Goanet Digest, Vol 21, Issue 117

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Today's Topics:

   1. Read: "Politicians Are Trying to Control the News" (Vivek Pinto)
   2. Third world war on the horizon (Nelson Lopes)


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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2026 06:50:22 +0900
From: Vivek Pinto <[email protected]>
To: Goanet <[email protected]>
Subject: [Goanet] Read: "Politicians Are Trying to Control the News"
Message-ID:
	<CAH3OY9zQdX+_A8-VmmNnDEUDtp_6Cug9ThQZTUtNqLmKJJ7nkA-JsoAwUIsXosN+BqQ9rBEUg@public.gmane.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

By: The Editorial Board
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are
informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It
is separate from the newsroom
Published in: *The New York Times*
Date: March 5, 2026

The shadow of press repression is spreading around the world. In the past
decade, the number of journalists detained and imprisoned has soared as
governments seek tighter control over the media. What started as a
crackdown first by dictatorships and then by illiberal democracies is
expanding to onetime bastions of civil liberties.

A recent high-profile case is Jimmy Lai, whom authorities in Hong Kong
sentenced to 20 years in prison last month.
<https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/08/world/jimmy-lai-sentenced-hong-kong/0f32b99d-87d9-50d7-9674-0dd3c3e8d0a6?smid=url-share>
 He had campaigned against China?s choking of the territory?s freedoms. Mr.
Lai, 78, has already spent five years in a dark cell and is ailing. The
sentence effectively condemns him to dying in prison. Mr. Lai has denied
all the charges against him.

His plight is increasingly common. At least 330 journalists worldwide were
in prison at the end of 2025, according to the Committee to Protect
Journalists, up from fewer than 200 a decade ago. More than a third of them
were serving sentences of five years or more. Nearly half remained behind
bars despite never having been formally sentenced. One-fifth say they were
tortured or beaten. An additional 129 members of the press died while doing
their jobs or because of them, the highest number
<https://cpj.org/special-reports/record-129-press-members-killed-in-2025-israel-responsible-for-2-of-3-of-deaths/>
 since records began in 1992. Among the worst offenders against press
freedom have been China, Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Myanmar,
Sudan and Turkey.

These courageous journalists have sought to shine a light on the world
around them. They ask questions that political leaders do not want to
answer and publish information that leaders do not want the public to know.
For their efforts, they have been falsely accused of being enemies of the
state, terrorists, foreign agents or spies.

In February alone, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists:
.  Cambodia sentenced two journalists, Pheap Phara and Phon Sopheap, to
14-year terms each. They were reporting on a Cambodia-Thailand border
dispute, and the government claimed their work damaged national security.
Cambodia also charged Luot Sophal with demoralizing the armed forces after
reporting on an alleged water shortage for Cambodian soldiers.

.  In Senegal, Abdou Nguer, a news commentator, was arrested for reporting
that questioned a public prosecutor?s statement about the cause of a
student?s death in a crackdown on university protests.

.  In Ethiopia, the government revoked the license of Addis Standard, an
independent outlet known for incisive reporting. The government also
refused to renew the accreditation of three Reuters journalists after the
outlet
<https://www.reuters.com/investigations/ethiopia-builds-secret-camp-train-sudan-rsf-fighters-sources-say-2026-02-10/>
reported
<https://www.reuters.com/investigations/ethiopia-builds-secret-camp-train-sudan-rsf-fighters-sources-say-2026-02-10/>
 that Ethiopia hosted a secret camp to train fighters for a Sudanese
paramilitary group accused of war crimes.

The press faces challenges in freer societies, too. Israel?s war in Gaza
led to the arrest of almost 100 Palestinian journalists, often without
charge, and at least twice that number were killed over two years, a toll
without modern precedent. In Mexico, the ruling party has tried to intimidate
journalists
<https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/world/americas/mexico-president-inquiry-times-journalist.html>
 who report inconvenient stories and regularly dismisses even legitimate
information as ?fake news.? In India, a court last month sentenced Ravi
Nair to one year in prison related to social media posts that criticized a
company run by a billionaire al
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/business/adani-fraud-india.html>ly
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/business/adani-fraud-india.html> of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Even in the United States, home of the First Amendment and a longtime
beacon of free speech, the media is being squeezed. Again and again, the
Trump administration has tried to intimidate journalists who do not toe its
line. It has issued rules requiring journalists covering the Pentagon to
report only officially approved information. It has searched the home of a
Washington Post reporter and arrested reporters
<https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/us/don-lemon-plea-minnesota-church-protest-case.html>
 covering an immigration protest in Minnesota. It has used the government?s
regulatory power in an attempt to chill critical coverage
<https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/opinion/fcc-ftc-free-speech-trump.html> and
reward media companies that cozy up to the administration. Mr. Trump has filed
dubious lawsuits
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/business/media/trump-lawsuit-new-york-times.html>
 against The New York Times, ABC News, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The
Washington Post and the owner of CBS News.

He has done more to violate the First Amendment and to restrict a free
press than any modern president, even Richard Nixon.

Democrats have rightly criticized the Trump administration?s behavior. But
standing up for press freedom also means resisting the temptation to adopt
similar tactics. We note with concern the tactics of Representative Jasmine
Crockett of Texas. Ms. Crockett reportedly ousted
<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/02/jasmine-crockett-rally-atlantic-reporter/686175/>
 a reporter for The Atlantic from a campaign rally last month and then lied
about the reporter, saying, ?She has a history of being less than
truthful.? Ms. Crockett also called the Capitol Police
<https://www.semafor.com/article/02/24/2026/texas-senate-candidate-jasmine-crockett-escalates-her-war-on-the-press>
 on a CNN reporter earlier in February. Ms. Crockett lost the Democratic
Senate primary in her state on Tuesday.

*The goal of leaders* who try to muzzle the media is plain enough. They
want to snuff out the truth and establish a monopoly on information. They
want only news that flatters the government.

Most worrisome, attacks on the media can feed on themselves. When a
government jails or harasses some journalists, others may fear the
consequences of courageous reporting. The fewer free voices there are to
call out tyrants, the easier it is for them to steal and repress. This last
point is crucial. The consequences of media suppression are ultimately
tangible. A society without a free press is one in which the government is
likely to do a poorer job of providing its citizens with decent lives and
instead to become a corrupt self-enrichment machine for elites.

The best protection for the many journalists who continue to report
honestly and bravely ? as well as for those unfairly imprisoned ? is the
world?s attention. By trying to silence journalists, autocrats and aspiring
autocrats hope to make the world ignore what they are doing. The rest of us
should refuse to do so. We stand with Mr. Lai, Mr. Phara, Mr. Sopheap, Mr.
Sophal, Mr. Nguer and the many other reporters who fight for the truth
around the world, and at home.


------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2026 08:48:32 +0530
From: Nelson Lopes <[email protected]>
To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!"
	<[email protected]>
Subject: [Goanet] Third world war on the horizon
Message-ID:
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Third world war is on the horizon

The world appears to be drifting toward a dangerous geopolitical moment
that resembles the early stages of a global conflict. Many nations are
invoking their sovereign right to defend themselves amid growing threats
and provocations. Countries such as Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and
Turkey have heightened military preparedness as tensions escalate across
several regions.

The Persian Gulf is increasingly becoming a theatre of confrontation.
Several Gulf states now face retaliatory strikes, largely seen as fallout
from the growing hostility between Iran on one side and the United States
and Israel on the other.

Iran has long been accused of sponsoring militant groups such as Hezbollah,
Hamas, and the Houthis. The fear among global powers is that if Iran were
to combine such regional influence with a nuclear deterrent capability, the
consequences could be catastrophic.

At the centre of the unfolding crisis lies the Strait of Hormuz, one of the
world?s most critical energy chokepoints. More than 20% of the world's oil
and liquefied natural gas shipments pass through this narrow passage,
making it vital to global energy security.

Any disruption in this corridor immediately sends shockwaves through
international markets and threatens the stability of the global economy.

Recent attacks in the region suggest that even countries not directly
involved in the conflict are suffering the consequences. Gulf states
hosting foreign military bases are now facing devastating strikes, damaging
infrastructure and affecting their local economies.

Reports of naval confrontations, including the sinking of warships and
attacks on oil tankers, signal a potential attempt to block or control this
strategic passage. If the Strait of Hormuz were effectively closed, the
result would likely be an unprecedented global oil crisis.

Meanwhile, major powers such as Russia and China have so far avoided direct
military participation. Yet the strategic calculations are evident. China
may see an opportunity to advance its claims over Taiwan, especially if the
United States becomes heavily entangled in Middle Eastern conflict.

Russia, already engaged in a prolonged war in Ukraine, could benefit
economically from surging global oil prices as demand for energy
intensifies.

The world therefore stands at a precarious crossroads. This may not yet be
formally declared as a global war, but the interconnected conflicts,
alliances, and economic consequences resemble the dynamics of a Third World
War in all but name.

If the conflict escalates further, the next major theatre of confrontation
may well be the battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz?a narrow
waterway whose stability is crucial for the entire world.

Nelson Lopes
Chinchinim

.

Nelson Lopes
Chinchinim
https://lopesnelsonnat.wordpress.com


End of Goanet Digest, Vol 21, Issue 117
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