Forget May -- Al Jazeera International will launch "as early as June," the Guardian reports.

Nigel Parsons "told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch that the service needed to undergo technical tests on what he said was going to be 'the most complicated broadcasting operation ever.' If these tests are successful it would see the channel launch almost immediately, as early as June, broadcasting to between 70m and 100m homes worldwide, he said."

Parsons says: "If there are no problems we could be on air before the World Cup - if there are then we will have delays. But we will definitely start transmission this year."