360º News: International & National briefs
NATIONAL NEWS
Toronto city workers are preparing themselves for major job cuts after a memo from a top official was leaked. The memo contained information for city managers on how to help employees cope with being laid off. It also states that no decisions regarding job cuts will be made until the fall, but city councilors suggest this is the only way the city can make up for the $784 million shortfall in next year's budget.
On March 22, opposition leaders rejected the government's budget, meaning Canadians will likely be heading to the polls for a federal election in May. The Liberals have been leading the charge against Stephen Harper's minority government, arguing that Conservatives can't be trusted with budget numbers after a report concluded they were in contempt of Parliament. The government failed to produce all documents that had been requested and neglected to provide an acceptable explanation for withholding them, therefore impeding the abilities of MPs to carry out their duties. This is the first report of the government being held in contempt in Canadian history.
Four Greenpeace protesters were arrested after chaining themselves together and to a table in protest of the hearings being held in Courtice, Ontario, to discuss the possible expansion of the Darlington nuclear plant. After refusing the police requests for them to leave, the four protesters were taken away in handcuffs and charged with mischief. Another five protesters stood at the back of the room with their mouths taped shut.
After losing his mate and offspring to a young man on a bender last season, it looks as though Nick, the Stratford swan, might be on his way to finding love again, reported QMI Agency. Nick lost his mate Angela and offspring last season when an intoxicated young man on a bender killed Angela and destroyed her eggs. Nick spent the rest of the summer swimming near the nest and keeping to himself. A young female, leg band number 543, followed him around, but Nick wasn't feeling very social. "He chased her over the dam," said swan volunteer June Kinsman. Finally, a young female known as Lacey followed, but kept her distance. "She followed him all autumn and in the barnyard," Kinsman said. They've busted out of the winter quarters and made their way to the Avon River.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Dallas Wiens, 25, of the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas, became the second person in the world to receive a full face transplant. In 2008, Wiens was injured on the job when his face came too close to a high-voltage wire, burning his entire face. After a family generously donated a loved one's tissue for the transplant, Wiens will have the appearance, function and the sensation of the majority of his face. The only feature doctors could not restore is Wiens' eyesight.
An American fighter jet took off from a base in Italy on a strike mission, going after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's air defense systems in Libya. Overnight, the jet encountered mechanical problems, resulting in both crew members ejecting from the plane, landing in two different places. U.S. Marines rescued the pilot of the jet, while the weapons officer was recovered by Libyan rebels, who, according to CNN International, treated him "very well." Both crew members are safely back in the hands of the U.S.
Knut, the world's most famous polar bear, has died at the age of four. Knut was born at the Berlin Zoo in 2006, and, after being rejected by his mother, was raised by zookeeper Thomas Doerflein who died of a heart attack in 2008. Polar bears can live up to 30 years, so Knut's early death has promoted animal rights debates about whether Knut should have been raised by humans, and if polar bears should even be kept in zoos. An autopsy showed the cause of Knut's death was brain damage.
In a state where men have legally strolled the streets in nothing but tennis shoes and Portland hosts an annual naked bike ride, nudists appeared at the Oregon Legislature on March 21 - clothed - to ask lawmakers not to let their lifestyle get wrapped up in an effort to regulate strip clubs, reported the Associated Press. Nudist advocates testified against a bill that would ask voters to change free-speech protections in the state constitution to let communities keep strip clubs out of neighbourhoods. But, nudists warn, that might unintentionally allow cities to outlaw nude recreation. The measure at the heart of the hearing would allow cities to use zoning laws to regulate "the location at which a business or organization may offer live entertainment or other services performed by a person in a state of nudity."
— compiled by Kirsten Rosenkrantz
Toronto city workers are preparing themselves for major job cuts after a memo from a top official was leaked. The memo contained information for city managers on how to help employees cope with being laid off. It also states that no decisions regarding job cuts will be made until the fall, but city councilors suggest this is the only way the city can make up for the $784 million shortfall in next year's budget.
On March 22, opposition leaders rejected the government's budget, meaning Canadians will likely be heading to the polls for a federal election in May. The Liberals have been leading the charge against Stephen Harper's minority government, arguing that Conservatives can't be trusted with budget numbers after a report concluded they were in contempt of Parliament. The government failed to produce all documents that had been requested and neglected to provide an acceptable explanation for withholding them, therefore impeding the abilities of MPs to carry out their duties. This is the first report of the government being held in contempt in Canadian history.
Four Greenpeace protesters were arrested after chaining themselves together and to a table in protest of the hearings being held in Courtice, Ontario, to discuss the possible expansion of the Darlington nuclear plant. After refusing the police requests for them to leave, the four protesters were taken away in handcuffs and charged with mischief. Another five protesters stood at the back of the room with their mouths taped shut.
After losing his mate and offspring to a young man on a bender last season, it looks as though Nick, the Stratford swan, might be on his way to finding love again, reported QMI Agency. Nick lost his mate Angela and offspring last season when an intoxicated young man on a bender killed Angela and destroyed her eggs. Nick spent the rest of the summer swimming near the nest and keeping to himself. A young female, leg band number 543, followed him around, but Nick wasn't feeling very social. "He chased her over the dam," said swan volunteer June Kinsman. Finally, a young female known as Lacey followed, but kept her distance. "She followed him all autumn and in the barnyard," Kinsman said. They've busted out of the winter quarters and made their way to the Avon River.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Dallas Wiens, 25, of the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas, became the second person in the world to receive a full face transplant. In 2008, Wiens was injured on the job when his face came too close to a high-voltage wire, burning his entire face. After a family generously donated a loved one's tissue for the transplant, Wiens will have the appearance, function and the sensation of the majority of his face. The only feature doctors could not restore is Wiens' eyesight.
An American fighter jet took off from a base in Italy on a strike mission, going after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's air defense systems in Libya. Overnight, the jet encountered mechanical problems, resulting in both crew members ejecting from the plane, landing in two different places. U.S. Marines rescued the pilot of the jet, while the weapons officer was recovered by Libyan rebels, who, according to CNN International, treated him "very well." Both crew members are safely back in the hands of the U.S.
Knut, the world's most famous polar bear, has died at the age of four. Knut was born at the Berlin Zoo in 2006, and, after being rejected by his mother, was raised by zookeeper Thomas Doerflein who died of a heart attack in 2008. Polar bears can live up to 30 years, so Knut's early death has promoted animal rights debates about whether Knut should have been raised by humans, and if polar bears should even be kept in zoos. An autopsy showed the cause of Knut's death was brain damage.
In a state where men have legally strolled the streets in nothing but tennis shoes and Portland hosts an annual naked bike ride, nudists appeared at the Oregon Legislature on March 21 - clothed - to ask lawmakers not to let their lifestyle get wrapped up in an effort to regulate strip clubs, reported the Associated Press. Nudist advocates testified against a bill that would ask voters to change free-speech protections in the state constitution to let communities keep strip clubs out of neighbourhoods. But, nudists warn, that might unintentionally allow cities to outlaw nude recreation. The measure at the heart of the hearing would allow cities to use zoning laws to regulate "the location at which a business or organization may offer live entertainment or other services performed by a person in a state of nudity."
— compiled by Kirsten Rosenkrantz
