Al Jazeera's English channel from Nov 15

To strengthen its foothold in the global news scene, Arabic news channel Al Jazeera International, which operates from Kuala Lumpur, will begin airing its new English-language news and current affairs channel from November 15.

The channel's inaugural broadcast will be beamed worldwide from its headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The network's International office was set up six months ago.

An official from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission confirmed that Al Jazeera had been given license to air in Malaysia.

News anchors who joined Al Jazeera from rival networks like BBC and CNN, and who will be based in Kuala Lumpur, include Divya Gopalan, Veronica Pedrosa, Teymoor Nabili and Hamish McDonald.

Al Jazeera Network Director-General Wadah Khanfar said that with broadcast centres in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, the network was a new force in the global English-speaking media.

It will relay 12 hours of live news plus interview programmes, and in-depth features and analyses from the world's hot spots over 24 hours.

The announcement of the English channel's launch coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Al Jazeera Arabic-language channel.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera's English-language website is being re-launched to reflect editorial content of the English channel, local newspapers said on Friday.