WASHINGTON — The House passed the Uyghur Policy Act on Tuesday, a bill that advances a strategy for the United States to support Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities enduring persecution at the hands of China’s government.
It’s the latest try for the measure, which was passed by the House in the past two congressional terms without advancing further.
Sponsored by a bipartisan group led by Rep. Young Kim, a California Republican, and Rep. Ami Bera, a California Democrat, the measure calls on the State Department to oversee Uyghur human rights-related policies and programs that preserve Uyghurs’ ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic identities.
The Uyghur people have been imprisoned, tortured, & brainwashed at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
I spoke on the House floor in favor of my Uyghur Policy Act — so we can show through words & actions that we stand against the CCP's heinous crimes. pic.twitter.com/QU3JhwutIc
The bill aims to increase accountability for human rights organizations and sets a strategy to close detention facilities and political reeducation camps in China. It also creates reporting mechanisms for Uyghur victims.
“For too long, the Chinese Communist Party has orchestrated the forced sterilization, enslavement, and systematic murder of the Uyghur people,” Kim said in a statement. “The United States cannot sit idly by as innocent families are torn apart, identities are erased, and generations silenced by these atrocious acts of genocide.”
Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Campaign for Uyghurs and chair of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress, said the measure was a “vital step to ensure America stands firmly with the Uyghur people amid China’s ongoing genocide.”
“By making Uyghur human rights a clear priority in U.S. foreign policy, this bill strengthens accountability for the Chinese government’s crimes and delivers a powerful message of solidarity to millions of Uyghur families suffering under repression,” she said.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
“How much is Trump pocketing off the presidency?” That’s the question driving a major new investigation by journalist David D. Kirkpatrick in The New Yorker, which finds that the first family has been leveraging its place atop U.S. politics to rake in billions. According to Kirkpatrick, Donald Trump and his immediate family have made $3.4 billion from his time in the White House, including more than $2.3 billion from various cryptocurrency ventures alone.
“What really surprised me about all this is just how fast they’re making this money. They seem to turn down no opportunity,” says Kirkpatrick. “It really sharpens the question of what a buyer, so to speak, might be getting for that.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 04, 2025. It is shared here with permission.
Republican state lawmakers in Texas voted Monday to issue what are likely unenforceable arrest warrants for Democratic colleagues who traveled to other states in order to thwart a vote on a GOP-gerrymandered congressional map.
“I have signed the civil arrest warrants,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-83) told reporters following Monday’s vote, adding that Republicans would work with the Texas Department of Public Safety “to locate members.”
However, Chad Dunn, a longtime Texas election and voting rights lawyer, toldDemocracy Docket that “a warrant issued by the Texas House is not effective out of the state unless another state chooses to domesticate it and enforce it under that state’s laws.”
Many of the more than 50 absconding Democrats are in Illinois, whose Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters Sunday that “we’re going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them.”
85-6: The Texas House votes to issue arrest warrants for Democrats who fled the state to prevent a quorum to vote on gerrymandered congressional maps.
The warrants would not carry civil or criminal charges, and would apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic. pic.twitter.com/Lk1KMMrMUV
Other Texas Democrats went to Democrat-controlled states including Massachusetts and New York, where Gov. Kathy Kochul said Monday that she is open to retaliatory redistricting in order to “fight fire with fire.”
“I have newsflash for Republicans in Texas. This is no longer the Wild West,” Hochul said during a Monday news conference. “We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern day stagecoach heist by a bunch of law breaking cowboys.”
“If Republicans are willing to rewrite these rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us no choice, we must do the same,” she added.
A analysis published Friday by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee found that the congressional map proposed by Texas Republicans “packs voters of color into as few districts as possible in some areas and cracks them across several districts in others, effectively reducing the overall number of districts where Black and Latino voters are able to elect candidates of their choice.”
The gerrymandered Texas map would eliminate the seat currently held by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar, who would likely be forced into a primary battle with Rep. Lloyd Doggett. On Monday, Casar called for an emergency march and picket outside the mansion of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who on Sunday threatened to remove Democrats who left the state from office.
The proposed map is meant to create five more Republican-leaning districts in Texas ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In addition to Hochul, Democratic governors including Gavin Newsom of California have expressed openness to redrawing their states’ maps to create more districts likely to swing Democratic.
“It’s incumbent upon Democrat governors, if they have the opportunity, to respond in kind,” outgoing Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Friday at a Democratic Governors Association meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. “I’m not a big believer in unilateral disarmament.”
This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Brett Wilkins.
The Committee to Protect Journalists and Freedom House called on the U.S. government to maintain Cameroon’s ineligibility for preferential trade benefits ahead of its July 18 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) review hearing, citing Cameroon’s continued repression and imprisonment of journalists in a joint comment.
To meet AGOA eligibility requirements, reviewed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, sub-Saharan countries must meet statutorily defined criteria, several of which relate to human rights. Given the ongoing detention of the journalists and the country’s poor press freedom record, CPJ and Freedom House said that Cameroon does not fully meet these criteria.
Today, President Trump and his billionaire-backed Republican-controlled Congress successfully passed their reconciliation bill, passing the largest cuts in Medicaid and SNAP history while slashing billions from other essential programs to fund massive tax giveaways for billionaires and large corporations. The bill will raise average Americans’ costs by causing 17 million Americans to lose their health insurance and 2 million to lose access to food assistance. Throughout the opaque legislative process, the Republican majority in both houses didn’t hold a single hearing on their legislative proposals, and forced their members to vote under the cover of night and during weekend sessions, reflecting the GOP majority’s pattern of minimizing public attention to a wildly unpopular legislative package.
“Today, Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have finally achieved their craven goal of delivering massive tax giveaways to the billionaires and wealthy corporations that fund their campaigns at the cost of average Americans,” said ATF executive director David Kass. “This bill represents a massive transfer of wealth from the working class to the top 1%. It enacts the largest Medicaid and SNAP cuts in history while adding over $3 trillion to the national debt. Furthermore it makes the tax code more complex with new special interest tax breaks and handouts to the ultra wealthy. In the coming years, Democrats must prioritize repealing and replacing these disastrous policies to protect American families from rising costs and loss of healthcare coverage. We need to create a truly fair tax system and an economy that works for all Americans, not just the wealthy few.”
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.
After a contentious round of last-minute negotiations, President Trump’s budget bill has passed in the Senate, squeaking by thanks to Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Three Republicans joined Senate Democrats in voting “no” on the bill, which gives tax cuts to the rich and makes historic cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority, for a final vote before Trump’s July 4 deadline. Citizen groups, including the grassroots political organization Indivisible, are calling on Americans, particularly those living in Republican and swing districts, to contact their House representatives and urge them to vote against the bill. “It’s not a done deal,” says Indivisible’s co-founder and co-executive director Ezra Levin. “They do not have the votes.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Today, House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee released the text of their tax bill, which would provide massive tax giveaways to billionaires and big corporations. The Republicans’ bill would be paid for by making massive cuts to Medicaid, nutrition for children, and other vital programs. In response, Americans for Tax Fairness, released a new analysis unpacking the committee’s plans for the Trump tax bill and sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to repeal this deeply harmful bill.
“The House GOP has revealed in broad daylight that their tax bill is a clear scam—one that hands out massive giveaways to their billionaire and corporate donors off the backs of their constituents with a price tag of over $5 trillion,” said David Kass, ATF Executive Director. “The plan’s massive cuts to vital programs like Medicaid and SNAP will drive up healthcare and food prices for millions of workers and families, while billionaires pocket the money and the national debt soars. Working and middle-class families—and future generations—shouldn’t have to pay higher prices simply to enrich billionaire elites and the politicians in their pocket.”
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee this week approved bipartisan legislation to support Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities subject to human rights abuses by China.
The Uyghur Policy Act is the latest legislative effort to protect the rights of persecuted Muslim minority. The U.S. government has determined that China’s treatment of Uyghurs amounts to genocide.
The bill is co-sponsored by nine Republicans and Democrats led by Rep. Young Kim and Rep. Ami Bera, who are the chair and ranking member respectively of the House sub-committee for East Asia and the Pacific.
The legislation calls on the State Department to respond to abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region – the Uyghur homeland inside China — and push back on Chinese Communist Party efforts to silence Uyghur voices, and to develop a strategy to close detention facilities and political reeducation camps.
It also requires the U.S. secretary of state to oversee human rights-related policies to preserve Uyghurs’ ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic identities.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on Tuesday. It faces various legislative hurdles before it becomes law, including passage by the full House and Senate.
The legislation was passed by the House of Representatives in both of the past two congressional terms without advancing further.
Also this week, the World Uyghur Congress, the main global umbrella group advocating for Uyghurs, said it had filed a legal complaint in Paris against three French subsidiaries of major Chinese companies: Dahua Technology France, Hikvision France, and Huawei France.
The submission, made by prominent French human rights lawyer, accuses the three Chinese companies of complicity in crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Uyghurs by allegedly helping to build and maintain a mass surveillance system.
RFA has reached out to three companies in France for comment.
Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Uyghur.
U.S. tariffs on imports from China actually total 145%, the White House said Thursday, amid an escalating tariff war between the world’s two largest economies that threatens to upend global trade.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was raising tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%. But the White House said Thursday that did not include a 20% tariff the U.S. had previously imposed on China for fentanyl trade. Adding that in takes the new China tariffs total to 145%.
Trump raises China tariffs to 145%; U.S. and China businesses react
Trump’s tariff hike against China came as he announced a surprise 90-day pause on sweeping duties for more than 75 other countries. He said those countries had sought to negotiate with the United States and had not resorted to any retaliatory measures.
At a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump indicated he was open to working out a deal with China. He also warned that he would revert to higher tariffs if the U.S. does not reach a deal with many of its trading partners during the temporary tariff suspension period.
“If we can’t make the deal that we want to make, or we have to make, or that’s good for both parties … then we go back to where we were,” said Trump.
He declined to say whether he would extend the pause period in such an eventuality. “We have to see what happens at that time,” he said.
Trump also said he expects “transition cost and transition problems” related to his tariff measures. But he defended his actions, contending that the measures were helping the U.S. rake in billions of dollars every day.
Trader Phil Fralassini works on the options floor of the New York Stock Exchange, April 10, 2025.(Richard Drew/AP)
The market rollercoaster that began when Trump declared the tariff “Liberation Day” last week continued Thursday. U.S. benchmark stock indexes pared back much of the gains that had been made on Wednesday when the market had posted a historic rally.
“(China has) really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time. They’ve ripped us off… All we’re doing is putting it back in shape where we’re setting the table,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
Trump open to deal with China
Notwithstanding the incipient trade war and tough rhetoric, Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “friend” and indicated the U.S. would be open to working out a mutually beneficial deal.
“We’ll see what happens with China. We’d love to be able to work a deal,” Trump told reporters.
“I have great respect for President Xi. In a true sense, he has been a friend of mine for a long period of time and I think we’ll end up working out something that is very good for both countries. I look forward to it.”
In response to Trump’s latest tariff hike, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jiian said China does not want to fight trade and tariff wars, but will not flinch when a trade and tariff war comes.
China had announced its own retaliatory levies of 84% on all US imports.
On Thursday, Xi called for building a community with a “shared future with neighboring countries,” a move that analysts see as a strategic attempt by China to mitigate the impact of the ongoing tariff war with the U.S. through stronger engagement with South and Southeast Asian nations.
Xi’s statement at a conference on work related to neighboring countries came ahead of his official visit to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia next week.
Impact of trade war
China-based businessman Zhang Shengqi told RFA he expects both China and the United States to suffer in the short term from the trade war, but believes China will be hit harder in the long term due to its heavy dependence on exports to the United States.
The United States, on the other hand, can use this opportunity to promote the repatriation of the supply chain and gain negotiating advantages, and gradually rebuild its sovereign economic system, he said.
A worker at a factory that makes Christmas trees for export in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, China, April 9, 2025.(Go Nakamura/Reuters)
“The 125% tariff imposed by the United States on China is not a real trump card, but a deterrent card, intended to reshape the global fair trade order and force China to renegotiate,” said Zhang.
A Taiwanese businessman, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said his friends and partners in mainland China feel helpless about the situation but are forced to accept the reality.
Operations of many factories in China have been cut back significantly, with only those that cater to the most basic needs of consumers still operating, he said, citing the examples of food, clothing, housing and transportation industries.
He pointed out that China earns more than $300 billion in annual trade with the United States. “If this export income is greatly reduced, it will have a huge impact on the Chinese economy,” he said.
A large number of factories that rely on exports to the United States may face a wave of closures, which will lead to large-scale unemployment, he added.
“Factories will be unable to repay bank loans, which will cause debt risks in the financial system. At the same time, the increase in the number of unemployed people will further hit domestic demand, creating a vicious cycle,” he added.
But experts warn there will also be negative effects on U.S. consumers, who have grown used to low-cost products made in China, and U.S. manufacturers that rely on inputs from China to sustain their business.
In 2024, U.S. exports to China stood at $143.5 billion, while imports totaled $439.9 billion, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
According to research published Thursday by The Budget Lab at Yale, Trump’s latest tariffs would hurt average American households, costing them $4,700 annually.
RFA Mandarin journalist Huang Chun-mei contributed reporting. Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Tenzin Pema and Huang Chun-mei for RFA.
From the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, has joined Trump in taking steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered him and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting her efforts in this regularly updated report.
Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more here.
This article was first published on Jan. 28, 2025.
Feb. 12, 2025 | White House defends AP ban, claims news agency is pushing ‘lies’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the barring of reporters for The Associated Press from multiple events at the White House during a news briefing on Feb. 12, 2025.
In a letter objecting to the decision, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace wrote that Leavitt had warned the newsroom that its reporters would not be allowed to attend White House events if it didn’t align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
AP reporters were barred from attending at least four events between Feb. 11 and 13; it was unclear whether AP reporters would also be excluded from subsequent White House events.
“The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say. This is viewpoint discrimination based on a news organization’s editorial choices and a clear violation of the First Amendment.”
During a news briefing on Feb. 12, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins asked whether the decision to exclude the AP was “setting a precedent that this White House will retaliate against reporters who don’t use the language that you guys believe reporters should use.”
Leavitt replied: “I was very upfront in my briefing on Day 1 that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable. And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. And I am not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that but that is what it is.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association quickly condemned the move, according to The Hill. “The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” the WHCA said.
Jan. 28, 2025 | Press secretary echoes media lie accusations
While President Donald Trump, in one of his first executive orders, extolled the importance of “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship,” an attitude of hostility toward the press was perpetuated by the White House itself.
Karoline Leavitt, in her first briefing as press secretary Jan. 28, 2025, pushed Trump’s allegations that outlets had deliberately lied in order to hurt his campaign and administration.
“We know for a fact that there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that. We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong, or there is misinformation about this White House,” Leavitt said. “So yes, I will hold myself to the truth and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.”
Leavitt also told reporters, “All of you once again have access to the most transparent and accessible president in American history.” But in what appears to be a snub to mainstream media, hard passes and access to the briefing room will also be extended to members of the “new media” — who Leavitt described as “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators” — as long as they are producing “legitimate news content.”
Leavitt did not respond directly to a question about how often she will be giving news briefings, which Trump halted during the second half of his first term, citing unfair media treatment.
“The president is the best spokesperson that this White House has,” Leavitt said, “and I can assure you that you will be hearing from both him and me as much as possible.”
New York, March 27, 2025 — Following the White House’s decision to ban Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House media events, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has joined the amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) outlining how the Trump administration’s decision violates the First Amendment.
In an alarming retaliation against the free press in the United States, on February 12, 2025, the Trump administration barred AP from covering White House events and accessing the Oval Office and Air Force One after its decision to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico by its internationally known name.
RCFP filed the amicus brief on February 24, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asserting that the exclusion of the AP from accessing White House events on the basis of its editorial viewpoint violates the First Amendment. CPJ and News/Media Alliance joined as co-amici on March 24, 2025.
“The Trump administration’s arbitrary ban of AP’s access to media events stifles freedom of speech and violates the First Amendment at a time when independent journalism is most needed,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “AP’s essential reporting ensures news outlets around the world can keep their audiences informed. The Trump administration must adhere to its stated commitment to freedom of expression and refrain from retaliating against news organizations for their independent editorial decisions.”
National and international newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasters rely heavily on the AP’s reporting to deliver the news to an audience of four billion viewers each day. The White House’s decision effectively blocks media outlets’ from delivering the news to this audience.
This decision is part of a concerning pattern of retaliation against the media in the first weeks of President Trump’s administration.
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About the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Washington, D.C., March 26, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the willful mischaracterization of the vital work and role of public broadcasters NPR and PBS during today’s Congressional hearing, titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS accountable.”
“Millions of Americans from major cities to rural areas rely on NPR and PBS for news and information on natural disasters, political developments, and so much more,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg in New York. “NPR and PBS provide an essential public service. Casting them as propaganda machines undeserving of taxpayer support is a dangerous mischaracterization that threatens to rob Americans of the vital reporting they need to make decisions about their lives.”
The hearing was chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has accused the two networks of liberal bias, and throughout the hearing referred to NPR and PBS as “radical left-wing echo chambers” with “communist” programming. Taylor Greene called for the “complete and total” defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps to fund NPR and PBS.
The Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation into the two broadcasters’ airing of commercials in January.
Ahead of the hearing, CPJ and several other press freedom organizations sent a letter to the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, urging the committee to recognize the critical role of a free and pluralistic press and cautioning against rhetoric that undermines journalism.
On February 9, reporter Tolga Güney welcomed a CPJ representative into the apartment he shares with several colleagues in central Izmir, Turkey. It was his 362nd day under house arrest while awaiting trial on terrorism charges. “I believe I’m in this situation for doing my job,” he said over a glass of tea.
Güney is a reporter for pro-Kurdish outlet Mezopotamya News Agency, which has long been in the government crosshairs as part of the country’s decades-long crackdown on the Kurdish insurgent movement. On February 13, 2024, anti-terrorism police raided the homes of Güney and four other reporters affiliated with pro-Kurdish outlets and later placed three of them under house arrest.
Güney, his Mezopotamya News Agency colleague Delal Akyüz, and Melike Aydın, a reporter with another pro-Kurdish outlet JİNNEWS were charged with membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which the government has designated a terrorist organization. In the indictments, which CPJ reviewed, authorities cited the three journalists’ work reporting on Kurdish issues, including phone calls with colleagues and books and magazines confiscated from their homes, as well as secret witness testimony alleging they work under the command of the PKK.
Journalists who work for pro-Kurdish media are at risk in Turkey and beyond. CPJ’s most recent prison census found that 10 Kurdish journalists in multiple countries were imprisoned for their work as of December 1, 2024. Akyüz and Aydın are both Kurds, members of a large ethnic minority that spans several countries in the Middle East.
In addition to visiting Güney at home, CPJ interviewed Aydın while she was under house arrest and spoke with Akyüz over the phone about the conditions of their confinement, their court cases, their views on self-censorship, and how they’ve continued to work from home. After our interviews, Aydın and Güney were released on February 10 while Akyüz was released on the 12th; the three remain under a travel ban while they continue to face charges. The interviews have been edited for length and style.
CPJ Turkey representative Özgür Öğret (far left) attends a court hearing for journalists under house arrest at the Izmir Bayraklı courthouse. Melike Aydın (fifth from left) and Tolga Güney (sixth from left) were arrested over their journalism. (Photo: Courtesy of Mezopotamya News Agency)
Delal Akyüz, reporter with Mezopotamya News Agency
Why are you under house arrest?
It may sound funny when I say it, but I don’t know the answer. I studied for four years to be able to write news stories. In court, they asked me if I wrote stories under the command [of someone else]. I’m under house arrest because I’m a journalist who uncover things society wouldn’t otherwise see. I’ve wired 50-150 TL (US$1.30-4.10) to people [in my personal capacity], and authorities call this “financing terrorism.” I talked to a source and asked him to send me a picture from a press conference and authorities described this as “membership in a terrorist organization.”
What are the terms of your arrest? Do you have to wear a tracking device?
I was never strapped with the device because the internet connection was poor. They came to our house in Izmir but they couldn’t connect it. That happened in Diyarbakır, too [to which the journalist relocated while under house arrest]. Police visited the house every day, or every two or three days to get my signature. I was at home every time, of course. I didn’t have experience of being strapped with a device but I did experience the confinement of being stuck indoors.
You are still able to work, though it’s limited. How do you do it?
Out of journalistic habit, I first check the news in the morning when I wake up to see what has happened in the country and the world. Then I write a story if I have one to write or I seek a story out. Ultimately, though, I’m isolated from the society. Visiting the hospital is a problem; I cannot do my own shopping. The place where a journalist can express himself is the streets.
Are you concerned about the possibility that this experience might make you self-censor in the future?
I don’t think that it will. Unfortunately, journalists are frequently detained or arrested in Turkey. It happened to me before, I was detained by the police, two or three times. I don’t believe that I did anything wrong. We are journalists; we may write stories that some may not like.
Melike Aydın, reporter at JİNNEWS
What was the evidence presented by authorities to place you under house arrest?
The evidence against me is not evidence at all. For example, they used a phone call I made – I called my friend saying, “I’m here, where are you?” and she told me where she was – to try to find a terrorist link. Another example: the wife of a local politician called me to tell her husband was taken into police custody. I asked her if they trashed the house and could she send pictures. This is obviously journalistic activity. I’ve wired 500 TL (about $US14) to a friend. They asked if he was a member of a terrorist organization. I believe these house arrests are a result of overpopulation in the prisons. The government wants to bring the atmosphere of fear in the prisons to the neighborhoods.
Have you ever been tried for your journalism before?
A similar case was filed against me in 2018 regarding a social media post that authorities considered “terrorism propaganda.” I received a suspended sentence on the condition of not repeating the offense in the next five years. Prosecutors also reopened old case against me after I became a journalist; I was taken into police custody while following the Gezi [anti-government] events in Ankara for not obeying an order to disperse. I wasn’t a journalist then but I had a camera and the enthusiasm. I was found guilty in that one. The verdict is in appeal. I was also imprisoned for three months in 2019 for my journalism; the evidence was my reporting and phone calls. The trial lasted about a year and a half before I was acquitted.
How has being under house arrest impacted your wellbeing?
My depression has gotten worse as my house arrest has continued. My performance at work is not the same as it was before. Being confined in one place is hard, even though I’m in the comfort of my own home with the ability to communicate with the outside world. This is a form of psychological torture. At the beginning, you wait month after month hoping they will lift [the house arrest] because the case is ridiculous. Then a year passes.
What kind of journalism have you managed to do under house arrest, and how does this contrast to your working life before?
I do stories that can be done at home. I do interviews on Zoom, I ask people on the phone to send me photographs. [Before my arrest] I wasn’t at home a lot. I was covering trials, social events, traveling outside of the city for stories. Sometimes I was out until 9 p.m. An interview is not the same when you do it on Zoom instead of face to face. There have been a ton of stories that I wanted to cover but I couldn’t. There was a story about local drug deal but I couldn’t do it because I had to go see it in person. I had to capture visuals, convince the people to talk to me, confirm my source’s claims. I couldn’t send somebody else because my source only trusted me.
Do you find yourself self-censoring, or are you concerned you will in the future?
We are already living with self-censorship. We are reporting the truth of course but either we restrain ourselves or the people we interview do. They say “I’ve said that thing but don’t write that part” or they cancel interviews. This is censorship not by me, but by my sources. Truthfully, I self-censor, too. However, if I have indisputable proof of something and I know that my sources won’t be hurt, then I publish it.
Tolga Güney, reporter with Mezopotamya News Agency
How do you explain your house arrest?
I believe I was targeted because [the government] is interested in my environmental coverage. The questions asked at the police station were all about that. They asked why did I write that report [about a mining company’s activities at the Black Sea shores] and who ordered me to do it? I don’t need to be commanded to write about something that I see with my own eyes. I take commands from my own conscience.
What’s a typical day like under house arrest?
The only thing different is that I don’t go outside. and I wake up at eight, prepare breakfast, take a shower and start working around nine. I live with my colleagues. We have our daily meeting on who handles which story. Then I try to work on my story via the phone or Zoom. One day a week I spend reading books or watching movies.
Can you talk about how house arrest has limited your reporting?
The greatest obstacle turned out to be being unable to use my camera for work. The second obstacle was to not be able to cover many events that were socially or ecologically important. I used to be outside, visiting different neighborhoods after a story.
Are you concerned that you’re resorting to self-censorship under house arrest?
No. I continued to report the same kind of news. I recently wrote a story about how a court order [to stop construction due to environmental damage at Mount Kaz] was ignored. It’s ironic actually, I stay at home, heeding a court order but a company can cut hundreds, thousands of trees, ignoring another. I didn’t self-censor, just the opposite, I got even more ambitious.
What is life like with a tracking device strapped along your ankle?
For the first two months [the strap] was tight. The device has had an effect on me, both physically and psychologically. It’s heavy; I have to turn it when I sit cross-legged because of the pain. I got used to it after some time, it almost became like another body part. But the psychological effect has persisted; I could leave the house with permission if I needed to go to a hospital or something, but I would still have this thing strapped around my ankle. I don’t usually wear pants in the summer, but I had to in order to hide it.
New York, February 27, 2025—CPJ calls on Russian authorities to drop legal proceedings against 64-year-old Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash, who is under house arrest and could be jailed for up to 10 years for criticizing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On February 25, Ukrainian-born Barabash, a film critic for the independent outlet Republic, was detained and charged with spreading “fake” news. The following day, a Moscow court placed her under two months’ house arrest ahead of her trial. Barabash’s reporting frequently has a political and anti-war stance.
Also on February 26, a court in the Far East city of Khabarovsk fined Sergey Mingazov, a news editor with the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, 700,000 rubles (US$8,062) for publishing false information about the Russian army.
“The criminal cases against Ekaterina Barabash and Sergey Mingazov demonstrate how Russian authorities are weaponizing ‘fake’ news legislation to silence those who dare to contradict Kremlin-approved narratives on the Ukraine war,” said CPJ’s program director, Carlos Martínez de la Serna.
The charges against Barabash stem from four Facebook posts in 2022 and 2023, three of which have since been removed. In the fourth, she condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a recurring theme in her commentary.
“While under house arrest, she is not allowed to publish anything or communicate via social media or a phone,” her son Yury Barabash told CPJ, adding that he believed the charges were “politically motivated” and linked to “her social media or/and her professional activities.”
Russia was the fifth worst jailer of journalists worldwide, with at least 30 reporters behind bars on December 1, 2024, in CPJ’s latest annual global prison census. Of these, six were jailed for “fake” news.
CPJ did not receive a response to its request for comment sent to the Moscow branch of the Russian Investigative Committee, a federal body in charge of investigating crimes, via its website.
We, the undersigned coalition of journalism and press freedom organizations, express our deep concern regarding the White House’s decision to bar Associated Press (AP) reporters from access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and other White House pool events.
AP provides essential reporting that is published by thousands of outlets across the United States and around the world, helping to keep millions informed on matters of national and international importance. U.S. newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasters rely heavily on the AP’s copy to deliver news to local communities. Barring AP effectively removes these media outlets’ ability to deliver the news to the groups they serve.
Limiting AP’s access to media pool events because of the news agency’s editorial and style decisions stifles freedom of speech and violates the First Amendment. News organizations should be allowed to make editorial decisions without fear of retaliation from government officials.
We ask that the administration honor its commitment to freedom of expression, as outlined in President Donald Trump’s executive order, by restoring AP’s access to White House events and ensuring the administration upholds a nonpartisan defense of a free press.
Signed by–
Committee to Protect Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Free Press Unlimited
International Press Institute
Institute for Nonprofit News
National Press Club
National Press Photographers Association
PEN America
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Student Press Law Center
Chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists
Arkansas Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists Boston University Society of Professional Journalists Chicago Headline Club (SPJ) Colorado Pro Chapter, SPJ Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Georgia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Pro Chapter SPJ Indiana Professional Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists Las Vegas Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists Maine Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Minnesota SPJ New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists SPJ Florida SPJ Houston Pro Chapter SPJ Kansas Pro Chapter SPJ Keystone Pro Chapter SPJ New England SPJ Northwest Arkansas Pro Chapter SPJ San Antonio Pro Chapter SPJ San Diego Pro Chapter SPJ University of Arkansas Chapter SPJ Valley of the Sun (Arizona) Pro Chapter SPJ Virginia Pro Chapter St. Louis Society of Professional Journalists, Pro Chapter The Deadline Club (New York City Chapter of SPJ) The Press Club of Long Island (SPJ) Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Washington, D.C., Pro SPJ Chapter
In a break with more than a century of practice, the White House Correspondents’ Association will no longer control the press pool covering the president, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced during a news briefing on Feb. 25, 2025.
The pool — a 13-member group of reporters and photojournalists who travel with and cover the president’s daily activities — has traditionally been overseen by the WHCA to ensure that access isn’t limited to those covering the sitting administration favorably.
Leavitt’s announcement came amid a legal fight between The Associated Press and the White House over the news agency’s exclusion since Feb. 11 from events on Air Force One, in the Oval Office and other pool-only areas in retaliation for its editorial policy on referring to the Gulf of Mexico.
Reporters and photojournalists for the AP have historically been included in the White House pool rotation, and the WHCA filed a brief in support of the AP’s case Feb. 23.
Leavitt announced during the Feb. 25 briefing that her team will take over assigning the pool, stating that “For decades a group of DC-based journalists — the White House Correspondents Association — has dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore.
“We want more outlets and new outlets to have a chance to take part in the ‘press pool’ to cover this administration’s unprecedented achievements up close, front and center,” Leavitt continued, noting that asking the president questions is a privilege and “awesome responsibility.”
A group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents' Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States.
Not anymore.
Today, I was proud to announce that we are giving the power back to the people.
She emphasized that the rotations of broadcast, print and radio journalists would continue, but would include streaming services, local radio hosts and print outlets that are “committed” to covering the White House.
The WHCA warned against the press freedom implications of the move and pushed back against Leavitt’s justification for the change in a statement on the social platform X.
“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels said. “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
The organization also noted that it has worked to keep pace with the evolving media environment while ensuring “consistent professional standards and fairness in access.”
The decision was criticized by multipleWhiteHousecorrespondents. Peter Baker, chief White House reporter for The New York Times, wrote, “Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.”
Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda.
The watchdog RSF condemned this “flagrant violation of the First Amendment” and demanded the AP be given back its full ability to cover the White House.
“The level of pettiness displayed by the White House is so incredible that it almost hides the gravity of the situation,” said RSF’s USA executive director Clayton Weimers.
“A sitting president is punishing a major news outlet for its constitutionally protected choice of words. Donald Trump has been trampling over press freedom since his first day in office.”
News from the AP wire service is widely used by Pacific media.
First AP reporter barred
AP was informed by the White House on Tuesday, February 11, that its organisation would be barred from accessing an event if it did not align with the executive order, a statement from executive editor Julie Pace said.
The news organisation reported that a first AP reporter was turned away Tuesday afternoon as they tried to enter a White House event.
Later that day, a second AP reporter was barred from a separate event in the White House Diplomatic Room.
“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment,” the AP statement said.
Unrelenting attacks on the press Shortly after he was inaugurated on January 20, President Trump signed an executive order “restoring freedom of speech,” which proclaimed: “It is the policy of the United States to ensure that no Federal government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”
Yet the president’s subsequent actions have continually proved that this statement is hollow when it comes to freedom of the press.
The White House . . . clamp down on US government transparency and against the media. Image: RSF
Prior to barring an AP reporter, the Trump administration launched Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigations into public broadcasters NPR and PBS as well as the private television network CBS.
It has restricted press access to the Pentagon and arbitrarily removed freelance journalists from White House press pool briefings.
In a startling withdrawal of transparency, it removed scores of government webpages and datasets and barred many agency press teams from speaking publicly.
Two reporters for The Associated Press were prevented from attending events at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025, in retaliation for the wire service’s editorial policy to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico despite its renaming by the administration, AP reported.
Julie Pace, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, said in a statement that the denials happened after the newsroom received a warning, later said to have come from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office,” Pace wrote. “This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”
While an AP photographer was allowed into the Oval Office for the event, AP reported that a second reporter was also barred from a separate event in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room later that evening.
Pace condemned the denials in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Feb. 12.
“The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say. This is viewpoint discrimination based on a news organization’s editorial choices and a clear violation of the First Amendment.”
AP’s style guidance on the name change, issued Jan. 23, advises that the Gulf of Mexico has held that name for more than 400 years and the news service must ensure that place names are recognizable to a global audience. “The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen,” the guidance reads.
The AP Stylebook is used not only by the news agency and its reporters in over 200 locations worldwide but by journalists and other writers nationally and globally. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not able to confirm whether journalists from any other news outlets who also follow AP’s guidance were similarly barred.
CNN reporter Brian Stelter reported that an AP reporter assigned to the media pool was again blocked from entering the Oval Office for Tulsi Gabbard’s swearing-in as director of national intelligence on Feb. 12.
Leavitt defended the decision to exclude the wire service when questioned about it during a news briefing that afternoon, according to The Hill, adding that it is a “privilege to cover the White House.”
“If we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” Leavitt said. “And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that but that is what it is.”
The AP did not respond to a request for further comment. In her letter to Wiles, Pace wrote that it is unclear whether AP reporters will continue to be excluded from future White House events and she urged the administration not to do so.
“When journalists are blocked from doing their job, it is the American public who suffers,” Pace wrote. “The AP is prepared to vigorously defend its constitutional rights and protest the infringement on the public’s right to independent news coverage of their government and elected officials.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include details about a third White House event that AP reporters were prevented from attending, as well as comments from Karoline Leavitt during a news briefing on Feb. 12, 2025.
Ethnic Mongolian dissident and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Hada is in the hospital in China’s northern region of Inner Mongolia after being rushed there for emergency treatment while under house arrest, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Hada, 69, was admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University on Jan. 25, where he spent some time in a critical condition, his wife Xinna told RFA on Monday. 3. Both Hada and Xinna go by a single name.
The news emerged as Hada was nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize by Japanese lawmakers last month, who cited his continuing advocacy for his people living under Chinese Communist Party rule despite years of persecution.
State security police, who are supervising Hada’s house arrest in Inner Mongolia’s regional capital Hohhot, contacted his son Uiles, Xinna said.
“When we rushed to the hospital at 2 p.m., Hada was in the emergency room on a ventilator, and his condition was very serious,” she said. “All of his organs were starting to fail.”
“The hospital showed Uiles a notice of critical illness, but wouldn’t allow him to take photos,” Xinna said.
Hada had been rushed in after suffering from fecal incontinence at home, and had received a blood transfusion at the hospital, she said.
Xinna, who was later allowed to take photos, shared photos of Hada, no longer intubated, wearing a respirator and on a drip in the intensive care unit.
She also photographed multiple bruises down his left leg.
Hada wasn’t out of danger until Jan. 31, and didn’t come off the ventilator until Feb. 2.
He remains under police escort on the ward.
Police surveillance
Xinna said the couple was unable to afford the 10,000 yuan (US$1,300) daily cost of his hospital care, but that the police had eventually agreed to meet the cost.
She said police have been holding Hada under house arrest at a residential compound in the northern suburbs of Hohhot, with a round-the-clock security detail.
“Hada has been imprisoned for 30 years now; his body and mind have been severely damaged, and now his life is in danger,” Xinna said. “I and my son have both spoken the truth, but we have both been framed, imprisoned and sentenced.”
Xinna, wife of ethnic Mongolian dissident Hada, pulls down a bed sheet to show bruises on her husband’s leg at the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University in Hohhot, capital of northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, January 2024.(Courtesy of Xinna)
Xinna said she remains under police surveillance, and has to live separately from her husband.
“The police have also moved into my residential building and monitor us all year round, so my whole family has also lost their freedom,” she told RFA Mandarin.
“The endless persecution of Hada and our family by the Chinese Communist Party is a picture of the tragic human rights situation in Inner Mongolia in microcosm,” Xinna said.
“I call on the international community to pay more attention to this, and to condemn it.”
Xinna called on Beijing to immediately lift its surveillance of her family, but thanked the hospital staff for their treatment of her husband.
U.S.-based ethnic Mongolian activist Enghebatu Togochog said the authorities have been neglected Hada’s medical needs while under house arrest.
“He’s in a very poor state of health, he hasn’t been getting proper treatment, and Xinna isn’t allowed to see him,” he told RFA Mandarin in an interview on Feb. 3.
“The deterioration in Hada’s physical health is linked to his long-term detention by the authorities.”
Activism
Hada, who was incarcerated for 19 years for his activism on behalf of ethnic Mongolian herding communities, remains under house arrest in the regional capital Hohhot.
His wife Xinna has also helped an unknown number of ethnic Mongolian herders petition the authorities and find lawyers to fight their claims to their traditional grazing lands that are increasingly being taken over by Han Chinese migrants or state-owned companies.
Hada was released from extrajudicial detention in December 2014, four years after his 15-year jail term for “separatism” and “espionage” ended, but he has remained under close police surveillance and numerous restrictions, including a travel ban and frozen bank accounts.
Hada has taken issue with his alleged “confession,” to the charges, saying that it was obtained under torture and after being given unidentified drugs.
He has also said he expects to stay locked up for as long as the ruling Chinese Communist Party remains in power.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
Four people were crushed to death Thursday by a crowd that gathered in front of a prominent businessmen’s house in Phnom Penh to receive red envelopes full of cash ahead of the Lunar New Year, police said.
A large crowd gathered in front of tycoon Sok Kong’s home to receive the red envelopes, a bag of rice and other gifts, Phnom Penh police spokesman Sam Vichheka told Radio Free Asia.
There was no organized line – just a mass of people outside the home. Five others were injured as the crowd pushed toward the gates of the large home, he said.
A crowd gathers at the mansion of Cambodian tycoon Sok Kong to receive red envelopes filled with money ahead of the Lunar New Year, Phnom Penh, Jan. 23, 2025.(Fresh News/AFP)
Sok Kong, a close ally of Senate President Hun Sen. is one of Cambodia’s wealthiest businessmen with interests in entertainment, hospitality and petroleum, according to Agence France-Presse.
The tycoon has distributed the red envelopes -– a traditional gift in Asia during the Lunar New Year holiday -– in previous years. This year, they contained about 40,000 riel (US$10), according to Facebook posts from people who were at the event.
VIDEO: Hundreds of people had gathered outside the home of Vietnamese-Cambodian business tycoon Okhna Sok Kong to collect red envelopes.
Sok Kong announced later on Thursday that he would provide a coffin for each of the four deceased, as well as US$6,000 to the families of the victims, while the five injured would receive 4 million riel, or US$1,000.
Police were not conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths, and didn’t believe that Sok Kong was to blame for the tragedy, Sam Vichheka. The four deaths were mostly due to the victims’ poor health, he said.
“Sok Kong is a kind-hearted person who is willing to help people and the gift is his heart,” he said. “It is a health issue. It isn’t related to anything else.”
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Khmer.
