All the Indo-Canadian ministers in incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet appear to be retaining their seats in the House of Commons while New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh is comfortably ahead of his closest challenger.Between them, the three main parties, the ruling Liberals under Justin Trudeau, the principal opposition Conservatives and the NDP, have fielded as many as 54 Indo-Canadian candidates. The Liberals have 20 such nominees, the Conservatives 18 and the NDP 16.The community could be eyeing a record number of seats in the House of Commons. In 2019, as many as 23 Indo-Canadians were victorious in…
Author: Mike Harrison
Days after the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan ordered only boys and male teachers to come back to schools, restricting entry of girls, the United Nations (UN) said that doing so violates the fundamental right to education, the Tolo News reported on Sunday.The Taliban allowed boys from classes 6-12 to and male teachers to attend schools from September 18. “All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions,” a statement from the education ministry said ahead of classes resuming.After the Islamic Emirate’s violent takeover of Afghanistan last month, some schools reopened for girls up to class 6 and women were…
In the Taliban blitzkrieg that swept through Afghanistan last month, one province was determined to not let the insurgents succeed. The mountainous Panjshir province in the northeastern part of Afghanistan held on for the longest time, with the support from resistance leader Ahmad Massoud and former vice president Amrullah Saleh.And it was not just the men who hit back. “I fought them with stones,” 24-year-old Lailuma told New York Post. She said her whole family – husband, brothers, cousins, father-in-law, mother-in-law – was fighting the Taliban.Scores of other women too joined Lailuma and said they fought the Taliban with stones.Also…
Voters in Canada will head to polls on Monday to elect the country’s 44th Parliament. There is a lot at stake for Canada’s Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau whose popularity has plunged majorly, placing him in a tight race with Conservative leader Erin O’Toole.According to the Canadian government data, over 27 million people are eligible to vote in this year’s general elections. Approximately 5.78 million ballots have already been cast in advance polls.As per the pre-poll survey, neither the Liberals nor the right-leaning Conservatives have the 38% public support needed for a majority.Trudeau called the vote two years early to…
The 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) is set to kick off its high-level week, where discussions will be held on expanding access to Covid-19 vaccines and confronting the rising dangers of climate change. After being held virtually last year due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the event will see physical participation of leaders from members states in New York.It will go on till September 27 and the entourage accompanying the visiting leaders won’t be as large as in the past due to Covid-19 restrictions. Delegations will be limited to four members each in the main UN…
Police and FBI agents searching a national park in Wyoming for the missing Gabby Petito found a body “consistent” with the 22-year-old woman on Sunday but said they had not yet made a formal identification of the remains.The body was discovered in a remote area of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, near the Spread Creek Dispersed campground where law enforcement officials had directed their search, FBI spokesman Charles Jones said.”Earlier today human remains were discovered consistent with Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito,” Jones told an afternoon news conference.”Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100% that we found Gabby, but her…
The protected birds, found on Friday, were from a colony at Simonstown, a small town near Cape Town. The area is a national park and the Cape honey bees are part of the ecosystem. AFP | PUBLISHED ON SEP 20, 2021 06:40 AM IST A swarm of bees has killed 63 endangered African penguins on a beach outside Cape Town, the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds said on Sunday.”After tests, we found bee stings around the penguins’ eyes,” said the foundation’s David Roberts, a clinical veterinarian.”This is a very rare occurence. We do not expect it…
The latest changes in the UK government’s Covid-19-related travel restrictions have upset the Indian side as travellers who have got both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be considered “unvaccinated” and will have to undergo 10 days of quarantine.The new rules, which were unveiled on Friday and will become effective from October 4, were described by the UK as an attempt to change the current “red, amber, green traffic light system” to a single red list of countries and “simplified travel measures” for arrivals from around the world.Under these rules, only people who have got both shots of a double-dose…
Dr Francis Collins told Fox News on Sunday that the panel’s recommendation on Friday was correct based on a “snapshot” of available data on the effectiveness of Pfizer’s two-shot regimen over time. Agencies | PUBLISHED ON SEP 19, 2021 11:56 PM IST The US National Institutes of Health director says a government advisory panel’s decision to limit Pfizer’s Covid-19 booster shots to Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe disease is only a preliminary step, and predicts broader approval for most Americans “in the next few weeks”.Dr Francis Collins told Fox News on Sunday that the…
The decision to prevent most female city workers from returning to their jobs is another sign that the Taliban, who overran Kabul last month, are enforcing their harsh interpretation of Islam despite initial promises that they would be tolerant. Agencies | , Kabul PUBLISHED ON SEP 19, 2021 11:46 PM IST Women employees in the Kabul city government have been told to “stay home”, with work only allowed for those who cannot be replaced by men, the interim mayor of Afghanistan’s capital said on Sunday, detailing the latest restrictions on women by the new Taliban rulers.The decision to prevent most…