Jocelyn A.: I m at peace and feeling independent. My kids are happy, said the 33-year-old. I m more worried about what I m going to do after the holidays. , according to Times Colonist. More Christmas fund stories" More Christmas fund stories Though shes about to face her first Christmas alone with three kids, Jocelyn A. is more grateful than worried. In October, she gathered the strength to leave a relationship and go to a transition house. Starting over has been a struggle. The transition house helped her find an apartment, which she and her children, ages four, 12 and 14, moved into this month. The Mustard Seed gave them a welcome basket of food and Women In Need provided a few basic pieces of furniture. They even got a Christmas tree. With the help of the Christmas Fund, Jocelyn will also be able to buy groceries and gifts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Radovan Krejcir: This James Bond-style scenario might sound far-fetched, but it is just the latest instalment in the bizarre case of Radovan Krejcir, according to The Star. While Johannesburg is notorious for having a high crime rate, the Krejcir story is a particularly extreme example, with one man seemingly at the centre of a whirlwind of murder and mayhem. It also highlights the issue of police corruption, which may have shielded him from prison until now and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA When a Czech fugitive with shady underworld connections appeared in a South African court this week, journalists were barred from the courtroom because of fears they might be assassins in disguise, with guns hidden in their cameras and pens. The crime saga has captivated South Africa, offering a glimpse at the underbelly of the drugs and money laundering trade controlled by gangland bosses with powerful connections. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lebanon: Throughout the day, young boys and girls walk along dirt roads, carrying baskets of fruits and vegetables from the fields to shops. Some are barefoot, while others struggle with the heavy load, according to Times Colonist. More than two million Syrians have fled their country's civil war, now in its third year, seeking shelter in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. At least half of the refugees 1.1 million are children. Of those, some 75 per cent are under the age of 12, according to the United Nations refugee agency and ZAHLEH, Lebanon - Every morning in northeastern Lebanon, hundreds of Syrian children are picked up from refugee settlements, loaded onto trucks and taken to the fields or shops for a day's work that earns $4 or less. The children, some as young as 7, are cheap labour in Lebanon and Jordan, where they've fled the Syrian civil war. And they are fast becoming primary providers for their families as the adults can't find jobs in exile. They work long hours of manual labour in fields, farms and shops for little pay, according to a U.N. report issued Friday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mel Boutilier: Bit by bit, box by box, the space is filling in, according to The Chronicle Herald. If we had one of them we might send them, too, says Mel Boutilier and When it leaves Halifax on Monday, this 12-metre shipping container will be packed with school supplies, clothes, shoes, sheets, blankets, beds, tables, toothbrushes you name it. Everything but the kitchen sink. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Reuben Garang: As a child, the Lost Boy left his village in southern Sudan and walked for weeks to safety in Ethiopia. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. "I've been thinking about this for a long time," said Garang, a Christian minister. "The voice of my mother keeps echoing back to me." Reuben Garang Photo Store Now a grown man, Winnipeg's Reuben Garang is going home for the first time in mid-December. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

social services: Members of Lev Tahor, a 200-member sect that relocated in Chatham, Ont., said Thursday they had met with local social services, according to CTV. The group has authorities on alert after their seemingly sudden move from their home in Ste. Agathe-Des-Monts, Que., last week, and the attention could mean a future jurisdictional battle and A child welfare agency in southwestern Ontario confirmed it is conducting an investigation into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect that fled Quebec before a court there ordered 14 children into foster care. We brought everybody to the office so it was very happy, no police needed, was very comfortable, said community spokesperson Uriel Goldman. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Toronto Community Housing Corp.: Acsana is a friend of a friend and she lives in a TCHC complex on Lawrence Ave. E., near Orton Park Rd., so far east that there are dragons in the margins of the map, according to The Star. The first problem was immediately apparent: There is no security; the door is unlocked, and anyone can just wander in any time they like and A corona of pale light circles the Toronto Community Housing Corp. of late, but the company is still a black hole of problems . She shares an apartment with her father and her brother in a lowrise, next to a highrise. She showed me around on a recent evening. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Macdonald House: But High Commissioner Gordon Campbell said Canada managed to sell Macdonald House at One Grosvenor Square in London to the highest bidder, an Indian developer, according to Huffington Post. Canada plans to consolidate its diplomatic activity at another historic property, Canada House on Trafalgar Square in the heart of London and OTTAWA - Canada's top diplomat in the United Kingdom says security concerns were one consideration in the $530-million sale of the historic London mansion that houses part of the Canadian High Commission. The Mumbai-based Lodha Group will take over the downtown property in London's posh Mayfair district in December 2014. The deal was announced Thursday after the Harper government declared its intention to sell it earlier this year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Statistics agency chief Jose Ramon Albert: Statistics agency chief Jose Ramon Albert said Thursday that growth in the latest quarter was driven by services and industry, according to Times Colonist. Growth for the first nine months of the year was 7.4 per cent, making the Philippines one of the world's fastest growing economies and MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine economy expanded 7 per cent in the third quarter, but growth is expected to slow because of devastation from the super typhoon that hit eastern and central regions earlier this month. He said agriculture made the smallest contribution to third quarter GDP due to the effects of 10 storms in the July-September period. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

SMU: Interesting how he neglected to mention the economic impact of the large number of international students on the coffers of SMU, or any other university or college, according to The Chronicle Herald. This rosy picture flies in the face of the significant individual and institutional racism at play at SMU, in the city, in the province and in the country and Re: the Nov. 9 opinion piece by SMU president Colin Dodds on turning Canada into an international education powerhouse. This is the elephant in the room. This is simply another way to make up for some of the shortfall in funding from provincial and thus federal governments and, in turn, Canadian citizens via their lowered income taxes of the past two decades significantly lowered taxes for the wealthy individuals and corporations in our country . (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.