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Hosted by: Aisha Samu

Stories by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi, Natasha Taggart & Kurt Weiss

Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi

The first day of an important election in Italy came to a close on Sunday.

According to BBC News, the most recent estimates released two weeks ago, had Pier Luigi Bersani's centre-left alliance. A ban on polls was put in place before the election got underway.

The election is being closely watched in the eurozone. The country is suffering through a deep recession and wipespread public resentment due to austerity measures.

The day wasn't without any fireworks though. Topless women protested Silvio Berlusconi's candidacy as he cast his ballot in Milan. The former P.M. is involved in two trials, those being tax fraud and sex with an underage prostitue.

The second and final day of voting will take place on Monday, with first results expected in the early evening.

Flickr Photo by: Νέα Δημοκρατία

Thousands of protestors across the province of Quebec, in Ottawa and in New Brunswick rallied Sunday against the federal government’s changes to employment insurance.

In Montreal, the construction part of the Quebec Federation of Labour, called FTQ Construction, organized the protest, reports CBC News.

They want to show the Harper government that the changes to the employment insurance will negatively impact Canadian families. 

Construction union executive director Yves Ouellet says they have to be heard as a united front against the government. 

Since the changes came into effect in early January, laid-off seasonal workers have to look further for jobs that pay as little as 70 per cent of their previous hourly wage. 

And people looking for work are forced to accept work located within an 100-kilometre radius from their home.

Head of the Quebec Federation of Labour Michel Arsenault says the new rules like so are robbing students of jobs and encouraging people to lie about their work history. 

He says the government’s decision to send bureaucrats to people’s homes to check out their unemployment stories is like living under a dictatorship. 

Minister of Veterans Affairs Steven Blaney says Canadians are misinformed about the changes to employment insurance. 

He says the reform takes work conditions, schedule and commute into account, and even baby-sitting fees.

He also blamed opposition parties in Ottawa for trying to take away opportunities for workers to have access to additional revenues.

Similar protests also took place in Quebec City, Saguenay, Rimouski, Baie-Comeau, and Sept-Iles.

STORY WRITTEN BY: KURT WEISS 

I had never really heard Unknown Mortal Orchestra before listening to this album. I joked with some people at the station that it sounded like it should be a name for a metal band but it is far from it - I found this album to be quite boring really. 

It’s very chill and I can imagine it being nice to listen to while lying in a park or making dinner perhaps but I went through the entire thing only half paying attention even though it was the only thing I was doing. The sound reminds me of music that was really popular around 2007 while also sounding a bit like Ty Segall.

Most songs are characterized by light male falsetto with simple driving percussion and it just seems a bit dated and not in a positive way. It reminded me of some of Of Montreal’s lighter songs but not quite getting the energy that Kevin Barnes puts into his music.

The album is a bit all over the place, with songs progressively getting more effects on them until we come to the instrumental “Monki” which seemed a little out of place. The one song that actually stood out to me was “Faded In The Morning”. This song actually had me paying attention to it because his falsetto took on a rock edge along side a more snappy beat. The song mixes electronic baby laughing with a more old school guitar riff which was strange but I thought worked really well. But then Secret Xtians goes back to the usual recipe and I was glad that the album was over.

FINAL MARK : C