THAT Didn't Take LONG

          'Russian CNN' Fizzles Off Air on 3rd Day

Russia's new round-the-clock English-language global television channel, intended to project the country's image abroad, went abruptly off air, two days after its long-trumpeted launch. Broadcasts by Russia Today, dubbed "Russia's CNN" by promoters, were interrupted and replaced with a test screen, apparently due to technical problems.

An official in the office of the channel's editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, refused to comment on the interruption, while the channel's press office was not answering telephone calls.

The state-run RIA-Novosti news agency said the channel had suffered an attack on its computer system.

"Due to attempts to attack the computer system of the Russian Today television channel from outside and the suspicion of an infection by viruses, the television channel was forced to interrupt broadcasts," RIA-Novosti said, quoting a communique from the channel.

Organisers have said Russia Today will give a Russian outlook on global affairs, but critics have dismissed the channel as a Kremlin-driven propaganda effort.

The channel's broadcasts are supposed to be viewable in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa on NTV Plus, a satellite subscription service.

Saturday's launch had been repeatedly delayed. Insiders at the channel blamed this on inexperience among some of the channel's staff, many of whom are nationals of English-speaking countries, while Simonyan earlier spoke of some staff lacking knowledge of the country.

                Who cares? Nothing happens there anyway.