general elections

Lawmakers in Jamaica are to debate a constitutional amendment that would replace Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and make the island a republic. The legislative agenda also includes a proposal to fully legalize marijuana for “specified purposes.” The Independent reports: The proposal is a “major action item” on the new government’s 2016-2017 legislative agenda, and would replace the Queen with a Non-Executive President, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen said Thursday in a speech to parliament posted on the government’s website.

In the latest blow to Brazil’s embattled President Dilma Rousseff, VP Michel Temer’s PMDB will split with the coalition government, further isolating the Worker’s Party as the country lurches towards a political meltdown.

Rand Paul’s campaign for the White House ended with a fifth-place finish in Iowa. But Senator Paul has a more important job than running for president, and the conclusion of his presidential bid lets him get back to it. He does, of course, represent the people of Kentucky in the United States Senate. But he represents something else as well: the best foreign-policy traditions of the Republican Party.