WASHINGTON — A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed in the course of their work last year, two-thirds of them killed by Israel, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Wednesday.

It was the second straight year that press killings set a record and the second straight year that Israel was responsible for two-thirds of them, the CPJ, a New York-based independent organization which documents attacks on the press, said in its annual report.

Israeli fire killed 86 journalists in 2025, mostly Palestinians in Gaza but also including 31 workers in an attack on a Houthi media center in Yemen, the second deadliest attack the CPJ has ever recorded, it said.

Israel was also responsible for 81% of the 47 killings that the CPJ classified as intentionally targeted, or “murder”. It said the actual figure was probably higher due to access restrictions that made verification difficult in Gaza.

Israel’s military says its troops in Gaza target only combatants, but that operating in combat zones carries inherent risks. Israel acknowledged targeting the media center in Yemen in September, describing it at the time as a propaganda arm of the Houthis.

In several cases Israel has acknowledged targeting journalists in Gaza it said had links to Hamas, without providing verifiable evidence. International news organizations have strongly denied that slain reporters had links to militants. The CPJ called such allegations by Israel “deadly smears”.

A statement from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it “strongly rejects” the claims presented in the CPJ report.

“The IDF does not intentionally harm journalists or their family members,” it said. “The report is based on general allegations, data of unknown origin, and predetermined conclusions, without considering the complexity of combat or the IDF’s efforts to mitigate harm to non-combatants.”

MOST JOURNALISTS KILLED IN CONNECTION WITH CONFLICT
Israel does not permit foreign journalists to enter Gaza, so all the media workers killed there were Palestinians.

The CPJ report said the “Israeli military has now committed more targeted killings of the press than any other government’s military on record”, noting that the CPJ started collecting data more than three decades ago.

Its report said at least 104 of the 129 journalists killed died in connection with conflicts. Apart from Gaza and Yemen, the deadliest countries for journalists include Sudan, where nine were killed, and Mexico, where six died. Four Ukrainian journalists were killed by Russian forces and three journalists died in the Philippines, it said.

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not respond specifically to the CPJ report, but referred to past Russian Foreign Ministry statements accusing Kyiv of responsibility for the deaths of more than 60 individuals working in Russian media since 2014.

Russia has previously denied deliberately targeting journalists and Ukraine denies targeting Russian reporters.

Those killed in Gaza last year included Reuters journalist Hussam al-Masri, killed by Israeli fire in August while operating a live video feed at the enclave’s Nasser Hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he regretted the attack, which also killed four other journalists, as a “tragic mishap”.

The Israeli military had said it targeted a Hamas camera, but a Reuters investigation found the device belonged to Reuters. — Reuters

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would focus on expanding his country’s nuclear arsenal and that prospects for improving relations with the US rested entirely on Washington’s attitude, state media KCNA reported on Thursday.

North Korea’s week-long Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party wrapped with a military parade in the capital Pyongyang on Wednesday, KCNA reported.

The Asian nation’s “international status has risen extraordinarily” as it laid out major policy goals for the next five years, Mr. Kim said.

“It is our party’s firm will to further expand and strengthen our national nuclear power, and thoroughly exercise its status as a nuclear state,” Mr. Kim said, according to KCNA. “We will focus on projects to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand nuclear operational means.”

North Korea has assembled around 50 warheads, possesses enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more warheads and is accelerating the production of further fissile material, think tank the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated last year.

Mr. Kim also laid out North Korea’s plans to develop stronger intercontinental ballistic missiles including ones that can be launched from underwater, attack systems using artificial intelligence and unmanned drones, KCNA said.

State media photos of the military parade showed formations of soldiers marching through a brightly-lit Kim Il Sung square under a podium where Mr. Kim and his daughter stood with senior officials. Some troops in the parade were wearing camouflage and special warfare gear and a formation of jets held a fly-by. It was not immediately clear what if any military hardware was on display.

The presence of Mr. Kim’s daughter, known as Ju Ae, will fuel further speculation over whether she is being groomed as his successor.

US RELATIONS
Mr. Kim left the door open for discussions with the United States.

“If the US withdraws its policy of confrontation with North Korea by respecting our country’s current status… there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the US,” Mr. Kim said, according to KCNA.

Mr. Kim has so far not accepted overtures by US President Donald Trump, whom he met with three times during Mr. Trump’s first term.

Mr. Kim’s remarks “all point to an expected refusal of any US–North Korea talks premised on denuclearization, though (Kim) still left the door open for dialogue if Washington first abandons what it calls its hostile policy,” said Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies.

Mr. Trump plans to travel to China from March 31 to April 2. Some North Korea experts including South Korea’s spy agency have speculated that Mr. Kim could meet Mr. Trump during that occasion.

However, Mr. Kim called South Korea the “most hostile enemy” and ruled out discussions with its neighbor, saying “the conciliatory attitude that South Korea’s current government advocates on the surface is clumsily deceptive and crude,” according to KCNA.

Since entering office in June last year, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s government has made gestures to improve relations between neighbors still technically at war, though North Korea has consistently dismissed efforts by the liberal president.

Mr. Kim said Pyongyang “can initiate arbitrary action” if South Korea conducts “obnoxious behavior” directed at North Korea.

“South Korea’s complete collapse cannot be ruled out,” Mr. Kim said according to KCNA. — Reuters

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it completed two reviews of Egypt’s economic reform program, as well as another review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), allowing the country to draw about $2.3 billion.

The IMF said Egypt will receive about $2 billion under its 46-month loan program after completing the fifth and sixth reviews, along with $273 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both programs to about $5.2 billion.

Egypt agreed to a $3 billion loan with the IMF in December 2022. The program was expanded to $8 billion in March 2024, at a time when the country was grappling with high inflation and foreign currency shortages. The program is due to end in December.

In recent months, Egypt has managed to tame inflation, which peaked at 38% in September 2023. Annualized urban consumer inflation stood at 11.9% in January.

The country’s foreign currency shortage has also eased, supported by the IMF loan, record revenue from tourism, remittances from Egyptians working abroad and investment deals with Gulf countries – including the United Arab Emirates – worth tens of billions of dollars.

“Egypt’s macroeconomic situation has improved amid sustained stabilization efforts,” the IMF said in a statement. “Tight monetary and fiscal policies, together with exchange rate flexibility, have helped restore macroeconomic stability, reduce inflation, and strengthen the external position.”

However, the IMF warned that structural reforms have been “uneven,” referring to the divestment of state assets – a centerpiece of the loan deal – where the fund believes progress has been slow.

“Efforts to reduce the state’s footprint, particularly progress on the divestment agenda, have been slower than envisaged, while high public debt and elevated gross financing needs continue to constrain fiscal space and weigh on medium-term growth prospects,” the IMF said.

In August, Egypt ratified legislative amendments aimed at accelerating the sale of state-owned assets. — Reuters

THE PENTAGON has asked defense contractors to assess their reliance on Anthropic, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, ahead of its Friday deadline for the AI service provider to respond to a request to eliminate safeguards.

The Department of Defense has been engaged in a months-long dispute with Anthropic, which Reuters reported has no intention of easing its usage restrictions for military purposes.

Talks are continuing after a meeting between the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

During the meeting, Mr. Hegseth said if Anthropic did not comply, the Pentagon would take action against it, with options including labeling it a supply-chain risk or invoking a law that would force Anthropic to change its rules, Reuters reported.

The Department of Defense has given Anthropic until Friday 5 p.m. Eastern time (2200 GMT) to respond, Reuters reported.

“The Office of the Secretary of War is preparing to execute on any decision that the Secretary might make on Friday regarding Anthropic,” a senior Pentagon official said.

The Pentagon has asked contractors including Lockheed Martin to provide an assessment of reliance on Anthropic, a step toward a potential designation of the AI firm as a supply-chain risk, the person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Contacted contractors include Boeing, Axios reported on Wednesday.

A Lockheed spokesperson told Reuters the Pentagon had contacted the company. Boeing Defense, Space and Security said it does not have any active contracts with Anthropic.

Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.

The person familiar with the matter was not authorized to speak with media so declined to be identified.

The Pentagon has pushed big AI companies including Anthropic and OpenAI to make their AI tools available on classified networks without many of the standard restrictions that the companies apply to users, Reuters has reported.

Its dispute with Anthropic stems from the AI startup’s refusal to remove safeguards that would stop its technology being used to target weapons autonomously and conduct surveillance in the US.

The department used Anthropic’s AI products during a military raid that captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, the Wall Street Journal reported. — Reuters