News

Todays news was read and produced by Erica Bridgeman.

The stories were written by Alina Gotcherian, Michael Moore and Michael Lemieux.

While Canadiens fans are focusing on the team’s first round playoff matchup with the Boston Bruins, an ex-Habs is having a legal faceoff of his own.

Former captain Vincent Damphousse was charged yesterday with six counts of assaulting his wife, Allana Henderson. The assaults allegedly took place between 2008 and last month.

Damphousse did not accompany his lawyer to the Montreal courthouse to enter a not-guilty plea.

According to Montreal police, the former Hab is also pressing assault charges against Henderson, who is expected to be arraigned later this month.

Read by Gareth Sloan

Produced by Melissa Mulligan

Articles by Erica Fisher, Jessica MacDonald and AJ Cordeiro

A total of eight people were arrested during an anti-nuclear protest on Wedenesday. 

At the Montreal headquarters of Hydro-Quebec, six activists clad in Hazmat suits were detained. Two others were arrrested at Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission public hearings in Becancour. 

Four chained themselves to the doors in protest of plans to keep Quebec’s only nuclear power plant open. Two climbed onto a roof to hang a banner in protest and were taken into custody.

The four major party leaders squared off Tuesday night in the first debate of the campaign.  The atmosphere was feisty with Mr. Harper calmly deflecting criticisms of his leadership. 

Here's news that'll put your summer internships plans to shame: two Canadian men have made the shortlist for a social media marketing internship where the final candidate will work for Hollywood actor and bon vivant Charlie Sheen.

Sheen's Twitter account reached 1 million followers faster than any other account, helped by his erratic behaviour and eccentric sayings.

Eighty-two thousand people from 181 countries applied for an eight-week internship managing the beleaguered star's social media presence. That number was recently whittled down to 50.

When Lachlan Fletcher came to CJLO he had a vision for his – then desert rock themed – show The Subplot; have a theme and make it fun. He did just that and went on to become a dedicated volunteer at the station. When he wasn’t hosting his show, he would be recording a band and when he wasn’t doing that, he could be heard reading the news. In 2009, Lachlan was nominated for CJLO Diego Award for Best Radio Voice and won the award for Best New Show.

The mayor of Montreal has fired the city’s comptroller amid revelations of a spying scheme involving a city council chairman.

City comptroller Pierre Reid led an investigation aimed at Lachine borough mayor Claude Dauphin. The investigation revealed troublesome details of alleged dealings between Dauphin and a Lachine demolition company.

France’s ban on wearing Islamic face veils in public officially came into effect Monday. This is the first ban of its kind in the world. Those wearing the religious niqab or burka in public will have to pay a fine of 150 euros, which amounts to about 200 Canadian.

Police have said enforcing the ban will be difficult. The French government believes that the law is to protect the fundamental principles of secularism and gender equality. Meanwhile, many are denouncing the law as Islamophobic and racist.

It was another weekend of fierce campaigning for Canada’s party leaders. 

NDP leader Jack Layton was in Toronto Sunday to unveil his party’s platform. Layton’s plans include a 3 per cent hike in corporate tax rates. This would bring in an estimate $10 billion by 2015. Other NDP platform points include the hiring of doctors and nurses, and tax cuts for job-creating small businesses. Conservative candidate James Moore said the platform would hurt Canadians. He said all the NDP wants is a coalition government and higher taxes.

Colonel Moammar Gadhafi has accepted a roadmap for ending the civil war in Libya.
This announcement came from South African President Jacob Zuma after leading a delegation of African leaders at talks in Tripoli.
                             
The African Union's road map calls for an immediate cease-fire, co-operation in opening channels for humanitarian aid and starting a dialogue between the rebels and the government.                  

The Concordia Student Union’s decision not to consult with the Arts and Science Federation of Associations will cost them.

When the two organizations bought tickets for Youth Action Montreal conference in January, they agreed to sell them for twenty dollars each. However, due to low ticket sales, the CSU decided to give their tickets away for free. They did so without consulting ASFA, rendering them unable to sell their own tickets. However, ASFA’s logo was still on the posters which said the tickets are free.