Michaelle Jean to join UN agency as special envoy

Michaelle Jean pictured above with President of Haiti Rene Preval in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada on Friday, June 25, 2010 ahead of the G-8 meeting. via{daylife}

"Governor General Michaelle Jean is headed to the United Nations, CTV News has learned.

Jean will be appointed special envoy for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Monday night.

"Her main goal is to fight poverty and Haiti's appallingly high illiteracy (rate)," Fife said. "She'll not only spend time in Haiti, but also travel the globe to keep the world's eyes focused on Haiti and to raise funds."

The prime minister "went to bat to get her this high-profile job," which starts in late September, Fife said.

UNESCO, as the agency is known, has a broad mandate.

"UNESCO's mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information," says a statement on the agency's website.

Canada is one of 182 member states to have a permanent delegation with the organization."

 via{ctvnews}

Breaking News : 7.2-Magnitude Quake in Baja California Felt on West Coast

A sign came loose from the ceiling of a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Palm Desert, California, following the 7.2-magnitude quake

A string of earthquakes and aftershocks rattled the Pacific Coast of the United States and Mexico on Sunday, including a magnitude 7.2 quake that could be felt across Baja California, Arizona, and southern California, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.  There were no immediate reports of injuries and only limited reports of damages from that quake, which struck northwestern Mexico's Baja California at 3:40 p.m. PT (6:40 p.m. ET) about 110 miles (175 kilometers) east-southeast of Tijuana, Mexico. Read more here

Pacific under tsunami threat after massive 8.8 quake strikes Chile

A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile early Saturday, killing at least 122 people and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin.


Numerous tsunami waves have been reported in the Pacific, with one reaching as high as 7.7 feet in the central Chile coastal town of Talcahuano, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.  read more here

Breaking News: 7.0 Earthquake Has Hit Haiti

Damage to Presidential Palace in Haiti Click here to view video please note *graphic*

Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the United States, told CNN he had little information about the extent of damage from the quake, which had a reported magnitude of 7.0. But he said the suffering inflicted on the impoverished Caribbean nation was likely to be "catastrophic."

"The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best," he said.

Joseph said one government official -- the only one he was able to reach -- told him houses had crumbled "on the right side of the street and the left side of the street."

The quake had a reported magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (16 km) off the coast and about 6 miles (10 km) underground, according to the USGS. source

East African albinos flee murder, dismemberment

The belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa's albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make huge profits selling a complete dismembered set. continue reading here

Rio de Janeiro wins right to stage 2016 Olympic Games

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee announced Friday. It is the first time South America would host an Olympics event. The city has budgeted $14.4 billion to the effort, the largest amount of any of the four finalists, according to IOC figures.

The final vote was down to Rio and Madrid, Spain. In earlier voting, Chicago, Illinois, and then Tokyo, Japan, were eliminated from contention.

After the cities made their presentations to the IOC on Friday, the IOC members sat down to cast their votes in a secret ballot.

Ninety-seven of the IOC's 106 members are eligible to vote in the first round; seven must sit out that round because they represent one of the countries bidding for the Games.

A city must receive a majority of votes in order to win. If no city receives a majority, voting moves on to a second round, with the city receiving the lowest number of votes being eliminated, an IOC spokeswoman said. source

Combo vaccine reduces risk of HIV infection, researchers say

"A vaccine to prevent HIV infection, the virus that leads to AIDS, has shown modest results for the first time, researchers have found, raising hopes that a disease that kills millions every year may someday be beaten."

"In what is being called the world's largest HIV vaccine trial ever -- involving more than 16,000 participants in Thailand -- researchers found that people who received a series of inoculations of a prime vaccine and booster vaccine were 31 percent less likely to get HIV, compared with those on a placebo." read more info here

News Updates Sept 7th 2009

Women outnumber men in the Canadian workforce for first time in history.

A fine but no lash for Sudan women who wore pants.

Semenya given rousing South African reception.

Your invited to Oprah's 24th season Kickoff party

Guard killed during shooting at Holocaust Memorial

A lone gunman killed a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday before being wounded himself by return fire from other guards, sources confirmed to CNN.  The suspect was identified as James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland, two law enforcement officials told CNN.  The guard was identified as Stephen Tyrone Johns in a statement from the museum.  continue reading here

French aircraft missing off Brazil

An Air France passenger jet with 228 people on board has gone missing over the Atlantic Ocean on its way to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

The aircraft dropped off radar screens after it took off from Rio de Janeiro on the Brazilian coast on Monday, airport authorities said.

Air traffic control lost contact with the flight at 06:00 GMT on Monday, shortly after it took off.
A spokeswoman for the Paris airports authority confirmed that the aircraft had not arrived at its destination, where it was due to land at 09:10 GMT. Continue reading

Pregnant Briton to escape death penalty in Laos

A British woman facing possible execution in Laos will escape the death sentence because she is pregnant, a spokesman for the Laotian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The country's criminal law prohibits courts from sentencing pregnant women to death, spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing told CNN. The woman's trial hasn't been scheduled yet, he said, but is likely to happen next week.
Samantha Orobator, 20, was facing death by firing squad for drug trafficking, said Clare Algar, the executive director of Reprieve, a London-based human rights group. continue reading here

News Updates March 17 2009

Women raped in Sierra Leone clashes

Madagascan president vows to fight

Drowning islands warn of future perils for 'environmental refugees'

HIV-AIDS Rate in D.C. 'Higher Than West Africa'

News Updates

Women may win seats, not rights, in Iraqi poll

Bank of Canada chops key interest rate to historic low to combat recession


Doctors say fatigue caused Senator Edward Kennedy's seizure at luncheon


Ontario law banning smoking in cars with children takes effect Wednesday

Plane goes down in New York

Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, January 15, 2009

"150 people on board came down into the frigid Hudson River off Manhattan after apparently hitting a flock of geese on Thursday and officials said everyone was rescued.

Rescued passengers said they believed everyone had survived the crash, which left the Airbus A320 intact and floating in the river." source

Thankfully everyone is alive, this is an extremely scary situation, that no one would want to be in. And give thanks to the flight crew and pilot who kept everyone calm and followed protocol to get everyone out safely.

News Updates: January 7 2008

New Ghana president sworn in

Zimbabwe cholera cases on the rise

Obama attends presidential summit

Canada to budget for large but short-term deficits

War on Gaza: Annie Lennox 'Shaken To The Core

Arab States Curb New Year Events

Several Arab countries have shelved New Year's Eve celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip who have suffered a fifth straight day of Israeli bombardment.

Egypt, Jordan, Dubai and Syria have all cancelled festivities including concerts by popular Arab singers which had been billed for Wednesday night.

Egypt's state-owned Al-Ahram daily newspaper reported that official events planned for New Year's Eve had been called off.

"In solidarity with the painful events in the Palestinian territories and the massacres which Gazans are faced with ... the ministries of culture and information have decided to cancel New Year's festivities," it said.

Cancelled events include a special concert by Egyptian singer Mohammed Munir set for Cairo's Opera House, and a variety performance due to be broadcast on state television. Continue reading here

Cynthia McKinney says the aid ship she was on was rammed by an Israeli warship

Click here to watch video of Former Rep Cynthia Mckinney

Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney says the aid ship she was on was rammed by an Israeli warship, an allegation Israel denies.

An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying medical volunteers and supplies to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, witnesses and Israeli officials said.

The Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers -- physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists, including former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- who were trying to reach Gaza through an Israeli blockade of the territory. Continue reading here

News Updates

World rallies around Palestinians amid Gaza offensive

Somali president steps down

Gaza strikes challenge for Obama

Toronto security camera project coming to an end

Person tries to get close to pope

Security quickly subdued a person who tried to get close to the pope as he walked down the aisle of St. Peter's Basilica. The story
Pope Benedict XVI called for peace in the Middle East and an end to the exploitation of children in the homily he delivered early Thursday during the annual Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

He later delivered the traditional Christmas address in St. Peter's Square, sending Christmas greetings in languages including English, Spanish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Slovak and many others. The address is known as "Urbi et Orbi" -- Latin for "To the City and the World."

Benedict, 81, called for the faithful to pray for peace to come to "the land in which Jesus lived, and which he loved so deeply."
Source