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- Minister supports fixed election date of October 2027 amid boundary disputes
- Bernie Sanders criticises GOP rhetoric on Abdul El-Sayed as racist and appalling
- Police officer injured by Molotov cocktail during Paris protests describes ordeal
- Arsenal move to the top of Premier League after victory at Liverpool
- Poilievre calls for end to diesel taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget
- Pennsylvania Governor calls for lawmakers to lead by example amid campaign rhetoric
- Family of Henry Nowak speak on the impact of his fatal stabbing by Vickrum Digwa
- RAF drones deployed to monitor Russian vessels in English Channel for first time
Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
What’s the Latest: Minister backs 2027 fixed election date as Elections Alberta suggests change
Alberta’s Justice Minister Mickey Amery confirmed that the provincial election is scheduled for on or before 18 October 2027, rejecting Elections Alberta’s request for a delay related to electoral boundary changes. Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure indicated that either holding the election with current boundaries or postponing it would ensure proper integrity and safeguards.
Elections Alberta will release a report this week addressing new electoral boundaries, with the Opposition alleging gerrymandering in Lethbridge and Calgary. Justice Minister Mickey Amery stated that the legislature will determine the final electoral boundaries by the end of the fall sitting, allowing approximately 320 days for preparation before the next provincial election scheduled for on or before October 18, 2027.
Alberta’s Justice Minister Mickey Amery dismissed Elections Alberta’s request to delay the 2027 provincial election, asserting the government has “no intention of changing” the established date, which he noted provides “certainty and predictability” regarding the electoral process. A contentious report on new electoral boundaries is expected to be tabled in the legislature, which may lead to further discussions and potential adjustments before the election date.
What remains unclear — The details of the contentious report on electoral boundaries have not yet been publicly released.
Minister supports fixed election date of October 2027 amid boundary disputes
Alberta’s Justice Minister, Mickey Amery, has rejected a request from Elections Alberta to postpone the next provincial election amid ongoing concerns about changes to electoral boundaries. In a letter to the elections agency, Amery stated that the government has “no intention of changing” the fixed election date set for on or before 18 October 2027. He emphasised that the established date gives “certainty and predictability concerning the democratic process.”
The minister’s remarks follow a suggestion from Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure, who indicated either maintaining the current electoral boundaries or delaying the vote could allow sufficient time for the elections body to prepare effectively. McClure’s comments, which were made in a letter to Speaker Ric McIver, were later shared with the Opposition NDP.
A report on new electoral boundaries, which the NDP claims amounts to gerrymandering in southern Alberta cities like Lethbridge and Calgary, is due for release. Allegations of gerrymandering involve the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favour a specific political party, a practice more commonly associated with the United States. Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi expressed concerns over the new boundaries, claiming they could exacerbate divisions between rural and urban voters.
McClure has warned that the complexities of the report and potential disputes may delay the electoral preparations. He noted that organising a typical provincial election requires up to 18 months of preparation, and his agency is currently under substantial strain. Despite this, Amery reassured that the legislature would review the report and establish the electoral boundaries within the fall session, providing approximately 320 days for election readiness.
In 2024, Premier Danielle Smith shifted the fixed election date from May to October to prevent conflicts with natural disasters common in Alberta’s spring months.
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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