In media news, the English-language version of the Arabic satellite network Al Jazeera launches today. Al Jazeera International is billed as the first global English-language news network based in the Middle East. The network has been shut down in many countries over its criticism of governments across the Middle East and has been bombed by the U.S. in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In London this week, British bureau chief Sue Phillips was asked to respond to accusations Al Jazeera has provided a platform for al-Qaeda.

Sue Phillips: “Al Jazeera Arabic has never provided a platform for terrorists. The fact that Osama has chosen to drop off his tapes at Al Jazeera Arabic is because that is the most-watched Arabic channel in that region. And indeed each time that a tape was dropped off, there was an editorial board that judged the newsworthiness of those tapes, and very little was ever shown of each tape, and sometimes nothing was shown of those tapes. And indeed there would be more footage of George Bush shown on Al Jazeera Arabic than ever shown of Osama bin Laden, first of all, to clarify that point.”

Al Jazeera International will be available in more than 80 million homes. But it won’t be easy to watch in the United States. No major cable or satellite system has agreed to offer it to U.S. customers. On Monday, the cable giant Comcast said it had broken off talks to air Al Jazeera International.