mass murder: Burma's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, claims the reports of mass killings reflect an iceberg of misinformation being propagated by terrorists, according to Toronto Star. The Burmese military, too, denied ethnic cleansing even as it inflicted it, claiming against all credible evidence that it was engaged in a legitimate counterinsurgency. We have seen this wherever genocide has occurred and tragically we are seeing it again in Burma, where that country's Rohingya Muslim minority was targeted last year in a brutal state crackdown. The terrible truth of the situation has largely been pieced together, bit by bit, from satellite footage of scorched villages in Rakhine state and individual accounts of rape and the mass murder of civilians. It was only earlier this month, with the publication of a Reuters investigation into a mass murder in the village of Inn Din, that a clear picture emerged of exactly how the ethnic cleansing was perpetrated. And of course from the great exodus of Rohingyas, nearly 500,000 of whom have fled to Bangladesh in the months since the attacks began. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration consultant: Small claims cases cause big headaches for some people trying to collect their money Ms, according to CBC. Codina's behaviour not only affected victims but also impacted the immigration system and society at large, said Crown prosecutor Lynda Trefler at a sentencing hearing on Monday. Angelina Codina was convicted of five charges in November, including advising clients on immigration matters without being authorized to do so and misrepresenting facts on an immigration application. CBC Toronto has reported on a number of cases involving people who had hoped to bring their relatives to Canada but now say they were bilked by Codina, who had represented herself as an immigration consultant for tens of thousands of dollars. In 2000, she was convicted of grand larceny in New York State and sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison. Police bring 7 new charges against alleged immigration fraudster Toronto woman accused of bilking immigration clients Codina has had several run-ins with the law in the past. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

korea: Ban was South Korea's foreign minister before serving 10 years as U.N. chief, according to The Chronicle Herald. He's scheduled to speak Tuesday on human welfare and global citizenship. Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is making an appearance at Boston College. Ban told the U.N. Security Council last week that the current reconciliatory atmosphere between North and South Korea that began during the 2018 Winter Olympics must be kept alive. At Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on Monday, Ban expressed optimism about recent dialogue between North and South Korea and added that another war in the region is unacceptable and unthinkable. He called on the U.S. to play a role by engaging with North Korea. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cent: By any measure, the electorate is more alienated and disengaged than at any time in the history of the province especially if you look at the biggest measure of all In the last two elections, barely half of Ontarians bothered to cast a ballot an embarrassing 48 per cent voted in 2011, and a dispiriting 51 per cent turned out in 2014, according to Toronto Star. Article Continued Below They were the worst showings by civic no-shows in our democratic history. Beyond the front-page headlines, our democracy has never seemed so disconnected. And far worse turnouts than in any other provincial or federal election ever. No matter who wins on June 7, the worsening turnouts will prove a losing proposition for everyone the politicians and the people. With the next election coming in roughly 100 days, Ontario's democratic deficit is creating a crisis of confidence that no party can solve alone. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mennonite women: Loewen and researchers at the centre will use the 450,000 Paul Toews Fellowship in Russian Mennonite History to fund research into Ukrainian archives from the 1930s made available to researchers about a year ago, although they had been previously opened to direct descendants of subjects in the files, according to CBC. Sacrifices of Mennonite women honoured in new exhibit What the legacy of the Russian Revolution means for socialism today Included in the archives are details on the fates of Russian Mennonites arrested by the secret police under Joseph Stalin in the second half of the 1930s, when the dictator began directing the arrests of men from ethnic and religious minorities, Loewen says. This is the question that Mennonite families have often asked over the decades What happened to my father, what happened to my grandfather, what happened to my brother said Royden Loewen, director of the Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg. In the mid-1930s, Loewen says, at least 9,000 Mennonite men were arrested on trumped-up charges. Photographs kept The Soviet authorities kept documentary evidence of some of those who were executed, Loewen says. But especially between '36 and '38, approximately one-half of all Mennonite men were arrested, middle of the night, by the secret police we call them the NKVD, the precursor of the now defunct KGB, taken away and charged with trumped-up charges, and then usually executed within two weeks time. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mexican-born man: Miguel Angel Reynaga Hernandez, a 40-year-old construction worker living in the city of Billings, was detained in October after appearing in court with his wife, who was seeking a civil protection order against another person, according to Metro News. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project contends that former Yellowstone County Justice of the Peace Pedro Hernandez had no authority to initiate Reynaga's arrest. An immigrant rights group alleged Monday that a Montana judge acted illegally when he asked a deputy to take away from his court a Mexican-born man who was later detained by federal immigration authorities. The group on Friday sued the judge and Yellowstone County sheriff's Deputy Derrek Skinner on Reynaga's behalf in federal court. Their job is to serve the community, not to help out their federal immigration authority buddies. If a county or city sticks its nose into federal immigration matters, they are going to be held liable, said Matt Adams, an attorney with the Seattle-based group. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mexico city: I'm being put in deportation proceedings because of my political stance, because of my media presence, because I've utilized my freedom of speech, the activist, Maru Mora-Villalpando, told reporters during a conference call Monday, according to Metro News. This is a pattern of behaviour which ICE is developing now under this administration. But the official, Timothy Black, also noted her extensive involvement with anti-ICE protests and Latino advocacy programs something her supporters said proves she was targeted for political reasons. Maru Mora-Villalpando, a 47-year-old Mexico City native and activist supporting immigrants who are detained at the privately run Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, has no criminal record. She first came out publicly as person in the U.S. illegally in 2014, when she expected to be arrested and subsequently deported for joining others in blocking a road at the detention centre . She was not arrested, however, and did not receive a notice to appear in immigration court until last December. She has been in the U.S. continuously since 1996 after overstaying a visa. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

results minorities: Among its results minorities accounted for the majority of ticket buyers for five of the top 10 films at the global box office, and half of ticket buyers for two more of the top 10, according to CTV. Researchers found that minorities remain underrepresented in film leads 13.9 per cent film directors 12.6 per cent film writers 8.1 per cent broadcast scripted leads 18.7 per cent cable scripted leads 20.2 per cent and digital series leads 12.9 per cent . Many of those totals do represent some modest gains, especially when viewed across five years. UCLA's Bunche Center released its fifth annual study on diversity in the entertainment industry Tuesday, unveiling an analysis of the top 200 theatrical film releases of 2016 and 1,251 broadcast, cable and digital platform TV shows from the 2015-2016 season. Minority leads on broadcast TV shows increased from 5.1 per cent to 15.7 over the last five years, according to UCLA's studies. There has been some progress, undeniably. But other areas -- especially behind the camera -- have seen only slight or no improvement. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

storm reid: It lets other people know that it's possible, she said at the film's red carpet premiere in Los Angeles Monday, when asked about the theme of female friendship, according to CBC. Oprah Winfrey plays one of three women travellers who guide a young girl's journey to find her missing father in the film based on a children's classic fantasy novel. But one of its stars, Oprah Winfrey, said there's a much simpler lesson as well. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Selma and 13th filmmaker Ava DuVernay, is based on the 1962 children's science fiction classic by Madeleine L'Engle about a girl played by Storm Reid searching for a father who went missing after the discovery of a new planet. To be on such a set that looked like the United Nations ... it was really great so I'm glad I got to experience that, Reid told CBC News. Her journey is guided by three women travellers played by Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

undocumented ers: The case could also become moot if Congress takes action in the meantime, according to Toronto Star. Right now, however, efforts to address the issue in Congress have hit a stalemate. The announcement means the case affecting Dreamers will have to work its way through the lower courts before any Supreme Court ruling is possible. The Supreme Court's decision for now to stay out of the case on the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, wasn't surprising. Read more Trump ends Obama program that protects undocumented DREAMers,' putting 800,000 at risk for deportation Article Continued Below Dreamers' left in limbo after U.S. Senate rejects bipartisan, Trump immigration plans react-text 155 People protest the Trump administration's plans to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It's highly unusual for the Supreme Court to hear a case before a lower appeals court has considered it. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gender equity: There's funding in Budget2018 for nationwide roundtables on the importance of gender equity with discussions targeting men, boys and youth, according to National Observer. We know that we can't make this necessary change happen for all Canadian women overnight, he told members of Parliament in a prepared speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday. If approved, that investment would be rolled out over 10 years in a financial plan that Finance Minister Bill Morneau credits as taking an historic and meaningful step toward closing the gender gap in Canada. What we can do, is lead by example. The federal government is expected to introduce pay equity legislation in the fall that would apply to federal employers with 10 or more staff members, set out timelines for implementation, have independent oversight, and include seasonal, temporary, part-time and full-time work. Budget 2018 makes unprecedented moves forward with proactive pay equity legislation for all federally-governed sectors, and was drafted using Gender-based Analysis Plus GBA an analytical tool that assesses how different groups of women, men and gender-diverse people may experience policies, programs and initiatives. ; The budget also dedicated nine pages of its 11-page introduction to the importance of supporting women and girls. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

admissions process: Previously, immigration targets were set annually, according to Metro News. In 2017, Canada had aimed for 300,000 people by 2020, the Liberals want to take in 340,000. The Liberals last fall announced a move to a three-year planning cycle for admissions, seeking to inject more certainty into the immigration system by taking a longer view of the admissions process while heeding the call from numerous groups to allow more people in each year to spur economic and population growth. The increases over time are expected to cost about 440 million, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen has said, as he promised the details of those funds would be outlined in the budget. The Liberals have not said how much it is costing to manage the unplanned increase in new arrivals namely, a surge of asylum seekers, some entering illegally from the U.S. and others filing claims at formal border crossings like airports. This additional funding will enable my department and its partners to process and screen more applications for permanent residency in a timely manner while we continue to provide high quality settlement and integration services to newcomers, Hussen said earlier this month. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

african country: There's no evidence that he's a threat to public safety, according to Toronto Star. It's manifestly unjust to keep him locked up so long for no good reason. Here's a better idea let him out, now. And to top it all off, it costs taxpayers a lot of money, more than 90,000 a year, to hold him. Article Continued Below They say he changed his story, had no identity documents, and hasn't been cooperating with authorities. Toure was originally detained because Canadian officials wanted to deport him but had no proof that he was really from where he claims to have been born, the African country of Gambia. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

indian sojourn: Ottawa must be unspeakably dull compared to the stirring sights and sounds of exotic India, according to The Chronicle Herald. By any measure history, culture or food, to name just a few Ottawa seems very ordinary by contrast. And no wonder. Plus for some reason, everyone back home seems angry with him. As to attire, the man would freeze in our capital if he went around in the getups he sported during his Indian sojourn. Call it the PM's post-trip hangover. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

circuit court: Under the Republican president's action, the protections were due to start phasing out beginning in March, according to CBC. In a brief order, the justices did not explain their reasoning, but said the appeal was denied without prejudice, indicating they will maintain an open mind on the underlying legal issue still being considered by a lower court, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The justices refused to hear the administration's appeal of a federal judge's Jan. 9 injunction that halted Trump's move to rescind a program that benefits immigrants known as Dreamers implemented in 2012 by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. The high court also said it expects the lower court to proceed expeditiously to decide this case. You know, we tried to get it moved quickly, because we'd like to help DACA. I think everybody in this room wants to help with DACA, he said, referring to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump said Monday, We'll see what happens from there. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

eric brazau: E. at Woodbine Ave. that it was going to be derailed; their social media chatter showed white supremacists were planning to gate crash the event, according to Toronto Star. On the panel were Minister Responsible for Anti-Racism Michael Coteau, Beaches East York MPP Arthur Potts and Beaches East York MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. Activists say they warned the provincial Liberals who organized the town hall at Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church on Gerrard St. But it was the presence on the panel of Mississauga Erin Mills MP Iqra Khalid who introduced the anti-Islamophobia M-103 motion that was the lightning rod for the likes of Paul Fromm, Lynn Redden, Eric Brazau and Meir Weinstein. An anti-racism activist who was at the event, who tracks far-right hate groups on social media, says these people have appeared on his radar in at least seven demonstrations in Toronto in the past 12 months not counting their protests outside Masjid Toronto near City Hall. These are representative of a group of people blessed with extraordinary penetrating vision that allows them to see someone you and I might take for a bright woman with achiever's confidence as the ultimate evil infiltrator of political Canada, bent on blanketing the country under Sharia law. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gambian officials: That was five years ago, according to Toronto Star. Toure is still behind bars. They just had to get him a travel document and put him on a plane. The federal government, meanwhile, appears to be no closer to deporting the 46-year-old failed refugee claimant to Gambia, where he is believed to have been born. So Toure continues to wait, with no idea when he will be free. He has no identity documents and Gambian officials have given no indication they will issue him any. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mexican music: Daughter of a Mixtec Indian woman and University of Minnesota professor, Downs is inspired by both sides of her heritage making it difficult to categorize her music, except to say that it is an exciting fusion of international sounds and musical genres, according to CBC. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Arts Commons website. Lauded in both of her home countries of Mexico and the United States, with multiple GRAMMY Awards under her belt, Lila Downs uses her multicultural vision and her remarkable voice and seamlessly blends blues, jazz, rock, soul and even rap with traditional Mexican music for a truly singular sound. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

planning cycle: The cost of the increase has been pegged around 440 million over that time, but the government hasn't provided a breakdown of those costs, according to CTV. The Liberals, however, also have yet to say how much it's costing to manage one unplanned increase in new arrivals -- a surge of asylum seekers coming over the border. The Liberals announced the move to a three-year planning cycle for admissions late last fall and set a goal of welcoming nearly a million people in total between 2018 and 2020. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada recently estimated some of their share is 10.4 million, but repeated requests to federal departments for the full price tag have so far gone unanswered. Statistics released by the government late last week show the RCMP stopped 1,517 people coming illegally across the border last month, down slightly from the number of apprehensions in December. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

pride parade: Another was a recent immigrant with a drug problem, according to CTV. Some of the known and suspected victims of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur fit a pattern people on the margins of Canadian society whose disappearance attracted little attention. Another was from a conservative Muslim family and hid the fact that he was gay from his family. But then Andrew Kinsman vanished. When he suddenly went missing the day after Toronto's Gay pride parade, his friends noticed quickly, and so did the police. The 49-year-old LGBQT activist and former bartender in Toronto had many friends. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

remittance companies: The same is true, she finds, of people she meets as a manager at the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. My experience with my clients and my coworkers, if they go to one institution, that's pretty much where they stay, according to CTV. However, the remittance market has changed significantly in recent years, so those looking to maximize the money they send home should shop around now more than ever. Because of convenience -- and my family over there already knows they're going to be receiving from this institution -- I don't shop around any more. Remittance companies make their money from a service fee they charge on each payment sent, usually a percentage of the amount transferred and an added cost baked into the exchange rate consumers pay. The World Bank estimates costs globally have dropped to an average of 7.09 per cent of money sent from 9.67 per cent in 2009, but still off its five per cent target. Increased competition from both traditional remittance companies and web-based startups has helped lower the cost of sending money abroad. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sanctuary policies: Schaaf, a Democrat seeking re-election this year, has been trying to demonstrate her support for the immigrant community ever since, according to Metro News. The mayor said credible sources told her ICE would be targeting immigrants being sought for living in the country illegally and not those wanted for crimes. Calling it her duty and moral obligation to warn families, Mayor Libby Schaaf's unusual alert this weekend also follows months of criticism of her decision to allow Oakland police to direct traffic during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in August. She said she shared the warning not to cause panic but to protect immigrants in a city and a state with sanctuary policies that limit co-operation with federal immigration agents. Schaaf made the decision after consulting with local community leaders, who agreed she should go public so people could prepare, Berton said. The warning prompted hundreds of phone calls and social media messages, mostly from out of state, accusing the mayor of treason and obstruction of justice and calling for her immediate removal, spokesman Justin Berton said Monday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

west coast: In an effort to expand services across a broader region, the primarily St, according to CBC. John's-based association has recently opened office in Corner Brook and Grand Falls-Windsor. function d, s, id var js, fjs if d.get Element ById id return; js d.create Element s ; js.id id; js.src fjs ; document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk' ; Ken Walsh, the association's senior settlement co-ordinator for the western region, says the plan is to identify any existing gaps in newcomers' settlement on the west coast and in central, while offering support systems and assistance to ensure those gaps are being addressed. The Association for New Canadians has been a major helper in that trend, providing support to international newcomers in the province for nearly 40 years. Newfoundland and Labrador has Canada's most rapidly aging population, as well as one of the lowest birth rates in the country, he said. If you build it, they will come Walsh says the Corner Brook area is appealing to newcomers for the same reasons it's appealing to people who've lived on Newfoundland's west coast for their entire lives. Attracting newcomers is key to the repopulation and revitalization of the province. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

germany afd: The city officials work to integrate some 200,000 newcomers into Germany's fourth-largest city, while the AfD campaigns against them, stoking fear of Muslims and immigrants, according to National Observer. Last fall, the AfD became the main opposition party in Germany's parliament, succeeding partly by challenging Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to open Germany's doors to more than 1.3 million migrants and asylum-seekers since 2015. Just a few doors down the hall is the local office of Alternative for Germany AfD the first far-right party to win seats in the German federal parliament in 60 years. ; While the two offices are almost side-by-side, the work they're doing couldn't be further apart. The AfD emerged in 2013 at the height of a debt crisis in eurozone countries and has since gained traction at all levels of government in Germany. Cologne is the largest city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where 15 AfD members of Parliament were elected. The party's historic breakthrough came in September 2017, when the AfD won 13.5 per cent of the vote and 94 seats in the federal election. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

krysten ritter: Mahershala Ali, Nia Long and Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz co-star, according to NOW Magazine. March 23Jessica Jones season 2 Of the half-dozen Marvel TV shows bouncing around the ether, Jessica Jones is the only one that feels like appointment viewing, driven by Krysten Ritter's terrific performance as the eponymous self-hating, super-powered private investigator. In addition to Rapture, a docuseries profiling eight rappers, and the RZA-directed Azealia Banks vehicle Love Beats Rhymes, we're getting a biopic about one of the genre's seminal figures, Roxanne Shant . Michael Larnell's film, which premiered at Sundance in 2017, stars Chant Adams as the Queensbridge MC whose epic clap back to U.T.F.O., Roxanne's Revenge, became an underground hit and sparked the Roxanne Wars of the 1980s. She can jump really high and punch people through walls, but she'd really rather just sit by herself and brood, ideally with a bottle at hand. March 8Collateral There's the whodunit and then there's the systemic whodunit. The second season promises to delve into Jessica's past, but the biggest question is whether showrunner Melissa Rosenberg can come up with a big bad as threatening and as interesting as David Tennant's mind-controlling Kilgrave was in season one. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gain influence: If they don't end up feeling the vote was fair, that could badly undermine the international community's goal of bringing about the more inclusive government critical to maintaining a unified state and avoiding a repeat of the IS disaster, according to Metro News. Adding to the volatile mix are the Iranian-backed Shiite militias, now even more politically involved, which are allied with but not controlled by the Shiite-led Baghdad government, and appear set to gain influence that would alarm many in the region trying to check the power of Shiite, non-Arab Iran. The Sunnis, many of them in displacement camps, bore the brunt of the war's destruction and have been left so bereft that many don't even have the papers needed to register to vote. If divisions among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds persist they could lead to more protracted talks to form a new government, potentially delaying the colossal task of rebuilding Iraq after IS overran nearly a third of the country in 2014, mostly Sunni towns, and then hung on as a U.S.-led coalition surrounded and bombarded the areas they controlled. After the ouster of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, many Sunnis felt marginalized as parties led by Shiites were able to win elections by sheer numbers; Sunnis, in turn, felt they had lost their fair share of power. The extremist group was able to at least initially benefit from some popular support among Sunnis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.