A sniper with Canada’s elite special forces in Iraq has shattered the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history at a staggering distance of 3,540 metres.

The Canadian Armed Forces confirmed Thursday that a member of Joint Task Force 2 made the record-breaking shot, killing an Islamic State insurgent during an operation in Iraq within the last month.


“The Canadian Special Operations Command can confirm that a member of Joint Task Force 2 successfully hit a target at 3,540 metres,” the forces said in a statement. “For operational security reasons and to preserve the safety of our personnel and our Coalition partners we will not discuss precise details on when and how this incident took place.”


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The elite sniper was using a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle while firing from a high-rise during an operation that took place within the last month in Iraq. It took under 10 seconds to hit the target.

“The shot in question actually disrupted a Daesh [Islamic State] attack on Iraqi security forces,” said a military source.  “Instead of dropping a bomb that could potentially kill civilians in the area, it is a very precise application of force and because it was so far way, the bad guys didn’t have a clue what was happening.”

The military source said the JTF2 operation feel within the strictures of the government’s advise and assist mission.

“As stated multiple times in the past, members of the Canadian Special Operations Task Force do not accompany leading combat elements, but enable the Iraqi security forces who are in a tough combat mission,” the statement said.  “This takes the form of advice in planning their operations and assistance to defeat Daesh through the use of coalition resources.”

The kill was independently verified by video camera and other data, The Globe and Mail has learned.

“Hard data on this. It isn’t an opinion. It isn’t an approximation. There is a second location with eyes on with all the right equipment to capture exactly what the shot was,” another military source said.

A military insider told The Globe: “This is an incredible feat. It is a world record that might never be equalled.”

The world record was previously held by British sniper Craig Harrison, who shot a Taliban gunner with a 338 Lapua Magnum rifle from 2,475 metres away in 2009.

Previously, Canadian Corporal Rob Furlong had set the world record in 2002 at 2,430 metres when he gunned down an Afghan insurgent carrying an RPK machine gun during Operation Anaconda.

Weeks before, Canadian Master Cpl. Arron Perry briefly held the world’s best sniper record after he fatally shot an insurgent at 2,310 metres during the same operation. Both soldiers were members of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

JTF2 special forces are primarily tasked with counterterrorism, sniper operations and hostage rescue. Much of the information about this elite organization is classified and not commented on by the government. The unit’s snipers and members of Canadian Special Operations Regiment, who are carrying out the main task of training Kurdish forces, have been operating in tough conditions in Iraq.

The Trudeau government pulled CF-18 fighter jets out of Iraq in 2016 but expanded the military mission, which will see the number of Canadian special forces trainers climb to 207 from 69 in an assist, train and advise mission. Canadian commandos are not supposed to be involved in direct combat, but are authorized to go up to the front lines on training missions with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and to paint targets for coalition air strikes.

For operational security reasons, sources would not reveal the names of the elite Canadian sniper and his partner, nor the location where the action took place.

A sniper and his observer partner are often sent to remote and dangerous locations to hunt down insurgents while having to carry heavy equipment. Once they have located the target, snipers follow the same methodical approach before each shot. Breathe in, out, in, out, find a natural pause and then squeeze the trigger.

Canada has a reputation among Western military forces for the quality of its snipers, despite the small size of the Canadian Armed Forces compared to the United States and Britain.

“Canada has a world-class sniper system. It is not just a sniper. They work in pairs. There is an observer,” a military source said. “This is a skill set that only a very few people have.”

The skill of the JTF2 sniper in taking down an insurgent at 3,540 metres required math skills, great eyesight, precision of ammunition and firearms, and superb training.

“It is at the distance where you have to account not just for the ballistics of the round, which change over time and distance, you have to adjust for wind, and the wind would be swirling,” said a source with expertise in training Canadian special forces.

“You have to adjust for him firing from a higher location downward and as the round drops you have to account for that. And from that distance you actually have to account for the curvature of the Earth.”

U.S. Sergeant Bryan Kremer has the longest confirmed sniper kill shot by a U.S. soldier. He killed an Iraqi insurgent with his Barrett M82A1 rifle at 2,300 metres in 2004.

Editor's Note: The distance of the record-breaking shot is 3,540 metres, not 3,450 as reported in an earlier version of this story.

At bE SixFifty Hotel you will be in the heart of downtown Toronto, surrounded by the best people in the best city in the world.



Constantly growing, we are currently looking for an experienced Reservations and Tourism Specialist to join our team. The perfect candidate will be supervising hotel reservations as well as clients’ arrangements with local Ontario destinations.



The duties are as follows:



-          Manage booked reservations for individuals and /or groups via telephone, email or fax, online reservations and ensure that all reservations are addressed accordingly
-          Up-sell rooms where possible according to established procedures to maximize revenues and to minimize escalations
-          Ensure all external resources carry updated information (availability, fees, specials)
-          Manage cancellations and process refunds for all types of reservations, and determine if special considerations are required
-          Develop hotel packages that include local entertainment so clients enjoy the best of Toronto and Ontario
-          Negotiate with local companies to ensure clients get the most out of their packages
-          Manage special reservations with external parties such as restaurants, amusement parks, etc. to ensure clients receive the best possible services from all parties
-          Supervise transportation from airport to hotel to destination and vice-versa
-          Pass on requests in a timely and accurate manner to appropriate parties
-          Provide monthly reports to management to determine hot spots and destinations and to improve services offered




Requirements:

-          College certificate or diploma in Hotel & Restaurant Management (HRM), Tourism, Business and Travel Management, or in a related field;
-          At least 2 years of experience in hotel reservations and special services;
-          Experience supervising hotel parties and special reservations (activities, entertainment, etc.)
-          Proficiency in the English language


Conditions of Employment:

-          Permanent, Full-time position (35 hours of work per week)
-          $21.00 per hour, overtime rate will apply after 44 hours of work per week
-          Location of employment: 650 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1M8
-          Occasional travel may be required, all expenses will be paid by the company








How to Apply:



Please send your resume together with a cover letter and list of references to be650hotel@outlook.com. Kindly write “Reservations Specialist” on subject line. Please do not contact the hotel directly as HR will review all applications first before calling applicants for interviews.

While Bitcoin is currently trading at close to its all-time high, its dominance in terms of proportion of total cryptocurrency market cap is rapidly decreasing — ground largely given up to Ethereum.

This shift is probably being driven by a few factors. Despite its recent appreciation in value, as a technology, Bitcoin has stagnated over the last three years. Two rival factions have emerged with violently opposing views on what should be done to allow the Bitcoin network to handle more transactions than it can right now. While Bitcoin has been paralysed by indecision, Ethereum has raced ahead with technology that not only does everything Bitcoin can do faster, in higher volume, and at lower cost — it does a lot more besides.

As a “hard fork” looms, which looks set to split Bitcoin into two separate currencies that will have to fight for custody of the Bitcoin moniker, anxious Bitcoin holders are increasingly divesting themselves of Bitcoin to acquire Ether — the cryptocurrency that fuels the Ethereum network.

The other side of it is that Bitcoin is really only useful as a store of value. Even then, its usefulness for actually transacting value is limited. In a world where people are used to online payments being confirmed instantly, Bitcoin transactions can take anywhere from tens of minutes to several hours, depending on how busy the network is. It’s also expensive — especially if you’re only sending small amounts. The average transaction currently costs about $1.50.

Ethereum, on the other hand, was never intended as a Bitcoin competitor. Ethereum is actually a platform for new kinds of decentralized (often financial) applications (dApps) that run on a peer-to-peer network of computers. These dApps are designed to disintermediate the kinds of relationships and transactions for which we have traditionally required things like banks, public registries, and the legal system.

For technologists, this is exciting stuff, and a vibrant community of software developers has enthusiastically embraced it. Hundreds of projects, startups, and companies at every scale — including the likes of Intel, Microsoft, and Samsung — are building software using Ethereum. And everyone who wants to use any of these dApps on the public Ethereum blockchain will need to pay a small fee in Ether each time they do so.

The utility of many of these dApps are based on network effects, so Ethereum as the underlying protocol is a network upon which other networks are being built. It is therefore a group-forming network — a much faster growing and more resilient kind of network effect than Bitcoin enjoys. In group-forming networks, even if the utility of individual groups is low, the network effect of all being part of the same underlying network can dominate the overall economics of the system. In other words, the value of the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. That’s particularly interesting in the case of Ethereum as that value is captured within the Ether price.

Platforms requiring network effects are however, famously hard to bootstrap — but here Ethereum has an ace up its sleeve. Token sales, or Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), allow Ethereum projects to sell their own native token to the crowd. A token is a cryptocurrency that has special purpose within the dApp to which it corresponds. The purpose and value of these tokens varies, but what they all share in common is that their sale not only provides funding for the dApp’s development, it also catalyses the creation of a community around the dApp that is financially incentivized to see it succeed. The more successful a dApp becomes, the greater the demand for, and therefore value of, the token required to use it.

TL;DR: Bitcoin’s dominance is slipping because its utility is limited and weakening versus other more recently developed, less politicized cryptocurrencies. Financial markets don’t like uncertainty, and Bitcoin is gearing up for a messy divorce. Ethereum was never intended as a competitor to Bitcoin, it’s something very different. But the value of Ether is underpinned by utility within the kind of group-forming network that tends to grow rapidly when it picks up steam. That’s why its value is increasing faster than Bitcoin, and why many pundits are predicting it will continue to do so long after Bitcoin’s market cap has been exceeded.

Jack du Rose is a cofounder of Colony, an Ethereum-based operating system for open organizations.

For Muslims all over the world, the month of Ramadan can be the most rewarding time of the year. But fasting from sunrise to sunset can be challenging, and breaking your fast with the right foods is key to ensuring you have enough energy for your evening prayers and don't crash the next morning.

 To get you started, here are some protein-packed recipes that fit the bill:
1. Bake some spicy vegetable samosas for a healthier spin on a classic dish.

2. Blend a refreshing date and banana smoothie, perfect for the warm Ramadan month.

3. Feast on turkey chili that's satisfyingly savory but won't put you to sleep.

4. Chop up a mediterranean beet salad out of the energy-boosting roots

5. Prepare a batch of baked vegetable-dense pakora using chickpea flour.

6. Toss chicken and your favorite burrito toppings together for a chicken and quinoa burrito bowl.

7. Slurp on a hydrating and muscle-rebuilding lentil soup.

8. Make a healthyish option like mac & cheese for the kids.

9. Indulge on sweet baked atayef that won't make you crash-and-burn.

10. Fill up on lean protein and healthy fats with this one-pan salmon with green beans recipe.

11. Sip on naturally sweetened watermelon agua fresca.

12. Feed large groups with creamy, cheesy, and meatless butternut squash and spinach lasagna.

13. Stuffed grape leaves are great for digestion and can pack a surprising amount of protein if you choose to add meat.

14. Chop a medley of vegetables and throw them into this garden vegetable quinoa soup.

15. In a hurry? Whip up this crowd-pleasing Thai red curry and beef tenderloin skillet.

16. Refuel with a high-protein, complex carbs-filled meal like this oven-roasted branzino with sweet potatoes.

17. Have a bit of time on your hands? Try out gut-friendly sarma (sour cabbage meat rolls).

18. Or keep it simple with a light, shrimp-tossed pasta.

19. And of course, no iftar is complete without dates.

 Une femme qui a décidé de célébrer son 35e anniversaire au Casino de Montréal, la nuit dernière, se souviendra longtemps de cette journée: elle a remporté le gros lot d’une machine à sous Gagnant à vie alors qu’elle en était à sa première visite dans la maison de jeu.

Balagowry Gunaseelan devra donc faire le choix entre recevoir un montant de 1000$ par semaine pour le reste de sa vie ou encore la rente forfaitaire de 675 000$. La femme a quatre semaines pour faire son choix. En attendant, elle a déjà empoché un premier montant de 10 000$.

Il s’agit sans doute du cadeau le plus généreux que Mme Gunaseelan ait reçu pour son 35e anniversaire.

C’est la quatrième fois que quelqu’un met la main sur le gros lot de Gagnant à vie au Casino de Montréal depuis son lancement, il y a un an.

Près de 30 ans après avoir choqué l'Amérique avec son titre Fuck tha police, le rappeur Ice Cube revient avec ce qu'il estime être la version 2017 de son célèbre titre, un appel aux «bons flics» à prendre l'initiative. Le pionnier du gangsta rap, qui est aussi aujourd'hui vedette de films d'action à Hollywood, sort vendredi cette nouvelle version à l'occasion du 25e anniversaire de son album Death Certificate (Certificat de décès). «Bon flic, mauvais flic, Où est votre dignité? Où est votre empathie? Où est votre sympathie? Mauvais flic, où est votre humanité?», rappe Ice Cube sur ce morceau. «On a réalisé que les mêmes choses continuent de se produire aujourd'hui, donc pour moi on avait besoin d'une version plus à jour de la communauté qui parle à la police et aux autorités», a expliqué Ice Cube sur la radio Apple Music's Beats. «Notre première ligne de défense est que les bons policiers évacuent ces pommes pourries, parce qu'ils siphonnent tout le respect que la police avait», a-t-il poursuivi. Fuck tha police, sorti en 1988 par l'ancien groupe d'Ice Cube N.W.A., avait fait sensation à l'époque et reste très controversé. Good cop Bad cop en reprend quelques vers. Ice Cube, 47 ans, a dit avoir voulu créer cette version contemporaine de Fuck tha police après avoir vu le succès au box-office du film Straight Outta Compton en 2015, qui racontait la naissance et l'histoire de son groupe N.W.A. Death Certificate, sorti en 1991, avait lui aussi créé la polémique, Ice Cube étant notamment accusé de racisme.

Aliments Ultima annonce un rappel de yogourt de marque iögo nanö en raison d’un «risque potentiel pour la santé».

La mesure concerne des yogourts à boire de format 93 ml et d’autres produits à boire vendus en format d’un litre. Il est possible que des fragments de plastique se trouvent à l’intérieur du produit, selon la compagnie. Aucune plainte de client n’a encore été reçue en lien avec cet incident.
Aliments Ultima précise que sur les produits visés, la lettre C est accolée à l’heure de production imprimée sous la date de péremption. Les clients qui ont acheté les produits concernés peuvent être remboursés en communiquant avec la compagnie.

Les détails des produits en cause sont disponibles sur le site web de la compagnie.

Les autres produits iögo ne sont pas touchés par le rappel. Ultima a demandé aux détaillants de retirer des tablettes les produits visés par le rappel. L’Agence canadienne d’inspection des aliments a été avisée de la situation.

An international human rights watchdog and groups representing Burmese refugees in Canada called on Trudeau to push Suu Kyi to allow an independent international investigation into allegations of widespread human rights abuses against the Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority.
OTTAWA—The meeting had the look of a feel-good visit between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and honorary Canadian citizen Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of Burma, also known as Myanmar.

But a major international human rights watchdog and groups representing Burmese refugees in Canada called on Trudeau to push Suu Kyi to allow an independent international investigation into allegations of widespread human rights abuses against the Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority in the western state of Rakhine.

Suu Kyi’s government has so far resisted those calls, which came from a special UN commission chaired by former secretary general Kofi Annan.

Farida Deif, Canada director for Human Rights Watch, urged Trudeau to use the Wednesday meeting with Suu Kyi on Parliament Hill to specifically push her to accept the UN call.

“The prime minister should make clear that Myanmar’s full co-operation with this independent and impartial investigation is expected by Myanmar’s international donors and friends,” said Deif.

Trudeau made no mention of the Rohingya situation during a brief public photo-op with Suu Kyi as the two exchanged pleasantries in his office.

“We have some way to go before we become a working, democratic, federal nation such as yours, but I’m sure we’ll get there,” Suu Kyi told Trudeau.

She is a one-time political prisoner, democracy champion and Nobel Laureate who won a landslide election victory in late 2015.

While Trudeau’s office said he did raise the investigation during the meeting, he didn’t attach any strings. His office said Canada was giving Burma an additional $8.8 million in humanitarian assistance to promote “peace and stability” programs, including human rights.

Deif said Canada should view the Rohingya situation as “an important test of the Burmese government’s commitment to uphold the rule of law and to work constructively with the international community to establish the facts, identify perpetrators and deter future human rights abuses by all sides.”

Trudeau’s spokesperson said the prime minister planned to use the meeting to “advocate for further reforms in Myanmar, especially those that support ethnic and religious minorities, women, and young people — including the situation of the Rohingya.”

The prime minister also offered Suu Kyi Canada’s condolences for the loss of a military plane from Burma, which disappeared Wednesday while carrying more than 100 passengers and crew.

The Karen Community of Canada, which represents ethnic Karen refugees, also urged Trudeau to press for an independent UN investigation in Myanmar.

The group said in an open letter to Trudeau it didn’t want the visit to be a “feel-good celebration” that will ignore “human rights abuses in Burma’s ethnic areas, which Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has done virtually nothing to alleviate.”

The Rohingya situation has dulled much of the lustre of Suu Kyi’s successful entry into democratic politics in what was once one of South Asia’s most repressive military regimes. She spent 15 years in detention in Burma before her National League for Democracy won the election after five decades of military rule in her poor but resource-rich country.

Former Conservative foreign affairs minister John Baird travelled to Myanmar in 2012 to present Suu Kyi with honorary Canadian citizenship and support her and the democratic reforms that were taking root then.

Canada has since re-established diplomatic relations with Burma and wants to forge new business links with a country the World Bank has described as possessing “fertile lands, significant untapped agricultural potential and a rich endowment of natural resources.”

But in its letter to Trudeau, the Karen community urged the government to reign in its enthusiasm for exploiting opportunities in Burma’s oil and gas sector because that has human rights implications.

L’artiste hip-hop Koriass a annulé pour des raisons familiales toutes ses prestations prévues au cours des prochaines semaines, dont celles aux FrancoFolies de Montréal.

Il ne tiendra donc pas l’affiche du grand rassemblement de 17 juin, et sera remplacé par d’autres artistes dont les noms n’ont pas encore été confirmés.

«Je suis désolé d’annoncer que je dois malheureusement annuler certains engagements prévus dans les prochaines semaines, pour des raisons familiales, a-t-il écrit sur sa page Facebook jeudi. J’ai hâte de vous retrouver».

L’auteur de «Love suprême» sera relayé sur scène par Vincent Vallières vendredi soir, au nombre des invités de Paul Piché, qui célébrera ses 40 printemps en plein air, après les avoir soulignés au Centre Bell, puis au Centre Vidéotron.

Le gouvernement pourrait bonifier dès cet automne le régime de vacances des travailleurs québécois alors que sera dévoilé son projet de modernisation de la Loi sur les normes de travail.

«Possiblement, la révision pourra se faire à l’automne prochain», a commenté jeudi la ministre du Travail, Dominique Vien, à la sortir du caucus des députés libéraux.

Annoncée en février, la «révision ciblée» de la Loi sur les normes du travail pourrait s’attaquer à la question des vacances. Rappelons que Philippe Couillard s’était montré «très intéressé» la semaine dernière à optimiser les congés payés des Québécois, qui ont actuellement droit à deux semaines de répit après un an de travail. Une troisième semaine s’ajoute après cinq ans.


Le premier ministre réagissait alors aux mesures annoncées par l’Ontario, qui haussera le salaire minimum à 15 $ de l’heure en 2019, en plus d’augmenter le nombre de congés payés des travailleurs.

Proches aidants
Le gouvernement compte aussi se pencher «dans les prochaines semaines» sur le projet de loi de la CAQ, déposé mercredi. Le caquiste Marc Picard propose de reconnaître les proches aidants dans la Loi sur les normes du travail, en plus de les autoriser à prendre 10 congés sans solde pour fournir des soins à une personne dans le besoin, qu’il s’agisse ou non d’un membre de la famille.

Affirmant vouloir étudier la question dans le cadre de la modernisation de la Loi sur les normes du travail, le gouvernement a rejeté jeudi la motion de la CAQ demandant d’adopter ce projet de loi d’ici la fin de la session. «Trop rapide et précipité», soutient Mme Vien, qui souhaite regarder «cette révision-là dans sa globalité.»

«Ce n’est pas par manque d’intérêt envers les proches aidants naturels, pas du tout», a-t-elle précisé, ajoutant qu’une réunion était prévue à la mi-juin avec le Regroupement des aidants naturels du Québec. Des gens du monde des affaires doivent aussi être rencontrés, tout ça dans un objectif de regarder «les impacts» d’une telle mesure et «atteindre un certain équilibre entre la qualité de vie au travail» et «la capacité de payer de nos entreprises».

 La Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson (HBC) annonce un plan de restructuration comprenant notamment la suppression d’environ 2000 postes au Canada et aux États-Unis.

Au total, l’entreprise espère générer plus de 350 millions$ d'économies annuelles lorsque les mesures de son plan seront intégralement mises en œuvre d’ici la fin de l’exercice 2018.

Les mesures d’aujourd’hui incluent des compressions de 75 millions$ annoncées en février dernier. Le communiqué ne détaille pas où les postes seront éliminés.

Tout comme plusieurs autres détaillants, HBC fait face à la concurrence extrême qui sévit dans le secteur de la distribution, en plus du fait que de plus en plus de clients se tournent vers le commerce en ligne.
HBC prévoit que ses mesures de compression vont entraîner des frais de 95 millions$ au cours des 12 prochains mois.

HBC annonce également la création de deux équipes de direction différentes, l’une pour les magasins La Baie au Canada et l’autre pour la chaîne Lord & Taylor exploitée aux États-Unis.

La Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson est la plus ancienne compagnie en Amérique du Nord. Incorporée en 1670, elle a été achetée en 2008 par NRDC Equity Partners, une firme de capital privé américaine.