Syrian President Bashar Assad: That's frustrating Western diplomats who continue to push for Assad's ouster as a necessary part of a peace agreement in the Mideast nation's bloody civil war, according to Huffington Post. How to persuade Assad to step down will be part of the focus Tuesday at a London meeting of 11 nations from the West and Mideast seeking a negotiated settlement to the war and PARIS - Violent extremists who seek to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad may instead have hurt negotiations to replace him. Bolstered by infighting among Syrian opposition groups including some linked to al-Qaida Assad has a stronger grasp on power now than he did just months ago, U.S. officials say. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kathleen Wynne: "Thirty-six panels in nine months has to be some kind of record," Hudak said as he launched an attack against Wynne during question period. "Why is it the only way you can get a good job in the province of Ontario is to be on another Liberal panel?", according to CTV. "If they haven't figured out what the people of this province want and need in terms of good government, then they've been asleep at the switch for an awfully long time," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and TORONTO -- Kathleen Wynne has created three dozen different panels to advise the Ontario government since she became premier last February because the Liberals are tired and out of ideas, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said Tuesday. The New Democrats also wondered why the Liberals needed so many expert panels to advise them when they've been in power for more than a decade. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Supreme Court: The eight sitting Supreme Court judges have also been asked to rule on Nadons eligibility for the highest court in the country, according to CTV. The Quebec-born Nadon has spent the last two decades in federal courts, including the Federal Court of Appeal and The Conservative government is seeking to resolve the controversy surrounding Justice Marc Nadons appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada by putting a declaratory provision in an unusual place -- the budget bill. A Toronto lawyer is challenging Nadons appointment, arguing that only judges from the Quebec Court of Appeal or the Quebec Superior Court can occupy one of the three reserved Quebec spots in the Supreme Court. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Marc Nadon: The eight sitting judges on Canada's top court have been asked to sort out whether Marc Nadon, a Federal Court of Appeal judge from Quebec whose appointment faces a legal challenge, is eligible under the rules to join their ranks, according to Times Colonist. "This is not an amendment," Justice Minister Peter MacKay said of the language buried deep inside the 300-plus page budget bill and OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tossed his latest appointment controversy into the lap of the Supreme Court. At the same time, the Conservatives used their latest omnibus budget implementation bill Tuesday to rewrite the Supreme Court Act in order to give a nudge and a wink to the justices about how their reference ruling on Nadon ought to go. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Federal Reserve: WASHINGTON - U.S. employers added far fewer workers than expected in September, suggesting a loss of momentum in the economy that will likely add to the Federal Reserve's caution in deciding when to trim its monthly bond purchases, according to Reuters. The closely watched employment report suggested the economy lost steam even before an acrimonious budget fight that led to a damaging partial shutdown of the federal government for 16 days and By Lucia Mutikani Nonfarm payrolls increased by 148,000 workers last month, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. While the job count for August was raised, employment gains in July were revised lower and were the weakest since June 2012. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Emergency Management Directorate AFAD: "We conducted a study before the Eid al-Adha holidays and the numbers have increased above 600,000," said Mustafa Aydogdu, spokesman for the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate AFAD . , according to Reuters. It has said it will maintain its "open door" policy to those fleeing the Syrian civil war, now in its third year, although it has closed border crossings from time to time following clashes near the frontier. ANKARA - The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has exceeded 600,000 and more than 400,000 of them are living outside refugee camps, the Turkish disaster management agency said on Monday. Turkey, which shares a 900-km 560-mile border with Syria, is a strong critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a main supporter of the rebels fighting against him. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

CHARLOTTETOWN The P.E.I. Potato Board: CHARLOTTETOWN The P.E.I. Potato Board says the quality of this years crop is especially good, according to The Chronicle Herald. He says the yield is about average and General manager Greg Donald says the harvest is nearly complete across the island, thanks to favourable fall weather. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Bank of Canada: The loonie shed 0.06 of a cent to 97.08 cents US, according to CTV. Traders also looked ahead to a raft of economic reports that were held up because of the partial U.S. government shutdown that dragged on this month until late last week and TORONTO -- The Canadian dollar closed slightly lower Monday, two days before the Bank of Canada makes its next announcement on interest rates. Many economists expect the bank will keep its key rate at one per cent until around the fourth quarter of 2014. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lampedusa: For years, these desperate people have flung their hopes on tiny rafts, small boats and decrepit ships in the hope of reaching some safer place. Untold thousands have already drowned. Their deaths have been accepted as unremarkable casualties in Europes efforts to protect its borders. The lucky ones made it to the island of Lampedusa or to Malta or some such place. There they were detained, existing for years in a sort of limbo, according to The Star. Upon hearing of this tragic news, newly appointed Pope Francis took his first trip outside of Rome to Lampedusa, the tiny island off Italy, near where the drownings happened. Most Canadians had never heard of the island or the tragedies that regularly take place off its shores until Francis went there to address the survivors and those trying to help. He spoke about the ocean of indifference that separates us from our fellow human beings and It has been called Europes Sea of Shame. The Mediterranean. Thousands of desperate human beings fleeing from persecution and poverty in Africa have tragically slipped away into its waters. Then, in early October, a group of tourists on a yacht heard screams and saw black dots in the water. They re people, yelled Linda Barocci, one of the vacationers. They are the heads of people. Some were rescued but 339 people drowned that day. Most of those who died were young Eritreans. Some were known and loved by the small Eritrean community of 25,000 here in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Neang Seap: Neang, now 59, tightens the towel that wraps about his waist, scrapes a chair across the parched hardwood and settles his sinewy frame. Once he was a rice farmer, before his land was taken away, before the music was taken away, before the books were taken away. His is one story, but thousands are identical. Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands, according to The Star. Read more: I got hired at a Bangladesh sweatshop. Meet my 9-year-old boss PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA Neang Seap and his wife, Em Mom, arrived in Phnom Penh bearing the lacerating wounds that mark Cambodias rural migrants. Evicted by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70s from his village in the countrys eastern zone, Neang was part of the long forced march west, ending up at the Khao-I-Dang refugee camp, just across the Thai border. It was there that he met his 15-year-old bride-to-be. The couple married and brought five babies into the world before moving to the capital, where Em bore four more children. Related: One Cambodian factory strike gets ugly (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.