New York, US (PANA) - The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, have called for greater protection for media professionals, citing the unacceptably high number of attacks against those disseminating news, including arbitrary arrests, torture and killings, to sexual violence against female journalists. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The global press freedom body, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has condemned the life imprisonment slammed on Hassan Ruvakiki, a Burundian Journalist. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Burundi's journalists' union (UBJ) has expressed its dismay at the life jail slammed on a local reporter by a provincial court for allegedly participating in terrorist acts. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (YSDC) says it needs the sustained support of all stakeholders, especially the media, to deliver on its mandate of using sports and youth empowerment as tools to foster regional integration. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Stakeholders working to improve media practice and contributions to Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The US$ 3 million bribery scam at the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of the National Assembly), given by multi-millionaire oil marketer Femi Otedola and received by the Chair of the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management, Farouk Lawan, was the main story this week in Nigeria. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - A clash between two communities in the Volta Region (VR), the latest in a series of worrying communal clashes over the past month in Ghana, and a strong call for peace, especially as the country prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections in December, were some of the stories highlighted in the media this week. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – A former Communications Minister, Hamoud Ould M'Hamed, was appointed head of the Mauritanian High Authority for Press and Broadcasting (HAPA), according a decree issued Tuesday by the Mauritanian presidency. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Mohamed Nur Mohamed, a radio journalist in Somalia, was shot by two gunmen in Mogadishu, the global press freedom body, Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) revealed Monday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The DANA AIR plane crash in Lagos on Sunday, 3 June, 2012, which killed all the passengers on board and more on the ground, overshadowed all other stories in Nigeria this week. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – Last weekend's plane crashes in Ghana and Nigeria, the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the coup that brought former president Jerry John Rawlings to power and the seizure of arms were some the main stories highlighted in the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The global press freedom body, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has urged the governments of America and the Gambia to disclose information on the whereabouts of missing Gambian journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh, PANA reports Wednesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - President Goodluck Jonathan's self assessment in office, the renaming of the University of Lagos after the late politician, Moshood Abiola, and new electricity tariff which took effect Friday were the major stories in Nigeria this week. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Ghana to remove fuel subsidy, registration of prisoners to vote and the blame game in the sale of government lands and bungalows were some of the stories reported in the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the campaign of harassment and intimidation against a newspaper in South Africa after it published a photo of a painting of President Jacob Zuma more than two weeks ago. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called for the immediate release of two detained journalists, Peter Heinlein and Simegnish Yekoye, by Ehiopian authorities. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, government's moves to put oil subsidy thieves on trial and Obasanjo's classification of legislators as thieves dominate front pages in Nigeria this week. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The ruling of the Supreme Court clearing Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), of any wrongdoing in the purchase of an official bungalow while he was minister of state was one of the major stories highlighted in the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Thursday said media protection is back on the top agenda of world institutions and the press freedom body is a key player in the global campaign aimed at UN and its agencies." Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The family of Gambia’s missing journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh, on Wednesday refuted claims by the country’s police boss that Manneh has been “seen in America”. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Accra-based sub-regional rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), on Monday said that the media regulatory body in Cote d'Ivoire has suspended ‘Notre Voie’, a privately-owned pro-opposition daily newspaper, “for four publications”. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Mai Ahmad Fatty, the leader of opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), has called on the country’s parliament to repeal “obnoxious” laws in favour of press freedom and free speech, PANA reports Monday. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana’s former president Jerry John Rawlings, one of the biggest crowd pullers in the country, dominated the media this week with his outburst against his own party, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The global press freedom body, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), on Wednesday condemned the suspension of radio ‘’Liberté’’ and the arrest of 9 of its journalists in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Ghana-based sub-regional rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), on Wednesday demanded “an end to hostilities against the media in Mali,” PANA reported from here.Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The New York-based press freedom body, Committee to Protect Jouranlists (CPJ), on Monday said ''Togolese authorities should ensure that security forces allow journalists to do their jobs'' and that officers involved in ''acts of abuse of journalists are held to account.'' Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The media freedom body, Committee to Protect Journalists, (CPJ) has called for the immediate release of two journalists in DR Congo. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The deepening rift in Ghana’s ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is threatening its survival, and the continuing debate on the authenticity of economic statistics released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) were some of the major stories highlighted in the media this week. Full text...

Ankara, Turkey (PANA) - Participants at the Turkey-Africa Media Forum which ended Thursday in Ankara, the Turkish capital, have agreed to establish a common platform to promote better media cooperation between Africa and Turkey. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The global press freedom body, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Wednesday issued a statement saying "Ethiopia's new printing directive equals to censorship." Full text...

Ankara, Turkey (PANA) - African media have been urged to help foster stronger relations between the continent and Turkey. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Protecting hard-won gains in press freedom, improving safety for journalists and ending impunity for crimes against them were the the main concerns expressed by participants who attended UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day 2012 conference in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, held from 4 to 5 May. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigerian government's deliberate measures to exterminate malaria, reactions to the ongoing oil subsidy report and revelations, and the never-ending cases of violence across the country were the main stories in Nigerian newspapers this week. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) are battling to win the hearts of voters on which of them is a better manager of the economy. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The global media rights watchdog, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), on Wednesday condemned the attack on a freelance journalist, Noel Tadegnon, who was assaulted by Togo security forces and had his camera confiscated. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - African Union (AU) Commission Chair Jean Ping Thursday saluted journalists for their courage, on the occasion of the ‘World Press Freedom Day’ which is observed annually 3 May. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Superficial research and improper verification of facts in the daily news menu indicate that truth has become a victim of such deficiencies in several African media, Tanzania’s Minister of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture Emmanuel Nchimbi said here Thursday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) will observe the ‘World Press Freedom Day’ (3 May) with a clarion call for the “release of all journalists” held for their professional activities around the globe. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Journalists under the banner of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), Tuesday renewed calls for a “proper investigation” into the 2004 slaying of Deyda Hydara, PANA reports from here. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Suicide bombers' attack on media houses was the main story in Nigeria this week. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – Politics, especially the rising temperature and increasing tension between the two biggest parties - the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) - dominated the headlines in the Ghanaian media this week, as the December presidential and parliamentary elections approach. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) on Friday condemned in “the strongest terms”, the attacks against two Nigerian newspapers, the two press freedom bodies said in a joint statement. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Thursday's bombing of the offices of private Thisday newspaper in Nigeria. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - UNESCO will celebrate the World Press Freedom Day on 3 May in Tunis with a packed three-day programme of events on the role of the media as a catalyst for social and political change.Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The mind-boggling revelation of the rot in the oil sector and the jailing of former Delta State governor, James Ibori, dominated media spaces this week in Nigeria. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The media in Ghana this week spent nearly all their air and inch space on an extremely volatile statement by an outspoken opposition MP, who claimed he had declared war in Ghana following alleged violence against some of his party members in the ongoing voter registration exercise. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The global press freedom watchdog, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), onThursday expressed concern about the “plight of journalists” in Guinea-Bissau following the 12 April military takeover in the West African country. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The global press freedom watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), on Friday urged the Kenyan authorities to investigate "threats" made against two journalists, Osinde Obare and David Musindi. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The appointment of a local coach for the senior national football team, the Black Stars, and the launch of the “Green Book” that catalogues the “achievements” of the government in the past three years were some of the stories highlighted in the Ghanaian media this week. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - A “unique radio programme” that seeks to accelerate development in Africa through “personal transformation” was Wednesday launched in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and will be replicated in other countries across the continent on Saturday, the organizers said in a statement made available to PANA. Full text...