Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie: There was Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie on Friday, at the house of Halifax senior citizen Judith Wright to highlight platform planks for seniors, according to The Chronicle Herald. A little earlier in the campaign, Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil had a little turn on the dance floor with Eleanor Pynn, 83, at a Truro nursing home and Premier Darrell Dexter has had tea with a seniors group and has made a steady stream of grey-hued announcements in recent weeks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: The retailer will now allow hijabs, the traditional head scarves worn by many Muslim women when in public, according to The Star. The rulings came after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits on behalf of both women and SAN FRANCISCO Trendy clothing retailer Abercrombie Fitch has agreed to make religious accommodations and allow workers to wear head scarves as part of a settlement of discrimination lawsuits filed in California, lawyers announced Monday. One judge determined the Ohio-based company fired a Muslim worker from a California store, while another judge said it refused to hire another woman in the state because of their refusal to remove their hijabs during work. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada Border Services Agency: The Prime Ministers Office confirmed Saturday night that Annemarie Desloges, a liaison officer with the Canada Border Services Agency, was among the victims, who included more than 150 people from toddlers to elderly who were wounded as bullets flew and grenades exploded in the hours-long horror, according to The Star. In the pre-dawn hours Sunday, security forces were still locked in a standoff with the gunmen at the five-storey Westgate mall, frequented by Western diplomats and expatriates as well as Kenyans. It was still unclear how many hostages were being held by the Al Qaeda-linked militants and Two Canadians, including a diplomatic staffer, are among at least 39 dead after masked gunmen opened fire in an upscale Nairobi mall in one of the most chilling terrorist attacks in East Africa since Al Qaeda blew up two U.S. embassies in 1998. The PMO statement did not name the second Canadian. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Naguib Damji: Copyright 2013, according to Times Colonist and A North Vancouver businessman has been identified as one of dozens of people killed in a deadly attack at a shopping mall in Kenya. Naguib Damji, 59, was one of 68 people killed by Islamic extremists who attacked shoppers Saturday at the upscale Westgate mall in Nairobi. Damji was at a coffee shop with relatives when the attack happened, a family representative said. According to the account we received, a gunman came into the coffee shop and started shooting at people and throwing grenades, said the family spokeswoman, and Damji was shot. Damji was in Nairobi on business, said the spokeswoman. Kenya is a very safe place in general, she said. Something like this, nobody can predict this. Damjis family in Metro Vancouver found out about the tragedy through relatives who survived the attack. The family, which includes Damjis three daughters, requested privacy, saying their thoughts and prayers are with families who have lost loved ones in the terrorist attack. A Somali radical rebel group, al-Shabab, has claimed responsibility for the attack as retribution for the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia. Tributes to Damji flooded into his daughter Farimas Facebook page, where a photo of Damji was posted. He was called a strong and caring man by those who knew him. One person described Damji as a nice man with a great soul. Another said he was full of life and so kind. A second Canadian was also killed in the attack. Annemarie Desloges, a 29-year-old diplomat who worked at the Canadian embassy, was off duty and shopping at the mall when the attack occurred, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Saturday night. That people could be gunned down in broad daylight in a shopping mall on a weekend is just a tremendous tragedy. And obviously when you have someone who is serving their country abroad, its quite devastating, said Baird, who was in London, Ont. speaking at the Ontario Progressive Conservative partys policy convention. When anyone is killed in a terrorist incident, it deeply affects us. But when its a Canadian, it hits home. And when its someone in government, obviously it just shakes us to the core. Desloges worked with Citizenship and Immigration Canada and served at Canadas High Commission in Kenya as a liaison officer with the Canada Border Services Agency, federal officials said. She is survived by her husband, Robert Munk, who was injured in the attack but has since been released from hospital, Baird said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Singapore: SINGAPORE - Singapore will require many companies operating in the city-state to consider Singaporeans for skilled job vacancies before turning to candidates from abroad, bowing to public pressure over a surge in foreigners over the past decade, according to Reuters. "But I don't think this will necessarily lower Singapore's attractiveness to companies because there are other factors that they take into account -- such as tax incentives, political stability and access to the ASEAN region." By Kevin Lim "The measures might mean more hassle and paperwork for companies, and it might even lower the long-term economic growth rate," said Michael Wan, an economist with Credit Suisse in Singapore. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Statistics Canada: One of Winnipeg's poorest neighbourhoods has been left out of the new long-form census, and the data from another area are so spotty they're unreliable. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. -- source: Statistics Canada, tracts 6020026 and 6020033 Ricardo Lopez-Aguilar says the median income for North Point Douglas seems high. He fears poorer residents failed to respond to the survey. Photo Store Statistics Canada has suppressed data for two census tracts, which cover most of the West Alexander neighbourhood around Health Sciences Centre, because fewer than half the residents responded to the voluntary national household survey. Data for a third tract in the neighbourhood just barely made the cut, but the response rate is still so low -- 50.7 per cent -- the information could be questioned. West Alexander: What we know The population: 2,829 people. The age breakdown of residents, including the median age, which is roughly 32 years. Whether residents are married and have kids and the size of each household. Which language people speak at home and whether it's either of Canada's official languages. Nearly 400 people speak Tagalog, for example. What we don't know Where residents were born, when they immigrated to Canada and how old they were when they arrived. The ethnic origin and religion of residents. How many aboriginal people there are. The average education level of the neighbourhood. Whether people work and what kinds of jobs they do. If people own or rent, and whether their residence needs major or minor repairs. The average income, the number of poor people and how much people spend on shelter. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Alan Lomax: Legendary folklorist Alan Lomax discovered the music in 1938 when he visited the Midwest on his famous 10-year cross-country trek to document American folk music for the Library of Congress, according to Times Colonist. "It was a fantastic field trip hardly anything has been published from it," said Todd Harvey, the Lomax collection's curator at the library in Washington. The Michigan batch contains about 900 tracks and represents a dozen ethnicities and DETROIT - Detroit is famous for its music, from the Motown hits of the 1960s to the cutting-edge punk of Iggy Pop to the rap of Eminem. Little known, though, is that Michigan was also fertile ground for folk music, brought to the region by immigrants in the early 20th century and played in the logging camps, mines and factory towns where they worked. A trove of his Michigan recordings is now being publicly released for the first time by the library, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Lomax's trip. The release is causing a stir among folk music fanciers and history buffs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

West Point: Gov. Phil Bryant, company executives and others gathered for the ground breaking ceremony in West Point, where the company will manufacture commercial truck tires, according to Times Colonist. A news release from the governor's office says the first phase of the project represents a $300 million investment by Yokohama and will create 500 new jobs and WEST POINT, Miss. - Yokohama Tire Corporation officials and state leaders gathered Monday for ceremonial ground breaking for a manufacturing facility that is expected to create hundreds of jobs. West Point is a town of about 11,000 people northeast of Starkville. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Pakistani education crusader Malala Yousafzai: NEW YORK - Pakistani education crusader Malala Yousafzai and other youth activists challenged world leaders on Monday to come up with $175 million to educate 400,000 Syrian children who fled to neighboring Lebanon to escape a civil war in their homeland, according to Reuters. U.N. children's agency UNICEF said 257,000 Syrian children were seeking education in Lebanon in 2013 and that was set to rise to 400,000 next year, swamping the Lebanese public school system that already educates 300,000 children and By Michelle Nichols As leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, Yousafzai, 16, who was shot in the head by the Taliban last year for demanding education for girls, and U.N. education envoy Gordon Brown received $1 million from campaign group Avaaz to kick off the push for money to send Syrian refugees to school. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Naguib Damji: Vancouver-area businessman Naguib Damji was also killed in Saturdays siege at Nairobis upscale Westgate mall. Dozens of people lost their lives in the devastating attack and nearly 200 others were injured, according to The Star. Condolences and memories poured in on her Facebook page, where Damji was remembered as kind, full of life and a great soul and As Annemarie Desloges was remembered by her foreign service colleagues as one of our bright young lights on Sunday, the second Canadian killed in Kenyas deadly mall attack was identified. Damjis daughter, Karima Damji, said Sunday evening that the family would be releasing more details about her father, but were dealing with his loss at the moment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.