Canada's conservative government is toppled by the opposition with accusations of mismanagement. This now sets the scene for a May general election -- the fourth in less than seven years. The leader of the main opposition party said enough was enough. Opposition legislators reacted with delight at the vote result, 156 -145. But opinion polls indicate the conservatives are well ahead of the main opposition Liberal Party. Canada s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he did not believe people wanted another election. The election is likely to be fought on two main themes, ethics and economy.
US President Barack Obama said Saturday the international mission in Libya was clear and focused, and succeeding by saving countless innocents from a “bloodbath” threatened by Muammar Qadhafi. Under increasing pressure to explain his strategy to Americans, Obama gave his most detailed review of the conflict so far, and insisted American national interests were behind his decision to order US forces into UN-mandated combat. “Make no mistake, because we acted quickly, a humanitarian catastrophe has been avoided and the lives of countless civilians —innocent men, women and children —have been saved,” Obama said in his radio and online address. The president said a week into the operation that when innocent people were brutalized, by a leader like Qadhafi threatening a “bloodbath” and when nations were prepared to respond together “it’s in our national interest to act.” “And it’s our responsibility. This is one of those times,” Obama said. “Every American can be proud of the lives we’ve saved in Libya,” he said. The president has faced criticism that the mission to set up a no-fly zone is ill-conceived and has no clear end date or exit strategy, but he previewed arguments he is likely to muster in a national televised address on Monday. “Our military mission in Libya is clear and focused,” Obama said, noting the no-fly zone was mandated by the UN Security Council and that an international coalition was protecting Libyans to prevent “further atrocities.” “We’re succeeding in our mission. We’ve taken out Libya’s air defenses. Qadhafi’s forces are no longer advancing across Libya. “In places like Benghazi, a city of some 700,000 that Qadhafi threatened to show ‘no mercy’ his forces have been pushed back,” Obama said. Obama made clear to Americans wary of yet another foreign military adventure however that the goals of the mission were limited and that “responsibility for this operation” would be transferred to US allies and Nato partners.
The two week National Cherry Blossom Festival opens in Washington on Saturday. This cherry blossom event begins with donation and solemn DC tribute to Japan. The flowering trees that symbolize friendship between the United States and Japan are blooming for the 99th time in Washington in the wake of one of the world s worst natural disasters. Before the opening of the festival, organizers held a fundraising walk and vigil on Thursday among the trees for victims of Japan s March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Several hundred people gathered at the Washington Monument to donate money, with some holding Japanese flags or signs of support. The donation will be used by American Red Cross for relief efforts in Japan. Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki attended the donation ceremony and gave a speech, expressing his appreciation of the support from the American people. The festival director Diana Mayhew said, "Tonight, two days before the festival starts, we are just gathering people, inviting people for moment of reflection here at the Washington Monument and then walk the Tidal Basin in the spirit of hoping rebuilding for Japan." This event has also attracted people from all walks of lives, including John R. Malott, president and CEO of Japan America Society of Washington. "I think at this time the Japanese people need encouragement from us, they need to know that all of the friends overseas, whether in China or the United States, are thinking about them. And we all want to do anything we can to help them recover and rebuild their nation," he said.
India's ruling Congress party on Saturday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party for denying revelations India s ruling Congress party on Saturday slammed the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for denying the fresh revelations by Wikileaks that one of their leaders said that Hindu nationalism was an opportunistic issue for the party. The latest Wikileaks expose published by a national newspaper said BJP leader Arun Jaitley in May 2005 spoke to an American diplomat and expressed his view saying Hindu nationalism was an opportunistic issue for the party. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Shakeel Ahmed, spokesperson of India s ruling Congress party said parties like BJP and Hindu ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers Corps) have always used religion for their own selfish means. Ahmed also said BJP and RSS have again proved that they make comments to suit their needs. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the party only disagreed to the word opportunistic being used and that the party did not take an opportunistic stand. BJP had been demanding the Congress party to clarify its stand on the cash-for-vote scandal, wherein the federal government was accused of buying lawmakers in 2004 to win their confidence in the Indo-U.S nuclear deal, as revealed by Wikileaks. But the Congress, siting an Indian magazine, said, the cash-for-scam was engineered by the BJP in collusion with a television news channel.
Japan's government has revealed a series of missteps by the operator of a radiation-leaking nuclear plant, including sending workers in without protective footwear in its faltering efforts to control a monumental crisis. The US Navy, meanwhile, rushed to deliver fresh water to replace corrosive saltwater now being used in a desperate bid to cool the plant's overheated reactors. Government spokesman Yukio Edano urged Tokyo Electric Power Co to be more transparent, two days after two workers at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plant suffered skin burns when they stepped in water that was 10,000 times more radioactive than levels normally found near the reactors. "We strongly urge TEPCO to provide information to the government more promptly," Edano said. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, or NISA, said TEPCO was aware there was high radiation in the air at one of the plant's six units several days before the accident. And the two workers injured were wearing boots that only came up to their ankles - hardly high enough to protect their legs, agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said.
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