We're getting close to discovering who has won in the 19 categories covering journalism and factual productions in this year's AIBs!

These are the 18th annual international awards for journalism and factual productions across TV, radio and digital platforms and more than 400 hours of content were submitted. Our international panel of judges have now voted for the winners which will be announced at our gala awards evening in London on 11 November 2022.

Guests from around the world have already reserved seats at this celebration of success and are keen to get back into the swing of meeting colleagues old and new after an enforced absence of more than two years.

You can reserve your seats at this major international event that will be hosted by BBC News Persian senior presenter Rana Rahimpour in the heart of London, right next to Westminster Abbey.

See the evening's programme here.

Book your places online using this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJg19bKXYE1vXq5QLgi_as6Haj6GY_gCt4nY91J6kxr-5KzQ/viewform?usp=send_form. But hurry - places are filling up fast!

Our event partner Radio Taiwan International is organising a special London Taiwan Forum in collaboration with the Taiwan ministries of Foreign Affairs, Culture and Digital Affairs. This special event on the morning of 11 November offers a unique opportunity to learn about the technology strategy of Taiwan, with Minister for Digital Affairs Audrey Tang joining the meeting from Taipei. From mis- and dis-information to chip fabrication, this event will provide insight into Taiwan's digital strategy.

A range of senior staff from the Taipei-based broadcaster will be in London for the AIBs so you can find out first-hand what it's currently like living and working in Taiwan, a country at the very centre of today's geopolitics.

Contact the AIB Secretariat to register on +44 20 7993 2557, e: register@aib.org.uk.

Watch this short video compilation of what journalists, producers and executives from around the world say about the AIBs:

The Iranian government, long accused of harassing expatriate journalists working for international broadcasters, has increased threats to journalists working for London-based Iran International television. London's Metropolitan Police have told two of the channel's British-Iranian journalists of an increase in threats to them.

According to the channel's parent company, Volant Media, the Met has said that these threats represent an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families.

Other members of Iran International have also been informed of separate threats.

This increase in hostile activity by Iran follows an increase in jamming of Iran International, BBC News Persian and other broadcasters as protests exploded across Iran after the death of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September as the regime attempts to stop news and information reaching the Iranian population.

Separately, on 22 and 26 October Iran announced that it had sanctioned a number of European Union officials and institutions for "supporting terrorism". It said the sanctions were in reciprocity for "deliberate actions in supporting [unnamed] terrorism and terrorist groups, promoting and inciting terrorism, spreading violence and hatred that cause unrest, violence, terrorist acts and human rights violations against the Iranian nation".

Included in the sanctions are BBC Persian, Iran International, Volant Media, DMA Media, the UK National Cyber Security Centre, DW Persian, RFI Persian, both the editor and managing director of Germany's Bild newspaper and a number of NGOs.

The AIB is working with its member broadcasters who have been affected by the jamming, and by the increased threats to journalists and staff, on ways to react to the illegal activities of the Iranian state.

On 1 November, Al-Qahera News TV launched from Cairo. The channel's slogan is "One Nation - Arabism Brings Us Together".

The new service is fronted by established presenters who have worked for state-owned and commercial channels. It is owned by Egypt's United Media Services, the country's largest production company that also owns Egypt's main commercial TV channels and a range of newspapers. Some reports have suggested that UMS is linked to Egypt's state intelligence service.

Al-Qahera - which is the Arabic rendition of Cairo - is targeting audiences across the Arabic-speaking world, with correspondents in cities throughout the region as well as in Berlin, Moscow, Washington DC and other major capitals. The channel is carried on Nilesat in both HD and SD.

Watch the channel's opening: https://youtu.be/5Ryk2SsRTOc

Britain's commercial broadcaster ITV has announced the launch of what it describes as the country's "freshest streaming service". The new ITVX will go live on 8 December.

ITVX will replace the existing ITV Hub as the online home for all ITV content, with 10,000 hours of HD content available from the launch day. New and exclusive streaming shows will be added to the platform each week.

All ITV channels ill be available to livestream through ITVX, with additional themed pop-up (or FAST) channels from time to time.

In direct competition to subscription platforms such as Netflix, ITVX will launch with over 250 feature films, with a thousand films to be made available to stream each year. Films available at launch will include the Back to the Future trilogy, the Despicable Me trilogy, Wonder Woman and many more. The full Fast and Furious series of films will be launched in 2023.

Social video platform TikTok is moving into Central Asia with offices to be opened in Kazakhstan, both in the capital Nur-Sultan (pictured) and its main city, Almaty. The app will also be made available in the Kazakh language.

The news was released during Astana Media Week by Anastasia Panina, head of Moscow-based TikTok Global Business Solutions, Eastern Europe (pictured), who spoke about the "TikTok Era" during the conference.

Panina, who during her career has worked at the independent Russian TV Dozdh (Rain), will head up TikTok Kazakhstan. She said: "We see a great number of musicians, teachers, young moms, who create new content on the platform. We intend to be closer to our community, for this reason we are opening an office in Kazakhstan this fall. We will be happy to release more projects in collaboration with educational organisations, governmental structures, making the content more interesting and useful."

Local press reports in the Central African Republic say that Russian investors are planning to launch a TV station in the country. Russian mercenaries have been active in the country, and stand accused of exploiting the nation's resources and of committing atrocities.

The new TV station will operate from the capital, Bangui. It will be called Lengo Songo TV and comes three years after a radio station was launched under the same name. The radio station has been accused of broadcasting pro-Russian propaganda.

According to the Corbeau media outlet, the TV station will be on the air by the end of 2022 with recruitment of staff underway. The impact of the new station may be limited, as the penetration of TV households is limited in the country because of power issues and ability to afford a TV set. It is not known whether the country's media regulator - believed to be the Transitional High Council for Communication - has granted a licence to the planned TV station.

NHK WORLD-JAPAN highlights for November

Istanbul, December 9-10 2022

The 6th TRT WORLD Forum takes place in Istanbul on 9 and 10 December. Join speakers from around the world, including AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick, for two days of discussion and debate on the key issues facing global media, politics and more.

The AIB’s mission is to support, sustain, promote and protect its Members, wherever they are in the world, via a range of specialist services.

To find out more about the benefits that Membership of the Association for International Broadcasting delivers, see our Guide to Membership booklet and talk to Tom Wragg at AIB headquarters in the UK.