BBC Monitoring Text of report in English by Saudi news agency SPA website [SPA headline: "British newspapers highlight king's visit to Britain"] London, 30 October: The visit of the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdallah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz to the United Kingdom enjoyed wide interest by the British newspapers today …
Read More »Bahrain: RSF protests conviction of three journalists
BBC Monitoring Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 24 October Reporters Without Borders is astonished by a criminal court's decision on 21 October to convict Saleh Al-Amm, the editor of the online newspaper Al-Saheefa (www.alsaheefa.net), Fareed Al-Shayeb, one of his reporters, and Muath Al-Mesri, …
Read More »Saudi writer defends media’s right to criticize Shura council
BBC Monitoring ext of report by Saudi newspaper Al-Watan website on 22 October [Commentary by Khalid al-Ghanami: "The Shura Council is not above criticism"] I have read the two articles by Dr Abdallah al-Tuwayriqi, member of the Saudi Shura Council and former media science professor, which the newspaper Al-Watan published …
Read More »Analysis: Turkish court overturns ban on
BBC Monitoring Analysis by BBC Monitoring Media Specialists on 25 October Turkey's highest administrative court overturned a ban on 25 October imposed by the country's broadcast regulator that prohibited the broadcast of "negative" reports on an attack by PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) fighters which left 12 Turkish solders dead and …
Read More »Egypt’s veteran journalist condemns imprisonment of journalists
BBC Monitoring Text of report in English by Egyptian news agency MENA Cairo, 22 October: Renowned Egyptian journalist Makram Muhammad Ahmad asserted his full rejection to journalists' imprisonment in publication cases. During a meeting Monday [22 October] with MENA editors, Ahmad, who intends to run for the chairmanship of the …
Read More »Iran: Banned news website Baztab reappears with new name
BBC Monitoring Excerpt from report by Iranian newspaper Mardom-Salari website on 18 October The vice-president of the Majlis cultural committee, in referring to the meeting of the committee on Tuesday, which was attended by the minister of culture and a representative from a pilgrimage organization, said: "Some MPs asked the …
Read More »Iran: Paper slams government’s strict approach to media
BBC Monitoring Text of unattributed editorial from the ?rubric' column headlined: An unchangeable conviction published by Iranian newspaper E'temad-e Melli on 18 October Another characteristic must be added to the many different ones which the ninth government already possesses; this being that unlike the previous government which was never placed …
Read More »Iraqi Kurdish article argues for disclosure of missing budget money
BBC Monitoring Text of article by Peshraw Ahmed entitled; "Money is good servant but a corrupt master"; published by independent Iraqi Kurdish newspaper Hawlati on 17 October Perhaps what has lost most of its value and weight in this country is writing. We mean, by writing, the critiques and perspectives …
Read More »Al-Ra’y TV channel reportedly owned by Juburi posts test card on Nilesat
BBC Monitoring Al-Ra'y satellite channel, reportedly broadcasting from Syria and owned by Iraqi politician Mish'an al-Juburi, owner of the Iraqi Al-Zawraa satellite channel which had stopped transmission, has been observed to post a test card on Nilesat with the following coordinates: Frequency - 10911 MHz; Polarization - vertical; symbol rate …
Read More »Azeri, Iranian leaders discuss developing ties at Caspian summit
BBC Monitoring Azeri, Iranian leaders discuss developing ties at Caspian summit Text of report by Azerbaijani news agency Trend Baku, 16 October: "The interests and security of Azerbaijan and Iran are interrelated," Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad said at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Tehran on Tuesday …
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