Bahrain an**unced on Monday the permanent closure of a new pan-Arab news channel owned by a Saudi billionaire that took to the air for less than 24 hours. The Alarab News channel had vowed to practise "objective" journalism in a politically-charged Middle East region where leading regional broadcasters have been accused of bias. "It has been decided to halt the activities of Alarab, the channel **t having received the necessary permits," a statement from the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority said on Monday. Shortly after its launch on February 1, programming was interrupted after Alarab broadcast an interview with a Shiite opponent of the Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers.