Radio Free Asia says it is shutting down its news operations today with its financing in dire straits due to the US government shutdown and the Trump administration’s moves against government-funded news services.
Since 1996, Radio Free Asia has been an independent news source operating online and on broadcast throughout that region, particularly in areas where the free flow of information is repressed.
It has been operating with a skeleton staff the past few months, primarily producing a few stories online as the administration has sought to choke off its funding. Trump’s team has contended that operations like RFA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America are poorly run and a waste of government resources.
Photo: Reuters
“In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint,” said Bay Fang, RFA’s president and CEO.
Radio Free Asia would begin shutting down overseas bureaus, laying off and paying severance to staff members, most of whom have been on unpaid leave since last March, Fang said.
With its own journalists and contractors in Asia, RFA has reported aggressively on stories some governments don’t want to see — the repression of Uyghurs in China, the aftermath of the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and the plight of defectors in North Korea. The outlet had been growing; visitors to its website increased 20% between 2023 and last year.
RFE/Radio Liberty, similar to RFA as a private corporation funded by the government, said its own news services are staying up, “and we plan to continue reaching our audiences for the foreseeable future,” the organization said this week. It operates in eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. The service had launched its own lawsuit against the administration.
RFE/Radio Liberty says it received its last federal funding last month. It is operating on reserves, and has taken cost-cutting steps like cutting contracts with freelancers, reducing programming and placing some staff members on partially paid leave.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Cannabis-based medicines have shown little evidence of effectiveness for treating most mental health and substance-use disorders, according to a large review of past studies published in a major medical journal on Monday. Medical use of cannabinoids has been expanding, including in the US, Canada and Australia, where many patients report using cannabis products to manage conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems. Researchers reviewed data from 54 randomized clinical trials conducted between 1980 and May last year involving 2,477 participants for their analysis published in The Lancet. The studies assessed cannabinoids as a primary treatment for mental disorders or substance-use
NATIONWIDE BLACKOUT: US President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island’s already antiquated grid Cuba’s national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the nation’s grid operator said, leaving about 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the already obsolete generation system. Grid operator UNE on social media said that it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days and that this weekend sparked a rare violent protest in the communist-run nation. Officials ruled out a major power plant failure, but had still not pinpointed the root cause of the grid collapse, suggesting a problem with transmission. Officials said that
‘HEALTH ISSUE’: More than 250 women are hospitalized every day due to complications from unsafe abortions, and about three die, a study showed Jane had been bleeding heavily for days before finally seeking help, not from a hospital, but from the man who sold her the pills meant to end her six-week pregnancy. Abortions are strictly outlawed in the mainly Catholic Philippines, forcing women to turn to a patchwork of providers operating in the online shadows. While rare in practice, Philippine law allows for prison terms of up to six years for abortion patients and providers, leaving thousands of Filipinas to search for solutions in online forums where unlicensed sellers promote abortifacients. “It was very painful, as if my abdomen was being twisted,” said Jane, whose
RSS