Eurabia Update from AFP, :
PARIS, April 2, 2007 (AFP) – France 24, the round-the-clock television news network launched four months ago with a brief to provide a French perspective on world events, on Monday added Arabic broadcasts to its progamme.
The channel, which until now broadcast in French and English, will broadcast in Arabic to a potential 20 million households in North Africa and the Middle East between 1400 GMT and 1800 GMT daily, a spokeswoman said.
The remaining broadcast hours on France 24’s new channel will be filled with either English or French programmes, depending on the country.
The Arabic broadcasts will have the same format as the English and French ones: a 10-minute news bulletin every half hour, followed by filed reports, debates, or features on sport, culture or business as well as a weather report.
Outgoing French President Chirac was the prime mover behind France 24, after he was angered by the prevalence of British and US viewpoints aired on the English-language market-leaders BBC World and CNN in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.