Month: July 2017

Marijuana aficionados lined up at pharmacies across Uruguay on Wednesday to be among the first in the South American nation to legally buy pot as a law regulating its sale took full effect.   Customers sniffed pungent green buds and grinned as they showed off blue-and-white envelopes containing the substance, which is now available as …

Read more “Legal Pot Sales Begin in Uruguay Under Landmark 2013 Law”

Russia will retaliate against Poland if it follows through on its decision to tear down Soviet-era World War II monuments, the speaker of Russia’s upper house says. …

Thirty-five European children have died from measles in the past 12 months in what the World Health Organization calls an “unacceptable” tragedy. The deaths could have been prevented by a vaccine. A measles outbreak in Minnesota sent nearly two dozen people to the hospital. Still, some parents in developed countries continue to believe false reports …

Read more “Measles Kills 35 Children in Europe; Minnesota Outbreak Not Over”

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a voter fraud commission launched under his administration will be “very transparent” and the results will be made available publicly, once a report is written. The panel’s work will be “very open for everyone to see” Trump said during the commission’s first meeting. “You will approach this important …

Read more “Trump: Voter Fraud Commission Will Be ‘Very Transparent’”

The Pentagon has voiced concerns to Turkey after the NATO ally’s state-run news agency published U.S. base locations in northern Syria, in a move that could deepen distrust between the two NATO allies and endanger U.S. forces in the area. …

Iran continued to be the “foremost state sponsor of terrorism” in 2016, with groups supported by the country maintaining their ability to threaten the United States and its allies, a new report by the U.S. State Department says. …

Amazon has begun selling ready-to-cook meal packages for busy households in a bid to expand its groceries business.   Amazon-branded meal kits come with raw ingredients needed to prepare such meals as chicken tikka masala and falafel patties. They can help households save time; a kit for salmon with soba noodles can be prepared in …

Read more “Ready-to-cook Meals from Amazon in Bid to Expand Groceries”

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer over the weekend “shocking” and “inexplicable” and said his diplomats were seeking answers from U.S. authorities. A Minneapolis police officer shot Justine Damond, who was originally from Sydney, around midnight Saturday while responding to an emergency call …

Read more “Australian PM Demands Answers on Minneapolis Police Shooting”

A federal court in California has convicted the former head of South Korea’s earthquake research center of accepting bribes and money laundering. Prosecutors say Heon-Cheol Chi received more than $1 million from U.S. and British seismological companies in exchange for insider business information. He concealed the money through the U.S. banking system. Chi was found …

Read more “US Convicts Former Head of S. Korea Earthquake Office of Bribery, Money Laundering”

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second, previously undisclosed conversation during the Group of 20 summit in Germany earlier this month, the White House said on July 18. …

Macedonia on July 18 rejected suggestions it could end a dispute with Greece over its name by adopting an acronym instead, saying it sounded like “Klingon” language from the Star Trek series. …

The White House said on July 18 that it will nominate Jon Huntsman Jr., former ambassador to China, to be U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Russia. …

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to extend martial law until December in the southern island of Mindanao, where the military has been fighting a bloody two-month insurgency by Islamic militants. More than 500 people have been killed in the conflict, which began after a failed attempt by security forces to capture Isnilon Hapilon, …

Read more “Philippine President Asks for Extension of Martial Law in Mindanao”

A senior Russian diplomat has suggested that Moscow and Washington are close to an agreement that would restore Russian access to two diplomatic compounds that were seized in December by then-President Barack Obama’s administration. …

Iranian media reported on July 17 that a soldier opened fire on his comrades, killing three and injuring six others before killing himself. …