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Excerpt - The House of Commons has overwhelmingly passed a motion recognizing Québécois as a nation within Canada. Conservatives, most Liberal MPs, the NDP and the Bloc voted 266 to 16 in support of the controversial motion, which earlier in the day had prompted the resignation of Michael Chong as intergovernmental affairs minister. Fifteen Liberal MPs voted against the motion, along with Independant MP Garth Turner. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had introduced the surprise motion on Nov. 22, raising the ante on a Bloc Québécois motion that sought to declare Quebecers a nation without reference to Canada. The motion states:...

TORONTO -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper stunned Parliament on Wednesday by introducing a motion recognizing the French-speaking province of Quebec as a nation within Canada — a moved aimed at pre-empting Quebec's separatist party which intends to do the same. The Bloc Quebecois said it intends to introduce a motion Thursday that states Quebec is a nation. But the wording of that motion apparently does not include the words "within Canada," leaving federalists to worry it could be misinterpreted. The flap has reignited passions over whether the French-speaking province should be given independence. Quebecers have twice voted down referendums seeking...

The Conservatives have recovered their opinion poll lead over Labour following their annual party conference, according to a new survey. The ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph put the Tories on 38%, six points ahead of Labour on 32% with the Liberal Democrats on 20%. The findings come after an ICM poll last weekend ahead of the Tory conference in Bournemouth put the two main parties almost neck-and-neck, with the Conservatives on 36% and Labour on 35%. Asked who would make the better prime minister, 45% chose Tory leader David Cameron as against 34% for Chancellor Gordon Brown. The poll...

NEW DELHI: Almost five years after the Parliament attack, a special Pota court on Tuesday fixed October 20 for the hanging of Mohammad Afzal, the main convict in the case. Additional sessions judge Ravinder Kaur issued Afzal’s death warrant and ordered that the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant — sentenced to death in the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack case — be hanged at 6 am on October 20 in Tihar jail. The warrant comes after the s u p r e m e court upheld in August 2005 the death penalty awarded to him by the Pota court. In its order, the...

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER N. American students trained for 'merger' 10 universities participate in 'model Parliament' in Mexico to simulate 'integration' of 3 nations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 25, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com American University Professor Robert Pastor WASHINGTON – In another example of the way the three nations of North America are being drawn into a federation, or "merger," students from 10 universities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada are participating annually in a simulated "model Parliament." Under the sponsorship of the Canadian based North American Forum on Integration, students met in the Mexican Senate for five...

Sgt. Eli Chagoya, assigned to Multi-National Division – Baghdad’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, meets with a 6th Iraqi Army Division Soldier during a patrol on the streets of Baghdad in support of Operation Together Forward. Department of Defense photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Keith DeVinney. BAGHDAD -- On the same day the Iraqi parliament reopened after a month-long recess, the Iraqi president predicted an end to sectarian violence in Iraq, while the British foreign secretary discussed the importance of handing over security responsibility to the Government of Iraq.In Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraq’s Council of Representatives reconvened with...

CROCODILE Hunter Steve Irwin died in "quintessentially Australian circumstances," Prime Minister John Howard told parliament today. Irwin, 44, died when his chest was pierced by a stingray barb while swimming off the Queensland Coast yesterday. "Steve Irwin's death yesterday in bizarre, tragic, and in some respects quintessentially Australian circumstances has not only shocked and horrified the people of Australia but it has brought forth an outpouring of grief and an outpouring of emotional expressions of regard for this remarkable man around the world," Mr Howard said. Quoting actor Russell Crowe, Mr Howard said "the Crocodile man Steve Irwin was the...

SOUTH Australia's Parliament has voted to block the internet version of a speech from Australian Democrats MP Sandra Kanck which detailed ways to commit suicide. The Government last night presented a motion to Parliament's upper house which called for Ms Kanck's comments not to be displayed on Parliament's website. The motion was passed 10 votes to nine, with the Liberal opposition voting against the proposal on the grounds it would set a dangerous precedent. The speech will be included in the Parliament's hansard but deleted from the Hansard version placed on the internet. The vote followed a decision by state...

AMSTERDAM — Shots were fired as police raided a building on the Moerweg in The Hague on Friday. Dutch parliament buildings hermetically sealed by police Witnesses reported seeing masked men with automatic weapons entering a flat complex on Moerweg which has been sealed off by the police. Radio 1 News was told of people hearing gunfire. The police in The Hague have declined to comment at this stage about the reports. A spokesperson would only say police operations are taking place at several locations in the city. She would also not confirm that a raid was carried out at a...

Angry MPs demand recall of parliament Discontent over UK's Lebanon policy Patrick Wintour, Ewen MacAskill and Oliver Burkeman in New York Wednesday August 9, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Up to 100 MPs, most of them Labour, are to demand an immediate recall of parliament to debate the crisis in Lebanon because of growing fears about the government's strategy. The call is expected to come in the next 48 hours and its organisers have been in discussion with the Liberal Democrat and Scottish Nationalist parties. Negotiations are also under way with campaign groups backing the call for an immediate ceasefire that...

Dan Betzer and Louie - "Tell The Bible Classics Volume 3"

MADRID - Spain's parliament is to declare support for rights to life and freedom for great apes on Wednesday, apparently the first time any national legislature will have recognized such rights for non-humans. The resolution prompted criticism and ridicule at first. Parliament is to ask the government to adhere to the Great Ape Project, which would mean recognizing that our closest genetic relatives should be part of a "community of equals" with humans, supporters of the resolution said. The move in a country better known for bull-fighting would follow a string of social reforms which have converted Spain from one...

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hundreds Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a violent rampage against the Hamas-led government Monday night, riddling the parliament and Cabinet buildings with bullets to protest an attack against their comrades in the Gaza Strip by Hamas gunmen. The security men shot out the windows of the parliament before storming the two-building Cabinet complex, where they smashed furniture, destroyed computers and scattered documents. No casualties were reported. But the mob set fire to one of the Cabinet buildings, causing heavy damage as flames quickly spread. "Every time they touch one of ours...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved three new key ministers, including a Sunni Arab to head the defense ministry, ending a stalemate among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups over the crucial posts. The three, including ministers for national security and interior, were sworn in after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the death of al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The new defense minister is Iraqi Army Gen. Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim al-Mifarji and Shiites Jawad al-Bolani for interior and Sherwan al-Waili for national security. The posts are considered crucial for al-Maliki's government to implement a plan allowing Iraqi...

The embattled French president, Jacques Chirac, is facing a revolt among EU politicians against French-imposed treaty rules that oblige the European Parliament to travel to Strasbourg every month.There has long been resentment at the Strasbourg "travelling circus", involving not just aircraft and trains but thundering convoys of lorries carrying parliamentary paperwork, which costs taxpayers more than £130 million a year. Now, a "perfect storm" of opposition to Strasbourg has formed, after it recently emerged that the city of Strasbourg quietly pocketed £54 million from rent paid by the parliament since 1980 for its Strasbourg office buildings, which are owned by...

The federal Conservatives introduced legislation Tuesday to set fixed election dates. The bill, was tabled in the House of Commons by Democratic Reform Minister Rob Nicholson. The move follows an announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week that he would seek changes to election timing in Canada, arguing that such a move would keep leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar to their own political advantage. Under the bill, the next elections would be held every four years. The next federal vote would come on Oct. 19, 2009. From there, elections would be held on the third Monday in...

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's emir dissolved parliament on Sunday a week after lawmakers and the government clashed over an election reform law ahead of 2007 polls. The official Kuwait News Agency said a decree by Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah ordered the dissolution of the house a few days after reformist MPs submitted an unprecedented request to grill Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah over the disputed draft law aimed at curbing voting irregularities.

Jewish MP denies Iran badge plan From correspondents in Tehran 20may06 IRAN'S only Jewish MP strongly denied reports in a Canadian newspaper overnight that Iran may force non-Muslims to wear coloured badges in public so they can be identified. "This report is a complete fabrication and is totally false," Maurice Motammed said in Tehran. "It is a lie, and the people who invented it wanted to make political gain" by doing so. The National Post newspaper quoted human rights groups as saying that Iran's parliament passed a law this week setting a public dress code and requiring non-Muslims to wear...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born Dutch politician known for her outspoken criticism of Islam, plans to leave parliament and move to the United States after admitting she lied to win asylum in the Netherlands. Hirsi Ali, 36, sought asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, claiming to be escaping from an arranged marriage. She gained Dutch citizenship in 1997 and was elected to parliament in 2003. A storm erupted about her asylum application last week after a Dutch television documentary interviewed members of her family about her background. They said she had not been forced into an arranged...

OTTAWA - Laureen Harper didn't see it coming as she relaxed with her kids in an observation gallery. Suddenly her husband, on his first day in the House of Commons as Prime Minister, looked to her for confirmation that seduction wasn't his strong suit. Now, it might not come as a surprise to anyone that Stephen Harper's idea of a romantic encounter is a vigorous 10-second handshake before turning out the bedroom lights, but her jaw dropped before she laughed as the eyes of the Commons turned in her direction. To put this in context, the Prime Minister stood accused...