Halifax Regional Municipality: Sometime early in the new year, Halifax Regional Municipality is going to roll out its new 2014 immigration strategy. The federal funds have been secured, the new co-ordinator has been hired and the initial three-year budget has been approved. The new strategy will replace the old 2005 immigration strategy, which many politicians and most local business and academic leaders agree has mostly been a failure, according to The Chronicle Herald. As a new immigrant to Halifax, I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a waste of money this is. Halifax doesnt have an international branding problem. The world loves Halifax. Its a beautiful city, on a beautiful harbour. It has a rich sense of history. Halifax has some of the cleanest air in the world. It has great neighbourhoods and a strong sense of community. It has a multitude of universities and all the amenities a family would need and The new strategy will follow on the heels of the recent announcement that the city will be spending $217,000 to have a Bedford ad agency rebrand the Halifax name with the hope of making the city a destination" for new immigrants. Halifaxs immigration strategy, in effect, is getting a 2014 reboot. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Jennifer Lannan: The 31-year-old Saltspring Island woman, her 36-year-old Nigerian spouse and their son will, at last, get to begin life together as a family now that immigration authorities have agreed to let him into Canada. , according to Times Colonist. Their story has been well documented. They wed in 2008 in South Korea, where Lannan was teaching English and Johnson Emekoba ran an export business. And finally, just in time for Christmas or maybe New Years Jennifer Lannan will get the present for which she has been waiting five long years: her husband. In the end, it shows what can happen when persistence, common sense and compassion are allowed to prevail. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Syria Media Hub: While many parts of the Middle East including Jerusalem and Cairo are experiencing a rare snow, those having the hardest time dealing withthe weather are in Syria and the nearby refugee camps. The #snow storm at #Syrian #refugees #camp #Syria http://t.co/K9H9QkxOwE #Syria -n child running naked on the #snow" http://t.co/N0WhH2JDsMHasan Sari Booking into cold comfort hotel a little Syrian child #Syria http://t.co/jzSFcrqKXjFree Syria Media Hub, according to CTV. This snow and cold temperatures have added another obstaclefor the families affected by the war. The civil war has been raging since March2011. #SYRIA #Refugees run for cover from #snow during a winter #storm in Zahle town,Bekaa Valley. http://t.co/N2zUORgWLh http://t.co/2u6ofkI1BkVirtual Activist Storified by KevinNewmanLive Fri, Dec 13 2013 14:50:53 Syrian Children find Warmth were they can ..new picture #Syria #cold #snow #winter #us http://t.co/3YSJVeK4bzFree Syria Media Hub Few journalists are able to report from the country so theimages we are seeing are mostly from social media. Many of them show acompletely different world than what we are used to seeing. There are fewsnowball fights, snow angels or snowmen. What we see are images that look likethey are out of a post-apocalyptic scene in a Christopher Nolan film. God! #Photo Another angle of the catastrophe; abandoned destroyed homes in cold #Homs #Syria today http://t.co/qoz7KmaPtgRami Surreal #photo!! Destruction, starvation and cold in one place #Homs few minutes ago #Syria http://t.co/JqUmoKbqdBRami Welcome to Armageddon #Syria http://t.co/28srlB09J3Free Syria Media Hub #Homs What's left of a beautiful city. Under the snow. Yesterday.#Syria #Snow # # http://t.co/7doCKHwMbyTahrirSy (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

prison populations: Partly under the influence of misguided drug war policies, partly under lobbying pressure from the private prison industry, partly because of right-wing anti-crime zealots, Americans responded to their declining crime rates by declaring a war on drugs, leading to huge increases in prison populations. , according to Times Colonist. But it seems we have learned nothing from the tragic results of the American efforts to get tough on crime; recent Canadian crime bills are leading us in the same direction. In particular, these bills have drastically increased the number of criminal offences with legislatively specified mandatory minimum sentences. This idea, while it might seem reasonable at first glance, is a pernicious one, because it allows no latitude for judicial discretion and mercy. How should society respond to decreasing crime rates? Should we see this as an opportunity to reduce the number of people in our prisons? Or should we find ways to maintain and even increase our prison populations, just as has been done in the United States? This war has been ineffective in reducing crime and drug use, but clearly has exacerbated social injustice in American society by disproportionately punishing minorities and the poor. And sending more people to prison means more real criminals on the street in the future, because prisons are schools for crime. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

magic bullet: Its all the rage this week: a mountain range along the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, according to The Chronicle Herald. Unlocking the ridges secrets may not be the magic bullet that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird described this week, after he sent the scientists back to look at it again and The Lomonosov Ridge could determine how much Arctic seabed Canada could one day claim as its own. It could even settle the question of Santas citizenship at the North Pole. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Melissa Bryden: Up until a few weeks ago, Melissa Bryden felt like she was on borrowed time in Halifax, according to The Chronicle Herald. They ve lived in Halifax for three years and now that they re comfortable, another posting is looming and The mother of two-year-old twins has moved across the country four times since she married her husband in 2004. Warrant Officer Todd Bryden is a physicians assistant in the army serving on-board HMCS Fredericton. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Halifax: Now unemployed, the young couple are struggling to find comparable work in the city, according to Times Colonist. BlackBerry was poised to be the darling of the tech sector in Halifax when it opened its doors in the suburb of Bedford in 2006. The Waterloo, Ont.-based company was lured by millions in provincial subsidies with the hopes of creating up to 1,200 high-paying jobs and HALIFAX - Misty Legge and her husband Matthew had hopes for a bright future when they packed their bags six years ago and left their native Newfoundland and Labrador for jobs at the BlackBerry office in Halifax. "I never dreamed this would happen," says Misty, who secured a technical support job at BlackBerry TSX:BB fresh out of community college in St. John's, N.L., and had planned on a long career at the smartphone firm. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Benson Kibue: The explosion happened as the minibus was travelling from Eastleigh neighbourhood of Nairobi to the city centre, said Benson Kibue, chief of police in Nairobi. Investigators believe an improvised explosive device was used in the Saturday attack that injured at least 25 others, he said, according to Times Colonist. Kenya has been the scene of multiple terrorist attacks since the country sent its military to Somalia in 2011 to fight the extremist Somali militant group al-Shabab and NAIROBI, Kenya - At least four people were killed Saturday after a device exploded inside a passenger van in the capital, Kenyan police said, in what appears to be the first attack inside Nairobi since the deadly terrorist assault on an upscale mall in September. Sometimes called Kenya's "Little Mogadishu," Eastleigh is known for its large population of ethnic Somalis. The neighbourhood came under fresh scrutiny by investigators following the Sept. 21 attack on Nairobi's Westgate Mall, a bloody four-day siege in which at least 67 people were killed. A Western official familiar with the Westgate attack investigation told The Associated Press last month that all four attackers were ethnic Somalis who had spent time in Eastleigh. The official confirmed that all four gunmen arrived in Kenya in June and attended a gym in the neighbourhood. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Halifax: Now unemployed, the young couple are struggling to find comparable work in the city, according to The Chronicle Herald. BlackBerry was poised to be the darling of the tech sector in Halifax when it opened its doors in the suburb of Bedford in 2006. The Waterloo, Ont.-based company was lured by millions in provincial subsidies with the hopes of creating up to 1,200 high-paying jobs and HALIFAX Misty Legge and her husband Matthew had hopes for a bright future when they packed their bags six years ago and left their native Newfoundland and Labrador for jobs at the BlackBerry office in Halifax. I never dreamed this would happen, says Misty, who secured a technical support job at BlackBerry TSX:BB fresh out of community college in St. Johns, N.L., and had planned on a long career at the smartphone firm. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Halifax: Now unemployed, the young couple are struggling to find comparable work in the city, according to CTV. BlackBerry was poised to be the darling of the tech sector in Halifax when it opened its doors in the suburb of Bedford in 2006. The Waterloo, Ont.-based company was lured by millions in provincial subsidies with the hopes of creating up to 1,200 high-paying jobs and HALIFAX -- Misty Legge and her husband Matthew had hopes for a bright future when they packed their bags six years ago and left their native Newfoundland and Labrador for jobs at the BlackBerry office in Halifax. "I never dreamed this would happen," says Misty, who secured a technical support job at BlackBerry TSX:BB fresh out of community college in St. John's, N.L., and had planned on a long career at the smartphone firm. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.