News Wrap for 8/5/08

Reuters is reporting that an unnamed gunman fired on a Philippine radio broadcaster earlier today in Manila. The journalist, Dennis Cuesta, was not killed but is in critical condition in a local hospital. This continues an unfortunate trend in the Philippines, a country that we rank as the sixth most dangerous for journalists. The Sydney Morning Herald is also running a story on the shooting and the Philippine Web site Inquirer has a piece that updates the medical condition of Cuesta.

Also in the news are the deadly explosions in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Agence France-Presse is reporting that the Chinese have apologized to two Japanese reporters who were attacked by police while trying to cover the story.

Late yesterday, Reuters picked up our alert calling for the release of their cameraman, Ali al-Mashhadani, who was detained by U.S. forces on July 26 while attempting to renew his press card inside the green zone. This is the third time al-Mashhadani has been jailed by U.S. forces without charge; in one instance, he was detained for five months beginning in August 2005. The Reuters story has been picked up by Web sites across the Internet, with ABS-CBN, The Mirror, and The US Daily running the piece.