The four organisations were admitted at a meeting of the WAN Board in Kiev, Ukraine, today.

The CEO of WAN, Timothy Balding, said: "Our membership is deeply enriched with the addition of these organisations. More than half the world’s population sees news from the AP, which has a long history of advocacy of freedom of the press. The Middle East Publishers Association, which covers 15 countries in the Middle East, provides essential representation to defend and promote the professional interests of newspapers in a difficult region for the press. We are delighted that newspapers in Mauritius, with their two centuries of publishing history, have created a new association that will have access to the global newspaper community through its membership in WAN. Regional newspapers in the young democracy of Ukraine will also benefit from this network through the membership of their association."

The AP, founded in 1846, is one of the world’s great news agencies, providing fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. The Middle East Publishers Association, based in Dubai, was established to serve, promote and protect the interests of publishers in the Middle East. The Editors and Publishers Association of Mauritius, which was formed in 2006, was established to encourage press development on the Indian Ocean island nation, which has a rich publishing history. The Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine groups 71 publications with a combined circulation of 1.7 million.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 10 regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.