Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite television launched an English news channel and began broadcasting at 1200 GMT on Wednesday, said reports reaching Cairo from Doha.

The English channel began broadcasts with a news bulletin featuring reports from the Gaza Strip, Sudan's Darfur region and Tehran.

As a sister channel of al-Jazeera's Arabic channel, al-Jazeera English said its launch ushered in "a new era in international news".

The launch was originally scheduled for early 2006 but was repeatedly postponed due to technical problems and licensing issues.

According to media reports, al-Jazeera English hired more than 500 staffers, poaching some of the world's best-known journalists and will broadcast in high-definition TV with four chief broadcast centers in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia.

Source: Xinhua