international reaction: "If the same trend continues... and there is no international reaction to it, we are scared neighboring countries face much bigger numbers of refugees," he said at a news conference in Geneva hosted by the U.N. refugee agency. , according to Reuters. "If the international community, if especially the Security Council was united at early stages of escalation of tensions, today we wouldn't have all these difficult options on the table," he said. GENEVA - The Syrian refugee crisis may worsen if there is no international reaction in response to last month's alleged chemical weapons attack, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday. The two-year Syrian conflict has escalated, driving 2 million refugees abroad, uprooting 5 million within the country and taking at least 100,000 lives, Davutoglu said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Services Purchasing Managers' Index PMI: The Markit/HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index PMI climbed to 52.8 in August, up from July's 51.3 and the highest since March, the survey showed on Wednesday. The data came on the heels of three other PMI surveys this week that pointed to a pick-up in activity at factories and service firms. , according to Reuters. But policymakers have stepped in with a series of measures aimed at stabilizing the economy, including quickening railway investment and public housing construction and introducing policies to help smaller companies with financing needs. BEIJING - Growth in China's services sector hit a five-month high in August, underpinned by optimism over government policy measures, a private survey showed, the latest evidence that the world's second-largest economy may have avoided a sharp slowdown. Investors had as recently as a month ago worried that China's economy was slipping into a deeper-than-expected downturn, especially after its money market was hit by an unprecedented cash crunch in June. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Pamela Iorio: According to data from statistics agency ISTAT, lunch is the most important meal of the day for 68 per cent of Italians and 74.3 per cent usually eat it at home, a figure which has grown as a long recession has hit spending on food and eating out, according to The Star. Its very important to Italians to eat something proper, sitting down, even if its just a plate of spaghetti, said Pamela Iorio, a physiotherapist, as she shopped for fruit and vegetables in her local suburban market in Rome. People dont like just eating sandwiches and ROME Of all the statistics available on Italy and its varied economic problems, few are as eye-opening as the fact that at around 1 p.m. on any given day, three-quarters of the population will normally be sitting down to lunch in their own homes. As anyone who has seen the shuttered afternoon streets of a small Italian town knows, it can be hard to get much done at lunchtime in Italy, even though many shops and businesses stay open until relatively late in the evening to compensate. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

QUEBEC -- Quebec Premier Pauline Marois: That could be seen as an understatement for someone coming out of a tumultuous 12 months that began with a possible assassination attempt while she was giving her election-night victory speech last Sept. 4, according to CTV. Quebec's economy has also taken a hit, losing jobs while the rest of the country saw them created. But Marois didn't want to dwell on the economy on Wednesday and QUEBEC -- Quebec Premier Pauline Marois says she is proud of her first year in power even though she admits it's been difficult. While Marois has been praised for her response to the Lac-Megantic train disaster, her government was initially characterized as improvisational for its many flip-flops and then divisive because of its plans to regulate religious identity. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Edward Snowden: Hollywoods take on the secret-spilling websites rise and fall couldnt be more timely thanks to ongoing investigations into mastermind Julian Assange, National Security Agency hacker Edward Snowden, and the recent sentencing of military whistleblower Chelsea Manning, previously known as Bradley Manning, according to 660 News. The rumour that Snowden was actually hired by DreamWorks its not true, Condon jokes, noting that the journey of the famed information leaker closely mirrors the Assange experience detailed in the film and TORONTO When your film is the WikiLeaks thriller The Fifth Estate, consider your marketing and promotions budget taken care of by the 6 o clock news. In a fickle film market where even slick A-list vehicles barely dent the box office, such headline-grabbing exploits give The Fifth Estate an edge that cant be manufactured, agrees director Bill Condon as he prepares to debut in the opening slot at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada: Staff at Citizenship and Immigration Canada were asked last year to suggest ways to cut down on the number of high needs refugees in order to reduce strain on the health-care system, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press, according to The Star. He was eventually given a series of options including a cap on refugees with health problems such as developmental delay, blindness, victims of trauma and torture allowed from within a specific population group, according to one memo and MONTREAL The federal government has examined setting limits on the number of refugees that Canada takes in with health problems, such as trauma from torture. That request came from former immigration minister Jason Kenney, who is still the Conservatives minister responsible for multiculturalism. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

human trafficking: VANCOUVER - A woman accused of human trafficking and forcing a domestic servant to work in virtual servitude in her multimillion-dollar West Vancouver home simply brought a family friend from Tanzania to Canada, says her defence lawyer. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. But lawyer Eric Gottardi said the alleged victim, Aisha Hassan, was no servant and did not work in the Ladha home. Mumtaz Ladha waits to get into an elevator to go back into court from an underground parkade while trying to avoid having her photograph taken at the end of the first day of a human trafficking trial at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday September 4, 2013. A West Vancouver woman accused of enslaving a domestic worker has pleaded not guilty to one charge of human trafficking and three other offences under the Immigration Act in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Wednesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck The trial began Wednesday for Mumtaz Ladha, accused of luring the 21-year-old woman to Canada with the promise of a job in a hair salon, only to force her to work up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week without pay in her mansion in the swanky British Properties neighbourhood. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

valid passport: A couple of weeks ago, the trip was looking decidedly iffy because a member of our party had a passport that had expired more than a year previously, according to The Chronicle Herald. The U.S. customs official I called a day or so before we crossed didnt inspire hope, either and Our summer vacation usually includes a jaunt into Maine or New Hampshire. Word on the beach in New Brunswick before we headed south was gloomy: If you dont have a valid passport, the Americans wont let you in. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird: A hastily organized meeting of foreign ministers on the sidelines appeared designed to keep the larger economic forum from getting completely swamped with talk of the political crisis, according to 660 News. I think we hope that rational, sane people, freedom-loving people, people who abhor the use of these weapons, want to work collectively to ensure to the best of our ability that these weapons are not used again, Baird told reporters travelling on Prime Minister Harpers plane and ST. PETERSBURG, Russia Canada is holding out little hope of reaching a compromise with Russia on the continuing violence and alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, as Stephen Harper and fellow leaders began arriving Wednesday for the G20 summit. But Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird threw cold water on the prospect of a larger consensus on how to respond to the alleged chemical attack launched against civilians two weeks ago in a Damascus suburb. Russian President and summit host Vladimir Putin has long backed the regime of Bashar Assad, and has warned that any strike against Syria without UN sanction would be in violation of international law. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

John Baird: While the G20 talks will focus on global economic issues and job creation, informal discussions about Syria will be held on the margins of the summit, Baird told reporters Wednesday while en route to Russia, according to CTV. s Omar Sachedina, who is covering the G20 summit, said Harper and Baird will have to contend with tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the latter of which has been supportive of the Syrian government and As world leaders gather in St. Petersburg, Russia for the G20 summit, the crisis in Syria has prompted several foreign ministers, including Canadas John Baird, to join their countries delegations. Obviously the crisis in Syria has become the biggest humanitarian challenge of this century and the escalation of the brutality of President Bashar Assads regime against the Syrian people is of such great concern that obviously we need to take some time to discuss how to properly address it, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.