NY set to allow some use of medical pot

NY set to allow some use of medical pot

ALBANY, N.Y.

New York would become the 21st state to allow medical use of marijuana under an initiative Gov. Andrew Cuomo will unveil this week.

Cuomo plans to use administrative powers rather than legislative action to allow a limited number of hospitals to dispense marijuana for certain ailments. He will formally announce his plans in his state of the state speech Wednesday.

Violence, boycott mar Bangladesh vote

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Suspected opposition activists stabbed an election official to death and set more than 100 polling stations on fire across Bangladesh in a bid to disrupt general elections today that are taking place amid bloody street clashes and political vendettas.

The opposition and its allies are boycotting the vote, a move that undermines the legitimacy of the election and makes it unlikely that the polls will stem a wave of political violence that killed at least 275 people in 2013.

Small plane lands on interstate in NY

NEW YORK

A small plane traveling to Connecticut after taking a tour of the Statue of Liberty made an emergency landing Saturday on a New York City interstate highway, startling drivers but touching down safely with no serious injuries to anyone aboard or on the ground, officials said.

The aircraft, a Piper PA-28, set down about 3:20 p.m. on the northbound side of the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx, in an area where the highway passes through Van Cortlandt Park.

The Federal Aviation Administration said three people were on board. Police and fire officials said neither the male pilot nor two female passengers appeared to have been badly hurt. All were taken to a Bronx hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Bezos airlifted after kidney-stone attack

QUITO, Ecuador

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was flown by helicopter from a cruise ship in the Galapagos Islands for medical attention after suffering intense pain because of a kidney stone Wednesday, authorities said Saturday.

Capt. Santiago Rubio, commander of the port of Santa Cruz, tells The Associated Press that Bezos was on a cruise not far from the island when he felt the pains in his stomach area.

Rubio said Saturday the navy sent doctors to examine Bezos on New Year’s Day. The doctors determined that it was a kidney-stone attack, and Rubio authorized a helicopter to take the Amazon founder and Washington Post owner from the ship.

The captain said Bezos was taken to Santa Cruz port and from there a short flight to Baltra island where his private jet was waiting to take him to the U.S. for medical treatment.

Local influence takes hit in Boeing vote

SEATTLE

Under pressure from national union leaders, machinists in Washington state took a late-night vote that defied their local union bosses by narrowly approving a new labor contract that secures a coveted plane project for the Seattle area but moves workers away from pensions.

The tight count exposed deep rifts in the once-powerful union, but with plenty of states lining up to give Boeing exactly what it wanted to get work on the 777X, the aerospace giant had a tremendous advantage.

The company, the state’s governor and national union leaders all hailed the contract as a vital boost to the region’s economy, but to some observers the vote dealt a blow to local union influence.

Associated Press