it was related to their professions rather than religion about that it was not his intention to offend and he fully respects the jewish faith china's official news agency is reporting that talks with a u.s. delegation have led to both sides committing to resolving trade issues through dialogue u.s. and chinese delegations met in beijing to try to avoid a trade war the u.s. president has changed his story about hush money paid to a former porn star stormy daniels says she had an affair with donald trump a decade ago now admits reimbursing his neuer for a payment made to daniel's but says it was not part of campaign funds earlier he said that he didn't know anything about the money. that was there a journalist mark but hussein has now been an egyptian jail for five hundred days he was detained without charge by authorities and twenty sixteen during a holiday in cairo egypt's national is one of many journalists who've been hire a store threatened with a wrist in recent years the prestigious nobel prize for literature has been

postponed this year as a result of sexual harassment accusations board members have left the swedish academy responsible for the award following allegations involving the husband of an academy member and at least fifteen hundred people in hawaii have been ordered to evacuate their homes after the killer way a volcano erupted steam and love are threatening at least one residential neighborhood a series of earthquakes likely triggered the volcano well those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story station that's what i think. thursday marks world quest freedom day just days ago two suicide bombers in the

downtown killed at least twenty nine people including several journalists this one of the most lethal attacks ever on the press worldwide so why are journalists and becoming a target this is inside story. and welcome to the program on elizabeth piron m it is becoming ever more risky to be a journalist and today's world to attacks in afghanistan earlier this week killed at least mine journalists the u.n. has documented the killing of fourteen journalists there since last year alone but the issue is not unique to that country reporters from north korea to syria turkey and eritrea face threats every day according to the world press freedom index north korea ranks of the bottom while norway sweden and the netherlands round up the top

three but a europe passing the state this decline in the regional rankings munter is now ranked sixty fifth down by eighteen points and slovakia twenty seventh down by ten and both countries high profile journalists were recently murdered the us has slipped two places to forty fifth the report partly blames what it calls violent rhetoric from president trump myanmar which is full stop hundreds of thousands of the hunger has also slipped it's now ranked one hundred thirty seventh with the government's intensifying. rests and prosecutions of journalists the middle east and north africa has been rated the worst region for journalists rights groups have reported an unparalleled crackdown on egypt's media in recent years among those in jail al jazeera journalist mark will hussein has been in prison for nearly five hundred days without charge and the the bottom of the list box or via and yemen will bring in our guests in a moment but first this report from the home of the seal and what it's like to be

a journalist in yemen. yemen is a country that's been torn apart by war and suffering. the u.n. calls it the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. and those telling its stories are increasingly finding themselves at risk about to the hot tub of after the coalition's intervention the hooty started going after journalists intensively especially after the hutu leader's speech calling for the targeting of journalists and deeming them more dangerous than fighters does a yemeni journalist who was forced to leave the capital sana after being targeted by the rebels for his coverage of the war he says he had to escape the southern city of terrorists for safety. the media published my name along with other journalists calling us coalition supporters only for doing our jobs by doing that they increased the threat on our lives and trapped our movements if the hutus were to spot us our fate would be uncertain you would be fortunate to

be kidnapped. journalist covering the conflict in yemen face kidnapping raids and missile strikes in december last year forty one journalists from yemen t.v. were held hostage after the forces stormed the building. human rights groups have accused both who the rebels and coalition forces of targeting journalists yemen's media union says saudi led coalition air strikes have killed at least one hundred and twenty journalists since the start of the war three years ago. yes trucks have killed one hundred twenty journalists over the past three years these airstrikes have also cause total a partial destruction of over two hundred t.v. and radio stations as well as newspaper headquarters journalist ahmed nobody was concerned his wedding would be targeted so did the coalition have been targeting wedding parties since the beginning of the war so it is not something. people like now of straight from doing within parties like me i got mad it one month ago my

mom told me don't party medical needs to work where you can. his life remains restrict to the city of tears where he's free to report but if you ventures elsewhere you're likely face being kidnapped or even killed from a deliberate d.c. al-jazeera. let's now get the thoughts of guests in gaza the other side i'm a freelance journalist for wafa national news agency is also a member of the palestinian journalist syndicate joining us on skype from manila benjamin's a walkie southeast asia analyst and human rights advocate and also on skype from paris christophe dunois secretary general of reporters without borders christophe is a former investigative reporter and author a very warm welcome to all of you mr del while why is global press freedom in a worse state than it was last year with the vet court a number of countries now being classified as having very bad freedom of the press

for three main reasons in whereas drones in the a rare that are also supposed to be peace time but sometimes with. a lot of weapons against journalists jones are targeted on the really all the war yours there they want to leave the pro or the second reason is that in this part the country the control and information is worse because there are a lot of countries where this but the cream sat through china. you know the ones they want to read to suppress absolutely the rights for independent of the asian unserved in democracies there's an increase of intimidation of a trade against john that is that is bribing the people feuds even in the united states

and even in european countries. mr abu salim would you agree with the report is it harder for you now to do your job as a journalist covering the israeli palestinian conflict than it has been in the past . if you learned one of the. one of the reasons. soldiers enjoying immunity nor nobody can punish them truth is a and one of the main reasons is there is this policy they are practicing for example as the and now it. is only does not consider that palestinians in general what is their life. that's why they are targeting everybody including journalists and it is a clear win. is that even a minister of army liberman. there are not innocent not innocent palestinian innocent people and does no innocent people in gaza people

which means anybody even children and this and anybody including john and its walls that's why the. night birds mirabelle and shoot palestinian civilians including doing this without any feeling that anybody could punish them which means that israel is doing israel is a state above the law and if there are you know you don't care about the killing of journalists that you're referring to the ongoing protests that we've seen at the ganser israeli border of the last six weeks tomorrow friday will mark six weeks since these protests began we've seen the killing of two journalists in these protests and the enjoying of many more so what challenges have you been facing as a journalist and covering the ongoing protest and have the deaths and the injuries deterred you and other journalists from doing your job differently. personally after running yes and what i am is really coming around and i have

a. report that they have been made of and by using this number near the border and pins are the. one bid on the piercer level i hesitate to cover any more i mean last friday for example i did not cover of evidence because i was afraid though i'm so scared i'm scared that. my kids will be orphans or i will lose one of my limbs it went to twenty one people lost their limbs because of the shootings in admission regarding difficulties or the challenges i think we have no other choice just to continue our. our coverage first of all it is our source of living and i'm not where we have no other choice. number three nobody can put any pressure on the israeli soldiers on that is that even many thirty of the stop that are getting joining us and we will get out again that that we will get to

what more can be done and what more governments can and should to do to protect journalists a little bit later in the program but i'd like to bend benjamin the walk in from manila now the middle east and north africa must as a lackey the worst region for press freedom as we mentioned al jazeera journalist mahmud hussein has been in egypt in jail for five hundred days on friday without chachi egypt as one hundred sixty first on the list of one hundred eighty countries is his sainz case and example all of the government's treatment of journalists yes it is it's an example of not only treatment of journalists but this is this is true not only in north africa in the middle east but in southeast asia as well in some respects journalists are simply those with their heads highest parapets this really is these attacks on journalists that's on the press and on the media are really attacks on transparency in open societies right there essentially governments

fearing what they would term as exposure they really a fear a transparent society in which their deeds are exposed to the wider public because with exposure ordinally can come accountability and so there's actually demonizing goes on out in front of this movement the journalists themselves the media or those that take the risks to investigate to analyze to expose their politically inconvenient to the sometime dangerous facts about what their governments are doing their dinner to day this is less a matter of war simply press freedom but rather freedom for people to do x. to size their rights in an ever shrinking democratic space this is true in our current government is far away as the united states. and certainly in this region and you don't believe that. the m.r. . tyler list was not an increasingly autocratic government that have less and less tolerance for transparency if you take those now in tyler out on the press as you mention southeast asia has seen

a decline in press freedom but mr dalla while the hostility that we're talking about too with the media is not restricted to these authoritarian regimes as most as a walk you mentioned the u.s. has fallen again and x. under president donald trump two places to one hundred forty fifth i mean this is a president who is openly hostile to the media and calls that. enemies of the people now is the united states are wrong forty fifth. out of one hundred eighty countries in the world press an index because that's a country where as you said the president uses the words that even at the births like it. used in moscow dozens of years ago and that's really worrying that's the word such insults against john these are used by the presence of the united states because for many people in the world this country set up an example for press freedom. it does does being

a pervert the of gravity to expand press freedom even if of course in some countries for diplomatic reasons it wasn't such a case but what we have to notice is that that the cinema in the united states is not limited to trump of course the reason some reasons to be obsessed with the drum but if we go and investigate in moore city let's just watch washington d.c. or new york city if you go into the country and ask people as journeys that we say to you that there is a position of the company spirit. in situations that many journalists face problems to investigate that the freedom of of information act that was renamed zabul for the rest of the world is not now already implemented that's the more and more a rest during arrests of journalists during demonstrations. that's really

something beyond from yes that's happening across america maybe because of an example being set by the president and mrs walking if we have you know the focal point of the free will and using this kind of rhetoric to woods the media it's being repeated around the world because you have the for the pain for that and saying something like not only insulting the porsche's but is warning them that they're not exempt from assassination you had the czech president who showed up to a press conference with a fake kalashnikov saying for journalists on it right although i will say that it's something of a misconception that these are the kind of governments be they democratically elected or otherwise dislike the press on a monolithic basis because in fact they'll be the first to welcome the press and lay out the red carpet and call a press conference in order to to promote a government initiative or or champion a government project or call a success to to to to

a foreign policy for example what they really don't like is it is analysis and frankly facts facts real facts that run counter to the narrative they're trying to put forth fake news is a reality and yet the trumpet ministrations has largely successfully co-opted term redefined the term to essentially mean new with which he disagrees news that he finds politically inconvenient or personally offensive to the point where to use another southeast asian example you have malaysia passing a law about fake news and being and essentially for the purpose of utilizing such a lot for electoral purposes and to your point feeling increasingly justified in doing so because the leader of the free world is doing the same thing in america trump doesn't hate the media he them braces breitbart news he embraces fox news is simply just like the media to demonize the media that he finds politically problematic and mr bell while we've seen a dislike of the media in what is guided. as the world's best region for press

freedom in europe we've seen two journalists killed and the past year we've seen among teens a journalist and a slovakian journalist murdered if there are it's a case it is the fact that there were two nations but also there's the climate and virulent in which those cases to play and we have to say that in many countries journalism has been weakened by what you're say and sometimes but by one of the parts of the privilege and also being so that's today i'm a big zeeshan of all democracies worst of the name that has to be. inside your opinion union but of course beyond and we have also to not tease that good example countries where things are now better i don't know that for instance

in africa where the press freedom predatorial left the poor and that with the new president things are really much better that's also the case nic what door house america or in south korea is the present mood so those democrats in those democracies and sometimes house and democracy they give the set up a very good example that we have to follow that in fact again the fight for press freedom is really putting people. and they have not you have the right on the left and we have really fight who want to step up political reform says and they have been silver lining from the past year most of the walk in the death of the slovakian journalists ended up and mass protests that led to the the resignation of the government the day the murder of the maltese jenna's has resulted in a consortium of international journalists coming together to continue her and best

of it of work on the project to death me yes it's really incumbent upon not just individual journalists but the journalistic profession in the media to fight back i'm using about the sound of the boundaries the era found in suits you essentially put forth an alternative analysis of the way in which means through media outlets were were otherwise analyzing the global news and alternative analysis is perfectly legitimate but what al-jazeera has not sought to do is to tamper with well established facts and that's were that that's that those are grounds that it should be should be straight into i mention this because china is in the process of forming something called the voice of china that will essentially be a consolidation of state backed and state supported news outlets and media outlets that will almost certainly do exactly that rather than just brute force that not certain that analysis which i think the world would welcome it will indeed question well established facts in an attempt to alter the narrative in such a way that with the world is getting is not the truth what is the truth as seen

through the political lens of the communist party of china and so as these developments a place it really is incumbent upon the journalistic community to fight back with with factual reason with analysis that holds up under scrutiny let's decide me abu salim what can the journalistic community do to fight back other than what it's already doing covering gaza covering the israeli palestinian conflict and what more needs to be done to put pressure on the israeli government to respect the rule of law to. specked journalists rights to work covering conflicts i think the first thing that penicillin journalists can do is to avoid danger and to put their to put in their considerations that they are a target for there isn't a sniper it's number two i think that the palestinian journalists. in need for practical support by international organizations like the border that is without

borders or internet information and don't honest or or any or any other are going to organizations i mean we as journalists on the ground we can see we. are going to ization very much about their statements but i am not a lawyer but i do not know how to bring. those who are killed palestinian journalist last week who killed yes and what they did and the scene how to bring them to the court is a sum of something legal and political from their illegal site if they can sue the israeli suspected to be criminals who are targeting the palestinian journalist and if he could help us to allow to put pressure on israel to allow the entry of flak jackets and helmets and equipments for safety because i tried door to live about twenty flak jackets and the israeli there is even through all of the of food it is

not allow why i do not know that's why i hope that those organizations that organization organization support the palestinian journalists on the ground in gaza are on or in those banks to support them with more practical steps something more than denouncing. mr delgado what do you make of that. well i perfectly agree you don't think it's not enough it's going to help to exercise pressure on the government not know for sure what is really useful on what one of you has said we have because of course in front of weapons in front of jade's in front of that particular genes what hard yes sets of germany i do not mention their courage of course but what are the concrete assets one of the. heads for the protection of john the international look a lot of pressure resolution i've been adopted by values un body such as security

gone till dinner at some the etc what we want is the internet to lot to be implemented we need a new position to be created in the united nations special advisor or a special representative to the secretary general of the un to be able to verify and. to comply with international to be able to exercise pressure on stakeholders but we also are the possibilities of filing lawsuits so that's why we first asked for independent investigation and second if needed we file a lawsuit this is a walk i don't think any of the journalists that have been murdered who we've spoken about in this program that they're kind of have been held to account so what more apart from what most of the salomon mr dell was suggesting can and should be

done especially by governments and as the u.n. secretary general on world press freedom day said that governments must do more to protect journalists. well there must be consequences that centrally again of the day that the rap on international law is that it's not real ought to go in unless it is force and so when you have journalists as the victims of extrajudicial execution or retreating tension other violations of the rights until the west other governments step in and actually penalize countries for failing to protect those journalists or in some cases for perpetrating the crimes against them these crimes will continue and i think one of the things that is most necessary in the. to simply continue doing their job so you can do continue getting the stories protecting their sources ensuring that they're in our schools are not one of the best ways to protect and promote defend human rights is simply to continue exercise those rights and not to be tao and grania to really sure that

a lot of governments are example implements moreover it needs to be mentioned that at least for several decades now the amount of funding that has gone to germany has decreased in southeast asia fifteen years i've been here far fewer full time us foreign correspondents to be to be roaming the capitals and roaming the countryside in large part on account of funds but i'm afraid that we are coming to the end of our program and we don't have much time left so i just want to ask one very short question to our guest and guys a mist of ascent and will you be going back out to the gaza israel border on friday to cover the ongoing protests plus the friday the month go by this friday i think i'm going because i have no other choice i think so but i would be so curious because i am sure that i am a target just because i'm a journalist and because i am a palestinian because i'm a journalist and because i'm palestinian and people are liberal and what the israeli army minister said that is not there are not innocent people in gaza which

means that he is justifying beckoning over germany's or any other. civilians and that's why i hope everybody that is without borders and any other if the national organizations like like information with additional journalist order in new york i hold them. to hold that any court is for is an aid office service to teach them how to be human and how to deal with palestinians as a human mr abu salim thank you very much for that is sami of the sad end joining us live from gaza benjamin's and lucky in manila and christophe down in paris and thank you too for watching you can see the program. again any time visiting our website dot com and further discussion facebook page at facebook dot com forward slash a.j. and side story you can join the conversation on twitter at. the

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