Politics

Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Joe Comuzzi, 73, was ousted from the Liberal caucus today by leader Stéphane Dion. The move was in response to Comuzzi's intention to support the Conservative government's second budget, tabled March 20, 2007. Comuzzi supports the budget because it has funding for a cancer research centre that will hire 300 people in his riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North in Northern Ontario. "It's for a single issue that's of absolute critical importance to all the people in Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario, and that's

The Bloc Québécois backed Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's second budget yesterday, which means that there will be no federal election yet. "Having said that, there's money on the table [for Quebec]," bloc leader Gilles Duceppe said, "so we'll take that money." However, the opposition Liberals and NDP did not back the budget. NDP Leader Jack Layton said the budget is giving more money to companies and less to Canadian citizens. The budget also has been criticized by some finance critics. "He should have had a strategy," Liberal Leader and for

Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May announced Sunday that she will seek the party's nomination for the seat of Central Nova in the next federal election. The riding is represented currently by Conservative Party MP Peter MacKay, who has held the seat since 1997. MacKay is Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. MacKay was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia and completed an Arts degree and Law degree in the province. His father, Elmer MacKay, who was with the Progressive Conservative

Talks of an election are beginning to rise again in the media as Canada's Conservatives rallied last night in Toronto. Conservative MPs came to the two day event in Toronto for a training session. It was a campaign-style event with about 5,000 party supporters. During the event, the Prime Minister talked of an expected upcoming federal election and other issues that are affecting the nation today. "We are here to plan," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the rally held on St. Patricks Day. "Plan for a future that could include an election.

An agreement to begin construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline to transport oil from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean was signed by Bulgaria, Greece and Russia today. The signing ceremony was held in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias, at the Presidential Palace in Athens, with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Prime Ministers of Greece and Bulgaria, Kostas Karamanlis and Sergei Stanishev respectively. The oil pipeline agreement is the end of months of negotiations between the three co

After having a meeting in Bari, Italy, on the 13th of March, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Romano Prodi, gave a press-conference, summarizing the results of their conversations. The main point the two leaders agreed on was that only diplomatic means should be used in solving such international conflicts as in Afghanistan, Iraq and, especially, Iran with its nuclear program issue. Mr. Putin confirmed once again his views on any use of armed forces in resolving such international conflicts. Mr. Prodi

In the wake of Jacques Chirac's announcement that he will not seek re-election, French politicians have taken the opportunity to distance themselves from him. Nicolas Sarkozy, the frontrunner to succeed Jacques Chirac, said that he "never felt like anybody's heir" and that "France is the republic, it is not something you inherit." French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who was also considered a potential candidate, has endorsed Sarkozy. Villepin and Sarkozy are members of the same party, but fell out years ago. Meanwhile, right-wing

Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry arrived to court to appear in front of a panel of previously subordinate judges to answer charges filed against him by the President General Pervez Musharraf. The Chief Justice's motorcade was surrounded by thousands of well wishers and lawyers who have come out on the streets of Pakistan's capital to express their solidarity as Pakistan observes a nation wide partial strike and black day. In a brief statement to the press, the Chief Justice said, "I am appearing in front of junior judges who are und

Zimbabwe police broke up a prayer rally protesting government policy on Sunday, arresting over 100 people, including the leader of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai. Zimbabwe police claimed that the prayer rally violated a government ban on political protests. Riot police reinforcements cordoned off the area where the rally was to be held, and searched cars as they entered. As political leaders approached the area, they were reportedly pulled out of their cars and detained. Witnesses reported heavily armed

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark has expressed an interest of extending daylight saving time in New Zealand after a petition to extend daylight saving was closed, gathering 35,000 signatures. The petition was launched by Peter Dunne, leader of the United Future party, and Nelson city councillor, Mark Holmes in October, 2006. The petition requests "...that the House call upon the Government to provide 3 extra weeks of daylight saving to begin on the last Sunday of September and end on the first Sunday in April." Ms Clark says tha

The Malta Labour Party (MLP) wins this year's round of local elections, in which the turnout was 68 per cent, which could have been higher perhaps had it not rained all day yesterday. The Malta Labour Party wins an absolute majority of around 53 per cent and the Partit Nazzjonalista (Nationalist Party) 43 per cent, with the rest of the votes going to Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) and independent candidates. In 2004, the last time elections were held in the same localities, the MLP won 50.2 per cent of the vote, with the Nationalists securin

"I will not seek your votes for a new mandate." With these words, the President of France, Jacques Chirac (74) announced during a radio and television broadcast at 20:00 UTC that it's time for him to serve his country in a different way. The announcement was widely speculated about and did not come as a surprise. The official announcement gives the candidate from the majority party UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy, more freedom during the next six weeks that remain before the Presidential elections in France. Although Sarkozy is from the same party as Chi