Angelino Alfano: PALERMO, Italy - More than 300 people drowned or were feared dead after a boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday, one of the worst disasters of Europe's chronic immigration crisis. , according to Reuters. The incident occurred when the boat's motor stopped working and the vessel, which had set out from the Libyan port of Misrata, began to take on water, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said. By Wladimir Pantaleone The 20-metre 66-foot boat, believed to be carrying around 500 people, mostly Eritreans and Somalis, sank no more than 1 km half a mile from shore after a fire broke out, triggering a general panic that capsized the vessel. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada: Growth of inequality in Canada cannot be denied, Sept. 26, according to The Star. The graph begins in the aftermath of World War I in the heady days of the Roaring Twenties, which the authors unfortunately use gilded age to describe. That term is more properly applied to the late 19th Century era of robber barons and the first railway boom/bust cycle, which in Canadas case began with Confederation and the building of the Canadian Pacific railway, thereby securing British Columbia and the lands in between for Canada and Re: Growth of inequality in Canada cannot be denied, Sept. 26 I found the graph accompanying Jordan Brennans and Jim Stanfords article: absolutely fascinating. It traces, not only the fall and rise of income inequality over the last 100 years, but also the huge structural changes that have transformed the Canadian economy over the same period. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

jobless benefits: WASHINGTON - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week but remained at pre-recession levels, a signal of growing strength in the labor market. , according to Reuters. The data could provide some of the strongest guidance this week on the health of the U.S. economy as a partial government shutdown delays the release of economic data, including the monthly employment report which was scheduled to be released on Friday. By Jason Lange Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 308,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lampedusa: It was one of the deadliest recent accidents in the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing that thousands of African migrants make every year, seeking a new life in the European Union. Smugglers charge thousands of dollars a head to slip people into Europe aboard overcrowded, barely seaworthy fishing boats, providing no life vests or other safety features, according to The Star. It's an immense tragedy, said Lampedusa Mayor Giusi Nicolini and ROME A ship carrying African migrants to Europe caught fire and capsized Thursday off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, killing at least 114 people as hundreds were dumped into the sea, officials said. Over 150 people were rescued but about the same number were still unaccounted for. We need only caskets, certainly not ambulances, Pietro Bartolo, chief of health services on Lampedusa, told Radio 24. He gave the death toll at 94 but said it would certainly rise as search operations continued. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Hal Perry: Hal Perry, the member of the legislature for Tignish-Palmer in western P.E.I., made the announcement Thursday, according to Times Colonist. "I brought my concerns forward to my caucus, but they were falling on deaf ears," he said in a telephone interview. "I was left with no other alternative but to go to a party that offered some hope to people in my district." CHARLOTTETOWN - A former leader of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives in Prince Edward Island has crossed the floor to join the Liberal government, saying he's frustrated by the party's lack of opposition to Ottawa's employment insurance rules. Perry said people working in fishing, farming and tourism in his rural riding have been coming to him with desperate accounts of lost or decreased benefits as winter approaches. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay: Josh Arnold, a high-profile Halifax criminal lawyer, is among four Nova Scotia Supreme Court judges appointed Wednesday by federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay, according to The Chronicle Herald. MacKay also announced that Justice Ted Scanlan, whos been on the Supreme Court bench in Truro since 1993, has been promoted to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal and The other new judges are Elizabeth Van den Eynden of New Glasgow, James Chipman of Halifax and Robin Gogan of Sydney. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan: Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan, Somalias deputy prime minister and foreign minister, isnt one to be easily intimidated by threats or challenges, whether they be rebuilding her countrys infrastructure, creating employment, or above all countering terrorism, according to The Star. Mogadishu is much safer than many cities in the world, and much safer than before. Al Shabab is diminishing. They are losing morale. They are losing ground. They are losing numbers and She is Somalias most powerful woman: a thorn in the eyes of Mogadishu-based terrorist group Al Shabab, and a ray of hope for her country in the Horn of Africa. We are fighting many fires, the biggest being security, Adan told in an interview Thursday during her two-day visit to Toronto. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Omar Hassan: Police in Somalia arrested Omar Hassan, 60, after the children, aged 11, 9, 7 and 6, were killed Monday, Qadro Addawe told The Canadian Press, according to Huffington Post. Speaking from Mogadishu, Addawe said Hassan was a taxi driver in Calgary and had returned home a few months ago and The mother of four young boys who were allegedly beheaded by their Somali-Canadian father says she doesn't know of any motive for the killings. The alleged slayings happened in the central town of Beledweyne, about 330 kilometres north of the capital Mogadishu. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Jacques Parizeau: The author is Jacques Parizeau, eminence grise of the Quebec sovereignty cause and hero to the movements grassroots, according to 660 News. He appeared on the cover of the tabloid beside the all-caps headline: IT GOES TOO FAR. The headline font was, however, far louder than the columns tone and MONTREAL A politely worded bit of prose from a prominent part-time writer has recommended that the Parti Quebecois values charter be softened in a second draft. The former PQ premier, who organized the 1995 independence referendum that nearly took Quebec out of Confederation, offered his views in a column Thursday in Le Journal de Montreal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Jacques Parizeau: The author is Jacques Parizeau, eminence grise of the Quebec sovereignty cause and hero to the movement's grassroots, according to CTV. He appeared on the cover of the tabloid beside the all-caps headline: "IT GOES TOO FAR." The headline font was, however, far louder than the column's tone and MONTREAL -- A politely worded bit of prose from a prominent part-time writer has recommended that the Parti Quebecois values charter be softened in a second draft. The former PQ premier, who organized the 1995 independence referendum that nearly took Quebec out of Confederation, offered his views in a column Thursday in Le Journal de Montreal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.