BBC Monitoring The Al-Shuruq [sunrise] satellite channel, which has been on trial broadcasts since 1 December 2007, seems to have started airing regular programmes. BBC Monitoring observed the satellite channel to air various children programmes and cartoons in Arabic during the early hours of the day. At 0800 gmt the …

BBC Monitoring By Saeed Barzin of BBC Monitoring on 23 January A political dispute between the Iranian parliament and the president has revealed the extent of the influence that the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i enjoys in the country's media. Reporting the dispute between the conservative-controlled parliament and President …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by opposition Yemeni Alliance for Reform newspaper Al-Sahwah website on 21 January ["Journalists: The blocking of Yemen Portal Net is a flagrant violation of both the freedom of the press and speech" - An Unattributed "exclusive" report.] The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate [YJS] has described the …

BBC Monitoring This new Libyan TV, which broadcast on NileSat, was thought to have been set up as an alternative to the state-owned first TV channel, hence the name Al-Badil, which means alternative in Arabic. But judging from its content, the word "alternative" seems to refer to "the alternative thinking …

BBC Monitoring At 2058 gmt on 18 January, Ma'an reported that Jibril al-Rujub, a leading figure in Fatah in the West Bank, had made a statement to the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV in which he said that "there is a possibility to circumvent the domestic crisis in order to confront the …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Iranian news website Norooz on 20 January Dastranj website, at www.dastranj.ir, has joined the country's electronic media. ["Dastranj" means "product of toil" or "wage".] The site's director told Norooz: The site has been launched on the basis of a reformist policy and with the …

BBC Monitoring At 2058 gmt on 18 January, Ma'an reported that Jibril al-Rujub, a leading figure in Fatah in the West Bank, had made a statement to the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV in which he said that "there is a possibility to circumvent the domestic crisis in order to confront the …

BBC Monitoring Doha Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0617 gmt on 19 January carries the following announcer-read report: "As an interesting phenomenon, the number of private radio stations in Jordan has increased and mounted to 27. Observers see that private radio stations have gained the trust of the …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Palestinian newspaper Al-Risalah on 17 January [Unattributed report: "Shin Bet Establishes Psychological Warfare Unit Against Hamas Using Fatah Media Outlets"] Gaza, 17 January (Translated [into Arabic] by the Palestinian Media Network) - Israeli television revealed that the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) has decided …

BBC Monitoring Excerpt from report by Palestinian newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadidah on 17 January [Report by Bashar Daraghimah, Rumil al-Suwayti: "Amr Addresses Thousands Celebrating Anniversary in Nablus; Fatah Will End Embargo on Gaza, Palestine"] Nablus - Thousands of Nablus Governorate inhabitants commemorated the 44th Fatah anniversary in a popular rally yesterday. …