Cambodia’s economy is being impacted by the conflict with Thailand. Thailand is a major trading partner for both tourism and clothing imports. Assed Baig, a journalist for Al Jazeera, spoke with business owners who are struggling to keep their locations open.
Published On 23 Dec 2025
The Israeli government has unmatched control over how its citizens are presented with their critical news sources as a result of its crackdown on critical media outlets.
The so-called Al Jazeera Law, which allows the government to shut down foreign media outlets on national security grounds, is one of the changes. The Israeli parliament approved the two-year extension of the law on Tuesday to essentially stop Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel after it was started during Israel’s bloodbath in Gaza.
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Additionally, the government is attempting to shut down one of Israel’s two publicly funded news outlets, Army Radio. The Israeli right wing frequently criticizes the radio station because it believes Army Radio is biased against it.
About half of Israelis still rely on broadcast news for current affairs information, and about a third also rely on radio stations for news.
Important is the media’s editorial and broadcasting tone. According to analysts inside Israel, the selective coverage of Palestinian suffering during Israel’s occupation of Gaza has contributed to the carnage and reinforced a sense of unease that justifies Israel’s ongoing assaults on both Gaza and regional nations like Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.
The far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes ministers convicted of “terrorism” offences and others who have repeatedly called for the illegal annexation of the occupied West Bank, is looking to bypass legal controls on the media and bring more of Israel’s information feed under its control, despite what observers have described as a media environment firmly rigged in its favor.
Let’s examine this more closely.
because it is too critical in the eyes of the government.
Israeli politicians have long complained about how the Gaza war has been covered in both domestic and international media.
The government added a new accusation in November, partly blaming the media for the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
In response to attempts by the Israeli government to lessen the independence of the judiciary, communications minister Shlomo Karhi said, “If there hadn’t been a media entirely mobilized to encourage refusal to volunteer to reserve duty] and reckless opposition to the judicial reform, there wouldn’t have been such a rift in the country that led the enemy to take advantage of the opportunity.“
A plan to privatize Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, the move to end Army Radio, and an initiative to put the media regulator under the control of the government are just three things that are currently being considered.
Numerous reports about the government have been published on Army Radio and Kan, another state-funded outlet with editorial independence.
Eli Feldstein, Netanyahu’s former aide, told Kan that the prime minister had instructed him to create a strategy to help him avoid accepting responsibility for the attacks on October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who defended the decision to shut down Army Radio, claimed on Monday that the outlet had evolved into a platform for attacking Israeli soldiers.
Israel’s media regulation may also change. A bill passed by the Israeli parliament in November that would replace the country’s existing media regulators with a new, independent body, potentially allowing for even greater state interference, was passed.
Israel has also ratified the emergency law that forbids foreign media outlets whose content it disagrees with. Israel used it in May 2024 to impose an emergency law, which was then used the following month to halt The Associated Press’ activities after the government accused the country’s news agency of sharing footage with Al Jazeera.
If the prime minister agrees to a professional assessment that the outlet poses a security threat, the communications minister may halt a foreign broadcaster’s transmissions with the approval of the prime minister’s approval and the backing of a ministerial committee. The minister has the authority to censor access to the broadcaster’s website, revoke equipment used to produce its content, and shut down its offices.
Israel’s decision to impose laws against foreign media platforms that it perceives as a threat has been criticized by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the UK’s National Union of Journalists.
Israel is “waging a battle” against media outlets, both local and foreign, that denounce the government’s narrative, according to IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger in a statement. This is the kind of behavior of authoritarian regimes. We are deeply concerned that the Israeli parliament will pass this contentious bill because it would severely restrict free speech, media freedom, and be a direct assault on the public’s right to information.
Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara declared the move unlawful and accused Netanyahu’s coalition of making public broadcasting “weakened, threatened, institutionally silenced, and its future shrouded in mist” amid the harsh criticism of the attempt to shutter Army Radio.
Baharav-Miara has also criticized the government’s decision to regulate media, claiming that the bill “affects the very foundation of press freedom.”
Not very .
The Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, where more than 70 000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, and in the occupied West Bank have largely received positive reviews from the Israeli media.
Palestinians’ suffering is rarely depicted, and it is frequently justified when it is.
The Israeli media provide cover for Israel’s military and government actions despite the killing of more than 270 journalists and media personnel in Gaza.
That means that Israelis frequently reject the hypocrisy of the statements made by their governments.
An example occurred in June after Israel’s 12-day war with Iran resulted in the arrest of an evacuated hospital. The Israeli government portrayed the incident as a war crime, and the Israeli media captured it.
However, Israel was accused by a number of organizations, including the UN, of routinely destroying Gaza’s healthcare system, with doctors being held accountable for their arrests and frequently tortured despite international law’s protection.
Published On 23 Dec 2025
According to Avon and Somerset Police, the remarks did not “require for any person to be prosecuted” under the criminal law, as the statement was stated on Tuesday.
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The group’s lead singer, Pascal Robinson-Foster, who goes by the name Bobby Vylan, sung chants of “death, death” directed at the Israeli military over its genocidal war in Gaza during the performance.
There is “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic chance of conviction,” according to the police. In addition, the force conducted an investigation that involved contacting about 200 people, including a man in his mid-30s.
The BBC’s live-streaming of the chant on June 28 as part of its coverage of Glastonbury caused a lot of controversy. The broadcaster later thanked the broadcaster for showing what it described as “such offensive and repulsive behavior,” and its complaints unit determined that the BBC had broken editorial guidelines.
Before concluding the investigation, Avon and Somerset Police claimed to have taken into account the context, relevant case law, and issues with freedom of expression.
We think it is appropriate that this matter was thoroughly investigated, that every potential criminal offense was taken into account, and that we sought every possible counsel to ensure that we made an informed choice, the statement read.
“The words made on Saturday, June 28, drew widespread outcry, demonstrating that words have real-world effects.”
Following the performance, Bob Vylan’s visas were voided in the United States, causing the tour’s cancellation.
Irish broadcaster RTE is accused of fabricating its own anti-Semitic chants during the Glastonbury performance by Bob Vylan, and it has filed a defamation lawsuit against the company.
Following chants of “Free Palestine” during a performance, the British police also dropped an investigation into the Irish-language rap group Kneecap.
A political and economic Sahel Summit is being held by the military rulers of Niger, Mali, and Burkinabe, which is attracting an unusual number of participants. young people . Nicolas Haque of Al Jazeera explains in Bamako.
Published On 23 Dec 2025
Numerous references to US President Donald Trump are found in a new batch of Jeffrey Epstein files, including documents describing the flights he and his then-friend took on his private jet.
According to an email from a New York prosecutor that is included in the new batch of documents about Epstein, Trump “many more times than previously has been reported” flying on the private jet of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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The unnamed prosecutor stated in an email on January 7, 2020 that flight records showed that Trump had used Epstein’s private jet eight times in the 1990s. At least four flights, including those with Ghislaine Maxwell, were also on board.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term for abusing underage girls while working as a late financier Epstein.
Trump claimed in a social media post that he “was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his “stupid’ Island” in 2024. Trump’s email was free of any allegations that he had a crime. The Reuters news agency had a request to comment on the email, but the White House did not respond right away.
The DOJ claimed that some documents, which had been submitted to the FBI after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, contained “untrue and sensationalist claims” about Trump, but it did not provide further details.
In a social media post, the DOJ stated, “To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and they certainly would have been used against President Trump already if they had had any credibility.”
The Trump administration has been accused of breaking the law passed in November by publishing significant redactions in a portion of the documents released last week. The administration had opposed the release of the Epstein-related documents. About 8, 000 files, including audio and video recordings, and 30, 000 pages of documents, are present in the most recent release.
In the most recent release, many names and details are left out. Beyond a provision in the Epstein files law that permits limited redactions to protect details about Epstein’s victims, some of the redactions appear to obscure the names of prosecutors and government officials.
The document stated that “on two additional flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who might be witnesses for a Maxwell case.”
Trump, Epstein, and a 20-year-old woman whose name was redacted were the only three passengers on one flight.
According to some videos, Epstein’s burial grounds were depicted inside a federal detention facility. Although his death was declared a suicide, there has been continual speculating about his circumstances.
Trump has understated how significant the Epstein files are, saying that his administration’s use of them was “deflecting against tremendous success.”
According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 23% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files while 2 percent disapprove. About 70% of respondents said they thought the government was keeping information about Epstein’s connections to powerful people who might have been involved in teen girls’ sex trafficking.
Democrats’ and a few Republicans’ lawmakers have continued to push for the release of additional information. Members of Trump’s administration had promised to release Epstein-related documents before entering the White House, but Trump’s right-wing supporters disagreed on how to handle them.