MEDIA

Middle East TV Network Purchases UPI: Middle East Broadcasting Centre Ltd. said it completed the purchase of United Press International, the struggling news service it rescued from closing. The London-based Arabic television network outbid a group of American businessmen during a bankruptcy court hearing last week in New York. Middle East, the first all-Arabic TV network, paid $3.95 million in cash for UPI. It says it expects to invest up to $12 million in the agency the next two years. UPI, which has lost money for 30 years and owes creditors about $60 million, is in bankruptcy court reorganization for the second time in a decade. It once was the second-largest American news agency, behind the Associated Press.