IBM To Add 250 Jobs In New Brunswick

Just a day after announcing 100 new jobs in Fredericton, IBM says it plans to add 110 jobs in Saint John and another 40 in Florenceville-Bristol.

David Drury, general manager of global technology services at IBM Canada, says the new jobs will create a hub of IT and security technology expertise in New Brunswick.

The jobs, which pay roughly $50,000 to $75,000 each, will be created over the next three years.

The province is paying 12-thousand dollars per job as a payroll rebate, for a total of $3 million.

Premier Brian Gallant says the expansion of IBM's operations in New Brunswick means valuable information technology jobs and a strong foundation for continued growth in the cybersecurity sector in the province.

Source: Canadian Press

Ebola Awareness: Symptoms And Diagnosis Of Ebola

Doctors emphasize that Ebola is not infectious until the patient is exhibiting symptoms. (Joe Penney/Reuters)

The Ebola outbreak in western Africa and the handful of cases that have surfaced in North America and Europe have raised concerns about how infectious the disease is and how to recognize its symptoms.

Dr. Todd Hatchette, director of virology and immunology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, says that when it comes to Ebola, diagnosis can be tricky.

"With flu season coming, there are going to be lots of people presenting with fever and weakness and muscle aches and things. But the key is, where they have been?" says Hatchette.

Even if a person is showing fever-like symptoms and has been to western Africa, Hatchette says, that doesn't necessarily mean an Ebola infection.

"At the present time, most of the people that return from Africa with a fever don't have Ebola — they have something more common, like malaria."

While an Ebola infection may initially have symptoms similar to diseases such as malaria and cholera, there are key distinctions. CBC takes a closer look at how Ebola manifests itself.

Ebola News: What It's Like To Be An Ebola Survivor In Sierra Leone

Kamara poses with her husband Baibai in Kenema on Aug. 26. "I was actually happy to see him put his hands over her shoulder," Elshamy told HuffPost. "For me, it means a lot that they faced the virus and now [she] survived it with her husband."

Amanda L. Chan  | HuffPost

Mohammed Elshamy is an Anadolu Agency photojournalist covering the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Through his work in Sierra Leone, he was able to meet a 38-year-old mother of four who survived Ebola, named Rigiatu Kamara. Kamara lives in a very poor area with no services like clean water or electricity. Below, Elshamy shares Kamara's story of being infected with Ebola -- and surviving

"One day, I felt I had a serious fever. I was cooking at the evening, with plans to catch up with one of my friends that I promised I would take her to church, but I couldn't go due to the fever," she remembered.

"I called my man [husband] and asked him to cook in my place because I was sick. I took water with Panadol, then I went to the toilet as I also found I had diarrhea. And it all turns bad; my head and throat ached, my legs felt weak, and my back hurt so bad," Kamara recounted.

"My body was very weak; I heard on the radio that if anyone has symptoms like fever and diarrhea, they should go to the hospital and report," she added.

Fraud Alert | Hackers release 100,000 photo and video intercepted from Snapchat

More than 100,000 videos and images sent using Snapchat have been leaked by hackers who have been intercepting and collecting the images for years.

Earlier this week, an anonymous 4chan user claimed to have obtained images on Snapchat — the ephemeral messaging service that allows users to send pictures and videos that should disappear after a few seconds.

Hackers release 100,000 photos and videos intercepted from Snapchat, in huge trove that includes child pornography

• Hackers released the photos this weekend
• Follows claims a third-party app has collected Snapchat photos for years
• Some users say the huge trove of images includes child pornography
• About half of all Snapchat users are teens between ages 13 and 17
• Not the first security breach for SnapChat   

The pictures were posted in an event dubbed ‘The Snappening,' Business Insider reported.
Users have told the website that the collection includes a large cache of child pornography — as half of Snapchat's users are teens between ages 13 and 17.

Scotland Decides No Against Independence From UK

If you hadn’t already heard, Scotland voted against independence. BBC News is reporting that the
“No” side has achieved a victory with 1,914,187 votes opposed by 1,539,920 on the losing “Yes” side. England and other countries can sleep easier tonight knowing that they can still easily get their hands on all that fine whisky without hassle. Also if they didn’t play Status Quo at these rallies, my feeble mind is disappointed. From BBC News:

Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has said he accepts his defeat. He said: “It is important to say that our referendum was an agreed and consented process and Scotland has by a majority decided not at this stage to become an independent country. “I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland.”

If you need an easier look at how the vote went, compare the top picture with the one below. The Union Jack isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, neither is The Queen or that damn funny money. Groundskeeper Willie is probably pissed.''


 

Quebec Is Still Taking Notes On The Scottish Question

Win or lose, Scotland's independence movement has already become a source of inspiration for Quebec secessionists.

Supporters of Quebec's hobbled sovereignty movement watched closely Thursday as Scots voted on whether to separate from the United Kingdom.

Polls predicted a nail-biter result, only months after the Scottish breakaway movement was all but dismissed.

The apparent surge by the Scots has provided a source of hope for leaders of Quebec's own independence cause, a fractured movement still smarting from major electoral defeats in recent years.
Even a narrow loss for Scotland's Yes side would feel like a victory, says a potential Parti Quebecois leadership candidate who travelled to Edinburgh for the vote.

"Very few people — pretty much nobody — seriously thought the Scots had a chance to win," said Alexandre Cloutier, who was cautious about drawing parallels between Quebec and Scotland.

"I think we have to be prudent, obviously, in making comparisons (to Quebec), but at the same time we must remember where the Scottish independence movement started from."

For years, surveys have shown most Quebecers oppose the idea of independence. The PQ, the movement's primary political vehicle, suffered an historic electoral defeat in April after it promoted its sovereignty ambitions during the campaign.

NHL new rules changes: 'Spin-o-rama' banned from shootouts

The so-called "spin-o-rama" move was banned from use in shootouts and penalty shots by the NHL as part of a package of rules changes.

The other rules changes:

• The goalkeeper's restricted "trapezoid" area expands by two feet from the goal post on both ends of the net.
• Clipping, charging, elbowing, interference, kneeing, head-butting and butt-ending infractions join the same category as boarding and checking-from-behind fouls, whereby a player who incurs two such game misconducts in the category will be automatically suspended for one game.

Touching! Raw Photo of Women With Breast Cancer Posing For SCAR Project

Daily Mail- An arresting series of photographs of breast cancer survivors bearing the scars of their battles with the disease depict the confronting reality of its aftermath on the body.

 

International fashion photographer David Jay started The SCAR Project in New South Wales' capital of Sydney after a close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 years of age.

 

The collection of colour and black-and-white photos depict the raw emotions of the survivors with their mastectomy scars who show them off with pride

 

 

His friend, Paulina, had the surgery done within two weeks of being diagnosed and Jay described her as a 'beautiful, strong young woman'.

 

'I had taken Paulina’s picture a hundred times since she was 17,' he said.

 

'I saw her soon after her surgery and knew I would have to shoot her again.

'I took her picture because, perhaps as a photographer, taking pictures is my way of confronting, understanding and accepting the things I see.'

 

 

UN projects 6.3 billion people will be living in cities by 2050

Delhi, which had a population of just under 10 million in 1990, will be home to more than 36 million by 2030, according to projections.

The merits of the city have been debated as far back as Aesop — so, since about 600 B.C., or slightly before parking spots in central London were sold for the cost of a maybe-renovated Toronto semi.

Town Mouse, Aesop tells us, visited his rural cousin, but was put off by the slim pickings for dinner and so suggested a trip back to the city. Country Mouse agreed, and was thrilled by the delicacies on offer there — until their meal was scarily interrupted not once, but twice. Country Mouse had enough and scurried home, because “better a little in safety, than an abundance surrounded by danger.”

That was then. Now, it’s probably fair to say that Country Mouse would agree the risk was worth the reward. He would stay in town, hope for a decent job, appreciate that his offspring could probably go to school, and forget he had ever once called the hedgerow home.

By 2050, the United Nations 2014 World Urbanization Prospects report projects that 66 per cent of the globe will be living in cities. Today, just over half of us live in cities; in 1950, only 30 per cent of the world’s population was urban.

“Everywhere, it’s the big cities that are most attractive to everybody,” says Andre Sorensen, chair of the University of Toronto’s human geography department. “It’s the big main cities that are the attractors for population, because that’s where the opportunities are.”

“A city,” agrees Somik Lall, the World Bank’s lead urban economist, “offers an economic structure that gets you out of doing labour on the farm, provides you higher wages. You can send your kids to school, if you have girls they can have better access to education — you know, cities are pretty good.”

The term urbanization often conjures images of slums and substandard living conditions, and that is the reality for many people in the developing world. The book Planet of Slums noted that “the five great metropolises of South Asia — Karachi, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Dhaka — alone contain about 15,000 distinct slum communities with a total population of more than 20 million.”

#STOPISIS! Terror Group Beheads Another America Journalist, Steven Sotloff

ISIS released a brutal video today showing the beading of a second U.S journalist, 31 year old Steven Sotlof. Sotloff had appeared in another video where U.S Journalist James Foley was killed two weeks ago (left. Sotloff pictured right at the execution scene). And it looks like Sotloff was killed by the same executioner who killed Foley on August 19th. He had same British accent and before beheading Sotloff, the terrorist said;

"I'm back Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warning. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people."

Sotloff disappeared while reporting in Syria a year ago. He worked for Time, Foreign policy & others

Five Important Things Every Traveler Need to Know About Ebola

Now that the second American aid worker who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia has arrived back home on Tuesday for treatment at an Atlanta hospital, some global travelers may be wondering what they need to know about the deadly illness. British Airways on Tuesday temporarily suspended flights to West Africa, and other airlines say they are closely monitoring the situation. Here are some answers to questions about Ebola, what airlines are doing and whether it is safe to fly.
       

Q. Should I Worry about Ebola?

A. No, not if you live in a developed country, say health experts. However, in West Africa there have been at least 887 deaths in the current outbreak, out of a total of 1,603 reported cases, a fatality rate of about 60 percent. Symptoms may appear anywhere from two days to three weeks after exposure, and there is no vaccine and no specific treatment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upgraded its travel advisory for West Africa on Thursday because of the Ebola outbreak, saying people should avoid nonessential travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

 

Q. Could Ebola Spread to the U.S. Through Air Travel?

A: Not likely, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Although the Ebola virus is just a short plane ride from anywhere, he reminds travelers that the virus is only spread through direct contact with an infected person. "The important thing to remember is that Ebola is only spread through contact with blood and body fluids," he said. "People with Ebola are only contagious when they are showing symptoms." Of more concern for airlines, he said, are infectious airborne viruses such as measles or influenza that sick people may spread before they even know they are ill.

US Ebola Patient Dr. Kent Brantly Speaks out for the First Time

 - read his statement

Dr. Kent Brantly, one of the two US doctors who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia, has spoken out for the first time. He released a statement from his isolation room at Emory University in Atlanta where he's being treated after he was flown out of Liberia last week. He is the first Ebola patient to receive experimental serum, ZMapp. Below is the statement Brantly released to the media yesterday

“I am writing this update from my isolation room at Emory University Hospital, where the doctors and nurses are providing the very best care possible. I am growing stronger every day, and I thank God for His mercy as I have wrestled with this terrible disease. I also want to extend my deep and sincere thanks to all of you who have been praying for my recovery as well as for Nancy and for the people of Liberia and West Africa.

“My wife Amber and I, along with our two children, did not move to Liberia for the specific purpose of fighting Ebola. We went to Liberia because we believe God called us to serve Him at ELWA Hospital."

 “One thing I have learned is that following God often leads us to unexpected places. When Ebola spread into Liberia, my usual hospital work turned more and more toward treating the increasing number of Ebola patients. I held the hands of countless individuals as this terrible disease took their lives away from them. I witnessed the horror first-hand, and I can still remember every face and name.

Ebola Rescue Mission- US Sends 50 Experts to West Africa

The United States plans to send 50 health experts to West Africa to help contain the Ebola outbreak that has left hundreds of people dead in three countries.

 

At least 729 people have died in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea so far this year as a result of the deadly virus, according to the World Health Organization.

 

“This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement.

 

“It will take many months, and it won’t be easy, but Ebola can be stopped. We know what needs to be done. CDC is surging our response, sending 50 additional disease control experts to the region in the next 30 days.”

 

Frieden said the 50 experts from the CDC will work to combat the outbreak and help implement stronger systems to fight the disease.

 

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which affects multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding.

 

Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function — and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

Headlines: How Deadly Ebola has Spread Across the Globe

Fears of a global Ebola pandemic are 'justified' an expert has said as Nigerian health officials try to trace 30,000 people at risk of contracting the deadly disease following the death of Patrick Sawyer.

The U.S. citizen boarded a flight in Liberia carrying the disease to Nigeria, potentially infecting 'anyone on the same plane'.

 

It comes as Nigerian actor Jim Iyke sparked outrage, posting a picture of himself wearing an Ebola mask while sitting in a first class airport lounge as he fled Liberia.

 

Hong Kong woman quarantined when she fell ill after returning from Kenya 

Expert claims panic over death of U.S. man in Nigeria is 'justified'

He warned the spread of Ebola could become a global pandemic

Health campaigners petition U.S. drug authorities to fast-track potential cure

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond declares disease is 'very serious threat'

He will chair an emergency meeting on how to boost defences

British airlines are also on 'red alert' for cases of the deadly virus

Man with 'feverish' symptoms tested for deadly Ebola at Birmingham hospital

He had travelled into Midlands from Benin, Nigeria via France when he fell ill

Global Alert! Ebola epidemic 'out of control'

Global medical charity Doctors Without Borders has given warning that the Ebola crisis in West Africa is "unprecedented, absolutely out of control", as states across the world took steps to prevent its spread.

Bart Janssens, the charity's director of operations, warned there was no overarching vision of how to tackle the outbreak, in an interview with Belgium's  La Libre Belgique newspaper.

"This epidemic ... can only get worse, because it is still spreading, above all in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in some very important hotspots," Janssens said.

"We are extremely worried by the turn of events, particularly in these two countries where there is a lack of visibility on the epidemic. If the situation does not improve fairly quickly, there is a real risk of new countries being affected.

"That is certainly not ruled out, but it is difficult to predict, because we have never known such an epidemic."

More than 670 people have died of Ebola in the outbreak, the largest on record since the disease was detected in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organisation has met global health officials to discuss measures to stop the disease from crossing borders. The pan-African airline ASKY suspended all flights to and from the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The EU allocated an extra $2.7m to fight the outbreak, bringing total funding to $5.2m.

"The level of contamination on the ground is extremely worrying and we need to scale up our action before many more lives are lost," said the EU's humanitarian aid commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva

The bloc has deployed experts on the ground to help victims and try to limit the contagion.

For Now, Risk of Ebola Virus in Canada is Low

As international health officials scramble to contain a deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, Canadian border agents are now on alert for any signs of illness from travellers returning from abroad.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday said though the risk of infection is low, Canadian officials are monitoring the situation overseas.

“Obviously, this is a major epidemic in that part of the world and we are concerned about it,” Harper told reporters Wednesday.


The virus has now been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, amid a massive outbreak that has claimed the lives of more than 700 people and infected thousands.

In response to the crisis, the Canadian government on Wednesday updated its travel warning to some of those countries, advising travelers to exercise extreme caution and seek medical at the first sign of illness.

There are no direct flights to Canada from the infected countries, but border agents are still on the lookout.

“What we’re looking for is fever -- anything when people look unwell is what our border agents are trained for,” said Dr. Gregory Taylor, deputy chief public health officer of Canada.

If someone is flagged, Taylor said, border agents call in a quarantine officer.

“The Quarantine Act allows us to detain a person and request a full medical assessment,”

In an effort to isolate those infected, Canada has sent two mobile testing units to West Africa.

“People who are very sick, they’re going to be so sick, that they won’t actually board a plane, they’re going to seek medical attention there,” said Dr. Neil Rau, an infectious disease expert.

Manitoba Declares State of Emergency

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger has ordered officials to prepare for a controlled breach of flood water as parts of the province face rapidly rising water levels along the Assiniboine River.

Selinger said the flood forecast worsened just hours after he declared a state of emergency earlier Friday.

“We are now looking at a higher crest and the water is moving more quickly than anticipated,” he said.

The Assiniboine River is expected to crest in Brandon tomorrow and Portage La Prairie on Tuesday.

“Preparations are under way for a controlled breach at the Hoop and Holler Bend to reduce the high possibility of an uncontrolled breach,” Selinger said.

It’s the same area where Selinger ordered a controlled breach in 2011, which at the time threatened 150 homes.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Forces will once again step in to help Manitoba residents cope with widespread flooding after a spring of heavy rainfall.

Members of the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, based out of CFB Shilo, have been recalled to help with sandbagging efforts in Portage La Prairie, CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson reported Friday.

The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry remains on standby.

Selinger said troops are needed to protect about 200 rural homes at risk of being deluged with water from the Assiniboine River.

Soldiers will help fill and distribute some 500,000 sandbags that will be used to hold off water around homes, Selinger said, adding that he has been in touch with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"Additional assistance is required for our flood preparations," Selinger said. "These measures will allow our officials to take the necessary actions to help protect the safety, health and welfare of Manitobans."

Worse than 2011 flooding
Officials have warned residents that flooding could be worse than in 2011, when damage costs topped $360 million.

Housing Affordability Becoming Impossible, Check Average Housng Prices Across Canada

Housing affordability is a national disaster that begs further investigation.

The average national resale home price in May: $416,584.

The annual gross income needed to afford that price based on a 5-per-cent down payment and a five-year mortgage: $89,363.

The estimated median family employment income: $68,692.

In that $20,671 shortfall is the considerably, but not entirely, depressing story of Canada’s housing market at midyear. The bad news: Vancouver and Toronto are deserts of affordability, and Calgary’s starting to look troublesome. The good: National data obscure the fact that affordability is still reasonable in some cities.

We hear plenty about housing affordability from banks and real estate people. Now, the Personal Finance column weighs in with some analysis focused on this question: What income does it take to afford a house on a national basis and in eight cities?

For answers, a hypothetical mortgage was set up for these markets using average May resale prices as shown by the Canadian Real Estate Association, a 5-per-cent down payment and a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 2.99 per cent. To calculate how much income is needed to support the resulting mortgage payments, we’ll refer to the gross debt service ratio, or GDS.

Read more on globeandmail

Mega Chain Sobeys to Close 50 Stores Across Canada

Sobeys Chief Executive Officer Marc Poulin poses for a photograph at the Sobeys grocery store along the Queensway in Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette Nathan Denette/Canadian Press

Grocery store chain Sobeys Inc. will close about 50 underperforming stores across Canada following its $5.8-billion acquisition of Safeway.

The company made the announcement in an earnings release on Thursday from Empire Inc., parent company of Sobeys. 

"During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, Sobeys completed a detailed full review of its retail store network," the company said. "Based on this detailed review, Sobeys has determined that consistently underperforming stores, representing approximately 50 stores ... and 3.8 per cent of the total retail network gross square footage will close."

About 30 of the stores are in Western Canada, the company said, without divulging any more details about specific locations. But CIBC analyst Perry Caicco, who covers the company, said in a research note "it is probable that 20 of these closures will be in the terrible Ontario market."

Sobeys' parent company says it will close four Sobeys locations in Calgary as well as one Safeway store there in the coming months.

- Sobeys Deer Point, 14939 Deer Ridge Drive S.E.

Canada's Inflation Skyrockets To New High

Canada's annual inflation rate climbed to its highest level in two years, reaching 2.0 per cent in April, as an unusually big jump in energy prices -- particularly gasoline and natural gas -- helped push up consumer prices.

The steep 0.5 percentage point increase from the previous month put the annual rate back at what the Bank of Canada considers the optimal level.

Given that inflation was as low as 0.7 per cent as recently as October, the dramatic climb in recent months would normally signal the beginning of an interest rate increase cycle for the Bank of Canada, whose principal mandate is to keep inflation at two per cent.

But governor Stephen Poloz has already said he will "look through" the current rise in inflation as being a temporary phenomenon driven by consumer items related to energy.