The Daily Populous

Wednesday March 4th, 2020 night edition

image for Spain plans 'only yes means yes' rape law

Spain's government has backed a proposed change to its controversial rape laws that focuses on the importance of sexual consent.

The new law will abolish that distinction so that rape will instead be decided by the question of consent.

Several European countries already define rape as sex without consent.

The UK, Sweden and Germany are among those that do, and Spain has joined Denmark in planning to change its definition.

The law is being named "only yes means yes", to reflect the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on violence against women.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption "Only yes means yes" has been one of the mantras of protesters calling for reform of Spain's rape laws.

The court in Navarre in northern Spain decided that the woman had not faced violence or intimidation, as intimidation was considered key to establishing the crime of rape. »

Opioid prescription rates drop in states with medical marijuana — except Michigan

Authored by metrotimes.com

click to enlarge Shutterstock.com. Here’s a headline that should confound the folks who still maintain that marijuana has no medical use: “Medical marijuana reduces opioid prescribing rate.”

Its author, Dwight Blake, compared the number of opioids prescribed in states with medical marijuana before the law changed and after the law changed.

It’s not clear why this happened other than the Michigan medical marijuana licensing and sales system has only been up and running for this past year.While Michigan voters legalized medical marijuana in 2008, the state legislature refused to create a licensing system for medical marijuana provisioning centers for eight years. »

‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: ‘Fleabag’s Brett Gelman Upped To Series Regular

Authored by deadline.com
image for

EXCLUSIVE: Brett Gelman has been promoted to series regular on Netflix’s Stranger Things season 4.

On the hit series, Gelman plays Murray Bauman, the journalist-turned-conspiracy theorist who was first introduced in season 2 and had a significant role in season 3.

This news comes fresh off the heels of Gelman’s wide success with Amazon’s Fleabag sweeping awards season as the Best Comedy Series category at the Emmys, Golden Globes, and the Critics’ Choice. »

Kremlin critic Navalny says bank accounts frozen

Authored by france24.com
image for

Russia's main opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Tuesday that authorities had frozen all of his bank accounts and those of his family, including his elderly parents.

His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told AFP that the accounts had been frozen due to a money-laundering probe against Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's foundation, said authorities had also blocked the bank accounts of his family. »