Activists from the ruling Bangladesh National Party attacked the offices of Quality Press May 31 in Kushtia, Bangladesh, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported. The printing press was damaged, employees were threatened and documents were seized. The day before, approximately 25 journalists were attacked in the same city during a protest. Read the CPJ alert.

Press freedom worldwide is worsening, according to the World Association of Newspapers. WAN's six-month report, which notes that 38 journalists have been killed since November 2005, was released June 3. See WAN's press release for a link to the report.

Eight U.S. journalists have been chosen to receive International Reporting Project Fellowships in Washington D.C. for the fall 2006 program. The 13-week fellowships are aimed at encouraging coverage of international issues by the U.S. news media. Read more about the IRP fellows.

The United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women is in the process of updating its UN global media directory. Journalists may visit the below link to add their information. Click here to access the directory.

Journalist Florence Aubenas, a journalist and former hostage in Iraq, and Robert Ménard, Reporters Without Borders’ Secretary-General, met Iraqi ambassador Mowafak Abboud recently to appeal for help in locating two journalists who have been held hostage in Iraq since February. Journalist Rim Zeid and her colleague Marwan Khazaal were abducted by four armed men on as they left a press conference at the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party in Baghdad. Forty-eight journalists have been kidnapped in Iraq since March 2003, according to RSF. Read the RSF article.

May Chidiac, one of the IWMF's 2006 Courage in Journalism awardees, returned to Lebanon July 11 after recuperating in France from a car bomb attack. Chidiac, who worked for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, lost a hand and a leg when a bomb exploded under the driver's seat of her car last September. Read an article about Chidiac’s return.

An article in The Washington Post argues that more women are assuming reporting and anchor roles in newsrooms across the U.S. Read the Washington Post article.

The Society of Professional Journalists will hold its 2006 Convention Aug. 24-27 in Chicago. Highlights of the conference will include a Journalism Expo and a celebration of the First Amendment. Visit the SPJ website for more information 

Layal Najib, a freelance photographer for the Lebanese magazine Al-Jaras and Agence France-Presse, was killed in Lebanon July 23. She was hit by shrapnel from a missile while in a taxi. Another media worker, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation technician Suleiman al-Chidiac, was killed during Israeli air attacks on July 22. Read the CPJ Alert.

The International Journalists' Network is conducting an online chat about women in the newsroom and gender issues in the media. Log on to discuss women's status and their challenges in the field of journalism. Visit the IJNet website to join the discussion.

Global access to HIV prevention and treatment. Greater advocacy to break the stigma of AIDS. These are two of the items Bill and Melinda Gates called for in the worldwide fight against AIDS. The Microsoft co-founder and his wife, who founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, are in Toronto for the 16th International AIDS Conference. The Gates Foundation funds the IWMF's Maisha Yetu Project, which focuses on improving health coverage in African media outlets. Read the article on The Foundation Center’s website.

The Summer 2006 issue of the Nieman Reports features reflections by journalists and others on what courage means to them. Among the contributors are Jineth Bedoya Lima, a 2001 recipient of the IWMF's Courage in Journalism Award, IWMF board member Judy Woodruff and IWMF deputy director Kathleen Currie. Click here to browse the issue.

A radio station built by the Internews Network in Logar, Afghanistan, was deliberately burned down over the weekend. No one one was seriously hurt in the fire, which destroyed everything except a generator and a satellite dish. Plans are being made to rebuild the station. Read the story on Internews’ website.

Elina Ersenoyeva, a correspondent for the independent weekly Chechenskoye Obshchestvo (Chechen Society), was kidnapped in Chechnya last week. Read the CPJ alert.

Ayfer Serce, a young Kurdish journalist and activist, was killed in Iran in July, but questions remain about her death. Serce worked for the Firat Haber Ajansi (Euphrates News Agency) using a pseudonym. She had gone to Azarbayjan to investigate suicides by women in the region. The latest information from Reporters Sans Frontieres suggests that Serce was killed upon completing her reporting, but an investigation is still underway. Read more on RSF's website