Author: RT

Russia will relax tourist visa rules, allowing stays of up to 6 months & simplified applications – Izvestia Russia has long been known for having a formidable visa process, especially for Western visitors. But since the 2018 FIFA World Cup, there's been a slow liberalization. Now Moscow daily Izvestia reports cross-party parliamentary support for allowing foreigners to stay for six months on a single tourist visa, as well as making acquiring one a lot easier, by only asking for a hotel reservation. At present, vacations are capped at 30 days and require an invitation. A separate category for business travelers provides for a stay of up to 90 days, within a six month period. But these permits are often expensive and involve a cumbersome applicati...

‘To protect the movement’: Greta Thunberg wants to trademark her name, set up a foundation Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg says she’s had it with ‘impostors’ and marketers, and is moving to trademark her own name as well as that of her movement – purely for noble and altruistic purposes, of course. Thunberg announced the move to in an Instagram post on Wednesday, urging her 500,000-plus followers to be “extremely suspicious” if someone pretending to be her contacts them, as many impersonators and frauds have tried using her name “in order to communicate with high profile people, politicians, media, artists etc.” Also on rt.com Russian pranksters strike again: Fake Greta Thunberg convinces eager US ...

Trump signs USMCA trade deal predicted to create over half a million new US jobs US President Donald Trump has signed the USMCA trade deal with Mexico and Canada into law, fulfilling a campaign promise to overhaul NAFTA, which proved disastrous to American manufacturing after its passage 16 years ago. The signing on Wednesday capped off a lengthy legislative journey for a deal the three countries drafted over a year ago and sent it off to Canada for final approval. Mexico signed the deal in June. President Trump signs #USMCA Trade Agreement into law.Full video here: https://t.co/rIYosB3QjW pic.twitter.com/nBWABmZUQh— CSPAN (@cspan) January 29, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The USMCA passed the Senate by an overwhelm...

'People are dying': UFC strawweight champ Zhang Weili fires back at Joanna Jedrzejczyk over coronavirus joke on Instagram Joanna Jedrzejczyk's decision to post a message making light of the rapidly developing Chinese coronavirus crisis was met with an angry response from her upcoming opponent, Chinese UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili. The pair are set to face off in the co-main event of UFC 248 in Las Vegas on March 7, and it seems a poorly-chosen attempt at humor has backfired spectacularly. In a reference to the coronavirus, Jedrzejczyk posted an edited version of a UFC fight poster to her Instagram story, with herself wearing a gas mask while standing behind Zhang. After receiving some backlash from fans, she subsequently deleted the post fro...

WATCH: Man escapes high-rise LA apartment inferno by climbing onto window ledge A major blaze broke out on Wednesday morning in a high-rise building in west LA, with at least one person desperately scaling the building to escape the growing flames. Firefighters below rushed in with ladders to help him down. The fire broke out on the sixth floor of a 25-story apartment building at the Barrington Plaza complex, before spreading quickly to other floors above and below. Eyewitness footage shared to social media showed one particularly dramatic rescue, when one man scaled the side of the building as thick smoke poured out of the window he had escaped through. Firefighters quickly raised a ladder below him as he clung onto a window ledge, and carefully gu...

No Summer Olympics for Russian athletes? RUSAF faces expulsion from World Athletics The Russian athletics team may be banned from its second summer Olympics running after the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) recommended imposing severe sanctions on the Russian Athletics Federation (RUSAF). The AIU Board was not satisfied with explanations provided by RUSAF over alleged manipulation and document falsification in connection with the doping case of silver high-jumper Daniil Lysenko. READ MORE: ‘What did you do to protect us?’ High jump world champion Lasitskene lashes out at Russian sport bosses In a statement published on Wednesday, the AIU said the Federation failed to present “any material or evidence that [the board] contends answers the AIU’s case a...

Ex-president Poroshenko investigated in Ukraine over embezzlement, allegedly stealing US aid Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has opened a probe against former president, Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of abuse of power, embezzlement “on a grand scale” and allegedly stealing US aid funds. The case against the ex-president was opened following a complaint by a group of Ukrainian MPs and the nation’s High Anti-Corruption Court demanding the authorities investigate embezzlement and misappropriation of the foreign financial aid at the time of Poroshenko’s term in office, a Ukrainian MP Renat Kuzmin said in a Facebook post. Kuzmin, a member of the Opposition Platform – For Live party, also published the anti-corruption bu...

‘Goodbye!’ Farage trolls EU Parliament with Brexit one last time, waving Union Jack flag before mic is cut off for ‘hate’ Brexit Party leader and MEP Nigel Farage gave his final speech in the European Parliament, denouncing the EU as an anti-democratic experiment. He waved the Union Jack flag to cheers from his UK colleagues as he said goodbye. As the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the agreement that would let Britain leave on January 31, Farage rose one last time to cap his 20-year term in the forum with a speech declaring victory and wishing the EU good riddance. Once we’ve left, we are never coming back. After 25 years of fighting for independence, this is my final contribution in the European Parliament. We we...

‘Throw a pokeball at it!’ Internet loses it over viral footage of otherworldly sea creature A TikTok user has appalled and perplexed social media with footage of an unrecognizable sea creature which looks like a disfigured octopus with a huge head, monstrous mouth, three tentacles, and breathing holes in place of eyes. Millions of users have watched the viral video, posted on January 25, with many speculating on what the mysterious creature could be. The guesses ranged from a mutated octopus or clearnose skate to a curled-up stingray. “Don’t know. Don’t care. Don’t like it,” one person remarked, while another joked: “Hurry, throw a pokeball at it!” //www.instagram.com/p/B7u2wJAh3n4 Some pitched far more out-there theories, such as the creature bei...

No deal: Everton reject €100m bid from Barcelona for Brazilian hitman Richarlison Premier League strugglers Everton have rejected a colossal €100 million bid for their Brazilian striker Richarlison, according to reports. Everton, who currently sit in 12th place in the Premier League, reportedly rejected the bid as soon as it was received from the Catalan giants as they opted to keep their squad together and look to strengthen, rather than lose one of their most valuable players. The 22-year-old striker has scored eight times for the Toffeemen so far this season, a tally that sees him listed alongside Liverpool front man Roberto Firmino and Manchester United forward Anthony Martial in the Premier League's top scorer's list. ...