Al-Jazeera's taboo-smashing newscasts regularly vex politicians in Washington, but not nearly as much as they anger leaders in the Arab world, where the Arabic news channel has been banned from operating in 18 countries at one time or another. Now, the network is launching its biggest-ever gamble on its 10th anniversary, an English-language channel with an Arab perspective. The new channel, Al-Jazeera International, plans to hit the airwaves Nov. 15 and hopes to steal viewers from the likes of CNN and the BBC. "We have an edge over the other networks: We're already based in the Middle East. And we have a different perspective," director Wadah Khanfar said in a press conference at the network's Doha headquarters Wednesday