Canada’s Conservatives win long-sought majority
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on May 4th, 2011 4:34 am by HL
Canada’s Conservatives win long-sought majority
TORONTO — Canadians will face an unusually polarized political landscape for at least the next four years after one of the most stunning election outcomes in their country’s 144-year-old history.
The new Parliament will be dominated by the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who in elections Monday turned their five-year-old minority government into a solid majority.
Expanding on their base in western Canada, the Tories captured a wide swath of seats in and around Toronto, according to preliminary results released early Tuesday. They made deep inroads into increasingly influential immigrant communities, especially those of Chinese and South Asians.
Musharraf: Raid violated Pakistani sovereignty?
Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf said the killing of Osama bin Laden ‘was the success of all peace loving people of the world.’ But he also said the Americans should not have been allowed to operate independently in the country. (May 2)
EU official says ‘severe adjustment’ demanded from Portugal as part of €78 billion bailout
BRUSSELS — A European Union official on Wednesday rejected claims by Portugal’s caretaker prime minister that the country’s bailout program was less severe than previous deals for Greece and Ireland.
“He sold his highlights of the agreement,” the official said of Jose Socrates’ announcement on Portuguese television Tuesday night. “You have to take into account that they are in an election campaign.”
In his brief statement, Socrates said there would be no layoffs of civil servants, no change to job and welfare entitlements enshrined in the Constitution, and no cut in the minimum salary.
