RT News Channel

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that his country now recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Venezuela became the third member of the United Nations after Russia and Nicaragua to support the independence of these countries. Will the process of the recognition continue? And how is life in Abkhazia one year after the 2008 war in the Caucasus? We’ll be talking about it with the President of Abkhazia, Sergey Bagapsh.

The past year of economic decline has seen Washington’s influence on the wane, as well as London’s, and the way is now open for other countries to decide policy. Among them: Russia and her BRIC colleagues.

Greater co-operation between the state and private investors is seen as one of the post-crisis scenarios. But the Russian government says public-private partnerships should focus on socially important projects.

On September 15th 2008, Lehman Brothers - a symbol of America's strength - collapsed. The day marks the beginning of catastrophe for the U.S. RT's Anastasia Churkina investigates the truth about recovery, and what will happen in America next.

An Iraqi journalist jailed for throwing his shoes at former President George Bush is about to be released, after Muntadhar al-Zaidi had his three-year sentence reduced to nine months.

The era of unilateralism and US dominance has come to an end. A new multilateral world is emerging and Russia is one of its great powers, Craig Calhoun of New York University told RT.

It's a year since the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, which heralded the start of the global financial meltdown. The worst moments are behind us, says John Peet from the Economist magazine.

Russia will lend $2.2 billion to Venezuela, says President Hugo Chavez after his visit to Moscow. The money will help Venezuela’s military potential, which Chavez deems crucial as US influence grows in the region.

Senior Research Scholar at Yale University Immanuel Wallerstein believes that the real economic crisis is still up ahead. According to Wallerstein, last year’s collapse was its minor version.

Individual security and observance of basic human rights are essential and should be given serious attention, together with global security issues, believes Jayantha Dhanapala from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

All gas problems between Russia and Turkmenistan have been cleared, according to the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who met his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, at the weekend.

The Russian leader recently presented his vision of the strategic goals and challenges that Russia faces. These challenges include corruption, an inefficient economy and oil dependency, to name a few. Everyone was called upon to submit their opinions directly to the President by e-mail. How will the people react and will this help? The guest in the studio today is Vladimir Pligin, who chairs the State Duma Committee responsible for Nation Building.

The Russian government is trying to revive the domestic pharmaceutical industry with calls to reduce reliance on imports.

Russia will lend Venezuela $2.2 billion to improve its defenses. President Hugo Chavez made the announcement after returning from his trip to Moscow.

A novel way of exposing those who fail to pay their utility bills has been adopted by one company in central Russia. The faces of its worst-offending customers have been plastered on giant billboards across the city.