French free dailies Metro and 20 Minutes will be expanding their distribution coverage in France, with new editions to be published beginning Monday, Newspaper Innovation reported yesterday.

Metro will be launching new editions in Metz, Nancy and Toulon, thereby expanding its reach in the country from nine to 12 editions, while 20 Minutes will launch an edition for Montpellier. Metro's new editions make it the country's only free daily available in these cities, with a distribution of more than 20,000 copies each day, according to a statement by the newspaper, Agence France Presse reported. The launch of Toulon edition is expected to further strengthen the newspaper's position in the south, after the successful launch of its Marseille edition in 2002.

Image of Metro: TarifMedia.com

Through these new editions, Metro boosted its presence further in France, now covering 15 cities.

KOS Media launched on Friday an iPad application that gives readers access to its 16 free dailies, the Press Gazette informed yesterday.

The company, which owns local titles like the Kent on Sunday and was acquired in June by regional publisher Archant, claimed that its app "is the first for a regional newspaper in Britain," Kent News reported.

"As soon as we knew the iPad was set for release, we began working on an app with our developers PageSuite," managing director Paul Stannard said.

The app is available for free at the iTunes store and it gives reader the latest news, videos, traffic and weather reports while allowing them to conduct classified ad searches for jobs, homes and cars.

The Knesset legislative committee has thrown out a proposed bill that would have stopped the publication of free newspapers after a one year period, Haaretz reported. The bill aimed to block the distribution of Israel Today, owned by Sheldon Adelson, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Nine ministers voted against the bill, two voted in favour and one abstained from the vote. Five other ministers were absent, "apparently confirming a prediction by Netanyahu's aides that some coalition [ministers] would stay away for fear of annoying Israel Hayom's main rivals, the mass-circulation dailies Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth," the Haaretz article stated.

The bill also aimed to prohibit foreign ownership of any Hebrew-language newspaper in Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Israel Today (Yisrael Hayom) is either the first or second most read daily in the country. Because Adelson is close with the prime minister, this is one of just three bills that have sought to shutter the freesheet, Jerusalem Post reported. The bill was sponsored by Ministers Marina Solodkin, Miri Regev and David Rotem.

Outliving expectations from the newspaper industry, The Moscow Times plans to become a full colour publication from April, Newspaper Innovation reported yesterday.

Remarking its 17-year history as the longest surviving free European English daily, the publication aims to promote its colour version, by advertising in the print and online versions of its newspaper with a hope to increase readership, promote loyalty and maximise advertising opportunities by adding an emotional element to its photographs, Independent Media Russia reported.

Being distributed at hotels and business centers, the circulation of the newspaper is around 35,000, according to Newspaper Innovation. The free daily was initially launched by Independent Media and later sold to Finnish publisher, Sanoma. Users can still access and download the black and white version of the newspaper after registering on its Web site.

An event showcasing best journalistic photographs by the publication's photographers will be held at the Kofemania café on Bolshaya Nikitskaya street, as a unique continuation of the redesigned paper launch campaign efforts.

With an aim to increase readership and promote loyalty, many programmes have been developed to retain existing customers and attract new ones with favourable subscription offers, Independent Media Russia reported.