Yesterday, demonstrators clashed with police in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.
Politics
Winter Olympics Spark Discussion Of Gay Rights
The Olympics are about athletics and competition.
However, with representatives from so many different countries coming together in one city, it is often about “politics” and “political issues” as well.
In other words, different countries have different rules, laws and beliefs.
Sometimes, countries’ beliefs clash.
That has been the case in Russia at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
New Rules To Become A Canadian Citizen
People who were not born in Canada may have to follow new rules to become Canadian citizens.
A new bill has been put forward that increases the length of time people must be physically in Canada before they can apply for citizenship.
They can’t say they live in Canada and then spend too much time outside the country.
The government says they want people to have direct experience of what it’s like to live in Canada, before they become a citizen.
The new rules extend the age for being able to speak and understand one of Canada’s official languages.
Previously, people 18 to 54 had to speak English or French and pass a Canadian knowledge test with the help of an interpreter.
How Would You Change The Senate?
What would you do with the Canadian Senate? Change the way Senators are chosen? Get rid of it? Keep it as-is?
The Senate is a legislative body of the government that has almost the same powers as the House of Commons.
However, members to the House of Commons are elected; the prime minister appoints Senators.
And these tend to be people from his own party, who have done good things for his party.
Once they are in the Senate, they almost always vote as their party does in the House of Commons.
The Senate was started this way in 1867 when Canada was formed.
It was supposed to be a place for “sober second thought”—thinking carefully about the laws sent to it by the House of Commons and sometimes improving them.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Resigns
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, resigned from his job on Tuesday.
Experts say this should help to ease some of the tensions that have been building in that country.
The tensions began in November when Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, made a surprise move to bring Ukraine closer to Russia rather than European Union (EU).
He asked Russia to lend Ukraine some money, rather than asking the EU for it. Ukraine needed the money to help its economy.
Many Ukrainians had looked forward to a closer association with the European Union because they felt it would bring democracy to their country.
East German Man Receives Contest Prize 45 Years Later
Gunter Zettl won a radio contest in 1969.
He correctly identified a song the radio station played, and he sent a postcard to the station with the name of the song (“Painter Man,” By The Creation).
Last week, 45 years later, he was finally given his prize.
The reason for the delay was political.
Following World War II, in 1945, Germany was seperated into two states: East Germany and West Germany.
At the time, Zettl was a teenager living in East Germany. Pop music was banned in East Germany at the time.
New Jersey Governor Embarrassed After Staff Member Caused Massive Traffic Jam
The governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, has had a rough start to the new year.
He’s a man the Republican Party in the U.S. is hoping will become a candidate for President of the United States one day.
But what happened recently may have put an end to that hope.
It goes back to an incident that happened last September.
That month, there was a huge traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, a bridge that links New York and New Jersey.
This wasn’t just any traffic jam.
Top Secret Document Released By CBC News
There has been a lot of interest lately into the way countries obtain information about each other.
CBC News recently reported that it has a document showing that Canada has spied on its trading partners.
“Spied” (spying) in this case means obtained information about another country which that country may not otherwise have been willing to openly share.
The CBC said Canada was conducting “espionage” (spying) because it was asked to by a department of the United States.
The document the CBC is referring to is a four-page document that outlines the spying activities.
The CBC said someone “leaked” it to them, meaning that someone sent it out when it was supposed to be secret.
The document was marked “Top Secret.”
“A Great Tree Has Fallen” – Nelson Mandela Laid To Rest
The father of South Africa was laid to rest on Sunday.
Nelson Mandela was an international icon who fought for peace and reconciliation.
During his life, he affected millions of people. He helped bring about the elimination of “apartheid” in South Africa.
Mandela died on December 5 at the age of 95.
On Sunday, he was given a state funeral, in his home village of Qunu, followed by a private graveside ceremony.
Nelson Mandela Memorialized By Prime Ministers, Presidents, Royalty, Citizens, Celebrities
The skies wept over thousands of mourners gathered yesterday in a soccer stadium in South Africa to remember Nelson Mandela.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, attended along with four former prime ministers: Jean Chretien, Kim Campbell, Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. Also in attendance was Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
Leaders of many other nations attended the memorial service to commemorate “the father of South Africa,” who passed away on Thursday at the age of 95.
But it was U.S. president Barack Obama that brought the crowd to its feet in a standing ovation with his words of praise for Mandela:
He makes me want to be a better man. He speaks to what’s best inside of us. After this great liberator is laid to rest, and when we’ve returned to our cities and villages and rejoined our daily routines, let us search for his strength, let us search for his largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves.
