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Pankaj Mishra’s new book, The World After Gaza: A History, was written as a response to the “vast panorama of violence, disorder and suffering that we’re seeing today,” says the author. In Part 1 of our interview with the award-winning Indian writer, Mishra shares why he “felt compelled” to respond to what he sees as a return to the 19th-century model of “rapacious imperialism” in the Western world, signified by global complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese.
UMPIEM MAI REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand — Saw Ba had been living in a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border for 16 years when he got the news last month that he’d been waiting years for: He and his family would be boarding a plane to resettle in America.
It had been a long wait. Saw Ba, in his 40s and whose name has been changed in this story for security reasons, had applied for resettlement soon after getting to the camp in 2008.
With much anticipation, staffers from the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, brought his family and 22 other people from Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp to a hotel in the Thai border town of Mae Sot in mid-January.
There they were to wait to catch a flight to Bangkok and on to the United States.
Freedom and a new life awaited.
But three days later, the IOM staffers delivered bad news: All 26 people would have to return to the refugee camp because the incoming Trump administration was about to order a halt to the processing and travel of all refugees into the United States.
A poster is displayed inside a food distribution building at the Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp on the Thai-Myanmar border at Phop Phra district, Tak province, Feb. 7, 2025. (Shakeel/AP)A few days later, after his Jan. 20 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending refugee resettlement as part of a broader effort to “immediately end the migrant invasion of America.”
The executive order said the United States “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees.”
Back in his family’s barren, ramshackle hut in the camp, Saw Ba was crestfallen.
“We have lost our hope now,” he said.
Left in Limbo
Saw Ba’s family is among hundreds or perhaps thousands of refugees globally who were held back on the cusp of entering the United States.
According to the Associated Press, a little more than 10,000 refugees worldwide had already been vetted and had scheduled travel to the United States ahead of the Jan. 20 deadline. It was not clear how many actually entered the United States before that date.
At Umpiem Mai camp, around 400 refugees had been waiting for resettlement in the United States.
Now they will have to wait longer.
The Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp on the Thai-Myanmar border, at Phop Phra district, Tak province, a Thai-Myanmar border province, Feb. 7, 2025. (Shakeel/AP)Saw Ba and his family had been so sure they would be resettled that they had given all of their belongings — including their clothes — to neighbors and friends, while their children had dropped out of school and returned their books.
“When we arrived back here [at Umpiem], we had many difficulties,” he told RFA Burmese, particularly with their children’s education.
“Our children have been out of school for a month, and now they’re back, and their final exams are coming up,” he said. “Our children won’t have books anymore when they return to school. I don’t know whether they’ll pass or fail this year’s exams.”
Missionary work
Saw Ba fled to the refugee camp because he was targeted for his Christian missionary work.
Originally from Pathein township, in western Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region, he was approached by an official with the country’s military junta in 2009 and told to stop his activities.
When he informed the official that he was not involved in politics and refused to comply, police were sent to arrest him.
He fled to Thailand, where he ended up in the Umpiem Mai camp. There he met his wife and had a son and daughter, now in seventh and second grade, respectively.
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Another woman in the camp, Thin Min Soe, said her husband and their two children had undergone a battery of medical tests and had received an acceptance letter for resettlement, allowing them to join a waitlist to travel.
She had fled her home in the Bago region in central Myanmar for taking part in the country’s 2007 Saffron Revolution, when the military violently suppressed widespread anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks.
Thin Min Soe and other refugees at the camp told RFA they are afraid of returning to Myanmar due to the threat of persecution. The country has been pitched into civil war after the military toppled an elected government in 2021. Many said they no longer have homes or villages to return to, even if they did want to go back.
With the U.S. refugee program suspended, “we are now seriously concerned about our livelihood because we have to support our two children’s education and livelihoods,” she said.
When RFA contacted the camp manager and the refugee affairs office, they responded by saying they were not allowed to comment on the matter.
US has resettled 3 million refugees
Since 1980, more than 3 million refugees — people fearing persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, politics or membership in a social group — have been resettled in the United States.
During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the United States resettled 100,034 refugees, the highest number in 30 years. The most came from the Republic of the Congo, followed by Afghanistan, Venezuela and Syria. Myanmar was fifth, accounting for 7.3%, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
Over the past 30 years, the United States accepted the highest number of refugees from Myanmar — about 76,000 — followed by Canada and Australia, according to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand.
Hundreds of Myanmar refugees from Thailand were brought to the U.S. in November and December, before the end of former President Joe Biden’s term.
The entrance to the Ohn Pyan refugee camp near Mae Sot, Thailand, undated photo. (RFA)RFA requests for comment on the situation sent to the IOM, the U.S. Embassy in Thailand and The Border Consortium — the main provider of food, shelter and other forms of support to the approximately 120,000 refugees from Myanmar living in nine camps in western Thailand — were not immediately returned.
But an aid worker from the region told RFA that the refugees who were sent back to Umpiem Mai were sure to face challenges reintegrating in the camp.
“When they return, they will have difficulty getting food and finding accommodations,” said the aid worker, who also declined to be named. “They have already given their belongings to relatives, and some have been sold.”
Thai medical services
Thai officials, meanwhile, are working to provide medical care at camps for Myanmar refugees where health services have been affected by a recent suspension of U.S. foreign aid, also activated by Trump under an executive order.
The suspension prompted a Feb. 3 meeting of officials from the nine camps for Myanmar refugees along the border and Thai authorities and hospital officials.
They agreed that the camps will continue to use clinics and equipment provided by the U.S.-based humanitarian aid provider International Rescue Committee, or IRC, to treat camp residents, according to Saw Pwe Say, the secretary of the ethnic Karen Refugee Committee.
“I felt relieved … they said the IRC has approved the camps to continue using their clinics and equipment for medical treatment,” he said.
The Ohn Pyan refugee camp near Mae Sot, Thailand, undated photo. (RFA)Thai health workers will provide healthcare during the day from Monday to Friday, while refugee camp health professionals will be on duty at night and on weekends.
The U.S. freeze on foreign aid has also impacted the work of other humanitarian groups at the Thai-Myanmar border, including the Mae Tao Clinic, which provides free medical care to those in need, as well as health education and social services, officials told RFA.
Translated by Aung Naing and Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Laura Flanders & Friends and was authored by Laura Flanders & Friends.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read more on this topic in Vietnamese.
Hundreds of Vietnamese in Thailand who are hoping to be resettled as refugees in the U.S. have been left in limbo by President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend refugee admissions and resettlement programs.
The executive order signed on Jan. 20 suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP, and decisions on applications for refugee status, while allowing the secretaries of state and homeland security to admit refugees on a case by case basis. The order called for the resettlement of refugees to be halted indefinitely. However, it will be reviewed in 90 days to see whether the program benefits Americans.
The suspension also affects programs such as the Welcome Corps, established by the State Department in 2023 to enable U.S. citizens or permanent residents to sponsor refugees and help them resettle in the U.S.
Welcome Corps said in a statement on its website the suspension of USRAP “includes intake of new applications for the Welcome Corps, as well as processing of all active or previously submitted applications.”
Musician Nam Loc Nguyen fled Vietnam in 1975 and settled in Los Angeles. He was named “Citizenship Ambassador” by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, in 2022. He said Trump’s executive order could affect about 1,500 Vietnamese refugees in Thailand who are hoping to be resettled in a third country.
“This is the most direct and significant impact on refugees in general, and on Vietnamese refugees in Thailand in particular.”
Vietnamese refugees in Thailand include political activists, human rights advocates and members of ethnic minorities who have suffered discrimination for their religious beliefs, had land seized and documents denied by authorities.
Since Thailand has not joined the U.N. Convention on Refugees, Vietnamese even when recognized as refugees by UNHCR are not granted that status and cannot work.
Hopes of US resettlement fade
Trump’s executive order also affects people who have already been approved for resettlement. Even those who have plane tickets and were about to leave Thailand for the U.S. face delays, at least temporarily.
Nguyen Thanh Khai, 47, and his family fled to Thailand in 2013 and are still waiting for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, to grant them official refugee status.
Without legal documents, Khai and his family have been forced to take cash-in-hand jobs such as preparing vegetables at markets and selling sugarcane juice.
Khai was held for 40 days in 2018 at Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Center for working without a permit.
“My life here is illegal. They are always trying to deport me,” he said.
In early 2024, Khai got news that a group in the U.S. had sponsored his family under the Welcome Corps program. For the first time in 12 years, he said he could hope for a stable future for him and his children.
“I was devastated when I heard that the Welcome Corps program had been suspended. I had been hoping and waiting. Now, I feel so sad for my kids’ future,” he told Radio Free Asia.
Khai’s oldest daughter, Thanh Ngan, 18, is in her penultimate year at high school. She said that her studies had suffered because she lacks legal documents. Unlike her friends, she was not allowed to participate in exchange programs, including a school camping trip to China.
Ngan hopes to become a dentist and said she was overjoyed when she heard she was moving to America.
“I was ecstatic to hear that my family had been sponsored as I really want to go to the U.S. to study,” she said. “When I heard that the Welcome Corps program had been suspended, I felt really sad and anxious. I want to study until finishing college but … with only U.N.-issued documents, I can’t go to university.”
Lobby Congress
Nam Loc said he thinks it’s important to lobby Republican and Democrat politicians in the U.S. to inform them of the dangers facing Vietnamese refugees. This could encourage U.S. authorities to review and change the executive order, he said.
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U.S. immigration lawyer Hoang Duyen said the criteria for asylum in the U.S. are clearly stipulated in U.S. immigration law. Therefore, immigration-related and refugee protection organizations could take legal proceedings to challenge Trump’s executive order. However, one of those groups said it wasn’t clear how the situation in the U.S. would progress.
On Feb. 4, the International Rescue Committee, which helps people resettle as refugees in the U.S., emailed Nam Loc saying:
“From today, all programs are temporarily suspended. All refugee appointments at the resettlement support center/s are canceled until further notice … Even officers working for charity organizations in Bangkok don’t know how things will be. Therefore, it’s hard for us to anticipate.”.
Waiting patiently in Thailand
Tran Anh Qua was a political dissident in Vietnam and a contributor to Vietnam Thoi Bao, or Vietnam Times, an independent newspaper banned by the government. In early 2023, police detained and questioned him for two days about his activism. In August 2023, he fled to Thailand.
Qua said his application was processed quickly and the USCIS gave him permission to resettle in the U.S. last October.
“I was overjoyed because it felt like a rebirth opportunity,” he said. “Moving from a country where freedom is scarce – where many see it as a big prison – to the freest country in the world.”
The USCIS told him he needed at least four months to complete medical exams and vaccinations before entering the U.S. His first vaccination appointment was scheduled for mid-November but was postponed because it coincided with the U.S. presidential election. He didn’t receive his first shot until Jan. 21.
“My next vaccination is on February 18, but I’m not sure if it will happen. I’m afraid they might send me home without giving me the shot,” he said.
However, he said he still believed he would eventually be able to settle in the U.S.
“I believe in the U.S. Constitution. I believe that the political and legal system will function as it should.”
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Abuja, February 6, 2025—Armed men, some wearing military camouflage, attacked journalist Ohemeng Tawiah with stones and machetes on December 20, 2024, after Tawiah and his camera operator, Joseph Kusi, joined a police team investigating allegations of illegal mining at a site in Ghana’s northern Ashanti region.
Tawiah told CPJ he provided police with a written statement about the assault on January 2, 2025, as well as phone numbers and photos of those who led the attackers, which he obtained through his own investigations. No one has been arrested in the case.
“Environmental reporting is an increasingly dangerous beat in Ghana, and it is essential that authorities identify and hold accountable those responsible for attacking journalist Ohemeng Tawiah,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program, from New York. “Ghanaian authorities must swiftly and thoroughly conclude their investigation and publicly share their findings. This is crucial to preventing the culture of impunity that often surrounds the targeting of the press in the country.”
Tawiah, assistant news editor at the privately owned Joy News outlet, had reported on allegations of illegal mining at the site earlier in December and told CPJ he obtained permission from police to join and report on their investigations.
At the site’s entrance, police arrested some suspected illegal miners, Tawiah told CPJ. Armed men then arrived, demanded the release of the men, and then began throwing stones at police, Tawiah, and other civilians waiting inside a police vehicle.
As Tawiah tried to escape, a stone hit his chest, and he fell to the ground, he told CPJ. When the attackers caught up, they attacked him with stones and machetes. They also took the reporters’ phones and money and destroyed Kusi’s camera.
Tawiah said he bled profusely from a major cut to his head, was hospitalized for two days, and was treated for injuries to his head, chest, and fingers, and multiple cuts to his body, including what appeared to be attempts to cut off his leg. He still suffers from severe chest pains and headaches. Kusi was uninjured.
CPJ’s calls and text messages to police spokesperson Grace Ansah-Akrofi asking for updates on the investigation did not receive any replies.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
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A woman has returned to Hong Kong after being rescued from a Myanmar scam park by the Thai authorities, as family members petitioned the Thai Consulate for help for those who remain, according to campaigners, local media reports and the city government.
“A Hong Kong resident, who had been detained for illegal work in Myanmar and was recently rescued, has departed Thailand for Hong Kong this afternoon with members of the [government’s] dedicated task force,” the city’s Security Bureau said in a statement on Feb. 4.
Soon after the rescue, authorities in Thailand cut power to five locations along its border with Myanmar, in its most decisive action ever against transnational crime syndicates accused of massive fraud and forced labor.
The areas all host online scam centers that have proliferated in lawless corners of Southeast Asia since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, when many casinos turned to online fraud operations, often staffed by unsuspecting job seekers lured by false offers of work, to make up for lost gamblers.
Last month, Hong Kong authorities sent a task force to Thailand in a bid to rescue scam park victims, citing a “resurgence” in criminal activity targeting the city’s residents.
The move followed the high-profile rescue of Chinese TV actor Wang Xing from the notorious KK Park scam facility in Myawaddy, near the border with Thailand.
Former Hong Kong district councilor Andy Yu and family members of scam park victims petition the Thai Consulate in Hong Kong, Feb. 3, 2025. (Channel C HK)Local media showed photos of the 31-year-old woman being taken across the river from Myawaddy and having her passport and other details checked by Thai officials.
According to Thai media reports, the woman was rescued after the Thai Narcotics Control Bureau dispatched the Royal Thai Army and Police to get her across the border from Myawaddy to Phop Phra county in Thailand’s Tak Province.
Hong Kong’s news site HK01.com reported that no ransom had been paid.
In good condition
Hong Kong security officials “met with the Hong Kong resident in Bangkok this morning and [were] delighted to find that she was in good mental and physical condition,” the Security Bureau said.
“She expressed gratitude for the active coordination and liaison of the dedicated task force with relevant units of the Thai authorities, as well as for the assistance of different parties that enabled her to return to Hong Kong shortly after her rescue to reunite with her family as soon as possible,” it said.
The woman arrived in Hong Kong on Feb. 4 despite concerns that her passport had a triangular section cut out of it, possibly rendering it invalid.
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The statement thanked Chinese Foreign Ministry officials based in Hong Kong, Chinese diplomatic missions in Myanmar and Thailand, as well as the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong, for their help with the rescue operation.
“The dedicated task force is continuing to actively follow up on the remaining nine request-for-assistance cases of Hong Kong residents who have yet to return, striving for their return to Hong Kong as soon as possible,” it said.
Former district councilor Andy Yu told RFA Cantonese that he and other campaigners visited the Thai consulate in Hong Kong on Monday to petition for help with the rescue of seven Hong Kongers whose family members have sought his help in recent months.
Yu, who said he didn’t represent the 31-year-old woman rescued on Sunday, said the Thai Vice-Consul had promised that his government would “do its best” to ensure the remaining Hong Kongers are rescued too.
“The deputy consul came to meet with us,” Yu said. “We told him the contents of the letter, including the latest situation of the seven people seeking help and about a new case.”
“He said … that they are maintaining contact with the Hong Kong police, that they will … do their best to rescue the remaining people, and that … they can play a coordinating role,” he said. “If necessary, they can get in contact with the Myanmar Consulate in Hong Kong, and can act as an intermediary.”
Currently, there are eight Hong Kongers trapped in scam parks in Myanmar, and one in a similar facility in Cambodia, Yu said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Wei Sze and Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New York, February 3, 2025—Ukraine’s domestic security service (SBU) opened a criminal case on January 28 for “disclosure of state secrets” after independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda published statements by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, at a closed-door parliamentary meeting.
According to an unnamed source cited in the report, Budanov said that unless serious negotiations on ending the war are held by the summer, “dangerous processes could unfold, threatening Ukraine’s very existence.” Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence later denied the quote.
“CPJ is concerned about Ukraine’s opening of a criminal case for ‘disclosure of state secrets’ based on Ukrainska Pravda’s reporting,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must commit to respecting the confidentiality of sources and refrain from putting pressure on independent journalism.”
CPJ was unable to determine whether the SBU opened the case against specific persons. The penalty for disclosing state secrets is up to eight years imprisonment.
“We act within the law and strictly adhere to professional standards of journalism. Ukrainska Pravda, as always, stands by its sources of information, which is guaranteed by the current legislation of Ukraine and international law,” Ukainska Pravda editor-in-chief and 2022 IPFA Awardee Sevgil Musaieva said in a January 31 statement.
CPJ emailed the SBU and Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.
In October 2024, Ukrainska Pravda published a statement saying it was experiencing “ongoing and systematic pressure” from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.
Several Ukrainska Pravda journalists, including Musaieva, have been obstructed and threatened over their work. Ukrainian investigative journalists have also faced surveillance, violence, and intimidation in connection with their work about Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.
In December 2024, CPJ sent a letter to Zelenskyy asking him to ensure that journalists and media outlets can work freely in Ukraine and that no one responsible for intimidating journalists goes unpunished. The letter was still unanswered as of February 2025.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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On February 1, Myanmar will mark four years since soldiers and military vehicles raided the country’s capital at dawn, signaling the military’s forceful seizure of power from the civilian government. RFA Insider sits down with three staffers who’ve recently traveled to the region to learn what life is like for those actively resisting the regime and those who’ve chosen to flee.
Off Beat
Since the coup, Myanmar has descended into civil war as the military and various resistance groups battle for control of key areas across the country.
Jim Snyder from RFA’s Investigative team and Gemunu Amarasinghe from the Multimedia team recently traveled to Myanmar to report on life inside rebel-controlled territories in Kayah State. Insurgents have successfully seized large sections of countryside from the military forces, and now are undertaking a new operation: building a new state government. Jim and Gemunu explain the aims of the newly-established Interim Executive Council (IEC) and how residents are reacting to the IEC’s initiatives, including a new police force.
Additionally, they share stories from their visit to a rebel hospital in the area, where Yangon medical professionals and students who oppose military rule have moved their practice.
Double Off Beat
While production engineer Wa Than is present at almost all of RFA Insider’s recordings, he joins Eugene and Amy inside the recording booth this episode to talk about his recent trip to Thailand.
At 11, Wa abruptly fled Myanmar to the U.S. with his family to escape persecution from the then-military regime. Last November, he traveled to the Thai-Myanmar border, the closest he’s able to get to his home country under the current circumstances. Wa spent time with acquaintances from Myanmar who have since migrated to Thailand to escape the military’s conscription orders.
How difficult was it for these young people to leave Myanmar, and how were they faring in Thailand? What kinds of attitudes did young, displaced Burmese have towards Myanmar’s future, as well as their own? Tune in to hear these answers and more from Wa.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Amy Lee for RFA Insider.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan.
A Tibetan writer and former elementary school teacher, imprisoned for having contact with Tibetans living abroad and making a prayer offering to the Dalai Lama, has been placed under strict surveillance following his release from jail in November 2024.
Palgon, 32, and who goes by only one name, was arrested at his home in Pema county in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province in August 2022, and served more than two years in jail.
Since his release, he has been prohibited from contacting others, the sources told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“Details about where he was detained over the past two years as well as his current health condition remain unknown, due to tight restrictions imposed by authorities,” the first source told RFA.
The Chinese government frequently arrests Tibetans for praying for the Dalai Lama and for possessing photos of him, limiting religious freedom in Tibet and controlling all aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.
The government also restricts Tibetans inside Tibet from communicating with those living abroad, saying it undermines national unity.
Tibetans, in turn, have decried surveillance by Beijing, saying Chinese authorities are violating their human rights and trying to eradicate their religious, linguistic and cultural identity.
Sources also said Palgon — a graduate of the prominent vocational Tibetan private school Gangjong Sherig Norling, which was shut down by the Chinese government in July 2024 — wrote many literary pieces on various social media platforms and audio chat groups before his arrest.
However, his writings and posts have since been deleted and remain inaccessible online, and his social media accounts have been blocked, they said.
Human Rights Watch noted in its “World Report 2025″ that authorities arbitrarily arrested Tibetans in Tibet in 2024 for posting unapproved content online or having online contact with Tibetans outside the region.
RFA reported in early September 2024 that Chinese authorities arrested four Tibetans from Ngaba county in Sichuan province accusing one monk from Kirti Monastery of making dedication prayer offerings outside Tibet and two laypersons for maintaining contact with Tibetans outside the region.
Translated by RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New York, January 30, 2025—Ukrainian military officers detained three journalists for eight hours on accusations of “illegal border crossing” on January 6 in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled town in Russia’s Kursk region. The journalists — Ukrainian freelance reporter Petro Chumakov, Kurt Pelda, correspondent with Swiss media group CH Media, and freelance camera operator Josef Zehnder — had army accreditation and were traveling in a military vehicle with a Ukrainian soldier who had permission from his commander to drive them to Kursk, Pelda told CPJ.
The Sumy district court dismissed the legal proceedings against the journalists on January 15 after finding that their rights had been “grossly” violated. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense suspended Chumakov’s accreditation on January 9 “pending clarification of the circumstances of my possible unauthorized work,” Chumakov told CPJ.
As of January 30, Chumakov had not received an update on his status. Pelda told CPJ he feared the ministry would not renew his and Zehnder’s accreditations, which expire on April 15 and July 8.
“Journalists accredited to cover the war in Ukraine and complying with the rules for reporting in war zones should be able to do their work without obstruction,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must immediately reinstate the accreditation of Ukrainian journalist Petro Chumakov and commit to renewing those of Kurt Pelda and Josef Zehnder.”
CPJ’s email requesting comment from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s press service did not receive a response. The ministry’s accreditation office declined to comment.
“It goes without saying that one of the duties of a war reporter is to withhold sensitive information… I have been reporting from the Ukrainian war zone for almost three years now and not only know these rules but also abide by them. In certain circles of the Ukrainian military leadership, however, the aim is to ban independent reporters from the combat zones altogether,” Pelda said, pointing to the zoning rules that have limited reporters’ frontline access.
“Nobody knows where these zones are, and this gives the local commanders [and press officers] a lot of discretion,” Pelda told CPJ.
Pelda is one of a number of foreign journalists facing Russian criminal charges for an allegedly illegal border crossing – a charge carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison – into the Kursk region last year.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Rescue workers in Washington, D.C., have launched a massive recovery operation in the Potomac River after a regional passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair late Wednesday, with both aircraft crashing into the water. American Airlines Flight 5342 had 60 passengers and four crew members on board and was en route to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from Wichita, Kansas. The Black Hawk helicopter had three soldiers on board conducting a training flight. Officials believe there are no survivors. The deadly crash comes amid upheaval and staffing changes in the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration due to President Donald Trump’s ongoing purge across federal government agencies. Journalist David Sirota of The Lever says the airport also recently had its air traffic increased by lawmakers despite objections. “There is a very deep safety concern at this airport because there had been a series of near misses,” says Sirota. “These warnings about expanding the flight traffic at this airport came just a few months ago.” He also discusses the first 10 days of the Trump administration.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Holocaust survivors on Monday marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Nazi Germany exterminated over 1 million Jews and other minority groups between 1940 and 1945. The commemoration comes as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles worldwide and far-right forces gain strength across Europe and the United States. For more, we speak with Israeli American historian Raz Segal, who says the academic field of Holocaust studies has a blind spot when it comes to Israel and its actions in Palestine, from the 1948 Nakba to the genocidal assault on Gaza. “Since October 2023, so many Holocaust scholars have gone out of their way to protect Israel,” says Segal. “It’s very grotesque.”
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This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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An explosion occurred on a busy market area in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Sunday, just three days after a visit by President Xi Jinping, according to videos and images posted on social media.
Footage of the scene posted on X by users showed people milling about outside when the blast happens. Afterwards, smoke fills the air and injured people are seen on the ground while bystanders cry out in panic.
The posts said the blast happened at around noon Sunday outside the entrance to the Dalefu food market, near central Shenyang.
Radio Free Asia could not independently verify the videos posted on social media, but multiple videos appeared to be same incident from different angles.
Video footage captures the moment an explosion occurred at Dadong Food Market, a shopping center in Shenyang, northeastern China. Authorities are investigating Chinese state media had very limited coverage. One outlet, Red Star News, reported that the explosion was still under investigation but gave no numbers of casualties, although from the videos it appeared people had been injured.
Media outlets such as Taiwan’s Central News Agency and Radio France Internationale reported on the incident shortly after it took place.
On Monday, a query for news of the explosion on the Chinese search engine Baidu yielded no results — typical of sensitive online information that has been censored by Chinese authorities.
The explosion occurred just days ahead of the Jan. 28-Feb. 4 Chinese Lunar New Year — an official holiday marked by family reunions and public celebrations.
Victims of an explosion on the street in front of the Dalefu Food Market in Shenyang, China, Jan. 28, 2025. Photo from video. (RFA)Xi’s earlier visit
The Dalefu food market was the setting for a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping three days earlier on Jan. 23, according to official Chinese media.
Reports said Xi “braved severe cold” to inspect the market and better understand the situation facing the public in the lead-up to the holiday season.
A man ducks during an explosion on the street in front of the Dalefu Food Market in Shenyang, China, Jan. 28, 2025. Photo from video. (RFA)China’s government has unleashed a raft of stimulus measures in a bid to boost the country’s sluggish economy. But sources say people are reluctant to spend amid a real estate slump and concerns over job security.
In a video accompanying the reports on Xi’s visit, the Chinese president is shown being greeted by scores of smiling workers and shoppers inside the marketplace.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Shen Ke.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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An explosion occurred on a busy market area in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Sunday, just three days after a visit by President Xi Jinping, according to videos and images posted on social media.
Footage of the scene posted on X by users showed people milling about outside when the blast happens. Afterwards, smoke fills the air and injured people are seen on the ground while bystanders cry out in panic.
The posts said the blast happened at around noon Sunday outside the entrance to the Dalefu food market, near central Shenyang.
Radio Free Asia could not independently verify the videos posted on social media, but multiple videos appeared to be same incident from different angles.
Video footage captures the moment an explosion occurred at Dadong Food Market, a shopping center in Shenyang, northeastern China. Authorities are investigating Chinese state media had very limited coverage. One outlet, Red Star News, reported that the explosion was still under investigation but gave no numbers of casualties, although from the videos it appeared people had been injured.
Media outlets such as Taiwan’s Central News Agency and Radio France Internationale reported on the incident shortly after it took place.
On Monday, a query for news of the explosion on the Chinese search engine Baidu yielded no results — typical of sensitive online information that has been censored by Chinese authorities.
The explosion occurred just days ahead of the Jan. 28-Feb. 4 Chinese Lunar New Year — an official holiday marked by family reunions and public celebrations.
Victims of an explosion on the street in front of the Dalefu Food Market in Shenyang, China, Jan. 28, 2025. Photo from video. (RFA)Xi’s earlier visit
The Dalefu food market was the setting for a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping three days earlier on Jan. 23, according to official Chinese media.
Reports said Xi “braved severe cold” to inspect the market and better understand the situation facing the public in the lead-up to the holiday season.
A man ducks during an explosion on the street in front of the Dalefu Food Market in Shenyang, China, Jan. 28, 2025. Photo from video. (RFA)China’s government has unleashed a raft of stimulus measures in a bid to boost the country’s sluggish economy. But sources say people are reluctant to spend amid a real estate slump and concerns over job security.
In a video accompanying the reports on Xi’s visit, the Chinese president is shown being greeted by scores of smiling workers and shoppers inside the marketplace.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Shen Ke.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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MANILA – Philippine authorities suspended a scientific survey in the disputed South China Sea after its fisheries vessels faced “harassment” from China’s coast guard and navy.
Vessels from the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were going to Sandy Cay for a marine scientific survey and sand sampling on Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said in a statement on Saturday.
“During the mission, the BFAR vessels encountered aggressive maneuvers from three Chinese Coast Guard vessels 4106, 5103 and 4202,” PCG said, calling the incident a “blatant disregard” of the 1972 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs).
Sandy Cay is a group of cays – or low reefs – two nautical miles (3.7 km) from Philippines-occupied Thitu island, known as Pag-asa island in the Philippines.
Four smaller boats deployed by the China Coast Guard (CCG) also harassed the Philippine bureau’s two inflatable boats, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
“Compounding the situation, a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) helicopter, identified by tail number 24, hovered at an unsafe altitude above the BFAR RHIBs, creating hazardous conditions due to the propeller wash,” the Philippine Coast Guard said.
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In a statement, the China Coast Guard said it expelled the Philippine vessels for unlawfully intruding into its waters.
China has “indisputable sovereignty” over the disputed waters and that it will continue to protect its maritime rights and interests, China Coast Guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said on Saturday.
Philippine authorities suspended the operation following the incident, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
The Philippine foreign affairs department is expected to file another diplomatic protest against China over the encounter, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said.
Edited by BenarNews Staff.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by BenarNews staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.