al-jazeera

Phony Al-Jazeera text messages sent by pro-Syrian gov't hackers

Al-Jazeera has become the second news agency in a little more than a month to be targeted by pro-Syrian government hackers.

The Qatar-based satellite TV station revealed in a tweet this morning that its short messaging service had been compromised and used to send false news reports, including a report that Qatar's prime minister had been assassinated:

"We'd like to inform our subscribers that Aljazeera SMS service is being compromised by pirates and they've sent fake news with no basis," the news organization said, according to a translation by The Hacker News.

A group calling … Read more

Did WikiLeaks cable lead Al Jazeera news head to resign?

WikiLeaks--famed for making worldwide waves by leaking secret documents--is commanding headlines again, this time in relation to a management shakeup at Arab news television network Al Jazeera.

Wadah Khanfar had been news director at the network for eight years before resigning today. His resignation followed the release of WikiLeaks material suggesting that he had, under pressure from the United States, modified the network's coverage of the Iraq war. These alterations, according to the leaked cable, include the removal of images of injured children from a Web piece in which witnesses gave their accounts of U.S. military operations in … Read more

Al Jazeera calls for bloggers to spread Egypt news

With its own news outlet cut off in Egypt, Al Jazeera is urging the country's citizens to use blogs, social media, eyewitness accounts, and videos to tell the world what's going as the protests against President Hosni Mubarak continue, according to the Associated Press.

Yesterday, the Arab news network's Cairo office was closed down and its broadcast signal cut off to some parts of the Middle East following complaints by Egyptian authorities that Al Jazeera's 24-hour coverage of the uprising was slanted toward the protesters and as such could incite more unrest.

Along with the office'… Read more

Getting news out of an unplugged Egypt

If you are at a computer and you're not riveted by the Al Jazeera live video coverage of the protests in Egypt, you should be.

The images are fascinating to watch. Protesters--calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak--are seen ignoring curfew, running through the streets, clashing with tear gas-wielding police, and setting buildings on fire.

While the region's popular satellite channel broadcasts live footage of the events, a nearly countrywide clampdown on the Internet means there are few trickles from people on the ground via blogs and Twitter.

Mohamed Nanabhay, the head of Al Jazeera English online, … Read more