immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

Chris Alexander: Chris Alexander Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, according to CTV. Fun fact: Alexander lived and worked in Afghanistan for several years, and in 2003 was appointed Canadas first resident ambassador in that country and A short introduction to some of the fresh faces in the prime ministers cabinet: Chris Alexander @calxandr became known for sticking to partisan talking points as spokesperson for the federal government on military matters as the parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Peter Mackay. The 44-year-old father of two was also first elected in 2011 as MP for the Ontario riding of Ajax-Pickering, and before that spent nearly 20 years serving Canada in various diplomatic overseas posts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Israel: JERUSALEM - Israel has launched a forced repatriation of Eritrean migrants that amounts to a grave violation of their human rights because of the risk of persecution in their reclusive homeland, an advocacy group said on Monday, according to Reuters. Some 60,000 Africans, including 35,000 Eritreans, have walked over a long porous desert border with Egypt into Israel since 2006, Israeli government figures show, and many live in gritty districts of Tel Aviv and By Allyn Fisher-Ilan Israeli authorities have been trying to curb an influx of Africans that has ignited resentment in the poorer neighborhoods in which they dwell and compounded the fears of many Israelis about eventually being outnumbered in the Jewish state. But humanitarian groups say that forcibly returning African migrants home often exposes them to rights abuses including torture. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mel Edwards: PIPESTONE -- Residents of this community spent Sunday cleaning up and assessing the damage from a storm that tore through western Manitoba Saturday evening. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Helping hands needed Mel Edwards left helps neighbours remove fallen trees from their property in Pipestone on Sunday after a powerful storm heavily damaged the community Saturday evening. Winds from a possible tornado ripped roofs from buildings, snapped power lines, toppled trees onto cars and homes and left debris scattered throughout the town, which is about 300 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

visa applications: The group is asking the four Atlantic premiers to lobby the federal government to do what it can to end a work-to-rule campaign by the workers who handle visa applications, according to CBC. It's a big concern, not just here but right across the country, said executive-director Peter Halpin and Thousands of international students planning to study in Canada might not be here when classes start in September because of a slowdown processing visa applications outside the country, warns the Association of Atlantic Universities. It says schools' reputations are suffering. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Harper said the cabinet shuffle represents a generational change of his inner circle, according to CTV. Harper said many young members of Parliament are ready for more responsibility, and noted that hes particularly proud of the four new women who have been added to cabinet and Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled his new cabinet Monday -- introducing Canadians to a team that includes some new faces but maintains certain veterans in key positions. "This is really the commencement of something I told all ministers at the beginning of this Parliament: that in the course of this mandate, I would bring a generational change to the ministry, he said. This is an important step forward in terms of that." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Snowden Edward Snowden: Glenn Greenwald, a columnist with The Guardian newspaper who first reported on the intelligence leaks, told The Associated Press that disclosure of the information in the documents would allow somebody who read them to know exactly how the NSA does what it does, which would in turn allow them to evade that surveillance or replicate it. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. White House criticizes Russia for providing propaganda platform for Snowden Edward Snowden has highly sensitive documents on how the National Security Agency is structured and operates that could harm the U.S. government, but has insisted that they not be made public, a journalist close to the NSA leaker said. Russia yet to receive asylum application from Snowden: official (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Tom Heckert: Director of player personnel Matt Russell was suspended indefinitely, and director of pro personnel Tom Heckert was suspended for a month, according to CBC. Russell and Heckert will be provided with confidential treatment, rehabilitation and counselling services and must comply with these programs before they're allowed to return to work, Ellis said and The Denver Broncos came down hard on their two executives facing drunken driving charges, suspending them without pay and making it clear they must straighten out their lives if they want to work in the NFL again. Team president Joe Ellis said both men expressed remorse. But "this in no way excuses their conduct," Ellis said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain: DHAKA - Bangladesh approved on Monday a labor law to boost worker rights, including the freedom to form trade unions, after a factory building collapse in April killed 1,132 garment workers and sparked debate over labor safety and rights. , according to Reuters. "The aim was to ensure workers' rights are strengthened and we have done that," Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, chairman of the parliamentary sub-committee on labour reforms, told . By Nandita Bose The legislation puts in place provisions including a central fund to improve living standards of workers, a requirement for 5 percent of annual profits to be deposited in employee welfare funds and an assurance that union members will not be transferred to another factory of the same owner after labour unrest. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Aloke Chakravarty: Through two trials, 43-year-old Beatrice Munyenyezi of Manchester sat silently. She chose not to make a plea on her own behalf at her sentencing Monday in federal court in Concord in the same building where prosecutors say the Rwandan native "stole" her U.S. citizenship a decade ago. She also declined requests for interviews. Midway through the sentencing hearing, she wept, according to Times Colonist. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aloke Chakravarty said prosecutors had no precedent for her case and knew it would be a challenge and CONCORD, N.H. - Amid searing testimony by survivors of the Rwanda genocide, a New Hampshire woman sentenced to 10 years in prison after she was found guilty of lying about her role in the 1994 atrocity has said nothing. Prosecutors and defence lawyers say she is the first person in the United States to be convicted as a result of participation in the Rwanda genocide when hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a campaign of mass murder orchestrated by extremists. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

NSA: Glenn Greenwald, a columnist with the Guardian newspaper who first reported on the intelligence leaks, told The Associated Press that disclosure of the information in the documents "would allow somebody who read them to know exactly how the NSA does what it does, which would in turn allow them to evade that surveillance or replicate it.", according to Times Colonist. "In order to take documents with him that proved that what he was saying was true he had to take ones that included very sensitive, detailed blueprints of how the NSA does what they do," the journalist said Sunday in a Rio de Janeiro hotel room. He said the interview was taking place about four hours after his last interaction with Snowden and RIO DE JANEIRO - Edward Snowden has highly sensitive documents on how the National Security Agency is structured and operates that could harm the U.S. government, but has insisted that they not be made public, a journalist close to the NSA leaker said. He said the "literally thousands of documents" taken by Snowden constitute "basically the instruction manual for how the NSA is built." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.