Author: RT

It’s official: Britain leaves the European Union as ‘transition period’ comes into effect A deeply divided United Kingdom has officially ended its 47 years of European Union membership as the clock strikes 11pm in London and midnight in Brussels — and the slated 11-month ‘transition period’ has formally begun. The long and rocky road to the divorce began three-and-a-half years ago when 52 percent of Brits voted to cut their losses and take their country out of the 28-member bloc (now 27).  Three prime ministers, two general elections, and plenty of national anxiety and rancor later, the day has finally arrived, in a moment long-awaited by some and desperately dreaded by others. What are the immediate changes? While Britain’s exit from the EU is a se...

Senate votes down Democrats’ witness demand in Trump impeachment trial The Republican-majority Senate has rejected Democrats’ demand for additional witnesses in the impeachment trial of US President Donald Trump, paving the way for the likely acquittal verdict expected sometime next week. Senators voted 51-49 not to call on more witnesses beyond the 18 that testified in the proceedings led by the House Democrats last year. Two Republicans, Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), joined the Democrats in calling for additional witnesses – such as former national security adviser John Bolton. The rest of the GOP sided with the president’s lawyers, who argued that all the relevant testimonies and documents should have been produced during the ...

Trump to expand travel ban, targeting immigrants from 6 more countries US President Donald Trump will issue an updated version of his controversial travel ban, acting Homeland Security head Chad Wolf said Friday. The existing ban will remain in place, having been okayed by the Supreme Court in 2018. Speaking to reporters by phone, Wolf said that the updated ban will suspend immigrant visas for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria. Non-immigrant visas from these countries will not be affected.  ‘Diversity Visas’ – handed out by lottery to boost immigration from countries with low rates of immigration to the US – for nationals of Sudan and Tanzania will also be restricted. Wolf said that the countries in question have failed to meet A...

Here comes another one! Khabib Nurmagomedov congratulates his cousin Umar for signing with the UFC (VIDEO) Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin and teammate of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, has signed with the UFC, according to an Instagram post by Khabib posted Friday. Khabib took to social media and posted a message of himself alongside Umar and a horse, with the message: "Me, horse and a @UFC fighter. "Little brother @umar_nurmagomedov you'll have a lot to prove, when I signed with the #UFC there were a lot of people who didn't believe in me, but my team and my people believed and supported me. "Believing in Almighty and hard work will bring the result. "You got everything for it, now act and prove that you deserve to be among the best athl...

Crimean official quits, changes her mind, then quits again after bizarre ‘bread and fur coats’ scandal "Fur-coat gate" has gripped Crimea after a local official resigned, then re-instated herself, before – somewhat unbelievably – later resigning again. All in the space of a couple of days. The controversy started when Maya Khuzhina was pictured handing out pieces of bread to elderly veterans of the Second World War Leningrad blockade while wearing an expensive animal skin. The siege of the city – now Saint Petersburg – by Nazi Germany and its Finnish and Italian allies, lasted 872 days and resulted in over a million deaths, a great many of them from starvation. In her role as chair of the city council of Kerch, an ancient settlement on the Black Sea...

Trump gives US military back internationally-banned landmines in full-frontal assault on Obama-era regulations US President Donald Trump has overturned an order banning landmines passed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, whose mere signature seems to mark even the most benign legislation as a target for presidential wrath. Trump has reversed a 2014 order that banned the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines, saying that the ban posed an unacceptable risk to US troops, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham announced on Friday. “Landmines are an important tool that our forces need to have available to them in order to ensure mission success and in order to reduce risk to forces,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper declare...

French coach accused of rape admits ‘intimate relationship’ with former skater Sarah Abitbol French figure skating coach Gilles Beyer, who was accused of sexual assault, has admitted to having an ‘intimate relationship’ with Sarah Abitbol, who was underage at the time. On Thursday, renowned athlete and ten-time French pairs skating champion Abitbol accused Beyer of systematic sexual assault and rape between 1990 and 1992, when she was between the ages of 15 and 17. READ MORE: French champion figure skater accused of sexually abusing 13yo US female athlete “He started doing horrible things… sexual abuse, and I was raped when I was 15. It was the first time that a man touched me,” the seven-time European medalist said. The 62-year-old coach admitted t...

Scientists turn bee guts into medicine factories to FIGHT OFF deadly pathogens In a development that could save the US economy tens of billions of dollars, researchers have developed a technique to immunize honey bees against two major pathogens using bioengineered bacteria. Last winter, US beekeepers lost 40 percent of their honey bees; it was the highest mortality rate since national surveying began 13 years ago. Honey bees contribute approximately $20 billion-worth of value to US crop production, so safeguarding them is huge from both an economic and conservation standpoint.  Also on rt.com Not the bees! Pentagon wants to use swarms of AI-powered drones for ‘rescue’ missions Like many of the best solutio...

Macron’s Brexit blues: Britain quitting EU is ‘historical alarm signal’, says French leader on ‘sad day’ of UK withdrawal In a televised address to mark Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, French President Emmanuel Macron branded Brexit a “historic alarm signal” which should “spur” deep EU reform to build a powerful and efficient European Union. Describing Friday as a “sad day”, Macron said the 2016 Brexit campaign was based on lies, exaggerations, and cheques that were promised but will never materialize. He said the UK leaving the bloc was a shock, but that it came about because Europe had been used as a scapegoat for difficulties “all too often”. Also on rt.com Remainers’ last stand: British pro-EU cheerleaders m...