What's Happenin': From Putin to B.C. teachers

Each Monday, Runner blogger Katya Slepian brings us a run down of the big news stories of the past week

By Katya Slepian
[contributor]

1. Last week, Russia’s newly-political middle class took to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. This time, their fears have come true and Putin has allegedly won the presidential election with 64 per cent of the vote, significantly more than the over 50 per cent necessary to avoid a second round of voting. However, the independent monitoring group Galos has said that it registered 3100 reports of violations across the country and many across the country are calling the results illegitimate.

2. In the summer of 2011, Mitt Romney was the strong favourite to win the Republican nomination. Since then, he’s struggled against other candidates like Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain, who have since all dropped out of the race. More recently, he has had to fight against Newt Gingrich’s surge of popularity, although in recent months support for Gingrich has fallen by 24 per cent. His most recent close rival has been Rick Santorum, whose popularity was evident as he won the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses as well as the non-binding primary in Missouri on Feb. 7, 2012. Following this, Santorum and Romney were tied by mid-February. However, with his recent victories in Maine, Michigan, Arizona, Wyoming and Washington, as well as the support of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Romney again appears to be taking the lead, though Super Tuesday, the day when eleven states will hold primaries, will likely tell us more.

3. Although the Conservative Party may have won the last election, they now have new troubles to contend with as a result of what is being called the “robo-call” scandal. This involved people in at least 34 ridings across the country receiving automated calls telling them them inaccurate information about the time and place that they were supposed to vote at. Elections Canada has since launched an investigation, after receiving more than 31,000 complaints.

4. America’s Midwestern states are hit hard and often by tornadoes. This year was no exception. With at least 38 reported dead, it’s the country’s deadliest March for tornadoes since 1994. However, despite the death and destruction wrought by the violent weather, there is a positive note; although the death toll was high, The National Weather Service’s weather warnings were a huge help in preventing many more deaths.

5. Most public schools across the province will be closed on Monday, as the 41,000 members of the B.C. Teacher’s Federation go on strike. The federation is fed up with the lengthy duration of bargaining with the province and is opposed to Bill 22, which was introduced last week to force an end to the dispute. The B.C. Teacher’s Federation is asking for a 15 per cent wage increase over three years as well as reduced class sizes and better class composition.