MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
Xiomara Castro is scheduled to be sworn in Thursday as Honduras' first female president, facing high expectations to turn around the deeply troubled country amid uncertainty about whether an unfolding legislative crisis will allow her the support she needs.
Relatively smooth elections and a healthy margin of victory Nov. 28 came as a relief, but political maneuvering in the run-up to Castro's inauguration has muddled the outlook and distracted from what was to be a hopeful new beginning after the two terms of President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
In the days when Castro was supposed to be rolling out her Cabinet selections, Honduras has been engulfed by a dispute over who will lead the newly elected Congress. Two congressional leadership teams have been selected -- neither legitimately according to experts -- and their standoff threatens legislative paralysis at a time that Castro desperately needs to quickly get to work addressing Honduras' problems.
Elected lawmakers from Castro's own Liberty and Refoundation Party backed one of their own to be the new legislative body's president Friday rather than support Castro's choice, which had been agreed with her vice president to win his party's support. Neither group backed down leading to surreal simultaneous legislative sessions Tuesday.
Luis Ruiz, a 52-year-old Castro supporter and fruit vendor near the Congress, said the political disagreement threatened to divide the country. "She (Castro) has to resolve this situation through dialogue," Ruiz said. "She hasn't taken power and she's already having problems, she must show her leadership."
High unemployment, persistent violence, corruption as well as troubled health care and educational systems are just some of the pressing challenges awaiting Castro.
The United States government, seeing an opportunity to gain an ally in a region with few friends, has strongly backed Castro and stands ready to provide support. In a possible sign of tensions in the region, presidents from neighbors El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua were not scheduled to attend.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was given the task of finding ways to address the root causes of Central American migration, leads the U.S. delegation at Thursday's inauguration ceremony.
Washington sees areas for cooperation on Castro's priorities of battling corruption and increasing economic opportunities in her country, two areas that could affect decisions by Hondurans on whether to stay or try to migrate to the United States.
"Honduras has been a very difficult partner for the United States, especially during the administration of Juan Orlando Hernandez for a number of reasons, including the consistent swirl of illegal activity around him and his family," said Jason Marczak, senior director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council.
"The anti-corruption agenda being front and center and her (Castro's) pledges is music to the ears of the Biden-Harris administration, given its focus on rooting out corruption not only in Central America but its global efforts on corruption," he said.
Castro has said she plans to formally invite the United Nations to set up an anti-corruption mission in Honduras.
Harris was scheduled to meet privately with Castro shortly after her inauguration. Castro and Harris spoke by phone Dec. 10.
In a call with reporters Wednesday, senior Biden administration officials said Harris expected to expand on that conversation about ways to deepen the bilateral relationship. "The topics will include expanding economic opportunity, combating corruption, and humanely managing migration," a senior administration said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Castro, 62, won on her third bid for the presidency. She was previously first lady during the presidency of her husband, Manuel Zelaya, which was cut short by a military coup in 2009.
Many voters this time said they were motivated above all by the possibility of removing Hernandez's National Party from power. Hernandez was first elected in 2013 and a friendly Supreme Court allowed him to overcome a constitutional ban on re-election and run again in 2017 in an election plagued by irregularities.
Federal prosecutors in New York have repeatedly spoken of Hernandez's purported ties to drug trafficking, alleging his political rise was funded in part by drug profits. Hernandez has not been formally charged and has repeatedly denied the accusations.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.