'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders has put Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on its list of "predators," the first time a Western European leader has been placed in the lineup of heads of state or government who "crack down massively" on press freedom.
The list published Monday includes 37 leaders.
Two women, the prime minister of Bangladesh and the Hong Kong's administrative chief, also were added to the list, as well as Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This was the first time in five years that the watchdog, known by its French initials RSF, has published its press freedom predator's list.
The report said Orban "has steadily and effectively undermined media pluralism and independence since being returned to power in 2010" by using "varied predatory techniques."
"The methods may be subtle or brazen, but they are always efficient," the report said, citing control over 80% of the media via purchases by oligarchs close to Hungary's ruling Fidesz party. Private media in Hungary are discriminated against in access to information and government advertising and denigrated as purveyors of "fake news," the report said.
Lashing back, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs slammed the France-based RSF, saying "they should be called `Fake News Without Borders."' Tamas Deutsch, a founding member of Orban's Fidesz party and a European Parliament lawmaker, wrote on Facebook that the report was the part of "the latest wave of attacks against Hungary."
Others curbing media freedoms included Bin Salman, the 35-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who wields day-to-day power in the kingdom.
"His repressive methods include spying and threats that have sometimes led to abduction, torture and other unthinkable acts. Jamal Khashoggi's horrific murder exposed a predatory method that is simply barbaric," the RSF report said.
Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who visited the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul to procure documents to marry and was brutally slain inside it in 2018.
Women appeared on the press predators list, too.
Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since 2017, "has proved to be the puppet of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and now openly supports his predatory policies towards the media," the report said. It noted the recent closing of Hong Kong's leading independent newspaper, Apple Daily, and the jailing of its founder, Jimmy Lai.
Lam was joined on the predator list by Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's prime minister since 2009.
"Her predatory exploits include the adoption of a digital security law in 2018 that has led to more than 70 journalists and bloggers being prosecuted," RSF said.
The watchdog's chief urged world governments to disavow the practices used by the leaders it singled out and to recognize the positive contributions made by an independent press.
"We must not let their methods become the new normal," the report quoted RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire as saying of the leaders that his group deemed predators.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.