Malawi on Thursday became the latest African country to legalise the growing of cannabis, a crop that could supplement the tobacco industry, which has been the country's economic mainstay.
Lawmakers unanimously passed the new law legalising the farming, importing and exporting of cannabis for medicinal and industrial use, according to documents seen by AFP.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and has long relied on tobacco which brings in around 60 per cent of foreign exchange earnings.
Several countries have decriminalised the growing and use of medicinal cannabis.
The new law establishes a regulatory authority which will be tasked with issuing licences to cultivate, process, store, sell, export and distribute cannabis.
The law also requires that cannabis will be grown under strict practices, including prohibiting children in the sector.
Malawi was last December forced to confront child labour practices after the US restricted tobacco imports from the impoverished ...

Malawi passes medical cannabis legislation

PTI Automatic

English Championship clubs have agreed in principle to move the summer transfer deadline to the end of August following the Premier League's decision to change to that date.
The switch will bring the 24 second tier teams into line with Premier League, League One, League Two clubs.
English Football League chiefs will now start the process of formally adopting the change.
"EFL clubs have today reached an agreement in principle to amend the deadline of the summer transfer window to the traditional closing date at the end of August," an EFL statement said on Thursday.
The deadline for all EFL transfer activity this summer is likely to be September 1, with August 31 a Bank Holiday.
Premier League clubs recently voted to push the transfer deadline back to the end of August, overturning a decision made in 2017 to bring the deadline forward to before the start of the domestic season.
The 2017 system was used for the last two summers but after other European countries chose not to follow suit .

Championship clubs agree to move transfer window to end of August

An Afghan government delegation is going to Doha to make "initial contacts" with the Taliban, a senior official said Thursday, days before the signing of a historic deal in Qatar to withdraw US troops.
The accord would see thousands of US troops withdrawn from Afghanistan after more than 18 years, in return for various security commitments from the Taliban and a pledge to hold talks with the Kabul government.
Representatives of the Kabul government will be conspicuously absent from Saturday's signing ceremony, which as many as 30 nation are expected to attend.
But in the first sign of a potential opening towards intra-Afghan negotiations, National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said the government would send a six-person delegation to Doha to meet the insurgents following a request from "the Taliban and our international partners".
"It's a group called (an) initial contact group", he told AFP, adding that the delegation was "not a negotiating team and won't be negotiating ...

Afghan delegation to meet Taliban in Doha: government

The European Union is bracing for the economic hit from the new coronavirus epidemic, but it is still too early to estimate the magnitude, the bloc's commissioner for the internal market said Thursday.
Tourism is already feeling the pinch because "our Chinese friends haven't been coming to Europe for two months," Thierry Breton told a news conference.
He said supply chains reliant on China, including for the auto, medical, electronic, wood and toy industries, were also being affected. The commissioner spoke after a Brussels meeting of EU economy ministers.
If the disruptions continue, the EU stands ready to deploy economic support measures for virus-hit sectors after another ministerial meeting next month, Breton said.
Right now, however, "it's too early to say" what those measures would entail. "We are currently analysing the situation."
He added: "It's too early to measure the precise impact" from the coronavirus on Europe's economy.
Italy is the hardest-hit member state, with an ...

EU braces for economic impact of coronavirus

Moscow on Thursday sounded the alarm over the deteriorating health of a Russian pilot imprisoned in the United States on drug smuggling charges and urged Washington to act.
Konstantin Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in 2010 for drug trafficking, then transferred to the US, where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2011.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, citing Yaroshenko's wife, that the 51-year-old pilot's health has been worsening.
"We will look into this issue," she told reporters.
"We urge US authorities to honour their obligations," she said, adding that the Russian suffered from a number of health problems.
Moscow has suggested that Washington consider swapping Yaroshenko for a US citizen serving time in a Russian prison.
Russia's highest-profile American detainee is Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges.
He risks up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Whelan, a former US marine, maintains he has been framed and that he took 

Russia sounds alarm over health of pilot in US jail

Denmark will accept 30 refugees in the coming days as it reactivates a UN quota plan it suspended in 2016, authorities said Thursday.
"They are Syrians or stateless persons from Syria staying in Turkey," the country's immigration agency told AFP in an email.
A first batch are expected to arrive at the weekend under the aegis of the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
The policy reversal came after elections last June brought in a new left-wing government led by Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen, who has vowed a strict but "fair" immigration policy.
Legislation passed in 2017 with the support of the Social Democrats and the populist Danish People's Party has left the number of refugee arrivals to the discretion of the immigration ministry.
Denmark took in around 500 refugees per year from UNHCR camps between 1979 and 2016, according to the UN agency.

Denmark to resume taking in refugees

A cruise ship carrying 6,000 people which was turned away by Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after a crew member tested positive for flu has docked in Mexico, the company said.
The MSC Meraviglia arrived off Cozumel late Wednesday after receiving authorization from the local health authorities, MSC Cruises said in a statement.
The Cayman Islands and Jamaica had refused to allow the ship to dock over fears about the new coronavirus. A crew member had tested positive for regular seasonal flu.
The cruise firm said it was "extremely disappointed" that Jamaican authorities delayed a decision to give the ship clearance despite having been provided with medical records.
It said Grand Cayman authorities had also turned the ship away "without even reviewing the ship's medical records." "In both instances, the ship was effectively turned away simply based on fears," MSC said.
"No other cases of type A influenza have been reported on board MSC Meraviglia. Moreover, no cases of COVID-19 virus have 

Cruise ship blocked by Jamaica, Cayman over virus fears docks in Mexico

Chinese telecom giant Huawei said Thursday that it would begin manufacturing radio equipment for next-generation 5G networks in France.
The 200-million-euro (USD 218-million) facility will employ 500 people and produce equipment for the European market, Huawei chairman Liang Hua told a press conference in Paris.
The announcement comes two weeks after France said it would not bow to American pressure to exclude Huawei from supplying equipment for its 5G networks -- a stance also taken by Britain.
While saying it would not discriminate against Huawei, the French government said it would nonetheless prioritise European operators, such as Nokia or Ericsson.
The US contends that Huawei is too close to the Chinese government and that its equipment could be used as a tool for spying -- a contention the company has denied.
A US court last week dismissed a challenge by Huawei to a ban on the purchase of its products by US federal agencies.  5G, or fifth generation, networks offer vastly higher 

Huawei to manufacture 5G equipment in France: chairman

Iraq's divided parliament Thursday postponed a confidence vote for the government of prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi over lack of quorum, plunging the country deeper into political uncertainty.
The vote has been a key demand of Allawi as well as well populist cleric Moqtada Sadr who had threatened to organise mass protests outside parliament unless lawmakers backed the government in a vote this week.
After multiple meetings between parliamentary groups and key officials, including Allawi, parliament speaker Mohammed Halbusi postponed the session until Saturday.
The political wrangling coincides with unprecedented protests since October 1 in the capital and Iraq's south, demanding a complete government overhaul.
Prompting objections from protesters, political parties nominated Allawi as a consensus candidate this month, after President Barham Saleh threatened to unilaterally choose a premier if they failed to agree.
But two months after outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi's ...

Iraq parliament postpones confidence vote over quorum

Wall Street stocks tumbled again early Thursday, joining a sell-off in most global bourses on fears the coronavirus will grow into a significant international health crisis.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.2 per cent, or about 600 points at 26,353.01. The blue-chip index has fallen the last five days.
The broad-based S&P 500 slid 2.5 per cent to 3,040.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 2.9 per cent to 8,723.22.
The losses came after US public health officials confirmed a coronavirus case in California, the first affliction of unknown origin.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for school closures to prevent the spread of the illness, while French President Emmanuel Macron warned the country is "facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming."
Markets have been rattled by the prospect that lockdown measures such as those employed in China will become more widespread, denting global growth and producing a "nesting" ...

US stocks open sharply lower on virus fears, Dow -2.2%

Eighteen-year-old domestic worker Mary came to Lebanon to help support her family, but now a financial crisis is preventing her from sending money home to Ethiopia.
A crippling liquidity crunch in the Mediterranean country has drastically limited access to dollars, and tens of thousands of migrant workers toiling for remittances in the hard currency are suffering the backlash.
On a recent Sunday, Mary strolled down a bustling street in the capital Beirut with her girlfriends, dressed in an elegant outfit of skirt, jacket and ballerinas for her day off.
"I used to earn 400 dollars...but today I get my salary in Lebanese pounds," she said. "I can't send money to Ethiopia anymore."
Around her, migrant workers of all ages flocked to shops that sell imported food or clothes from home, the women in their Sunday best. Young men sat on the pavement outside calling centres and restaurants, music spilling out onto the street.
The Lebanese pound used to be easily exchangeable for dollars at a ...

In Lebanon, migrant workers hit by financial crisis

Cellphones of South Africa's state security minister and her deputy have been cloned by unknown hackers, an official said, in a breach described as "concerning".
It was discovered this week that the phones belonging to State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo and her deputy, Zizi Kodwa were cloned after "several strange messages" they had not composed were sent out from their lines.
"I can confirm the incident of cloning regarding the phones of the deputy minister and the minister and some several officials in the office of the minister," ministry spokesman Mava Scott said Thursday.
"It is the first time," it has happened since minister Dlodlo took over the ministry in May last year and "it's concerning", Scott said.
He said police have launched an investigation into the breach.

South African state security minister's phone 'cloned'

Britain put the prospect of a chaotic Brexit back on the table on Thursday as it set out its red lines for trade talks with the European Union.
In its mandate for the negotiations that start on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government rebuffed EU demands for common trading standards and continued fishing rights.
And it warned it could walk away from the talks if a "broad outline" of a deal is not agreed by a meeting planned for June.
This would see Britain's currently seamless trading arrangements with the EU, forged over half a century, abruptly end after a post-Brexit transition period expires in December.
"We want the best possible trading relationship with the EU, but in a pursuit of a deal, we will not trade away our sovereignty," senior government minister Michael Gove told MPs.
The European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of the EU's 27 member states, said it was preparing for all scenarios.
"The commission maintains its capacity to prepare for no deal ...

UK rejects EU trade demands, threatens to walk away

Thirty Soviet tanks of a type that became legendary in World War II are being restored to their original state in Russia after making an epic tropical journey from the southeast Asian state of Laos.
Some of the 30 T-34 tanks were still in use by the armed forces of the Communist state when Russia became aware of their existence and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu agreed their handover while visiting Laos last year.
More than 200 engineers and mechanics are now working on the khaki-painted tanks at a specialised repair factory just outside the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg.
Due to be fully restored by late March, they will roll across Red Square on May 9 in a special extended military parade to mark 75 years since the Allied victory over the Nazis, watched by world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron.
The tanks sent from Laos were built in the 1950s in Soviet-bloc Czechoslovakia.
Laos reportedly acquired them in 1987 from Communist ally Vietnam, where they were ...

Russia restores Soviet T-34 tanks retrieved from Laos

Britain's Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled in favour of environmental campaigners who oppose the building of a third runway at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest.
The court said the UK government -- which approved the Heathrow extension in 2018 after years of delays-- had failed to take into account commitments to the Paris Agreement on limiting global warming.
In reaction, triumphant campaigners called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- who in 2015 pledged to lie in front of bulldozers to stop Heathrow's third runway for both environmental and aesthetic reasons -- to finally cancel the project.
The legal action against the approval was brought by various London councils, environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. They lost at an original hearing in May.
Presenting a summary of the appeal ruling, judge Keith Lindblom said that two years ago, the government of prime minister Theresa May had given no explanation of how it ..

Climate campaigners win appeal to prevent new Heathrow runway

World oil prices tumbled by more than four per cent on Thursday, as traders fretted about the impact of spreading coronavirus on crude demand, particularly from key consumer China.
Brent oil for April delivery tanked almost 4.2 per cent to USD 51.20 per barrel, while New York's WTI crude for the same month dived nearly 5.0 per cent to USD 46.31.
"Concerns that the virus will prompt a global slowdown, weaker consumer confidence and reduced travel has raised concerns about lower demand, weighing on prices," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson told AFP.
Investors are growing increasingly fearful about the economic impact of the new coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak.
The virus continues to spread meanwhile, with Brazil reporting Latin America's first case, and Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Georgia, Norway and Pakistan following suit.
Around 2,800 people have died in China and more than 80,000 have been infected.
There have been more than 50 deaths and 3,600 cases in dozens of other countries, ..

Oil slumps more than 4 per cent on coronavirus fears

Jurgen Klopp recently labelled Juventus as the favourites to succeed his Liverpool side as winners of the Champions League, and Lionel Messi has also talked up the Italians' chances, but they looked nothing like contenders to lift the trophy as Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates fired blanks against Lyon on Wednesday.
Juve will have to come from behind in the second leg of their last-16 tie on March 17 after going down 1-0 in France as a first-half goal by Lucas Tousart separated the teams.
The French side were worthy winners, despite enduring a mediocre season in Ligue 1 and only just scraping through their group. They will be confident of scoring an away goal in Turin, too.
All the pressure is on the Serie A outfit. While their rivals talk them up, those within the club admit winning the competition is the major objective, although they have emphasised the importance of luck in the knockout phase.
"We are very lucky to be able to chase the Champions League dream, because if we ...

Juventus fail to convince as pressure for European success grows

Former two-time world 100m freestyle champion Filippo Magnini of Italy had his four-year doping ban overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday.
The 38-year-old had been banned in November 2018 by Italy's anti-doping agency (Nado), after which he retired from the sport.
But Lausanne-based CAS found that "there was insufficient evidence to conclude that
Filippo Magnini had violated the world anti-doping code".
"I WON. CAS acquitted me from any kind of accusation," said Magnini on Instagram.
"It has always been like this, I have always won races in the last few metres.
"They taught me never to give up. I have always been an athlete and a correct person. I tremble with joy."
An investigation into Magnini and fellow swimmer Michele Santucci was opened after criminal proceedings against a rogue nutritionist, Guido Porcellini.
Porcellini was banned for 30 years by the Italian authorities for trafficking doping products and counterfeit medicine.
Magnini's name was ...

Ex-world champion Magnini wins appeal against doping ban

Britain's Dan Evans upset sixth seed Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6 (11/9) on Thursday to reach the fourth ATP semi-final of his career with victory at the Dubai Championships.
World number 37 Evans said the thought of playing another set after more than two hours was just too much to consider and worked hard to wrap up victory in straight sets.
"It was tough, I just hung in at the end and got through," unseeded Evans said.
"But I just didn't fancy playing another set; I think that's what got me through."
The 29-year-old, whose previous last four appearances came in Zagreb in 2014, Sydney in 2017 and Delray Beach a year ago, needed nearly two and a quarter hours to advance.
He now awaits a Friday opponent as second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas plays Jan-Lennard Struff.
"Semi-finals in any tournament on the ATP Tour is great," he said.
"It doesn't  matter who it's (semi-finals) against. Everyone is so good here."
Evans faced constant pressure from the Russian who started this season with an ...

Impatient Evans beats Rublev to reach Dubai last four

World oil prices tumbled by more than four per cent on Thursday, as traders fretted about the impact of spreading coronavirus on crude demand, particularly from key consumer China.
Brent oil for April delivery tanked almost 4.2 per cent to USD 51.20 per barrel, while New York's WTI crude for the same month dived nearly 5.0 per cent to USD 46.31.

Oil slumps more than 4.0% on coronavirus fears

Nigerian police have rescued 24 babies and four expectant mothers from an illegal maternity home in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, a spokesman said Thursday.
"In a covert operation on Tuesday, our men burst a child trafficking syndicate at Woji in Port Harcourt where 24 babies between the ages of one and two, and four pregnant teenagers were rescued," Nnamdi Omoni told AFP.
He said the victims were looking "frail and malnourished" and had been hospitalised while investigations were ongoing to find those responsible for the facility.
Police raids on illegal maternity units -- dubbed "baby factories" -- have been relatively common in Nigeria, especially in the south.
The "factories" are usually small facilities parading as private medical clinics that house pregnant women and offer their babies for sale. In some cases, young women have allegedly been held against their will and raped, with their newborns sold on the black market.
But security services say many cases have seen ..

AFP

AFP

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