LONDON, England, Sept. 23 -- The British Film Institute issued the following news release: * * * THE 69th BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SPEAKERS AND EVENTS AT THIS YEAR'S LFF INDUSTRY FORUM 9-15 October at Picturehouse Central * LFF Spotlight conversation with pioneering UK Producer Tessa Ross * The intricate art of international co-productions with award-winning producers Maria Ekerhovd (Sentimental Value), Emily Morgan (Dreamers), Klaudia Smieja-Rostworowska (Orphan), Lorna Tee (Diam more PR

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued the following remarks in a news conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York. In a significant move aligning with Canada and the United Kingdom, Albanese announced Australia's formal recognition of the state of Palestine. Speaking from the United Nations headquarters in New York, Albanese, joined by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, framed the decision as a crucial step toward a two-state solution and a way to cr more PR

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 [Category: International] -- Human Rights Watch posted the following news: * * * Ethiopia: Surge in Arrests of Journalists, Media Workers * (Nairobi) - Ethiopian security forces have arbitrarily arrested several journalists and media professionals since August 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should end their harassment of independent journalists and immediately release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion. more PR

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 -- The Federation of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers in Germany (BDZV) has submitted a public comment letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security expressing significant concerns regarding proposed changes to the I visa program for foreign journalists. The proposed alterations would limit the duration of the I visa to 240 days, with the possibility of extending it for another 240 days. BDZV, which represents the interests of leading news publishers across  more ST

DETROIT, Michigan, Sept. 23 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on Sept. 22, 2025: * * * Spain's Great Write-Off Regional debt relief leaves taxpayers footing the bill. By Mark Nayler Spain's Socialist-led government has recently forgiven Euros83.3 billion in debt owed by fifteen of the country's seventeen autonomous communities. Though part of a deal struck between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the Catalan separatists on whom his minority coalition d more PR

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 -- Free Press, an advocacy group that is part of the media reform or media democracy movement, issued the following news release on Sept. 22, 2025: * * * Kimmel May Be Back, but Trump's War on Free Speech Is No Joke On Monday, Disney/ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show would return to the airwaves Tuesday, after being suspended under pressure from Trump's Federal Communications Commission. Free Press Co-CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement: "H more PR

PARIS, France, Sept. 22 [Category: Media] -- Reporters Without Borders issued the following news: * * * In London, Ukrainian press freedom NGOs and RSF officially launch the International Fund for Ukrainian Media (IFRUM) * On 19 September in London, the International Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukrainian Media (IFRUM) was launched at an event hosted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), alongside the EU delegation to the UK. Led by Ukraine's top media freedom NGO more PR

VIENNA, Austria, Sept. 23 -- The International Press Institute issued the following news: * * * Kyrgyzstan: IPI condemns new prison verdicts handed to media workers Former camera operators from independent outlet Kloop receive five-year sentences * The IPI global network today condemns the decision by a court in Bishkek to hand five-year prison sentences to camera operators Joomart Duulatov and Alexander Alexandrov, who were found guilty in the absence of any convincing evidence. The media more PR

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 -- Free Press, an advocacy group that is part of the media reform or media democracy movement, posted the following news release on Sept. 22, 2025: * * * Leading Press-Freedom Groups Demand Immediate Release of Journalist Mario Guevara The government is threatening to deport Guevara, who has been detained for 100 days in violation of his constitutional rights. * On Monday, a coalition of more than two-dozen leading press-freedom groups called for the immediate release  more PR

PARIS, France, Sept. 22 [Category: Media] -- Reporters Without Borders issued the following news: * * * RSF welcomes presidential pardon for British-Egyptian journalist Alaa Abdel Fattah and calls for his immediate release * Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the news that British-Egyptian journalist and writer Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been arbitrarily detained in Egypt for almost six years on a charge of "spreading false news", has been granted a presidential pardon. We now call on  more PR

LONDON, England, Sept. 23 -- PEN International issued the following news on Sept. 22, 2025: * * * Turkiye: PEN member Joakim Medin to be tried in absentia By prosecuting Joakim Medin in absentia on spurious grounds and barring him from returning to Turkiye, the authorities are sending a chilling message to all journalists and writers that they too could be next. We urge them to cease their relentless crackdown on independent voices - whether at home or abroad,' said Burhan Sonmez, PEN Intern more PR

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 -- The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, issued the following statement on Sept. 22, 2025: * * * Ranking Member Representative Cohen Condemns Lukashenka's Imprisonment of Two Additional Journalists in Belarus U.S. Helsinki Commission Ranking Member Representative Steve Cohen (TN-09), OSCE PA Special Representative on Political Prisoners, today issued a statement following Alexander Lukashenka's imprisonment of tw more PR

GENEVA, Switzerland, Sept. 22 -- The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued the following news release: * * * China: Second sentencing of Zhang Zhan deeply disturbing The reported sentencing of citizen journalist and former lawyer Zhang Zhan in China to four more years' jail on the vague and ill-defined charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" is deeply disturbing. This is the second time Zhang has been convicted and subjected to a custodial sentence  more PR

SYDNEY, Australia, Sept. 22 -- The University of Technology Sydney issued the following news: * * * Expressing strong opinions can put your job at risk Clearer laws would help, writes UTS Associate Professor Giuseppe Carabetta. * Within days of American conservative Charlie Kirk's assassination, people posting on social media or commenting on his death - including TV host Jimmy Kimmel, teachers, pilots, a football team employee, and a US Secret Service employee - were being censured, suspen more PR

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 [Category: International] -- Human Rights Watch posted the following news: * * * Venezuela: Political Prisoners Cut Off from the World * * Dozens of political prisoners in Venezuela have been held incommunicado for weeks, months, and some for over a year. * The lack of communication and denial of visits has become a form of torture, inflicting suffering not only on those behind bars but also on their loved ones. * Foreign governments should use regional and internat more PR

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 -- The White House issued the following fact sheet on Sept. 22, 2025: * * * President Donald J. Trump Designates Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization DESIGNATING ANTIFA AS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Order to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. * The Order notes that Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that calls for the overthrow of the U.S. government, law enforcement authorities, and  more PR