Sad Ending As Jewelry Mega Chain Ben Moss Closes Door Across The Country

After more than a century in business, Winnipeg-based jewelry chain Ben Moss Jewellers is closing its doors.

Going-out-of-business sales were announced at all 54 Ben Moss locations in Canada in a news release from Gordon Brothers Group on Friday. The sales began on Saturday.

In May the company announced that it was restructuring its operations after receiving creditor protection. Liquidation sales have already begun at 11 underperforming stores across the country.

Shocking! Mother screams her innocence before being beheaded in Saudi Arabia for murdering 6yr-old daughter

An aerial view shows the holy city of Mecca: Bassim was one of 10 people beheaded In Saudi Arabia so far this year. Saudi Arabia executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013

 Woman screams her innocence before being beheaded in Saudi Arabia for murdering 6yr-old step-daughter

A woman beheaded in a Saudi street for killing her husband's 6yr old daughter screams her innocence in graphic footage of the execution uploaded to the Internet. An executioner in Mecca, the holy city, took two swings to hack off Layla bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim's head, after she was found guilty of beating the girl and raping her with a broomstick.

The incident has sparked outrage in the country, but not because of the brutal punishment meted out. Rather Saudis are up in arms that the execution was filmed and posted online, where the woman's family might see it.

Now Saudi authorities have arrested someone for filming the execution, local media reports. But it was not clear what crime he has been arrested for.

Mozambique Suffers Ten Harsh Days Of Unending Flooding, 71 Killed

A 10-day-old flood that has been raging in Mozambique is said to have killed a total of 71 people, according to authorities from the Mozambique National Disaster Management Institute.

Rita Almeida, from the Mozambique National Disaster Management Institute, disclosed the details of the flood today in Maputo, Mozambique.

She states that the floods sparked by heavy rains have affected the North and Central area of the Southern African country.

“Forty-nine of the victims died in the central Zambezia province, where the river Licungo burst its banks” Rita Almeida said.

Report says no fewer than 30,000 people have been rescued and placed in 34 accommodation centers.

OMG! New ISIS executions shows people thrown off roof, stoned to death and crucified

ISIS have released photographic evidence of a series of horrific executions which includes throwing people from tall buildings, stoning people to death, tying them to makeshift metal crosses & shooting them to death. Full report from UK DailyMail below... 

Two men were hurled from the top of a tower block, two more were crucified in front of a baying crowd and a woman was stoned to death in the latest series of horrific executions by ISIS.

The men were thrown from the roof down to the crowd below in the brutal punishment for being gay.

Albinos Killed in Tanzania for Money & Power Rituals

Tanzania has banned soothsayers in order to protect albinos, dozens of who have been killed in recent years for their body parts which are used in power and wealth rituals, media reported on Wednesday.

Home Affairs Minister, Mathias Chikawe announced the creation of a task force comprising representatives of the government and the Tanzania Albino Society (TAS) to investigate the killings.

About 70 albinos, people born without pigmentation have been killed in the east African country over the past six years.

The report says their body parts, ranging from hearts to genitals, are regarded as powerful magical ingredients. However, it said that 10 people have been convicted of murder.

“The new task force will review court cases involving albino killings to make sure culprits did not get away too lightly.

This must stop! BokoHaram Kills Woman In Labour

PMNews
Boko Haram fighters have killed a woman as she was in labour during what is feared could be the deadliest attack in the militants’ six-year insurgency, Amnesty International claimed on Thursday.

The human rights group said one witness to the assault on Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad in northeast Nigeria, told them the woman was shot by indiscriminate fire that also cut down small children.

“Half of the baby boy (was) out and she died like this,” the unnamed witness was quoted as saying.
Amnesty said this week that hundreds of people, if not more, may have been killed in the attack, which began on January 3 and is thought to have targeted civilian vigilantes helping the military.

Dozens Killed As Floods Hit Malawi

At least 48 people have been killed and around 23,000 forced from their homes by heavy flooding in Malawi yesterday. 

President Peter Mutharika has declared a third of the country a disaster zone and urgently appealed for foreign aid.

Reports from neighbouring Mozambique said a group of 25 school children were swept away by floodwater on Monday after heavy regional rain began last month. Sadly, forecasters say they expect it to continue over the coming days.                                 

Mr Mutharika, the President has announced his government alone does not have the capacity to control the flood.

Rapper Meek Mill tweets on the BokoHaram crisis in Nigeria

Nicki Minaj's new boyfriend took to twitter this to slam the way foreign media outlets are covering the issue in France when the issue in Nigeria is more serious.

Canadian politicians call on feds and Quebec to help free Saudi blogger

Ensaf Haidar, wife of blogger Raif Badawi, takes part in a rally for his freedom, Tuesday, January 13, 2015 in Montreal. Badawi was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a fine of one million Saudi Arabian riyals (about $315,000 Cdn) for offences including creating an online forum for public debate and insulting Islam.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Peter Rakobowchuk The Canadian PressThe wife of a Saudi blogger who was flogged 50 times last week after being convicted of insulting Islam has accused the Arab country of regressing hundreds of years with the way it is treating Raif Badawi.

“My husband was imprisoned for simply expressing his liberal opinions in a country that has gone back to acting like the courts of the Middle Ages,” Ensaf Haidar said through an interpreter Tuesday.

“The Islamic inquisition tribunals that were established in Saudi Arabia are back…and putting an end to the dialogue of religions. Saudi Arabia wants to present an image of openness and tolerance to the West while, at the moment, it imprisons hundreds of people for expressing their opinions.”

Badawi was sentenced last May to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes after he criticized Saudi Arabia’s powerful clerics on a liberal blog he founded.

Fire Outbreaks Destroys Philippines Shanties

A huge fire that was believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital of Manila.

It was one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year’s celebrations.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Fire Protection said nearly a thousand houses, mostly shanties and huts, were destroyed, displacing about 4,000 poor families.

Yet another as AirAsia plane carrying 153 people overshoots runway in Philippines

Not again! Two days after an AirAsia airliner carrying 163 people plunged into the sea, another one carrying 153 passengers overshot the runway at an airport in the Philippines today December 30th, forcing passengers to disembark the aircraft on emergency slides.

The incident occurred at Kalibo Airport in Aklan province in Philippines according to a journalist Jet Damazo-Santos who was on board and shared the photo above on Twitter. "Engine was shut immediately, we were told to leave bags, deplane asap. Firetruck was waiting,' she said

There have been no word from AirAsia officials about this latest incident but according to Jet, no passenger was injured in this latest mishap.

Newest Update on missing AirAsia jet: 40 bodies & debris of jet found floating in sea

Indonesian officials say they have found 40 dead bodies, luggage, a plane door, and an emergency slide floating in the water off the coast of Borneo Island. They are all from the AirAsia flight that disappeared two days ago after losing communications with control tower after encountering storm clouds.

Rescue Operation To Save Almost 500 People Onboard Burning Ferry‏ Off Greece

DION DASSANAYAKE | EXPRESS
A RESCUE operation has been launched today to save almost 500 people onboard a ferry that caught on fire midway through its journey.

The blaze broke out this morning onboard the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic which was travelling from Greece's Patras port to Ancona in Italy.

Some 478 passengers along with crew members are onboard the ferry which caught fire in gale-force winds near the Greek island of Corfu.

An evacuation of the boat is currently underway and as many as 130 people had reportedly been rescued but that was no confirmed by Greek officials.

Air Asia plane with 162 on board goes missing in Indonesia

This file photograph taken on February 15, 2012 show an AirAsia plane taking off from Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta.AFP/Getty Images

Ali Kotarumalos And Margie Mason The Associated Press
A massive sea search was underway for an AirAsia plane that disappeared Sunday while flying from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board through airspace possibly thick with dense storm clouds, strong winds and lightning, officials said.

More than 12 hours later, shocked family members huddled at the Surabaya airport from where the Airbus A320 had taken off, awaiting any news of the jetliner operated by an airline whose parent company is based in Malaysia. It is the third incident involving Malaysia this year following two of the worst aviation tragedies that hit Malaysia Airlines — in March Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people and in July Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on it.

Indonesia and Singapore launched a search and rescue operation for Flight 8501 near Belitung island in Java Sea over which the jetliner lost contact with ground traffic control, about 42 minutes after taking off from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city. The flight had completed a little less than half of its journey time to Singapore.

Canadian imprisoned in Egypt, pleads for Harper's help

Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy stands behind bars at a court in Cairo in May. The Qatar-based television network's journalists

CBC- Imprisoned Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to personally ask Egypt's president to release him before an appeal court closes his chance at a retrial.

Fahmy, who made the comments in an exclusive interview with CBC's the fifth estate, was arrested last December along with two other Al-Jazeera journalists. He was sentenced in June to seven years in prison on charges of undermining Egypt's security and supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. His appeal is scheduled for Jan. 1.

Sierra Leone braces for more Ebola health crisis

A few people seen during a three-day lockdown to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in September, 2014

Sierra Leone, caught in the grip of the Ebola crisis, is bracing itself for a sharp increase in cases of the killer disease over the Christmas period, Sky News reports.

The Government is so worried about the situation it has outlawed any seasonal public celebrations and soldiers are being put on the streets to make sure no one disobeys the directive.

The outbreak of the virus, which began a year ago in neighbouring Guinea and quickly spread to Liberia, is now dominating the lives of everyone in Sierra Leone.

The western part of the country, including the capital Freetown where around a third of the population of more than six million lives, is bearing the brunt of the current upturn in cases.

Authorities have instigated what they call the “Western Surge” to redouble efforts to try to keep the virus at bay.

Yet another, eight children killed, mother stabbed, in Australia

Women put flowers near home in Cairns, Australia where 8 children were found along with a woman police think is the mother of 7 of them on December 19, 2014

KRISTEN GELINEAU AP
Eight dead children and a woman suffering from stab wounds were found inside a home in a northern Australian city on Friday, police said.

Police believe the 34-year-old woman with chest wounds is the mother of seven of the children, and the eighth child is believed to be one of her relatives, Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. She was receiving treatment for her injuries and was in stable condition at a hospital.

Queensland state police said they were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries. When police got to the house, they found the bodies of the children inside, ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years.

Purported ISIS Video Calls For Attacks On Canadians

A U.S.-based company that monitors trends within the global jihadist movement says Islamic State has released a video calling for lone-wolf attacks on Canadian targets. | YouTube

Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press
A slickly produced video released on Sunday urged Muslims to launch indiscriminate attacks against Canadians, similar to those carried out in October in Ottawa and Montreal.

The SITE Intelligence Group, an American based company that monitors trends within the global jihadist movement, said the video was produced by the Islamic State and the Levant. It was also been distributed on Twitter and jihadi forums.

On the video a man, who says he is a Canadian and identifies himself as "Abu Anwar al-Canadi," urges his Muslim countrymen to follow the example of Martin Couture-Rouleau.

The National Post identified the man as John Maguire, a former University of Ottawa student who converted to Islam and became radicalized before leaving Canada last year. The newspaper cited friends and family.

The 23-year-old is among dozens of Canadians under RCMP investigation after allegedly making their way to Syria.

Canada to help Philippines with typhoon

Commuters cross a flooded street on a wooded cart after heavy monsoon rains spawned by tropical storm Fung-Wong flooded Manila and most parts of the metropolis Friday, Sept 19, 2014 in the Philippines | AP 

The Canadian Press
Finance Minister Joe Oliver says the federal government is trying to determine how it can help the Philippines in the wake of another typhoon that has hit the Asian country.

Oliver says a team is already heading to the Philippines to help Canadians on the ground there, while further assistance is available if needed.

He says federal officials are closely watching the situation and are in touch with the Red Cross and other groups in the Philippines to get a sense of the damage.

The storm slammed into the central Philippines’ east coast late Saturday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety.

Oliver told reporters in Toronto that another response team is getting ready for “rapid deployment” to help assess the typhoon’s impact and make recommendations on how Canada can help.

Ebola Update: 10th Sierra Leonean doctor dies from deadly virus

A doctor from Sierra Leone has died from Ebola, making him the 10th doctor in the country to have died from the dreaded virus. 

Dr. Brima Kargbo, Sierra Leone’s chief medical officer, said Dr. Aiah Solomon Konoyeima died of Ebolaon Saturday Dec. 6th. Details of how and where the doctor became infected are not known.

Of the 11 Sierra Leonean doctors infected with the disease, only one has survived.

Konoyeima who tested positive for Ebola 2 weeks ago, worked at a children's hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. He was being treated at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center, which is staffed exclusively by local Sierra Leonean medical personnel, before he passed away.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) set a 60-day goal on October 1 to isolate 70% of Ebola patients in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone and ensure safe burials for 70% of bodies, which are highly infectious.

 

But in Sierra Leone, only 60% of patients were in isolation by December 1, said Palo Conteh, head of the government's National Ebola Response Center.

Source: AFP