Al-Jazeera launches English channel

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Ten years after starting Arabic-language broadcasts that angered leaders in the region and Washington, Al-Jazeera on Wednesday launched an English-language news channel available in more than 80 million homes but lacking major U.S. distribution.

Al-Jazeera English went on the air at 7 a.m. Central time, broadcasting from the station's headquarters in Doha, capital of the tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar.

"It's Nov. 15th, a new era in television news," the anchor said.

The channel quickly jumped to live feeds from correspondents in various regions -- starting with the Gaza Strip in a spot that reflected the channel's promise to focus on Arab concerns in the Middle East.

The station appeared eager to show its global reach, moving to live reports from correspondents in Sudan's Darfur region, Iran, Zimbabwe and Brazil and breaking in with a report on a tsunami warning in Japan.

Al-Jazeera said its signal would reach 80 million households with cable and satellite TV, mainly in the Middle East and Europe. It hopes to steal viewers from CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp. by giving the world's 1 billion English speakers news from a non-Western perspective.

At least for now, most Americans will have no chance to see Al-Jazeera. Its list of U.S. carriers included none of the major U.S. cable TV providers.