The Arabic broadcasting network Al-Jazeera launched its long-delayed English news channel Wednesday.
The Qatar-based network says the English channel will broadcast 24 hours daily, with 12 hours of live news and 12 hours for interviews, features and analysis programs.
Al-Jazeera - aiming to compete with Western global broadcasters - has recruited big name Western journalists for the English channel, including BBC veteran and famous interviewer David Frost, as well as Dave Marash of ABC News.
The network says the new channel will include broadcasts from and about the Middle East, with all stories written and reported from an Arab perspective.
Al-Jazeera is supported financially by the Qatari royal family. The network says there are one billion English speakers in the world, and its research shows that many potential viewers thirst for news from a non-Western perspective.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP .
