LONDON

Threats to journalists increasing worldwide

Independent media face threats and new restrictions in many countries, including harassment and prosecution of journalists and the closure of newspapers and TV stations, Amnesty International said in a report Thursday.

The report also criticized the U.S. military for limiting the questions that reporters could ask while visiting the American base at Guantanamo, Cuba, where terrorist suspects are held. Authorities rescinded the rules once they became public.

“Fortunately, this rule was dropped some days later after protests from journalists, but it reveals the atmosphere we are living in today,” Amnesty said.

Bolivia

Tens of thousands march as crisis deepens

Tens of thousands of Bolivians rallied to demand the presidents resignation Thursday, after protest leaders rejected the government’s offer to compromise over a gas export plan that triggered weeks of deadly street clashes.

Soldiers guarded the presidential palace as columns of farmers, workers, miners and indigenous groups descended on La Paz, setting off dynamite and wielding sticks demanding the president’s resignation. Others, like the man above, waved the rainbow-colored flag that is the symbol of Bolivia’s Indian community.

In the past three weeks, demonstrators have battled police in a crisis pitting the ruling elite against a poor Indian majority over market reforms that have failed to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

Azerbaijan

Political violence erupts after landslide election

Rioters wielding sticks clashed with police Thursday, after the son of ailing leader Geidar Aliev won a presidential election that observers said was marred by fraud. Dozens were injured in the worst political violence in this former Soviet republic in a decade.

Police swinging riot clubs stormed Baku’s Liberty Square to clear out opposition demonstrators who began rampaging Wednesday night as it became clear that Ilham Aliev had won.