Firemen extinguish a burning car torched during New Year's celebrations in Strasbourg's western suburb of Musau, France, on December 31. Vandals set fire to about 400 cars overnight and police said they arrested more than 250 people. In an effort to maintain order, 25,000 police were on duty throughout the country during the night.

PARIS (Reuters):

Journalists suffered one of their deadliest years ever in 2006, with Iraq once again proving the most dangerous place in the world for the media to work, two media watchdogs said on Sunday.

Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) said at least 81 reporters and 32 media staff were killed in 2006 as a result of their jobs, saying the death toll was the highest since 1994 when scores of reporters died in the Rwandan genocide.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) put the 2006 toll at 155 murders, giving no separate breakdown between reporters and their staff.

"(Year) 2006 was the worst year on record. A year of targeting, brutality and continued impunity in the killing of journalists," IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said in a statement.

RSF said at least 871 reporters were arrested in 2006 and at least 1,472 attacks or threats were registered against the media around the world - a new record.