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Date : 20.02.2008
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ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World is set to expand its news programming with Newsnight, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s hard-hitting weekly news programme featuring some of the toughest interviewers in journalism. The fifty minute long programme will be broadcast on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World, on Saturdays at 07:10, 15:10 and 21:10 GMT starting on 1 March.

Newsnight comes from the same team that produces Britain’s long-running nightly programme of the same name. The international-facing weekly version will showcase the best of its award-winning blend of features, investigations, interviews and discussions. The show is anchored by some of the most respected names in British journalism, including Jeremy Paxman, Kirsty Wark, Gavin Esler and Emily Maitlis.

Richard Sambrook, Director of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Global News and CEO of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World, says," News and news programming is at the heart of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s international services, so it’s fantastic that we’re now able to bring one of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s most famous news programmes and it’s most respected presenters to our international audiences.â€�

The new international edition of Newsnight, which will also be aired on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ America in the U.S., was conceived and commissioned by Executive Vice President, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News and Sports in the U.S., Michele Grant.

Grant, who is also Executive Producer of the new show, says, “Newsnight is one of the very best shows in television journalism - it’s fearless. It asks the questions that beg to be asked but rarely are. If you want to get answers, really get answers, to the important questions, understand what happened this week and what mattered, Newsnight is for you.�

JEREMY PAXMAN
Jeremy Paxman joined Newsnight in 1989. During a distinguished career he has worked as a reporter on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s long-running current affairs programme Panorama, and presented flagship news bulletins Breakfast News and Six O’clock News. Jeremy has also hosted the popular quiz show University Challenge and the political affairs programme, You Decide. He began his television career as a reporter covering the troubles in Northern Ireland. Jeremy is the author of several books and has won numerous awards including a Royal Television Society award for international current affairs, and the Richard Dimbleby Award, BAFTA's most prestigious award, for current affairs.

KIRSTY WARK
Kirsty Wark joined Newsnight in 1993 and regularly presents sister programme, Newsnight Review. She worked on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ radio news programme The World at One before moving into television to work as a producer and presenter in Scotland. Kirsty has presented Scotland's General Election coverage since 1987. She has also presented acclaimed arts programme The Late Show, and popular heritage programme One Foot in the Past. Kirsty began her ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ career at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Scotland in 1976 as a graduate researcher. In 1990 she formed an independent production company and has presented a number of series the company has made for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. Her awards include BAFTA Scotland's Journalist of the Year in 1993 and Best Television Presenter in 1997.

GAVIN ESLER
Gavin Esler joined the presenting team of Newsnight in January 2003. He has anchored ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News 24, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s 24-hour news channel, since 1997, and reported for news and documentary programmes across Europe, Russia, China and North and South America. Gavin was appointed the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Washington correspondent in 1989, and then Chief North America correspondent a year later, where he was responsible for shaping and directing ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ coverage from North America. In this role he travelled extensively across the United States, and was accredited to the White House to cover the Bush and Clinton administrations. He originally joined ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Television as Northern Ireland reporter.

EMILY MAITLIS
Emily Maitlis is a presenter on both Newsnight and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News 24. Prior to joining Newsnight she was the face of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London's nightly news programme, covering major events such as the 2005 General Election and the London mayoral election. Emily joined the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ from News International network Sky News, where she covered major breaking international stories, including the United States and Israeli elections, and the Afghan hostage crisis. She began her career in television in the Far East, working in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Cambodia on half-hour documentary programmes. She went on to become a business correspondent with NBC covering the collapse of the tiger economies in 1997. Emily has also made documentaries for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio, and presented the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s flagship early morning television news programme, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Breakfast.




For more details contact bbcworldpressoffice@bbc.co.uk