ghanaian capital reported on Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Ugandan authorities must stop threatening to close media outlets simply for doing their job, said Amnesty International today after the country’s media regulator vowed to close down media houses for broadcasting live.Full text...

Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) – The top United Nations envoy to Somalia has welcomed the recent introduction of legislation that would amend the 2016 media law, and urged lawmakers to give due consideration to the concerns raised by prominent members of Somalia’s news media about the existing law and the proposed amendments. Full text...

Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) – Some provisions of Somalia’s current media law do not appear to comply with international standards of media legislation and regulation, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) in Somalia, Michael Keating, said on Monday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Journalists become heroes of humanity in Kenya and Uganda this week in the wake of police operations against those protesting plans by the Ugandan parliament to remove the age limit to allow President Yoweri Museveni unfettered access to power and at the Kenyan Supreme Court. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Three media practitioners are set to appear in court on Friday, after they were sued on multiple counts of sedition and criminal libel by the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM). Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Ahead of Liberia's elections, the Media Foundation For West Africa (MFWA) and partners are implementing a rapid response intervention aimed at addressing media safety issues in the West African country. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Two media watchdogs, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Sans Frontières, have appealed to Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso to immediately free Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba, editor of the privately-owned newspaper, Talassa.Full text...

Maseru, Lesotho (PANA) - Human rights organisation Amnesty International has lashed out at the Lesotho authorities for arresting the owner of a radio station in the southern Africa country and called for his immediate and unconditional release. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on authorities in Somalia to thoroughly investigate the killing of journalist Abdullahi Osman Moalim following a bomb blast. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will release its report titled, "Journalists Not Terrorists: In Cameroon, anti-terror legislation is used to silence critics and suppress dissent," on 20 September, the press freedom watchdog said on Saturday.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The commencement of free second cycle education in Ghana dominated the media this week with the government hailing it as a major achievement while the opposition is cautioning that it may not be sustainable. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Amid the increasing proliferation of fake news and the resulting challenges in discerning accurate information from false ones, a United Nations forum on Thursday discussed ways to tackle the complex issue as well as equipping the consumers of information with the necessary skills and tools to assess the credibility of any media message and news source. Full text...

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) – Burkina’s chairperson of the High Council for Communication (CSC), Nathalie Somé, was on Wednesday detained as part of the investigations into financial malpractices in the Council estimated at 1 billion CFA francs, PANA learned from judicial sources. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The global press freedom watchdog, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), has welcomed the release of scores of journalists in Cameroon.Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should drop all charges against journalist Jeef Mwingamb and release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The collapse of two Ghanaian-owned banks announced on Monday sending shockwaves across the country and concerns about an “ineffective” assets declaration law for state officials were some of the stories reported this week. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should thoroughly and credibly investigate police raid on Radio Télévision Chrétienne (RTC), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Alison Smale, a British journalist, to head the Organization's Department of Public Information as Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) – The maiden edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) will be held in Accra, Ghana, in October. Full text...

Liège, Belgium (PANA) - The “World Humanities Conference. Challenges and Responsibilities for a Planet in Transition” will take place in Liège, Belgium, from 6 to 12 August 2017. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The mid-year fiscal policy review of the 2017 budget, presented to Parliament on Monday by finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, and the stepping up of the war against illegal mining, which has degraded the environment and destroyed water bodies, were some of the stories highlighted by the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The release of 6 college students, kidnapped from their hostel 65 days ago, was the main story in Nigeria this week.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The explosive disagreements among the top management personnel of the Electoral Commission (EC) and the fifth anniversary of the passing of President John Evans Atta Mills were some of the stories reported in the Ghanaian media this week.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The maiden press conference by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and a petition by anonymous workers of the Electoral Commission (EC) to impeach its chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei, were some of the stories highlighted by the media this week. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Transparency of media ownership is not only important for media freedom, but also for the protection and promotion of the rights and welfare of it members, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) said on Monday in a statement. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - As part of its efforts to implement the project: “Emergency measures for the consolidation and protection of Gorée Island: Fighting coastal erosion implementation”, within the framework of the World Heritage Convention, the UNESCO Dakar Office is organizing an inter-generational dialogue on Gorée Island, scheduled for Saturday. Full text...

Kazan, Russia (PANA) - FIFA Secretary-General Fatma Samoura on Friday expressed FIFA’s support to the priority policy themes that were identified by UNESCO, including access for all to sport, maximizing the contributions of sport to sustainable development and protecting the integrity of sport. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The twists and turns in the story of the "bugging" of the office of the Minister of Lands and natural Resources dominated the media this week. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and Sameh Wahba, Director of the Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice of the World Bank, on Thursday signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, to reinvigorate the two institutions’ joint commitment to advance sustainable development by investing in culture, urban development and resilience in an integrated manner.Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - A new UNESCO working paper designed to provide an overview of the international legal framework protecting the right to education of refugees worldwide has been unveiled by the UN education agency. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on Saturday inscribed cultural sites in Angola, Eritrea and South Africa. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Worried that sea level change is already impacting coastal communities globally and will continue to do so, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) is organizing a five-day international conference in New York, US, to address existing challenges in describing and predicting regional sea level changes, and in quantifying the intrinsic uncertainties. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The media in Ghana this week highlighted the commissioning of an oil ship, the death last Sunday of 22 illegal miners in a pit and the raging contaminated fuel saga.Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - The Speaker of Botswana's National Assembly, Gladys Kokorwe, has announced that the country’s parliamentary discussions will soon be broadcast live. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – A huge controversy over some five million litres of contaminated fuel and last Monday’s Muslim Eid-ul-Fitr celebration were some of the stories that were highlighted by the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - "Although attacks on journalists continue unabated, there are examples of successful grassroots and global efforts to stem the tide," says a key message by Albana Shala, Chairperson of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), when she flagged off the IPDC’s latest publication, titled "An Attack on One is an Attack on All: Successful Initiatives to Protect and Combat Impunity." Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Determined to fulfill its mission through advocacy for peace and development and through the soft power of persuasion, UNESCO is organizing a series of thematic conferences within the framework of “UNESCO’s Soft Power Today”. Full text...