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BRINGING HARMONY TO ALL THE COMMUNITIES
Volume 12 Issue 324 Muharrum 16, 1434 AH / November 30, 2012 - $1
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France backs Palestinian UN bid, Harper pressures Abbas to drop bid
New Portman Bridge to open all lanes
The Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry announced when the Portman bridge opens on December 1. Cars, pickup trucks and SUVs will be charged an introductory toll of just $1.50 per crossing. That number will jump up to the previously announced rate of $3 on March 1, but the government says drivers who register for a free tolling account by Feb. 28 will continue to pay the introductory rate for Read more on Page 15. another nine months.
Egyptians stage mass anti-Morsi rally Tens of thousands of people are staging a protest in the Egyptian capital against President Mohamed Morsi, who last week granted himself sweeping new powers. “The people
want the regime to fall,” the crowds chanted. Protesters and riot police clashed in Cairo on Tuesday near Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago. Lawyers left their syndicate chanting, “The people want the downfall of the regime,” - the signature chant of the protests that toppled Mubarak in February, 2011. Several other marches were preparing to set off from around the capital to join thousands of protesters already in the square to denounce Morsi’s decree. In the city of Alexandria, several hundred gathered in Qaitbay Square, with two large marches expected to join them later. There were reports of violence in Cairo, were earlier in the day police fired tear gas on stone-throwing protesters chanting anti-Morsi slogans. A rival rally in Cairo by the Muslim Brotherhood in support of the president was called off to “avoid potential unrest” but that has done little
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to abate the division among supporters and foes of Morsi. “The Muslim Brotherhood stole the revolution” read one banner in Tahrir. Another said the president was “pushing the people to civil disobedience.” “The Muslim Brotherhood are liars,” read another. The demonstrations come a day after Morsi met with the country’s senior judges in a bid to defuse the crisis over the decree, that has sparked deadly clashes and prompted judges and journalists to call for strike. On Monday, Morsi met with the nation’s top judges and tried to win their acceptance of his decrees. But the move was dismissed by many in the opposition and the judiciary as providing no real concessions. The senior judges that were in that meeting with Morsi on Monday night “are right now in an emergency session, trying to come up with one united stance - an answer to that meeting”, according to our correspondent. Presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali, said Morsi told the judges that he acted within his rights as the nation’s sole source of legislation, assuring them that the decrees were temporary and did not in any way infringe on the judiciary. He underlined repeatedly that the president had no plans to change or amend his decrees. According to a presidential statement late Monday, Morsi told the judges that his decree meant that any decisions he makes on “issues of sovereignty” are immune from judicial review. The vaguely worded statement did not define those issues, but they were widely interpreted to cover declaration of war, imposition of martial law, breaking diplomatic relations with a foreign nation or dismissing a cabinet. Morsi’s original edict, however, explicitly gives immunity to all his decisions and there was no sign it had been changed. The statement on Monday did not affect the immunity that Morsi gave the constitutional assembly or the upper chamber of parliament,
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France said on Tuesday it would vote in favour of Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations, an important boost in Palestinian efforts to secure greater international recognition. The Palestinians have lobbied for support from European countries for their bid at watered-down statehood at the UN set to take place in two days time. While Israel has lobbied against them, the Palestinians are set for a sure victory in the 193-member world body made up mostly of developing countries long sympathetic to their cause. “This Thursday or Friday, when the question is asked, France will vote yes,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced in the French National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. “As you know, for years and years France ’s constant position has been to recognize the Palestinian state,” Mr. Fabius said. With the announcement Tuesday, France – a permanent member of the Security Council – becomes the first major European country to come out in favour. It amounts to a setback for Israel. The Palestinians say the assembly is likely to vote Thursday on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a non-member observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel. Meanwhile, Britain has not yet decided whether it will vote for a Palestinian observer state membership, Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said. Mr. Lyall Grant told reporters that Britain believes that the Palestinians should delay application from Thursday but is still in talks with the Palestinian Authority and would decide “in due time” how to vote. The Globe and Mail reported on Monday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government have intervened
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