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Putin's United Russia party suffers at the polls
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party will presumably suffer a major loss in the parliamentary elections.
96 per cent of the votes have been counted so far. Electoral officials said the party had less than 50 per cent. This will most likely result in United Russia loosing its two-thirds majority in the Duma.
The vote is seen as a popularity test for Mr. Putin who plans to run for presidency in March.
Opposition parties have complained of violations of election laws. Golos is Russia’s only independent monitoring group. It says 5,300 complaints have been logged regarding these allegations. An opposition demonstration was held in Moscow on Sunday. Police say over 100 people were arrested.
NDP leadership candidates discuss economy
The NDP leadership debates have officially begun. The first of six debates took place in Ottawa on Sunday.
Candidates were invited to talk about Canada’s economy. The debate was organized in groups of three for the nine candidates.
The ability to speak French of the candidates was tested as questions were made in both of Canada’s official languages.
Candidates represented ridings in 5 Canadian provinces. Thomas Mulcair and Romeo Saganash were the two MPs representing Quebec ridings. President of the NDP Brian Topp, Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar and Toronto’s Peggy Nash represented Ontario. Robert Chisholm, and Martin Singh were the candidates from the maritime province of Nova Scotia. And Niki Ashton was the only candidate to represent a prairie province.
Nathan Cullen is the only one for leadership from the NDP stronghold of B.C.
The leadership convention is set for March 24.
WestJet plane makes Thunder Bay emergency landing
A WestJet flight made an emergency landing in Thunder Bay on Sunday after a bomb scare.
This was after a man became agitated and started talking about a bomb. The man is a Portuguese citizen with a history of mental illness. With no charges laid, he will be allowed to go back to Portugal.
A hundred and eighteen passengers were evacuated from the plane so police could search it. When they didn’t find a bomb, the plane was cleared to continue the flight.
The plane was headed to Toronto from Vancouver.
President of Responsible Solidarity Missions International says students can help
Victor Bourdeau is the president of Responsible Solidarity Missions International also known as MSR, a non profit volunteer organization. Wednesday night Bourdeau spoke at Unicef Concordia’s first Humanity Talk about his organization and the work that they do.
MSR sends students and recent graduates to work locally in Montreal and abroad in Haiti, Laos and Ghana. Depending on the country, volunteers can work in a variety of fields including art therapy, medicine and education. He says volunteering abroad can help students decide their career paths. After gaining practical experience, some students change their minds, others become more devoted.
"For those who stick to it we have seen, it’s been proven in our work that as they come back to university their dedication to the cause is even greater and you see their grades double up so that’s very gratifying."
Bourdeau has participated in four MSR missions to Haiti. He said that he’s had many gratifying experiences. But one that stands out was teaching martial arts workhops to children living in the slums shortly following the 2010 earthquake. When he came back this year, out of 30 children he trained, only three or four returned. Bourdeau said he learned to become more aware of the difference between what you’re trying to do and the impact you’re really having.
"Someone going for a couple of weeks can have the impression he’s a hero, he’s changing the world, he’s putting smiles on the face of children, but you need to comply to the rules of Haitian society first. You need to understand the social economic context, you need to know the rules of sustainable development and in that sense it’s very important to be properly educated before leaving."
"MSR is currently recruiting for their 2012 summer mission. For more information or to apply, check out their Facebook page MSR international or their website at www.msr-intl.com. For CJLO, I’m Fatima Arkin."
M for Montreal: Closing Event
It was a great week for the 6th edition of M For Montreal. This 4-day music extravaganza/fest/industry showcase that presents some of Montreal’s hip new talent did not disappoint with bands like Parlovr, Trigger Effect and Hollerado.
So it was not surprising that the closing night at Metropolis offered up some of the fest's best and what a night it was.
Marie-Pierre Arthur was the first to hit the stage and it was quite clear as to why. Regardless of the fact that her first album, Marie-Pierre Arthur, awarded her the Etolies Galaxie prize at Osheaga in 2010, she proved to be the weakest band of the night. She offered a pleasant, but not very captivating performance.
This band caused quite a ruckus at CMJ’s M for Montreal showcase in New York last month and, although the show here was a bit more subdued, they did not disappoint. They played “Give the Devil Back His Heart” and “Beggar in the Morning,” to name a few. Andres Vial made great use of different percussion instruments, and the fact that a harp, played by Sarah Page, was used in most of their songs put them in a league of their own.
Kicking it up a notch was Arianne Moffatt. The energy this Québécoise chanteuse had was completely infectious and her voice was dreamy. She got everyone moving and grooving to songs like “Réverbère.” The girls from Random Recipe even joined her at one point during her performance.
As soon as Random Recipe came on stage the crowd went wild. Frannie Holder captivated the audience with her angelic voice, while rapper Fab kicked it. Their performance was high energy and got the crowd jumping with songs like “Shining Star” and “Shipwreck.”
Galaxie pulled the night into a totally different direction with their garage rock tunes. It was easy to see how they won artist of the year at the GAMIQs, as they appeared well-seasoned rockers knocking back shots while playing “Piste 1,” which won them song of the year too.
Unfortunately I missed the last band of the night, Karkwa. Indica Records invited me to see their newly singed band Half Moon Run in Metropolis’ Salon and was I ever glad that I caught it. This trio was the band of the night for me. They have not even released an album yet, but they impressed everyone that was there. Their harmonies, matched with their haunting melodies, were a welcome addition to an already impressive night.
All in all M for Montreal’s closing night left you wanting to hear more. It’s easy to see that this music fest/industry showcase is starting to rank as the one of the top place to hear the best of what Canada has to offer.
-Rebecca M hosts The Commonwealth Conundrum every Wednesday from 5-6pm
Pitfalls in special needs education
Teaching children with special needs is a task that requires specific training. This is something many classroom teachers do not have. This may prevent children from improving. In some cases, it may also cause them to regress. Esther Viragh reports.
Syria crackdown death toll rises to 4000
The death toll in Syria has risen to four thousand. The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights announced the figure at a special emergency meeting Thursday.
He called the conflict a civil war. President Bashar al-Assad has refused to give in even after the Arab League suspended Syria’s membership.
The League made clear Thursday that they do not want foreign intervention.
Meanwhile, the European Union tightened sanctions on Syria.
The Arab nation’s energy, financial and trade sectors will be effected.
News December 2nd 2011
Read by Joshua Nemeroff
Produced by Erica Bridgeman
Stories written by Joel Balsam, Tanu Huff and Luciana Gravotta
Bromont Policeman dies after being hit by truck
A police officer was hit by a truck in the eastern township of Bromont Thursday. The 37 year old former RCMP officer died from injuries.
Vincent Roy was struck while giving out a ticket on the side of the road to another vehicle. But police say alcohol and speeding were not involved. And they are treating it as an accident.
All twenty officers in the Bromont force are being treated for shock and took the day off.
Provincial police will take over in the meantime.
Students give CSU, CJLO, CUTV the nod
And the results are in! It appears that students were in a giving mood for the holiday season as everything passed in the CSU By-Elections.
A ‘no’ campaign a week before the election stirred controversy but all the bylaw changes were put through.
The biggest one being that candidates for executive positions will run independently instead of with a slate.
Also, quorum for general meetings was lowered to four hundred and fifty and the currently inactive Senate of Faculty Associations was eliminated.
Another major change is that students will pay fifty cents less towards a student centre and send the money to a special CSU contingency fun.
Students have entrusted their community radio and television stations with some of that extra money. They gave CJLO and CUTV both the extra nine cents per credit fee levy. In return CJLO has promised that they will move to FM downtown and CUTV will be able to get on cable.
The CSU got the support they asked for in their fight to retain student seats at the Board of Governors and their opposition to tuition hikes as well.
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