The NYT, when I woke up this morning, didn't have a Canadian election story on its front page. The BBC had a tiny headline for it, and the Guardian didn't have it on its home page.

Washingtonpost.com had a headline in the 'world' section of its homepage saying 'Canadians move right, elect Conservatives.' However, the staff-written story was on the front page of the print edition.

USAToday also had an AP story in the world section of its homepage, saying 'Conservatives win in Canada.' There was a follow-up AP story -- 'Is Harper a moderate thinker or closeted right-winger?'

Off to a flick, but if you trip over this posting from some exotic place outside Canada, could you please tell me how our election played? TIA.

Update

The Beeb had a staff feature this evening on its home page entitled 'Canada's leader faces frustration.' Back to back stories about a former colony! :)

On the NYT's international page, there's a news analysis by staffer Clifford Kraus entitled 'To the right, gently.' Its main point was that the vote is more of a desire to kick the Liberals in the pants than an embrace of Tory policies.

The Washington Post profiles Harper: 'Canada's Harper seen as shrewd, serious, bland'. The Post had several other stories too: U.S.-Canada relations expected to improve (AP) and U.S. bids warm farewell to Canada's Martin (AP).

The conservative Washington Times editorialized on the election:

... Mr. Harper vows efforts to make Canada "more united, stronger, more prosperous and a safer country," all goals we obviously support. But it's unclear how much power he will have to accomplish all this. The only sure positive is that the shrill anti-Americanism and the crescendo of Canada-pillorying from the United States should diminish in the coming months as the new government takes form. 

In the meantime, Canada will get to see what a Conservative government, albeit a limited one, and one that is not really analogous to our Republican Party, can accomplish.

I'll be running the election blog at CTV.ca tonight. Pop by after 10 p.m. ET and pop off!

Here's a few open threads to while away the time until we have some results:

Seat total guesses

Spite picks

Good guys and gals

Some British psychologist has calculated Jan. 23 to be the most depressing day of 2006.

For members of Paul Martin's campaign team, I'm sure that's true! :)

Actually, my spirits start to lift a bit at this time of year. It's starting to visibly lighten up, and you can feel a bit more heat from the sun.

That trumps unpaid credit card debt and unfulfilled new year's resolutions! :)

This NYT story looks at the left turn promised by Evo Morales, Bolivia's first aboriginal president, and how that may reverberate throughout the Americas.

A German IT company has come up with a solution to whiny workers: Make having a happy face while you're in the shop a contractual obligation.

The Beeb has a video version on its website, but ...   more »

U.S. journalist Micah Garen was kidnapped in Iraq in August 2004. His partner Marie-Helene Carleton helped free him. On Friday, they spoke to Democracy Now! about his situation and that of Jill Carroll, whom her captors have threatened to kill if their demand for the freeing of all female Iraqi prisoners is not met.

Paradise Now is about two likable, 20-something Palestinian losers who get tapped for a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. The film won the Golden Globe for best foreign film.

I blogged about it.

The Globe and Mail's Mark McKinnon watched it in a Jerusalem movie theatre. Needless to say, the protagonists weren't being rooted on:

A Japanese zoo dropped a live hamster in a snake's cage as a snack for the reptile, sort of like sending a friend a pizza. But the snake hasn't eaten the hamster; instead, the two are buds.

Jill Carroll, a U.S. freelance journalist in Iraq kidnapped on Jan. 7, could be executed today by her captors.

You tell me.

His latest deal for the U.S.? Get out of Iraq, or else be prepared for more attacks on U.S. soil.

Wilson Pickett, the legendary Stax-Volt soul singer, has died of a heart attack at age 64.

The EU will look into whether the CIA ran secret 'war-on-terror' prisons on the soil of EU members.

Human Rights Watch criticizes the European Union for putting business concerns ahead of human rights issues.

This NYT story talks about the Bukharians, one of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world, and how upheaval in Central Asia has brought them -- and their unique cuisine -- to New York. Great read!

This NYT editorial takes aim at the Bush administration's disregard for civil liberties vis a vis the NSA spying scandal.

Hikkomori are mainly young men in Japan who basically isolate themselves from society. It's quite a sad story.

A bit of a late posting, but I've been busy with the CTV election blog too (six more days, and this blog gets my full attention again):

Three and possibly four al Qaeda leaders were killed in a U.S. missile attack in northeast Pakistan last Friday, the NYT is reporting.

Lots o' false positives in the NSA's investigative tips to the FBI, wasting much valuable manpower, says this NYT story.

U.S. Sccretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered a generalized justification for the missile strike on a Pakistan village that was supposed to take out al Qaeda no. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri. It didn't, and now the whole nation is in an uproar.

From the BBC:

Andrzej Marek again proclaimed his innocence as his three-month prison term began in Szczecin on Monday.

He was convicted in 2002 of libelling an official in the town of Police by saying the man used his position to promote his advertising business.

Rights groups have protested against the sentence, noting he is the only person in the EU imprisoned for libel.

Ann Cooper, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said she was "deeply troubled" by the court ruling.

"This case demonstrates the urgent need for Polish authorities to eliminate laws that criminalise libel," she said in a statement before Marek was jailed.

Poland is not a hotbed of free expression. Check out this earlier posting.