TORONTO (AP) — Canadians should be able to smoke marijuana legally by July 1, 2018, a senior government official said Monday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will introduce legislation to legalize recreational marijuana the week of April 10th and it should become law by July next year, said the official, who spoke on condition … Continue reading
Author Archives: naiyabrooks
Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny gets 15 days in jail
MOSCOW (AP) — The wave of nationwide demonstrations that shook Russia’s long dormant political scene over the weekend showed a new face of protest: mostly teenage demonstrators driven by accusations of high-level official corruption, glaring amid the nation’s painful two-year recession. A year before facing re-election, President Vladimir Putin has a dilemma: to further tighten … Continue reading
20,000 evacuated after fire at military arsenal in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Around 20,000 people were evacuated Thursday, Mar. 23 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region near the border with Russia after a massive fire at a military arsenal. The fire at the depot in Balaklia, which holds large-caliber artillery rounds and is one of Ukraine’s largest, erupted early Thursday, prompting the evacuation and Prime … Continue reading
Le Pen visits Russia weeks before French presidential vote
PARIS (AP) — French far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is headed to Moscow for meetings with lawmakers less than a month before the election, officials from her National Front party said Thursday, Mar. 23. Her visit Friday comes on the heels of a trip this week to Chad, base of a French military … Continue reading
Polish historian’s book on killing of Jews exposes raw nerve
JERUSALEM (AP) — A prominent Polish historian presented evidence Wednesday, Mar. 14 about Polish villagers’ widespread killing of Jews fleeing Nazis during World War II, touching a raw nerve in a country still grappling with its role during the Holocaust. The research is likely to irk the nationalist Polish government, which has taken aim at … Continue reading
Yahoo breach spotlights links between Russian spies, hackers
MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. indictment of two Russian intelligence agents and two hackers alleged to have stolen more than half a billion U.S. email accounts in 2014 has cast a spotlight on the intertwining of the Russian security services and the murky digital underworld. The officers of the powerful FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, … Continue reading
Kremlin denies violating nuclear arms pact with US
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Thursday, Mar. 9 rejected U.S. claims of Russian violations of a landmark nuclear arms treaty, saying it has respected the pact and will continue to do so. The controversy over the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty adds another thorn in the side for U.S. President Donald Trump’s declared goal of … Continue reading
Slovenia winemakers want Croatia Teran permit suspended
SEZANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenian winemakers said Friday, Mar. 10 they expect the European Commission to suspend the procedure of issuing a permit to Croatia to use the Teran red wine brand in the 28-nation bloc. The head of a Slovenian group to protect Teran, Marjan Colja, told The Associated Press that his group has “no … Continue reading
Poland confirms Minnesota man as Nazi commander
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland will seek the arrest and extradition of a Minnesota man exposed by The Associated Press as a former commander in an SS-led unit that burned Polish villages and killed civilians in World War II, prosecutors said Monday, Mar. 13. Prosecutor Robert Janicki said evidence gathered over years of investigation into … Continue reading
Hungary’s president re-elected for 5-year term
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian lawmakers re-elected President Janos Ader to his largely ceremonial post on Monday, Mar. 13 ensuring another five-year term for a supporter of populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government. Ader, nominated by Orban’s governing Fidesz party, defeated Laszlo Majtenyi, a former ombudsman for data protection nominated by the left-wing opposition. Ader won … Continue reading
Epic ‘Planet Earth II’ offers creatures’-eye view of nature
LONDON (AP) — From jungles to deserts to mountains, the BBC’s epic nature series “Planet Earth II” takes viewers around the world — and around many genres of television. The fortitude of a penguin family tugs heartstrings like a love story. The snail’s-pace courtship of a three-toed sloth is soothing comfort TV. And a life-or-death … Continue reading
Ukraine’s president vows to resume coal supply from east
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine’s president on Thursday, Feb. 16 pledged to resume coal supplies from separatist-controlled parts of the country after it was blocked by volunteer battalions, threatening to disrupt the country’s power supply. Fighting in Ukraine’s industrial east between government troops and Russia-backed rebels has killed more than 9,800 people since April 2014. Despite … Continue reading
Trudeau hails EU-Canada trade deal in speech to EU lawmakers
STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday, Feb. 16 hailed a new trade pact with the European Union, telling the EU parliament that the deal they approved this week will create jobs and boost the middle class on both sides of the Atlantic. In his address, the first by a Canadian … Continue reading
Albanian police find ton of marijuana hidden under house
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian police say they have arrested a man who allegedly had 1.25 metric tons (1.38 tons) of dried cannabis hidden under his house. A police statement Thursday, Feb. 16 said the drugs were found packed in plastic bags and hidden in underground tunnels that the man allegedly had dug under his … Continue reading
Defense minister says Serbia will get Russian fighter jets
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s defense minister said Sunday, Feb. 12 the country is getting a shipment of Russian fighter jets, supplies that could worsen tensions with neighboring states. Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic said after returning from one of his frequent visits to Moscow that six MiG-29s will be delivered to Serbia “soon.” Djordjevic said … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 