MUMBAI: BBC World News has today announced the new presenter for its flagship programme Global. Matthew Amroliwala joins the international news channel from the BBC’s UK service.

Matthew will take over from Jon Sopel who was appointed the BBC’s North America Editor in April. He will be on air from September.

Matthew joined the BBC in 1989. He is currently a lead presenter on the BBC News Channel and has previously worked as a foreign correspondent, a political correspondent and as a news reporter. He has covered many of the major news stories in the last two decades both at home and abroad. As a presenter he broadcast continuously for six hours on the day of the 7/7bombings in London while as a foreign correspondent he has reported from Bosnia, New York and Washington.

Matthew has also been at the forefront of the BBC’s UK political coverage on the News Channel having presented all the major set piece events of the Westminster political calendar such as the Budget and the Queen’s Speech, as well as covering the negotiations on the formation of the current coalition government.

He was nominated by the Television and Radio Industry Club as Reporter of the Year in 1993 for his reporting on the Troubles in Northern Ireland and went on to cover the IRA ceasefire in 1997 and the Good Friday Agreement.

Looking forward to his new role, Matthew said:

“I am absolutely thrilled to be given the opportunity to present Global. It is a tremendous programme and I can’t wait to join such a creative team. For me, it takes me full circle. I first started presenting on BBC World in 1997, before joining the News Channel and I return to a place that is unrecognisable from those days, in terms of its quality and confidence. BBC News has a global reputation through BBC World News and is now also the leader in global breaking news. It’s a huge privilege to be joining the teams putting together that coverage.

“Global is prime time for our viewers in Asia, particularly India and I am excited to be able to bring people the stories that matter both from at home and around the world.”

Welcoming Matthew to the channel James Stephenson, Head of News for BBC World News commented:

“Matthew is an outstanding presenter with a distinguished track record in TV journalism stretching back over twenty five years. I am delighted that he has agreed to take up this key role at the heart of the BBC World News schedule.”

Global is broadcast on BBC World News Monday to Thursday from 6.30pm to 8.00pm.