Year: 2024

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers have approved a government plan to liberalize rules on cannabis, paving the way for the country to decriminalize limited amounts of marijuana and allow members of “cannabis clubs” to buy it for recreational purposes. Parliament’s lower house voted on Friday to back the legislation, a

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks clung to modest gains on Wall Street Friday, giving the market another record high and a winning week. The listless day for stocks capped off a mostly solid week of earnings where the technology sector once again powered the market higher. The sector

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States have mobilized advanced stealth fighters as their militaries staged a joint drill over the Korean Peninsula. Friday’s training comes after rival North Korea conducted a spate of missile tests this year. South Korea’s air force says the drill involved

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press On a surprise visit to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer directly challenged House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up a $95 billion national security package that includes aid for the besieged country. Schumer told reporters in Lviv on Friday that “the weight

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito made his first speech to the nation since a deadly earthquake hit the north-central region of Koto, with a message marking his 64th birthday on Friday. The ceremonial ruler expressed grief for people affected by the Jan. 1 earthquake, praying for their recovery and

By SYLVIE CORBET and BARBARA SURK Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French actor Judith Godrèche called on France’s film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse during a live broadcast Friday of the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars. “We can decide that men accused of rape no longer

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Rev. Viachaslau Barok was a familiar face in Rasony, a town in northern Belarus near the Russian border, overseeing construction of its Roman Catholic church and celebrating Mass daily for two decades. He got into trouble in December 2020, the height of anti-government demonstrations, when