Canada Senate votes to legalise pot
Ottawa: Canada’s Senate passed a law legalising recreational marijuana, moving it closer to becoming the first member of the Group of Seven nations to legalise the production, sale and consumption of the drug. Bill C-45, or the Cannabis Act, passed the Senate with 52 votes for, 30 against and one abstention. The Cannabis Act will now go back to the House of Commons, which passed the bill in November 2017 but needs to sign off on changes made by the Senate. Legalising weed was a 2015 campaign promise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. AFP
Xi confers upon Putin ‘highest state honour of China’
beijing: President Xi Jinping on Friday awarded China’s first friendship medal to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as the two leaders firmed up their alliance amid mounting US diplomatic and economic pressure on them. Xi presented the medal described by the official media as the “highest state honour of China” at a ceremony during which he expressed his respect and admiration for Putin’s contributions and efforts to building a peaceful world. pti
Celebrity chef, food critic Bourdain commits suicide
New York: US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, host of CNN’s food-and-travel-focused “Parts Unknown” television series, hanged himself in a French hotel room, CNN said on Friday. He was 61. Bourdain was found dead in a hotel room in Strasbourg, France, where he had been working on an upcoming episode of his programme. Bourdain became popular with his best-selling book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly”, which was an expose on the world of haute cuisine. Agencies
