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Nigeria’s recently elected President Goodluck Jonathan will need some of that luck to tame riots in the country. Enraged youth in the north have torched churches and homes in protest of the election. Reports have indicated dozens of deaths in the unrest.

Nigeria is a country marked with decades of violence. But international observers have called the weekend election one of the fairest in decades for the West African nation. The recently elected President has urged an end to the violence. He called on rival politicians to calm their supporters.

It was a quieter weekend on the campaign trail as leaders were reeling off their televised debate performances earlier in the week. 

NDP leader Jack Layton’s popularity has increased since the debates. He is taking advantage of this by campaigning in Liberal strongholds in the Atlantic and Quebec. Layton claims that the NDP and Liberals’ platforms are nearly identical. The main difference being that the Liberals have been in power and have broken promises to Canadians. 

In international news, Japan announced a plan Sunday that would bring the crisis over  the crippled nuclear power plant under control. Tokyo Electric Power Company’s chairman said the plan included containing radiation within the reactor and eventually removing the nuclear fuel. The crisis would be under control within six to nine months, with the possibility of some residents returning home.

Both Action and Your Concordia have filed complaints regarding the CSU CEO’s decision to disqualify both slates. 

Although filed separately, the opposing teams echo the same concerns. Both Lex Gill and Khalil Haddad point out the lack of evidence provided in Oliver Cohen’s disqualification letters. In order to disqualify a candidate, there must be clear evidence that a breach of regulations has taken place.

In Concordia news, ASFA’s chief electorate officer Nick Cuillerier presented his general election report to the ASFA council Thursday evening. Cuillerier proposed changes to the electoral regulations to encourage voter participation and ensure fairer elections in the future.

Among the suggestions made was the return of parties, slates, and affiliations in ASFA elections. This recommendation was highly contested by the council who ultimately voted to table the motion. Many executives agreed that the slate system had been toxic, preferring candidates to continue running solo.

Sixteen Mexican police officers have been arrested in connection with mass graves. The officers have been arrested for allegedly protecting gang members responsible for the murder of 126 people.

San Fernando, the city the arrested officers were from, is in the Northeastern part of Mexico close to the United States border. The mass graves were unearthed in the same area. They have been blamed on drug cartels.

The victims are said to have been public bus passengers. Officials have pinned down the Los Zetas drug cartel as a likely perpetrator of the crime.

After a day spent discussing it at length, the disqualification of both CSU slates was barely mentioned at Wednesday night’s council meeting. The issue was left off of the agenda, much to the disappointment of those watching from home, hoping for some answers. 

Before issuing her presidential report, Heather Lucas issued a statement on behalf of the CSU. It condemned the decision, calling it shocking and unfortunate. Lucas also reinforced that the current executive will have no hand in the ruling.

Read by Sarah Deshaies

Produced by Nikita Smith

Stories by Erica Fisher, Marcin Wisniewski, Alina Gotcherian

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was admitted to a hospital Tuesday. According to Egyptian state television, Mubarak suffered a  heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges. Egypt's chief prosecutor had been questioning Mubarak for two days.

The former Egyptian ruler maintained his innocence throughout the interrogation. He decried accusations, saying the probe was aimed at tarnishing his and his family's reputation.

Both the Your Concordia and Action slates have been disqualified from the CSU elections. Despite not issuing any violations during the election period, CEO Oliver Cohen sent an email to all members of both teams Tuesday night informing them of their disqualification. 

He listed “numerous” violations of campaign rules as constituting the disqualification of both teams. These violations include the campaign period and materials, procedures at the polling stations, and election expenses. 

Read by Erica Fisher

Produced by Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

Stories by Aisha Samu,Dominique Daoust, Joel Balsam and Sofia Gay