fried chicken: The fast-food chain known for its fried chicken is following other fast food chains in trying to capture a part of the "fast casual" restaurant market relatively low-priced but high-quality chains like Five Guys or Chipotle that are quickly making inroads into the fast food market, and particularly appeal to younger crowds, according to Huffington Post. The new restaurant will stick to KFCs core ingredient, chicken, but instead of buckets of chicken and fries, KFC Select will offer rice bowls, burritos, burgers and salads, among other things and KFC wants a makeover, and its starting with Canada. For KFC, that effort will begin in Canada with the launch of its first KFC Select restaurant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Maritime Paper: Maritime Paper Products Ltd. and Norampac , a division of Cascades Canada ULC, have formed a new joint venture for corrugated packaging operations in Atlantic Canada, according to The Chronicle Herald. Under the terms of the agreement, Maritime Paper, owned by Scotia Investments Ltd. of Hantsport, will manage the joint venture while Norampac will supply containerboard and Maritime Paper will own 60 per cent of the venture, which will operate as Maritime Paper Products Limited Partnership , with the remaining 40 per cent owned by Norampac. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Facebook: The long-time Facebook executive and founder of Zuckerberg Media says while social media has enhanced our lives, it has also introduced challenges, according to CTV. From dorm room dream to one of the worlds most popular social media tools, Facebook has helped connect millions of people around the world and The impact of technology on our lives and relationships is a question many of us are familiar with, but the latest proponent of living a tech-balanced lifestyle might surprise you: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's sister, Randi Zuckerberg. "People feel overwhelmed by technology," Zuckerberg, author of the new book "Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives," told 's Canada AM on Tuesday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Liberal government: Finance Ministry data released Wednesday as part of the Liberal government's November second quarterly financial report show a job contraction of 0.1 per cent totalling 2,600 fewer jobs over the same period last year, according to Huffington Post. Clark's jobs plan, launched in the fall of 2011, was her government's major push to stimulate job creation in B.C., and it included goals to strengthen infrastructure to get goods to markets and expand B.C. markets and services, especially in Asia and VICTORIA - Job growth in British Columbia has stalled, but it's too early to call Premier Christy Clark's highly-touted jobs plan a bust, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said Wednesday. "We set more robust targets than what we achieved through 2013," de Jong said at a news conference at the B.C. legislature. "That's why I'm not hesitant to tell you our objectives are and remain to grow jobs, grow the economy and the numbers you see for 2013, so far, fall short of where we'd like to be." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

the Liberals: The Conservatives held on to two ridings in Manitoba on Monday, while the Liberals improved their vote tallies and held onto ridings in Ontario and Quebec, according to 660 News. Auditor general Michael Ferguson will appear at the Commons public accounts committee, one day after releasing a report critical of the governments rail and food safety track records and OTTAWA It will be a day of chest thumping in Ottawa today as the Liberals and Conservatives bring their newly elected byelection winners into their weekly caucus meetings. Among the other happenings today in Ottawa: (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ontario Workforce Shortage Coalition: The Ontario Workforce Shortage Coalition, which represents more than 100,000 public and private sector employers, asked for the meeting after delivering a report to Premier Kathleen Wynne last week. The report contains a set of recommendations the government should adopt to address the mismatched economy in the province, including the creation of a public education campaign on internship standards , according to The Star. There are standards , but they re not fully understood by employers, nor by students and graduates, he said. Some may not even be aware of them and Ontario employers want a sit-down meeting with the premier to discuss clarifying the murky rules on unpaid internships something they say would benefit both interns and the companies that take them on. Some energy around improving and understanding of what the existing standards are would be a significant advance in dealing with some of the isolated problems around unpaid placements, said Bill Summers, vice president of research and policy at Colleges Ontario, a member of the coalition. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Palestinian refugees: The 24-year-old singer told a news conference Tuesday that as the first Arab goodwill ambassador for youth for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees he feels "the load of responsibility" for speaking on behalf of young Palestinians, according to Times Colonist. Assaf came to New York to participate in events related to the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and appeared in a U.N. concert Monday night with Palestinian vocalist and flutist Nai Barghouti. When he sang his signature anthem to Palestinian nationalism, "Raise the Kaffiyeh," many in the audience got to their feet and started dancing and This year's "Arab Idol" winner, Mohammed Assaf, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza, said Tuesday he wants to give hope to the nearly 5 million Palestinian refugees and tell them nothing is impossible. "I want to do something ... for the cause of my country, for the cause of my people," he said, "and I want to make them feel there is hope, no matter how hard the conditions of life and the obstacles." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: The tender was issued earlier this month by Environment Canada, but immediately ran into opposition from shooting groups, according to Huffington Post. Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has told the Commons the tender is dead and OTTAWA - The federal government has cancelled a tender for a study on the environmental impact of lead shot and bullets. Tony Bernardo, spokesman for the Canadians Shooting Sports Association, called the study complete nonsense a perspective shared by the Conservative government. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Russ Girling: U.S. ambassador Gary Doer and Russ Girling, president of TransCanada Corp., were issued written invites a few days before the planned event, called "Can Keystone Pass the President's Climate Test?", according to CTV. The organizers are far from impartial. The event is being held by NextGen Climate Action, the group headed by billionaire asset manager Tom Steyer, who has gained political prominence as a financier for anti-oil campaigns and WASHINGTON -- Key Canadian representatives have turned down invitations to address a Washington summit organized by an environmental group leading the fight against the Keystone pipeline. The Dec. 2 gathering at Georgetown University will include research on whether the proposed pipeline would increase greenhouse gas emissions -- a key factor for U.S. President Barack Obama in deciding whether to approve the project. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mumtaz Ladha: The fact is, however, the provincial agency can continue the civil lawsuit to claim the West Vancouver home owned by Mumtaz Ladha, with or without a conviction. , according to Times Colonist. Phil Tawtel, director of the office, said the agency is reviewing the court decision. VANCOUVER Lawyers for a British Columbia businesswoman acquitted of human trafficking have written to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office asking that it drop court action to seize the multimillion-dollar home she owns with her daughters. "We're still waiting to hear from them," Casey Leggett, Ladha's lawyer, said Tuesday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.