Christophe Deloire

The logo of Reporter Without Borders RSF on a screen before the start of a video conference call online for the launch of the 2020 Press Freedom Index, in Paris, 21 April 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

A suspect in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was arrested on Dec. 7 in France, according to a French judicial official.

The official said the suspect was being held on the basis of a Turkish arrest warrant. He requested not being named in accordance with the French justice system's customary practices.

Factor in swelling doubts over the independence of the public broadcaster and the influence of oligarchic owners with stakes in private media outlets, and Slovakia's fall down the ranking becomes less shocking.

Female journalists feel unsafe working in at least 40 countries, a new report released Monday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) concluded.

Most of the female journalists listed sexual harassment as the biggest issue they face in their home countries. Nearly 85% of the respondents said the harassment is common; 30% said it often leads to sexual assault.

"A Belgrade court has sentenced the local politician Dragoljub Simonovic to a 4-year prison term for ordering the 2018 arson attack on the home of investigative journalist Milan Jovanovic. We welcome the first-instance verdict as good news for #pressfreedom in Serbia", Deloire said.

Journalists' deaths are at "historically low levels" globally, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders, quoted by AFP.

Most journalists killed in 2019 covered military conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan, say the Paris-based organization and recall that journalism remains a dangerous profession.

At the meeting they held at 2 Dondukov street, Head of State Rumen Radev and Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of "Reporters Without Borders" discussed the state of the media environment in Bulgaria, the public trust in the media, the professional standards in journalism, the models of funding the Bulgarian media and the approaches to defending the independence of the editorial policy.

The organization said this in a press release issued after "a wide-ranging discussion with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the presidential palace in Belgrade" on Monday, and added:

Christophe Deloire, director of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi attend a news conference to launch a commission to draft an "International Declaration on Information and Democracy" in Paris on Sep. 11.

The European Commission and the German government have joined a number of international journalism organizations in condemning - and calling for an independent investigation into - the killing of Victoria Marinova, a local TV journalist in the town of Ruse, northern Bulgaria.