Russia to launch English-language news channel

Russia calling Russia is to launch a 24-hour English-language TV news channel in the mould of CNN to be beamed throughout Europe, the United States and parts of Asia via satellite and cable.

The project is already well advanced and the channel, to be called Russia Today, is expected to go on air before the end of the year.

It will offer a mixture of international news "from a Russian perspective" as well as domestic Russian news.