BBC Monitoring Text of report by Sudanese Islamist opposition newspaper Akhir Lahzah website on 21 August Trial broadcasts for the first radio station in Sudanese history specializing in medical affairs, Al-Sihhah Wal-Hayat FM [health and well being], are due to begin within the next few days. The station's slogan will …

BBC Monitoring Overview Despite boasting about democracy and freedom of expression, the Algerian state continues to control the country's heavy media, radio and television, on which no dissenting voice is allowed expression. This has led many Algerians to desert the country's TV - which they dub the "orphan one" - …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Quds Press web news agency ["Al-Sadr Office Denies its Leader Granted Interview to British Paper" - Quds Press] Baghdad, 21 Aug (Quds Press) - The Al-Sadr Office has denied that Muqtada al-Sadr granted an interview to the British daily The Independent. Ahmad al-Shaybani, spokesman …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat website on 19 August The director of the BBC Global News Division, Richard Sambrook, said that the plan to launch a news channel at the end of this year is not aimed to compete with Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera channels with …

BBC Monitoring A hacker (or a group of hackers) who signs himself "sniper" and operates a blog by the name of "Virtual Jihad" (http://www.vjihad.parsiblog.ir/) has pledged to rid the Iranian blogosphere of "offending" blogs. The first post on Virtual Jihad is a list of "strikes", which consists of dates (starting …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 21 August [Presenter] The majority of media bodies and media officials have expressed concerns over amendments to the law on mass media activities by the Senate. The law was sent to the Senate after being approved by parliament almost …

BBC Monitoring Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 19 August Reporters Without Borders called today for the immediate release of Yasin Yetisgen, the owner and editor of the Kurdish newspaper Coban Atesi, who was detained by a police court on 14 August in Gaziantep …

BBC Monitoring Text of report in English by Karolin Akum published on London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat website on 16 August; subheadings added editorially Beirut, Al-Sharq al-Awsat: Earlier this month, the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by Saudi businessman HRH Prince Al-Walid Bin Talal, issued a statement announcing the company's merger …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency Islamabad, Aug 18 (APP): Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) plans to launch an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service in October, Director-General of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Dr Abdul Jabbar said Saturday [18 August]. "PTCL has won …

BBC Monitoring Text of report in English by Syrian News Agency SANA website ["Sit-in in front of UN headquarters in Damascus" - SANA headline] Damascus, 19 Aug ( SANA ) - A sit in was staged yesterday evening before headquarters of the UN mission in Damascus in protest against the …