On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. New Democratic Party candidate Max Lombardi is standing for election in the riding of Cambridge. Lombardi is an information technology specialist who has lived in Cambridge for 25 years.
Held since 2004 by Conservative Gary Goodyear, the riding of Cambridge includes the city of Cambridge, Ontario and the Township of North Dumfries, Ontario. Also running in the riding are Gord Zeilstra (Liberal) and Scott Cosman (Green).
Wikinews contacted Max Lombardi, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted.
For more information, visit the campaign’s official website, listed below.
Across Egypt hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets for the day, marking exactly one year since the outbreak of protests leading to 83-year-old longstanding ruler Hosni Mubarak’s downfall. The country’s decades-long emergency rule was partially lifted this week; meanwhile, a possible economic meltdown looms and a newly-elected parliament held their first meeting on Monday.
Protestors in Tahrir Square during the revolution. Image: Jonathan Rashad.Protestors in Tahrir Square today. Image: Gigi Ibrahim.
Despite the new parliament, military rule introduced following Mubarak’s fall last spring remains. Echoing the demands from a year ago, some protesters are demanding the military relinquish power; there are doubts an elected civilian leader will be permitted to replace the army.
The brief unity against Mubarak has since fragmented, with Secularists and Islamists marking the revolution’s anniversary splitting to opposing sides of Cairo’s famed Tahrir Square and chanting at each other. Initial demonstrations last year were mainly from young secularists; now, Islamic parties hold most of the new parliament’s seats — the country’s first democratic one in six decades.
Salafis hold 25% of the seats and 47% are held by the Muslim Brotherhood, which brought supporters to Cairo for the anniversary. Tahrir Square alone contained tens of thousands of people, some witnesses putting the crowd at 150,000 strong. It’s the largest number on the streets since the revolution.
Military rulers planned celebrations including pyrotechnics, commemorative coins, and air displays. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces took power after last year’s February 11 resignation of Mubarak.
Alaa al-Aswani, a pro-democracy activist writing in al-Masry al-Youm, said: “We must take to the streets on Wednesday, not to celebrate a revolution which has not achieved its goals, but to demonstrate peacefully our determination to achieve the objectives of the revolution,” — to “live in dignity, bring about justice, try the killers of the martyrs and achieve a minimum social justice”
Alexandria in the north and the eastern port city of Suez also saw large gatherings. It was bitter fighting in Suez led to the first of the revolution’s 850 casualties in ousting Mubarak. “We didn’t come out to celebrate. We came out to protest against the military council and to tell it to leave power immediately and hand over power to civilians,” said protestor Mohamed Ismail.
“Martyrs, sleep and rest. We will complete the struggle,” chanted crowds in Alexandria, a reference to the 850 ‘martyrs of the revolution’. No convictions are in yet although Mubarak is on trial. Photos of the dead were displayed in Tahrir Square. Young Tahrir chanters went with “Down with military rule” and “Revolution until victory, revolution in all of Egypt’s streets”.
If the protestors demanding the military leave power get their way, the Islamists celebrating election victory face a variety of challenges. For now, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi — whose career featured twenty years as defence minister under Mubarak — rules the nation and promises to cede power following presidential elections this year.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, pictured whilst he was still Mubarak’s defence minister, is now ruling the country. Image: Helene C. Stikke, US DoD.
The economy is troubled and unemployment is up since Mubarak left. With tourism and foreign investment greatly lower than usual, budget and payment deficits are up — with the Central Bank eating into its reserves in a bid to keep the Egyptian pound from losing too much value.
Last week the nation sought US$3.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF insists upon funding also being secured from other donors, and strong support from Egypt’s leaders. IMF estimates say the money could be handed over in a few months — whereas Egypt wanted it in a matter of weeks.
The country has managed to bolster trade with the United States and Jordan. Amr Abul Ata, Egyptian ambassador to the fellow Middle-East state, told The Jordan Times in an interview for the anniversary that trade between the nations increased in 2011, and he expects another increase this year. This despite insurgent attacks reducing Egyptian gas production — alongside electricity the main export to Jordan. Jordan exports foodstuffs to Egypt and has just signed a deal increasing the prices it pays for gas. 2011 trade between the countries was worth US$1 billion.
The anniversary also saw a new trade deal with the US, signed by foreign trade and industry minister Mahmoud Eisa and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. President Barack Obama promises work to improve U.S. investment in, and trade with, nations changing political systems after the Arab Spring. Details remain to be agreed, but various proposals include US assistance for Egyptian small and medium enterprises. Both nations intend subjecting plans to ministerial scrutiny.
The U.S. hailed “several historic milestones in its transition to democracy” within a matter of days of Egypt’s revolution. This despite U.S.-Egypt ties being close during Mubarak’s rule.
US$1 billion in grants has been received already from Qatar and Saudi Arabia but army rulers refused to take loans from Gulf nations despite offers-in-principle coming from nations including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Foreign aid has trickled in; no money at all has been sent from G8 nations, despite the G8 Deauville Partnership earmarking US$20 billion for Arab Spring nations.
A total of US$7 billion was promised from the Gulf. The United Kingdom pledged to split £110 million between Egypt and Arab Spring initiator Tunisia. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development says G8 money should start arriving in June, when the presidential election is scheduled.
The African Development Bank approved US$1.5 billion in loans whilst Mubarak still held power but, despite discussions since last March, no further funding has been agreed. The IMF offered a cheap loan six months ago, but was turned away. Foreign investment last year fell from US$6 billion to $375 million.
Rights, justice and public order remain contentious issues. Tantawi lifted the state of emergency on Tuesday, a day before the revolution’s anniversary, but left it in place to deal with the exception of ‘thuggery’. “This is not a real cancellation of the state of emergency,” said Islamist Wasat Party MP Essam Sultan. “The proper law designates the ending of the state of emergency completely or enforcing it completely, nothing in between.”
One year after the protests that led to his loss of power, Hosni Mubarak faces death if convicted of killing those protesting against him. Image: 2008 World Economic Forum.
The same day, Amnesty International released a report on its efforts to establish basic human rights and end the death penalty in the country. Despite sending a ten-point manifesto to all 54 political parties, only the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (of the Egyptian Bloc liberals) and the left-wing Popular Socialist Alliance Party signed up. Measures included religious freedom, help to the impoverished, and rights for women. Elections did see a handful of women win seats in the new parliament.
The largest parliamentary group is the Freedom and Justice Party of the Muslim Brotherhood, who Amnesty say did not respond. Oral assurances on all but female rights and abolition of the death penalty were given by Al-Nour, the Salafist runners-up in the elections, but no written declaration or signature.
“We challenge the new parliament to use the opportunity of drafting the new constitution to guarantee all of these rights for all people in Egypt. The cornerstone must be non-discrimination and gender equality,” said Amnesty, noting that the first seven points were less contentious amongst the twelve responding parties. There was general agreement for free speech, free assembly, fair trials, investigating Mubarak’s 30-year rule for atrocities, and lifting the state of emergency. A more mixed response was given to ensuring no discrimination against LGBT individuals, whilst two parties claimed reports of Coptic Christian persecution are exaggerated.
Mubarak himself is a prominent contender for the death penalty, currently on trial for the killings of protesters. The five-man prosecution team are also seeking death for six senior police officers and the chief of security in the same case. Corruption offences are also being tried, with Gamal Mubarak and Alaa Mubarak accused alongside their father Hosni.
The prosecution case has been hampered by changes in witness testimony and there are complaints of Interior Ministry obstruction in producing evidence. Tantawi has testified in a closed hearing that Mubarak never ordered protesters shot.
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Hisham Talaat Moustafa, an ex-MP and real estate billionaire, is another death penalty candidate. He, alongside Ahmed Sukkari, was initially sentenced to death for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim. A new trial was granted on procedural grounds and he is now serving a fifteen-year term for paying Sukkari US$2 million to slit 30-year-old’s Tamim’s throat in Dubai. Her assassin was caught when police followed him back to his hotel and found a shirt stained with her blood; he was in custody within two hours of the murder.
The court of appeals is now set to hear another trial for both men after the convictions were once more ruled unsound.
A military crackdown took place last November, the morning after a major protest, and sparking off days of violence. Egypt was wary of a repeat this week, with police and military massed near Tahrir Square whilst volunteers manned checkpoints into the square itself.
The military has pardoned and released at least 2,000 prisoners jailed following military trials, prominently including a blogger imprisoned for defaming the army and deemed troublesome for supporting Israel. 26-year-old Maikel Nabil was given a three year sentence in April. He has been on hunger strike alleging abuse at the hands of his captors. He wants normalised relations with Israel. Thousands have now left Tora prison in Cairo.
Michael Applebaum, the current interim mayor of Montreal, Québec, Canada, was arrested at about 6am local time (1000 UTC) yesterday morning by the Unité permanente anticorruption((en))French language: ?Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit on fourteen charges including corruption, fraud, breach of trust, and conspiracy, including reportedly a C$50,000 bribe.
File photo of Michael Applebaum in 2009. Image: abdallahh.
Commissioner Robert Lafrenière said the alleged illegal acts occurred between 2006 and 2011 and relate to two real-estate projects in the Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough. The CBC indicated one of these projects was the borough’s new 15 million dollar sports complex. Applebaum is now one of several Québec mayors who have been accused of corruption in the past few years, including the previous Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay and Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.
Several politicians are calling on Applebaum to resign, including Québec Premier Pauline Marois, to let the city continue on with its affairs. A few others, such as Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault, are suggesting to put the city on a trusteeship as Laval was a few weeks ago, but Municipal Affairs Minister Sylvain Gaudreault says this will not happen, as only a few people are implicated, unlike Laval, where nearly the entire city council was implicated.
Two other people were arrested on charges related to the same real-estate deals: Saulie Zajdel, former city councillor, on five charges; and Jean-Yves Bisson, a bourough official, on four charges.
A second interim minister is to be nominated for the rest of Tremblay’s term, until the next municipal election is held in November.
Motion detection technology used in spy cameras is in fact excellent. Spy cameras with motion detection technology work towards providing the greatest security as well as surveillance capabilities to the user. This piece of equipment is pinhole cameras integrated with a customary PIR motion detector container that is miniature in size.
A number of companies manufacturing surveillance equipments are providing these spy cameras. You can buy one that goes well with your finances and particular surveillance needs. The excellent thing about these is that the majority of these cameras are manufactured in such a way so as to be integrated directly into a distinctive surveillance system based on built-in alarm. This makes possible for easy installation and assimilation. On the other hand, to get the most out of your motion detecting spy camera you should be familiar with where to make use of a motion detecting hidden spy camera so as to take advantage of it in the most favorable way. Let us discuss a few of the top places where it is a necessity to set up a spy camera alarm system with motion detection.
With the violent and greedy world we live in at present, it has made motion detecting camera system an important part of every industry, office, business, school, college, and homes. Pick up any news paper or surf through any news channel you will see brutal massacre taking place in school and colleges, thefts, burglary at business premises, child abuse by babysitters, nannies, elder abuse by caretakers, thefts at home by hired help and so on. These are in particular put up in the majority of the organization, companies and homes in recent times. Another area of concern is the backdoor. There is certainly no doubt on the truth people make use of front door of their houses the majority of times they go out of or come inside the home. On the other hand, specialists in providing security think that it will be an excellent thing if you set up the security equipment in close proximity to the back door of your home. This is the most excellent means to watch closely on gatecrashers and burglars.
Your child’s bedroom is another area of concern. Spy cameras with motion detection and alarm system are excellent for homes with children. Given that children are most vulnerable, when you are away on your job, leaving them at the mercy of a nanny or babysitter. You can fix these in your child’s room to make out whether they are treated well in your absence. You will as well be updated as soon as they leave of their room. Installing a motion detecting spy camera with alarm system in retail outlets is as well imperative. Installing a motion detecting spy camera with alarm system in a retail outlets will warn about shoplifters and pilfering by employees in the stockroom.
At present, there are a number of kinds of motion detecting spy cameras available in the market. However, buy one that has a built in DVR and is state-of-the-art definitely! If you have a business or a lavish home, you need protection for which you require security camera to guard your belongings.
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A major winter storm, which has been nicknamed by some as “Snowmageddon“, has pummeled parts of the U.S. Middle Atlantic region, dumping up to 19 inches (50 centimeters) of snow in some parts of the Washington area.
The National Weather Service is predicting as much as 24 to 30 inches (60 to 75 cm) of snow for the Washington, D.C. region by late Saturday. The storm brought high winds and low visibility, with winds gusting at 56 miles per hour (93 kilometers per hour) along the coast.
Life in the nation’s capital ground to a halt with the federal government and most businesses closing early on Friday and residents warned to stay off the snow-clogged roads. Hundreds of thousands of homes were without power as the wet snow weighed heavily on trees and power lines. Power lines in some areas have been brought down by the heavy snow.
The Weather Service issued blizzard and winter storm warnings for states reaching from Virginia and West Virginia up to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Forecasters say this could be the largest recorded snowfall in Washington, rivaling a storm, known as the Knickerbocker Storm, that hit the city nearly 90 years ago, in January 1922. The largest amount of snowfall recorded so far has been in Elkridge, Maryland, reporting 32 inches (81 cm). The 1922 storm was named the Knickerbocker Storm for a theater where 98 people were killed when the building’s roof collapsed due to heavy snow. Snowfall in that storm measured 28 inches (71 cm).
Amtrak announced that it was canceling a number of trains between Washington and New York City, along with service from Washington to cities in the south. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, known as the Metro locally, has suspended bus service and above ground train service. Underground subway service is running at 30 minute intervals.
As the storm approached, residents emptied supermarket shelves, stocking up on food and other supplies, especially due to Super Bowl XLIV which will be held on Sunday. Local area sports teams in Washington, D.C. will still play games as scheduled. People are urged to take the Metro to see the games and not use the roads. Impromptu snowball fights have also broken with some people going as far as to organize them over Facebook and Twitter.
The winter weather has already been blamed for hundreds of road accidents. So far two fatalities have been reported, a father and son who were rendering aid to a stranded motorist on Interstate 81 in Virginia, when an approaching tractor-trailer jackknifed and killed the pair.
This is the second major snowstorm to hit the region in less than two months.
At least twelve civilians have died and over 25 wounded in a suicide bombing in the Hangu District of north-west Pakistan, Thursday night. A convoy of 140 vehicles running from Tall, in Hangu District to the town of Parachinar in Kurram Agency, FATA was targeted.
The victims, some of them women, were at a petrol station in Hangu. The wounded were taken to adjoining hospitals.
According to police, the attacker detonated a bomb near a fully loaded bus. The convoy carried several people, vehicles filled with provisions and commodities for trading. A majority of the people in the group were Shia Muslims.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Several insurgents have attacked the country’s North West Frontier Province in the last year. Earlier, three died in another suicide attack on a police station in Karak, located in the same area.
Many Shi’as dwell in the Parachinar and Orakzai area which has been home to violence in the past. The Tall-Parachinar road was closed to the public in 2008 and 2009 due to Taliban activity. The latter targeted Shia Muslims, sources say. The road was re-opened about two months ago, with convoys guarded by security forces forming the bulk of the traffic.
Hangu borders Pakistan’s tribal regions, where several militant groups are believed to be operating. However, security forces say that arrangements have improved from the past.
As clear from the name, short term health insurance is risk coverage for a shorter period of time. Sometimes it is also called temporary health insurance. Usually, short term health insurance plans are designed for healthy individuals and families. In its best use, temporary health insurance serves as a temporary solution while a change might be happening in the life of the consumers.Like in any other state, short term health insurance plans in Virginia last for 1-6 months. However, it can be renewed for a total of 36 months. Consumers should note that all types of coverage are not offered in a short term health insurance plan, e.g., pre-existing conditions are not covered in a short term health insurance.Who needs short term health insurance Virginia?Below is the targeted audience for short term health insurance plans:1. Consumers who are temporarily out of work but still need medical cover to save themselves from financial burden.2. Employees who got a new job and have not been enrolled in a employer-offered group health insurance plan. 3. College students.4. Consumers who are in a waiting period of a standard health insurance policy.5. Consumers losing dependent status and have not enrolled in a standard health insurance policy.6. Consumers who are on some type of strike; military discharge; or early retireesAdvantages of short term health insurance Virginia:As clear from the application of short term health insurance plans, lets discuss about some of the benefits that consumers can enjoy from these plans: Short term health insurance plans are less expensive than standard health insurance plans offered in Virginia. Consumers have the liberty to choose any doctor. In short term health insurance plans, there is no limitation of physicians network. A lot of companies in Virginia offer “Certificate of Creditable Coverage” to be used with the next employer’s health insurance policy. For consumers in Virginia, this could be very helpful in making sure that the new group coverage does not exclude a pre-existing medical condition. Short term health insurance provider coverage to dependents and family members as per rules.
A school bus, with fourteen students from the Temple High School aboard, crashed in Georgia, United States, earlier today on Georgia State Route 113 going southbound, killing one student and leaving a dozen more injured. It is reported that at the time of the crash there was a trainee driving the bus.
According to the Carroll County Schools Superintendent, one student was killed and a dozen others were in need of medical care after the bus rolled over. A spokesman for the mayor and a highway patrolman also confirmed that a student died. The student has been identified as James Rashawn Walker of Temple, Georgia. It is reported that the bus was heading southbound on the highway when the driver lost control and drove into a ditch, which caused the bus to turn over.
Witnesses reported the bus flipped multiple times before coming to a halt. According to a witness, Ben Cole, a lot of the students were crying and in pain. The six injured were taken to the Tanner Medical Center and the Higgins Hospital, among them was the 45-year-old female bus driver. The Carrol County Sheriff’s Department are advising concerned parents to gather at Temple High School.
Jackson in the Senate for confirmation hearing on March 21. Image: C-SPAN.The moment Kamala Harris announced the final vote result on Thursday afternoon.Image: C-SPAN.
On Thursday, the United States Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, becoming the first African American woman to sit on the Court.
The vote was 53 in favor of Jackson and 47 opposed, largely split along party lines between Democrats and Republicans, respectively. Susan Collins (Maine), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) broke ranks with their fellow Republicans to cast votes for Jackson. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the vote. Had there been a deadlock, she would have cast a tiebreaking vote.
Jackson and President Joe Biden watched the proceedings from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Biden nominated Jackson on February 25 to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. In 2020, Biden promised while running for President to nominate a African American woman to the Supreme Court, the country’s highest. Presidential nominations are required to be confirmed by the Senate.
On March 21, Jackson was introduced to the Senate by Thomas B. Griffith, a former judge on the Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. During her opening remarks, Jackson said: “My parents taught me that unlike the many barriers that they had to face growing up, my path was clearer, so that if I worked hard and believed in myself, in [the US] I could do anything or be anything I wanted to be.”
She closed with: “Members of this committee, if I am confirmed, I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and this grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years. During this hearing I hope that you will see how much I love our country and the Constitution and the rights that make us free.”
Biden and Jackson, February 25 when she was nominated Image: White House.
On the second day of confirmation hearings, Senator Josh Hawley (Republican; Missouri) challenged Jackson on child pornography cases over which she had presided. He questioned a three-month prison sentence handed out by Jackson in United States v. Hawkins where the prosecution had sought two years imprisonment. Federal Sentencing Guidelines recommended eight years in the case, based on the number of images. Jackson responded that she disagrees with the current guidelines, arguing they fail to differentiate defendants, and are contentious by the Sentencing Commission.
Jackson explained: “Congress has given the judges not only the discretion to make the decision but required judges to do so on an individualized basis taking into account not only the guidelines but also various factors including the age of the defendant, the circumstances of the defendant.” The defendant in the case was eighteen years old.
On the third day of the hearings, Jackson was pressed on how to apply Constitutional provisions written over two hundred years ago, to current issues. Jackson responded: “It’s a process of understanding what the core foundational principles are in the Constitution, as captured by the text, as originally intended, and then applying those principles to modern day.”
Senators Lindsey Graham (Republican; South Carolina) and Ted Cruz (Republican; Texas) continued a line of questioning from Tuesday on light sentences which led head of the Judiciary Committee Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat; Illinois) to intervene numerous times on Jackson’s behalf. While Durbin said Jackson was being interrupted, he was accused of filibustering in the nominee’s favor.
On the fourth and final day of the hearing on March 24, Durbin announced the Judiciary Committee would meet on March 28, potentially setting up a vote on Jackson for April 4. That day, Jackson herself was not present on March 24 as the Senate heard testimony from other parties, such as Wade Henderson, president of nonprofit group the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Henderson said of Jackson: “Her background is absolutely extraordinary and her demonstration and mastery of the law is second to none.”
Senator Marsha Blackburn (Republican; Tennessee) requested access to confidential pre-sentencing reports in Jackson’s past child pornography cases. Reports of this nature are confidential to protect the victims. Durbin refused, saying: “I would not want that on my conscience, that we did this for some political exercise here, which I think is totally unnecessary, and someone was harmed as a result of it. I’m going to resist it every step of the way.”
On April 4, the Judiciary Committee voted 11-11 on Jackson, a deadlock broken by a vote called by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) which sent it to the Senate floor.
Prior to her nomination, Jackson served as a clerk for Breyer, a federal public defender, a federal district court judge and a member of the sentencing commission, as well as an attorney in private practice.
The Supreme Court has eight associate justices and one chief justice.
A Texas man was rescued earlier this week after being adrift at sea for 31 hours, according to media reports on Monday. Joey Trevino, 37, was stranded along with three other men after their boat quickly sank off the coast of Port O’Connor, Texas.
With only their life jackets as support, the men floated in the water, unsure if they would be rescued. Reportedly, the boat sank before the men could radio for help. Trevino told reporters he could see the right-most engine at the rear of the boat sinking as the front of the boat rapidly elevated.
Three of the men were rescued by a supply boat about 24 hours after the sinking. The US Coast Guard was then notified that Trevino was still lost at sea. He was rescued 7 hours later, when a passing freight ship heard his cries for help. Reportedly, Trevino floated about 50 miles before being rescued. A Coast Guard spokesman stated that water temperatures in the mid-80’s was a positive factor in Trevino’s survival.
To maintain strength, Trevino told reporters, “You’re looking at the clouds, you’re looking at whatever.” He also stated he spoke to his wife, and to his children in hopes they could feel him speaking to them. Trevino stated he did wonder to himself, “Wow, should I just take off this jacket, and let it be over?” His courage was bolstered when he was bumped by a porpoise. “He kind of bumped me and I kind of rubbed him and he kind of changed my attitude right there,” Trevino told media.
