News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour was named on Thursday to anchor the ABC News' Sunday morning program "This Week" starting in August, after 27 years as an international correspondent for CNN.

Amanpour, 52, was hired to replace George Stephanopoulos, the former White House aide who became the new anchor of ABC's weekday breakfast-hour show "Good Morning America" in December.

ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper will serve as the regular, interim anchor for "This Week" until the debut of Amanpour in August, the Walt Disney Co-owned network said.

ABC News President David Westin said the network would capitalize on Amanpour's background as a foreign-based reporter to bring a more global perspective to "This Week," a talk show that has tended to focus on U.S. newsmakers and politics.

Westin said Amanpour also would appear on other ABC News programs "to provide international analysis on issues of the day" and to anchor prime-time documentaries on global subjects.