BBC Monitoring Text of report from Syrian newspaper Al-Watan website on 19 July     Information Minister Muhsin Bilal yesterday issued a verbal decision to remove Al-Watan newspaper from the market after more than four hours of circulation (from 0700 to about 1130).     For the sake of clarification, we tell all those …

BBC Monitoring  Baghdad Al-Iraqiyah Television in Arabic is observed to highlight the following political and security developments within its 1700 gmt newscast on 18 July:     Al-Maliki meets Wasit delegation, criticizes media outlets      - "Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Wednesday accused Arab studies centres and media institutions of hatching plots against …

BBC Monitoring Excerpt from report by Moroccan news agency MAP     Rabat, 17 July: The public prosecutor in Casablanca ordered the Criminal Investigation Department to open a preliminary investigation into the publication of a report, last Saturday [14 July], by El-Watan weekly magazine. The report was headlined "the secret reports behind …

BBC Monitoring Text of report in English by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post website on 18 July     [Report by Rory Kress: "'Palestine Times' to Resume Publishing"]     The Palestine Times, which closed down in May due to financial problems, plans to resume publishing in August, according to its founder and editor-in-chief, …

BBC Monitoring A new character, Nahoul the bee, has appeared this week on children's programmes broadcast by the Hamas movement's Al-Aqsa TV station.     Nahoul - who says he is the "cousin" of Farfur, the Mickey Mouse look-alike character recently killed off on Al-Aqsa TV's children's series Tomorrow's Pioneers - has …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Palestinian Filastin al-An website on 16 July; subheadings as published     The clear change in the media policy of the Ma'an News Agency was not coincidental. The sudden change in its policy and its bias in favour of the Fatah movement was preceded by threats …

BBC Monitoring By Muhammad Shukri of BBC Monitoring on 17 July     A recent bill passed by the US House of Representatives setting conditions on the payment of 200m of 1.3bn billion dollars the USA annually gives Egypt in military aid has drawn angry reactions from Egyptian official and independent media. …

BBC Monitoring Al-Zawraa TV, the pro-Sunni television channel known for showing footage of insurgent attacks on US-led coalition forces has apologized to its viewers for the constant interruption to its signal, which it claims is caused by jamming.     An on-screen ticker observed since 7 July states "The channel apologizes to …

BBC Monitoring Al-Jazeera Maghreb's "Issue of the Night" on 10 June, part of the 2200 gmt news bulletin, was devoted to the issue of "freedom of the press in the Arab Maghreb region and the obstacles facing it". The presenter started his programme by reporting the announcement of the setting …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi website on 13 July     [Article by Ahmad al-Misri, datelined London: "A female broadcaster accuses the Saudi Information Ministry of administrative corruption. A journalist expelled for writing about the squandering of public funds. The freedom of the press in Saudi Arabia …