Syria News Wire

Two days after making wild unsourced allegations that Israel is planning to attack Hizbollah factories in Syria, Kuwaiti gossip rag Al-Rai is at it again. This time the ‘newspaper’ claims that Hizbollah and Syria have created a joint military command to attack Israel. But here’s the kick: the unsourced report claims that Hizbollah will place [...]

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This is a story about two Kuwaiti newspapers: Al-Rai and Al-Seyassah. People often hail Kuwait as having one of the most free media scenes in the Arab World. But there’s a difference between free and diverse. You see, in Kuwait, as in Lebanon, there’s a huge range of private broadcasters and newspapers – especially given the [...]

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Lina Sinjab meets Madina FM’s delightful breakfast presenter Honey Al-Sayed and looks at how Syria’s media environment is opening up. Then she talks to Forward magazine’s Abdulsalam Haykal to discuss economic liberalisation, visiting Amjad Maliki’s new venture, The Khan, just off Medhat Pasha and City Centre mall. And in the Guardian, Stephen Starr and John Wreford [...]

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One of CNN’s most senior reporters has been sacked after mourning the death of a Muslim cleric. Octavia Nasr was the news network’s most senior Arab journalist, joining in 1990 after making her name in Lebanon when she became the first female reporter to interview Shia leader Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. Two decades on, and a [...]

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CNN’s Senior Editor of Middle East Affairs, Octavia Nasr, is coming under increasing pressure for a comment she made on Twitter. She tweeted: “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah… One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot,” following the spiritual leader’s death on Sunday. Israel-apologists are accusing her of supporting [...]

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The first edition of the new English-language daily, Baladna, is now available online. Its cover story is the long-awaited plan to ban cars from the Old City. The full-colour paper, which has a cover price of 25L, seems to be targetting younger readers: stories on changes to military service, new housing for young people, environment [...]

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The much anticipated Baladna English launches in a few hours. The pre-launch excitement has even made it into the Guardian. But it’s been a long wait. Originally pencilled in for a May 2009 launch, this got pushed back a number of times. But finally, 9 December 2009 is the date Baladna English will hit newsstands. [...]

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And just who is the ‘Sexy Brit‘? Asma Al-Assad, of course. This story tells me two things: first the Syrian government is finally realising the power of Asma to rebrand Syria’s image in the West. And second, it speaks volumes of the Sun’s cheap racism. The Sun is Britain’s biggest newspaper, read by 3 million [...]

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There is a battle going on, over at Wikipedia, over the use of the word “occupied”. You can help. Some fans of Israel seem to think it is acceptable to call the Syrian Golan Heights – which have been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967 – as merely “disputed territory”. There is no “dispute”, [...]

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Syria is getting a brand new daily English-language newspaper. Stephen Starr reports that it will be called Baladna, and will have a similar format to its sister Arabic-language paper of the same name. ‘Our Country’ will be twenty-four pages long, and will be published five days a week. It will be edited by Reem Maghribi, [...]

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