Iraq suspends Reuters for three months over report on coronavirus cases
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
January 27, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
Iraq suspends Reuters for three months over report on coronavirus cases

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
14 April, 2020, 07:35 pm
Last modified: 14 April, 2020, 07:40 pm

Related News

  • At least eight police officers killed in blast near northern Iraqi city
  • Russia replaces Iraq as top oil supplier to India in Nov
  • Iran strengthens political, economic hold over Iraq
  • Reuters launches new independent media module in Reuters Digital Journalism Course
  • In drought-hit Iraq, a dam threatens to swallow farmland

Iraq suspends Reuters for three months over report on coronavirus cases

Reuters said it regretted the Iraqi authorities’ decision and that it stood by the story, which it said was based on multiple, well-placed medical and political sources

Reuters
14 April, 2020, 07:35 pm
Last modified: 14 April, 2020, 07:40 pm
FILE PHOTO: An Iraqi soldier wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant to sanitize a vegetable stall, during a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Baghdad, Iraq March 31, 2020. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
FILE PHOTO: An Iraqi soldier wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant to sanitize a vegetable stall, during a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Baghdad, Iraq March 31, 2020. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Iraq has suspended the licence of the Reuters news agency after it published a story saying the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country was higher than officially reported.

Iraq's media regulator said it was revoking Reuters' licence for three months and fining it 25 million dinars ($21,000) for what it said was the agency's violation of the rules of media broadcasting.

In a letter to Reuters, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) said it had taken the action "because this matter is taking place during current circumstances which have serious repercussions on societal health and safety."

Reuters said it regretted the Iraqi authorities' decision and that it stood by the story, which it said was based on multiple, well-placed medical and political sources, and fully represented the position of the Iraqi health ministry.

"We are seeking to resolve the matter and are working to ensure we continue to deliver trusted news about Iraq," the news agency said in a statement.

The Reuters report, published on April 2, cited three doctors involved in the testing process, a health ministry official and a senior political official as saying Iraq had thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases, many times more than the 772 it had publicly reported at that time.

The report was updated on April 2 to include a denial from a health ministry spokesman, sent by text message, who dismissed the sources' assertions about the spread of the disease, describing them as "incorrect information".

In addition to the three-month suspension, Reuters was ordered to issue a formal apology.

As of April 13, Iraq had recorded 1,378 cases of COVID-19, including 78 deaths, according to the health ministry.

World+Biz / Top News

Reuters / Iraq

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Manufacturers feel the pinch as consumers tighten belt
    Manufacturers feel the pinch as consumers tighten belt
  • Sugar turning bitter!
    Sugar turning bitter!
  • Ministries, divisions with highest allocation lag in ADP implementation
    Ministries, divisions with highest allocation lag in ADP implementation

MOST VIEWED

  •  A medical worker checks the IV drip treatment of a patient lying on a bed in the emergency department of a hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Staff
    China says Covid deaths down by nearly 80 percent
  • Sean Bagley, 14, receives the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) booster vaccine targeting BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub variants at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah Beier
    Updated Covid vaccines prevented illness from latest variants -CDC
  • People embrace at the international arrivals gate at Beijing Capital International Airport after China lifted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine requirement for inbound travellers in Beijing, China January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
    China says peak Covid infections exceeded 7 million daily, deaths more than 4,000 daily
  • A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
    US proposes once-a-year Covid shots for most Americans
  • The United Nations headquarters building is pictured though a window with the UN logo in the foreground in the Manhattan borough of New York August 15, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES
    Covid-19 cut known human trafficking, but Ukraine war a risk: UN
  • Medical workers attend to patients at the intensive care unit of the emergency department at Beijing Chaoyang hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China December 27, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS
    China reports nearly 13,000 Covid deaths over last week

Related News

  • At least eight police officers killed in blast near northern Iraqi city
  • Russia replaces Iraq as top oil supplier to India in Nov
  • Iran strengthens political, economic hold over Iraq
  • Reuters launches new independent media module in Reuters Digital Journalism Course
  • In drought-hit Iraq, a dam threatens to swallow farmland

Features

According to the CAB president Ghulam Rahman, one of the most common complaints of consumers is being deceived by sellers when it comes to the weight of goods. Photo: TBS

Has the Directorate improved consumer rights in Bangladesh?

1d | Panorama
A 2022 survey of 1,000 companies by professional services consultancy PwC found that between a sixth and a quarter had used AI in recruitment or employee retention in the past 12 months. Illustration: Bloomberg

AI is coming to your workplace. Is the world ready?

1d | Panorama
Edison Desdemona, the newly launched stellar project of Edison Real Estate, located at Bashundhara Residential Area. Photo: Courtesy

EDISON DESDEMONA: A creation like no other

2d | Habitat
BruTown by PARTI.studio. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

Interesting ceiling design ideas to elevate any space

2d | Habitat

More Videos from TBS

Kajol’s road paintings bring change in Gafargaon

Kajol’s road paintings bring change in Gafargaon

6h | TBS Stories
Carew & Company witnessed a remarkable growth

Carew & Company witnessed a remarkable growth

7h | TBS Stories
PCB recalls cricketers from BPL ahead of PSL

PCB recalls cricketers from BPL ahead of PSL

9h | TBS SPORTS
Why Misha Sawdagar became villain instead of a Hero?

Why Misha Sawdagar became villain instead of a Hero?

8h | TBS Entertainment

Most Read

1
Picture: Collected
Bangladesh

US Embassy condemns recent incidents of visa fraud

2
Four top bankers arrested in DSA case filed by S Alam group 
Bangladesh

Four top bankers arrested in DSA case filed by S Alam group 

3
Illustration: TBS
Banking

16 banks at risk of capital shortfall if top 3 borrowers default

4
A frozen Beyond Burger plant-based patty. Photographer: AKIRA for Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Special

Fake meat was supposed to save the world. It became just another fad

5
Photo: Collected
Splash

Hansal Mehta responds as Twitter user calls him 'shameless' for making Faraaz

6
Ctg Port Gets A Boost: The Chattogram port officially starts to berth vessels with 10 metres drought on Monday. As of now, only 9.5m draught vessels could anchor at the port, each carrying 2,500 TEUs. But the 10m draught ship will be able to carry 4,000 TEUs, bumping up the port’s container handling capacity and bringing down costs. The photo was taken recently from the port area. Photo: Mohammed Minhaj Uddin
Bangladesh

Dollar crisis: 3 ships with 54,000 tonnes of goods get stuck at Ctg port

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]