Tag: politics

Environment News

NYC Marathon Cancelled In Aftermath Of Superstorm Sandy

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Two days before this year’s New York City Marathon was to take place, it was cancelled.

The marathon is one of the largest in the world, with more than 47,500 runners, most of whom travel from out of town to the city for the 42.2-kilometre run.

The run was to have been held on Sunday.

New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancelled the event because New York was still trying to clean up after having been hit by a devastating storm.

Superstorm Sandy hit the Caribbean and the eastern coast of Canada and the United States last week.

It came onto land in New Jersey on the east coast of the U.S., on Monday, Oct. 29.

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News Politics

Lincoln Alexander Was A Model For Young People

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Lincoln Alexander was the lieutenant-governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991.

He was the first black person to hold that post in the country’s history. He was also Canada’s first black Member of Parliament.

Lincoln Alexander died on Oct. 19, at the age of 90. He was given a state funeral, which is a high honour.

Alexander died in Hamilton, Ont., where he had lived for many years.

Throughout his career, Alexander supported youth leadership and he fought racism.

Alexander, born in 1922, was the child of a railway porter and a maid who came separately to Canada from the Caribbean to find a better life.

Their son, Lincoln, became one of Canada’s most inspiring leaders.

His firsts were many. He was the first black person elected to Canada’s House of Commons and the first black person to be named a lieutenant-governor.

He was the first black partner in a Canadian law firm and first black Minister in the Federal Government.

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News Politics

Dalton McGuinty’s Sudden And Shocking Retirement As Ontario’s Premier

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On Monday night, the Premier of Ontario did something surprising. He quit his job.

It was shocking, because most people didn’t see it coming.

Dalton McGuinty has been the Premier for nine years.

He is also the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, a position he has held for 16 years.

At the same time as he resigned, he also “prorogued” the legislature. That means he stopped all business taking place in the Ontario House of Commons.

Most of the work MPPs were working on has been cancelled until a new session is called.

No one knows exactly why McGuinty quit, and so suddenly.

Some people say he intends to run for leader of the federal Liberal party—in other words, take over the national Liberals so he can run for Prime Minister in the future.

Other people say he quit because his provincial government is in the middle of many difficulties including contract negotiations with some unions.

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News

Ikea Criticized For Airbrushing Women From Its Saudi Arabia Catalogue

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Ikea is a large chain of stores around the world that sells furniture and home accessories.

Recently the company came under fire for removing all of the images of women from the pictures in the Saudi Arabia edition of their catalogue.

In the Ikea catalogue, families are shown using and enjoying Ikea’s products. In the Saudi Arabia version of the book, none of the families show women in them.

In other editions of the catalogue, women are featured in the photos.

The images of women were digitally removed from the pictures in the catalogue. This is known as airbrushing or photoshopping.

Ikea said they shouldn’t have removed the images; they regret having done it.

Ikea prints more than 60 versions of its catalogue and sends them all over the world.

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News Politics

Romney’s Debate Performance Puts Him Back In The U.S. Presidential Race

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U.S. President Barack Obama has a reputation for being an eloquent speaker.

When he was first elected in 2009, he won the hearts of American voters with his smart, straight talk.

His opponent in the American presidential race this time around is Mitt Romney.

On Wednesday night, the two men who want to be president squared off in a debate.

Each debater spoke for two minutes on topics such as healthcare, the American economy and how they would create new jobs for Americans if they are elected.

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Politics

Canada And UK To Share Office Space

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Canada has hundreds of offices around the world in many different countries.

Recently, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) signed an agreement to share some of their embassies.

The two countries have a “common history and shared values,” Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a press release. He said the new arrangement will help Canada save money on office space and resources. It will also allow Canada to have offices in countries where they don’t already have them.

“Canada will be sharing space, as we do with other trusted countries, to get maximum reach at minimal cost to taxpayers,” said Baird.

Baird’s UK counterpart agreed that the two countries share common interests. The most “pressing international issue on our common agenda” is the situation in Syria, said William Hague, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

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Environment News

The “Average Canadian Family” Has Changed

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Do you think you live in an average family?

According to the latest Census of Population, published by Statistics Canada, “average” has changed.

Every five years, Canadians are asked questions about their families and their life.

For instance, “How many people live here?” and “What are their ages?”

Some new information from the 2011 was recently published.

That census counted 9.4 million families in Canada, up 5.5 per cent from 2006.

The other thing a census tells us is what Canadian families look like.

For instance, in 1961 (according to that census) the average family comprised 3.9 people.

In 2011 (according to the most recent census) the average family comprises 2.9 people.

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News Politics

A Plan To Help Eurozone Countries In Debt

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Europe’s central bank thinks it has a good plan to help countries like Greece, Spain and Italy. Those countries are struggling because they took on too much debt.

The idea is that the European Central Bank will agree to buy some of the debt.

In return, the troubled countries must agree to spend less money and to put their finances in order.

When countries lend money to other countries, they receive small payments called interest.

When a country borrows too much money, some of the people who lent the money begin to worry that they won’t get their money back. So they demand higher and higher interest payments.

This puts pressure on countries that are already having trouble paying back all the money they borrowed.

It pushes their debt even higher.

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News Politics

Many Ontario Teachers Withdraw From After-School Sports, Clubs

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The kids at many elementary and high schools in Ontario may not be participating in after-school sports or clubs for awhile.

That’s because the teachers who run the programs have been asked by their union to consider stop running them and to stop coaching.

Teachers in Ontario are part of a “labour union.” A union is a group of workers who band together for a common goal.

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Breaking News News Politics

U.S. Embassy In Libya Attacked

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An “ambassador” is a person who represents one country—in another one.

For instance, Canada has ambassadors in many countries around the world. They are high ranking diplomats who represent their country. They typically work from offices called embassies.

The U.S. has many ambassadors stationed around the world, representing the United States.

The U.S. has an embassy in Libya, in Northern Africa.

Libya has been in the news this year because it was part of the Arab Spring, in which some countries’ people protested against corrupt governments.

On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed.

Facts are still emerging about the incident—about why it happened and what the U.S. reaction to it will be.

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