Most countries in Asia see decline in press freedom
Voice of America
FILE - In a sign of protest against the police using force against the media, press photographers wear protective gear during a police media conference in Hong Kong, Sept. 9, 2019. Once a model for press freedom in the Asia region, Hong Kong's ranking has plummeted. FILE - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai pauses during an interview in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, says press freedom in Asia continues to see a decline, with 26 out of 31 countries falling on its annual index.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during an opening ceremony of a defense exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea, Nov. 21, 2024.
FILE - Activists participate in a demonstration against fossil fuels at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16, 2024. FILE - Pipes are stacked up to be used for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project in Durres, Albania, April 18, 2016, to transport gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan, across Turkey, Greece, Albania and undersea into southern Italy.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi arrives on the opening day of the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Nov. 20, 2024.
FILE - Estonia's Kaja Kallas, nominee for European Union High Representative and Vice President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks during her hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Nov. 12, 2024.
Serbian police scuffle with opposition protesters demanding arrests in connection with a deadly roof collapse at a railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia, Nov. 21, 2024.
FILE - Pham Chi Dung appears at his trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Jan. 5, 2021. (Photo: Nguoi Lao Dong)
People wait to vote in legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 17, 2024. The ruling party, PASTEF, won a solid victory, taking 130 of 165 seats, according to provisional results announced Nov. 21.
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Oct. 31, 2024.
Defense ministers Lloyd Austin of the U.S., Pat Conroy of Australia, Gen Nakatani of Japan, Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. of the Philippines and Kim Yong Hyun of South Korea pose during an ASEAN meeting in Vientiane, Laos, Nov. 21, 2024. (South Korean Defense Ministry via AP)
FILE - A mural urging people to stay vigilant and mobilized is seen in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, March 1, 2023. Burkina Faso has frozen the assets of 113 individuals and two groups over the "financing of terrorism," according to a decree released Nov. 21, 2024.