CALGARY, Alberta: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who three years ago became the first Muslim elected to the office in a major North American city, easily won re-election yesterday after a first term dominated by a stellar performance during devastating floods.
Nenshi, 41-year-old Harvard graduate and former McKinsey & Co consultant, won a national profile for his response to the floods that swamped large parts of the city of 1.1 million in Canada’s costliest natural disaster.
He won 74 percent of the vote against eight opponents, including a former provincial cabinet minister, a marijuana advocate and an anti-abortion activist.
“Calgarians have spoken loud and clear,” the Calgary Herald quoted Nenshi as saying. “They’ve spoken loud and clear about the kind of community they want. A community of great, livable, walkable neighbourhoods everywhere ... not a community of never-ending sprawl.”
Nenshi, a left-leaning leader in a province known for its conservative bent, was a ubiquitous presence during the floods that shuttered downtown Calgary for nearly a week in June.
Spider outbreak shuts British school
LONDON: An English school has been forced to close after an outbreak of “false widow” spiders, the latest in a series of sightings of Britain’s most poisonous arachnid.
Dean Academy in the western Forest of Dean region would shut its doors on Wednesday while experts dealt with the eight-legged invaders, Vice-Principal Craig Burns said.
The spiders, which resemble the potentially deadly black widow, have colonised parts of southern England for more than a century although they are thought to have spread in the last 25 years, according to Britain’s Natural History Museum. Their bite can cause swelling or fever. So far, no one at the school has been bitten, said Burns.
Agencies
