LAWMAKERS OK LEGALIZING REC MARIJUANA
New York is poised to join a growing number of states that have legalized marijuana after state lawmakers reached a deal to allow sales of the drug for recreational use.
The agreement reached Saturday would expand the state’s existing medical marijuana program and set up a a licensing and taxation system for recreational sales.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill Tuesday, the earliest they could consider it.
It has taken years for the state’s lawmakers to come to a consensus on how to legalize recreational marijuana in New York. Democrats, who now wield a veto-proof majority in the state Legislature, have made passing it a priority this year, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has estimated legalization could eventually bring the state about $350 million annually.
Flooding in Nashville
kills at least 4. Torrential rains across Tennessee flooded homes and at least one church and left roads impassable, prompting dozens of people to be rescued in the Nashville area. Authorities said four bodies were found Sunday in the flood’s aftermath.
Nashville received more than 7 inches of rain, the second-highest two-day rainfall total ever recorded, Mayor John Cooper said at a news conference Sunday.
Nashville Fire Chief William Swann said swiftwater teams were placed on standby in anticipation of the storms. At least 130 people were rescued from cars, apartments and homes.
Slovak premier resigns to end crisis over Russian
vaccine. PRAGUE» Slovakia’s prime minister said Sunday he will step down to clear the way for a Cabinet reshuffle that will defuse a political crisis triggered by a secret deal to buy Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
Prime Minister Igor Matovic said he proposed swapping posts with Finance Minister Eduard Heger from his Ordinary People party and Heger said “I accept the challenge.”
Heger said he would immediately open talks with coalition partners on a possible new government and was planning to meet President Zuzana Caputova on Monday for consultations.
Rebels besiege town in Mozambique for fifth day.
JOHANNESBURG» Rebels fought the Mozambican army Sunday for the fifth straight day for control of the strategic northern town of Palma, as reports came in that dozens of civilians have been killed and bodies were littering the streets. The fate of scores of foreign energy workers was also unknown.
Some of the dead had been beheaded, according to Human Rights Watch. An attempt by expatriate workers to flee to safety came under heavy fire, causing many deaths, according to local reports.
The battle for Palma highlights the military and humanitarian crisis in this Southern African nation on the Indian Ocean. The three-year insurgency of the rebels, who are primarily disaffected young Muslim men, in the northern Cabo Delgado province has taken more than 2,600 lives and displaced an estimated 670,000 people, according to the U.N.