Ottawa (AFP) - Canada plans to fly in 900 Syrian refugees a day as of next month, according to media reports, as the defense minister said showing compassion for these people sends a message to Islamic State extremists.

Canadian officials said details of a plan to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees by year's end would be announced Tuesday.

The Canadian media reports come amid fears that IS jihadists could slip into the country posing as refugees, in the wake of last week's attacks in Paris that killed at least 130 people.

Citing a leaked document, local media said the government was planning to fly in 900 Syrian refugees daily from Jordan to Montreal and Toronto, starting December 1.

From there, they would be transported to two military bases in Ontario and Quebec, where they would be temporarily housed, according to the reports. They pegged the cost of the ongoing operation at Can$1.2 billion over six years.

The cost and other details will be revealed on Tuesday, Immigration Minister John McCallum told reporters in Ottawa.

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Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan (AFP Photo/Chris Wattie)

Health Minister Jane Philpott, however, said the leaked information was "outdated and not expected to be accurate."

At a security forum in the Atlantic port city of Halifax, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said by welcoming Syrian refugees, Ottawa was also striking at IS.

"This crisis is not just about a humanitarian project," he said in his opening remarks to military commanders and defense ministers from around the world.

"This also sends a great message to ISIS that you might create this environment for us, but we will not let you take advantage of this," he said, using an alternate acronym for the IS group.

"By doing our part for this, we are actually hitting ISIS in a different way as well."

Sajjan also sought to allay security concerns raised since the Paris attacks, saying Canada is looking to bring over the most vulnerable and families with skills that could ultimately benefit Canada, and that they pose no threat to national security.

"They're not fleeing poverty; they're fleeing war," he said. "People who are settling are going to be contributing to our economy."


Reports: Canada to fly in 900 Syrian refugees a day

Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan says the move is a blow to ISIS and the group's aims.
25,000 by end of year

For a few transgender Americans, this has been a year of glamour and fame. For many others, 2015 has been fraught with danger, violence and mourning.

While Caitlyn Jenner made the cover of Vanity Fair and Laverne Cox prospered as a popular actress, other transgender women have become homicide victims at an alarming rate. By the count of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, there have been 22 killings so far this year of transgender or gender-nonconforming people — including 19 black or Latina transgender women.

The toll compares with 12 last year and 13 in 2013, and is the highest since advocacy groups began such tallies a decade ago.

"Most Americans think it's been an amazing year for transgender rights," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "But for the transgender community, it's been one of the most traumatic years on record."

Death by death, the details are horrific. Kiesha Jenkins was beaten and shot dead by a cluster of assailants in Philadelphia. Tamara Dominguez was run over multiple times and left to die on a Kansas City street. Police said the most recent victim, Zella Ziona, was fatally shot in Gaithersburg, Maryland, last month by a boyfriend embarrassed that Ziona showed up in the presence of some of his other friends.

"She was just amazing," a friend, Barbie Johnson, told NBC Washington the day after the killing. "When Zella's around, there's not a single frown in the room."

There's no question that anti-transgender hatred has fueled many of the killings, yet activists and social-service professionals say there are multiple factors that make transgender women of color vulnerable. They have documented that numerous victims were killed by intimate partners, and many were murdered while engaging in prostitution.

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This undated photo provided by the Ruth Ellis Center, courtesy of Calvin Williams, shows Williams …

"For many of these women, it's chronic unemployment or participation in survival sex work," said Louis Graham, a professor of community health education at the University of Massachusetts who has studied the experiences of black transgender women.

Many are beset by homelessness and economic desperation, sometimes ending out in coercive and violent relationships, Graham said.

Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT Rights Project, said that for many perpetrators of the violence, "there's a sense of transgender people being less than human."

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In this photo taken on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, tansgender activist Joanna Cifredo testifies at a LGB …

Philadelphia has experienced two confirmed homicides of transgender people this year — as have Detroit and Kansas City. In May, London Chanel was fatally stabbed by her roommate's boyfriend inside an abandoned North Philadelphia home; on Oct. 6, Kiesha Jenkins, 22, was attacked and shot to death by a group of men.

Police Capt. James Clark said Jenkins was a prostitute, and described the assault as a robbery, not a hate crime. Police soon arrested a suspect with a prior record of robbery arrests, and the search for other suspects continues.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015, Rebecca O'Hara holds a phone showing a photo of …

Nellie Fitzpatrick, a former assistant district attorney who now heads the Philadelphia mayor's Office of LGBT Affairs, said some members of the local transgender community harbored long-standing mistrust of the police and were frustrated that Jenkins' killing was not being investigated as a hate crime, though Pennsylvania does not have a hate-crimes law covering gender identity.

Fitzpatrick, a lesbian who has championed LGBT rights, credited the police department with working to improve relations and gain more cooperation for its investigations of anti-transgender violence.

In late 2013, responding to pressure from activists, the department established formal guidelines for officers' interactions with transgender people. The guidelines include addressing transgender individuals by the names and pronouns they prefer, even if those are not reflected on the person's driver's license or other ID.

Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel acknowledged there has been "a history of conflict and lack of trust" between the department and LGBT Philadelphians. He said the guidelines, as well as LGBT-specific components in training at the police academy, were having a positive impact.

"It's not perfect," he said. "But we're moving in the right direction."

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Among those killed in Detroit was Ashton O'Hara, whose body was found in a field in July with stab wounds. O'Hara was described by friends as "gender-fluid," embracing feminine attributes but also comfortable being addressed with male pronouns.

His mother, Rebecca O'Hara, said she noticed the tendencies while Ashton was still a toddler.

"How could you be against a person for being happy about who they are?" she asked during a telephone interview.

She marveled at Ashton's skills as a hairdresser and makeup artist, yet worried about potential nastiness from others. As he grew older, her fears deepened.

"For years, I was afraid I was going to get that phone call, telling me he's hurt or dead," she said. "He'd say, 'I'll be all right. Nothing will happen.'"

Police arrested a 37-year-old man and charged him with Ashton O'Hara's murder; the case is pending.

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In this photo taken on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, Anti-Violence Project community organizer LaLa Zannel …

The other victim in Detroit this year was 20-year-old Amber Monroe, shot dead in an area frequented by transgender prostitutes. A friend, transgender-rights activist Julisa Abad, said Monroe had twice previously been wounded by gunshots in that area.

"To go back to that same place, life has to feel like you have no other choice," said Abad, 31, who described Monroe as a funny, outspoken person who "always defended herself. She was very good at living her truth and demanding respect."

In the wake of Monroe's slaying, Detroit police held an "LGBT community chat" in an effort to build trust.

"We need information, and we know that the streets talk," said Police Chief James Craig. "The only way we're going to get information is if we have a strong relationship."

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In Kansas City, Missouri, police continue to investigate the death of Tamara Dominguez, a 36-year-old who left Mexico in her late 20s to escape the violence she faced as a transgender woman. In her adopted hometown, she had a longtime partner and close-knit group of friends.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, Sheeneneh Smith, a transgender woman, performs duri …

At about 3 a.m. on Aug. 15, the driver of a black SUV drove into her, ran over her several times, then fled, according to witnesses. There have been no arrests and no determination of a motive.

"We are still seeking answers and are still pleading with our community to speak out and help us solve this crime," said a police spokeswoman, Sgt. Kari Thompson.

Randall Jenson of the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, who has been in contact with Dominguez' friends, shared their collective memories of her — a good cook, generous and loving to her friends and her four Maltese dogs.

"She loved making pinatas for her friends," Jenson said. "She spent a lot of time and money to get her body and spirit to where she wanted to be as a woman."

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The high death toll this year may stem in part from greater awareness of anti-transgender violence, and more vigorous efforts by activists and police to identify homicide cases in which this was a factor.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, Sheeneneh Smith, a transgender woman, speaks after …

"The violence has been going on for a long time," said Chai Jindasurat of the New York City Anti-Violence Project. "We're now able to identify and document and report on it better."

Examples of the heightened attention to the issue:

—On Tuesday, amid a week of nationwide events remembering transgender victims, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus held the first-ever hearing in Congress on anti-transgender violence. Among those testifying about the specter of violence were two transgender women — LaLa Zannell and Joanna Cifredo.

Zannell said problems for many transgender women begin in school where bullying prompts them to drop out, leading to unemployment that drives them into high-risk "survival economies."

—Two national advocacy groups — the Human Rights Campaign and the Trans People of Color Coalition — recently issued a report on "the epidemic of violence" against transgender people, notably black and Latina transgender women. The report called for passage of a federal nondiscrimination act that covers transgender people, as well as initiatives to improve their options regarding health care, emergency housing, employment and education.

According to the report, 15 percent of transgender homicide victims in the past three years were killed by intimate partners, and 34 percent may have been engaged in "survival sex work" at the time of their deaths.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, Shasha Fierce, a transgender woman, performs during …

—In October, Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, urging them to intensify efforts to curtail anti-transgender violence. Franken called for better tracking and tallying of attacks and closer attention to victims' complaints of disrespectful treatment.

"This is a crisis, and it demands a forceful response," Franken said. "No person should be forced to live in fear just because of who they are."

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Asked about solutions to the crisis, activists say there are no easy answers.

"We need multiple strategies, aiming for sweeping cultural change," said Jindasurat. "The more people understand what it means to be transgender, the more accepting they will be. A piece of it has to be about changing hearts and minds."

Yet many Americans are uncomfortable with and biased against transgender people, Jindasurat said. He cited the recent referendum in Houston, where opponents of a nondiscrimination ordinance prevailed by stoking fears about transgender people's access to public restrooms.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, spectators attending a Trans Day of Remembrance pro …

In Milwaukee, an organization called FORGE is tackling the problem of intimate partner violence, noting in a recent report that many of the transgender homicide victims were killed by people close to them.

"That means they were likely not victims of a random anti-trans hate crime," said the report, which urged transgender people to get out of unsafe relationships. It also offered tips on how they can be safer when dating.

"We cannot prevent all violence that may be directed our way," the report said. "But we can take steps to lower the chances we are harmed by the people we live with or date."

Attorney Mik Kinkead of the New York-based Sylvia Rivera Law Project, which advocates on behalf of transgender people, said, "It's often someone we know who hurts us — someone in our community" — and that's challenging to address.

Transgender prostitution is another harrowing issue.

Stefanie Rivera, now client services director with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, says she engaged in sex work starting as a 12-year-old in the early 1990s in Los Angeles. "The fact that I'm here at 36 — I don't know how I made it so far. I had so many close calls," she said, describing an assault by one client that left her bleeding on the pavement.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, a couple attending a Trans Day of Remembrance progr …

She attributed some of the violence to men who were physically attracted to transgender women but were ashamed of that attraction.

"They're people who are struggling within themselves," Rivera said.

Rivera said two of her transgender friends were killed while engaged in sex work in Los Angeles, one in 1997 and the other in 2004.

The latter was Felicia Moreno; police said she was slain by a Marine who initially did not realize the prostitute was transgender and shot her after discovering that. The Marine was subsequently shot dead by police following a high-speed chase.

When transgender prostitutes are killed, it's common but wrong to engage in "victim blaming," said Nellie Fitzpatrick of the Philadelphia LGBT Office.

"Just because someone is a sex worker doesn't mean their life is worth less," she said. "There is layer upon layer of marginalization and bias that pushes people further away from where they can have safe, happy and fulfilling lives."

In Detroit, Yvonne Siferd has worked with many transgender women as director of victim services for Equality Michigan, an LGBT-rights group. While impressed by their resilience and mutual support, she's dismayed by the challenges they face.

"We all grow up with this myth that you can be whatever you want when you grow up," Siferd said. "When you do grow up and become your authentic self, the fact that you could be targeted for just being you is terrifying."

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National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs: http://www.avp.org/about-avp/coalitions-a-collaborations/82-national-coalition-of-anti-violence-programs

Human Rights Campaign-TPOCC report on anti-transgender violence: http://tinyurl.com/olyacra

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Follow David Crary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

By Tiemoko Diallo and Adama Diarra

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he wanted global cooperation to combat terrorism after Islamist militants killed 19 people, including six Russians, in an attack on a luxury hotel in Mali

Friday's assault came a week after militants killed 130 people in gun and bomb attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State, and three weeks after a Russian airliner was downed over Egypt by what Moscow and Western governments say was a bomb, killing all 224 people aboard.

The bloodshed at the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali, a former French colony, evoked the problems French troops and U.N. peacekeepers face in restoring security and order in a West African state that has battled rebels and militants in its weakly-governed desert north for years.

Jihadist groups Al Mourabitoun and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, which ended when Malian commandos stormed the building and rescued 170 people, many of them foreigners.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said two militants were killed in the commando operation.

His government increased security at strategic points around Bamako at the start of a declared 10-day state of emergency.

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A Mali trooper, left, assist a hostage, second left, to leave the scene, from the Radisson Blu hotel …

"Mali will not shut down because of this attack. Paris and New York were not shut down and Mali won't be. Terrorism will not win," Keita said during a visit to the hotel on Saturday.

Six employees of Russian regional airline Volga-Dnepr were killed, Russia's foreign ministry said, while six others were rescued.

Putin sent a telegram of condolences to Keita and said "the widest international cooperation" was needed to confront global terrorism, according to a statement by the Kremlin.

On Tuesday, Putin pledged to hunt down militants responsible for blowing up the airliner, as well as intensified air strikes against militants in Syria, after the Kremlin concluded a bomb had destroyed the plane.

Putin and French President Francois Hollande also spoke by phone on Tuesday and agreed to boost coordination of their military actions in fighting jihadist militants in Syria.

Chinese President Xi Jinping condemned the "cruel and savage" attack, whose dead included three Chinese executives of a state-run railway firm.

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Russia pledged to step up its strikes in Syria after the Islamic State jihadist group claimed respon …

"China will strengthen cooperation with the international community, resolutely crack down on violent terrorist operations that devastate innocent lives and safeguard world peace and security," the Beijing Foreign Ministry quoted Xi as saying in a statement on its website.

American public health specialist Anita Datar was killed and Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said two Belgians died. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he was not aware of any French nationals killed.

An Israeli national was also killed, Israeli media said. There was no confirmation from the foreign ministry.

FLEEING IN TERROR

The attack began at 7 a.m. on Friday when gunmen killed guards at the entrance of the hotel and barged inside.

Malian commandos subsequently stormed the hotel and rescued around 170 people, many of whom had been hiding under beds or in side-rooms and rushed terrified from the building to safety as shooting continued inside.

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A policeman patrols after gunfire in the Bataclan concert hall on Nov. 13, 2015 in Paris, France. (A …

By around 4 p.m. the hotel was secured but Malians woke on Saturday to a sense of shock at the latest high-profile raid by Islamists this year.

"I feel bruised by this atrocious act, which cannot be justified. No nation, no human life deserves such criminal barbarity," said Oumar Fomba, a teacher. "I urge the Malian government to fight more fiercely against terrorism."

In a speech on the sidelines of a summit with Asian nations in Malaysia, U.S. President Barack Obama described the raid as "another awful reminder of the scourge of terrorism".

"This barbarity only stiffens our resolve ... We will stand with the people of Mali as they work to rid their country of terrorists and strengthen their democracy," he said.

SETBACK FOR FRANCE

The attack was another jolting setback for France, which has stationed 3,500 troops in northern Mali to try to restore stability after a rebellion in 2012 by ethnic Tuaregs that was later hijacked by jihadists linked to al Qaeda.

"We (France) have proved to be as blind as the Malian elite. Nothing changes in Mali. The elite continues to act like it always has, as does the international community," said Laurent Bigot, former undersecretary in charge of West Africa at France's foreign ministry, alluding to U.N. peacekeepers.

"People have been ringing the alarm bell for a long time, but it doesn't do any good," Bigot, who now works as a consultant, told Reuters.

The attack also refocused attention on a veteran leader of Al Mourabitoun, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, after reports, never confirmed, that he was killed in an air strike in June.

Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, some with links to al Qaeda, for most of 2012. They were driven out by a French-led military operation, but violence has continued.

Al Mourabitoun has claimed responsibility for attacks including an assault on a hotel in the town of Sevare, 600 km (375 miles) northeast of Bamako, in August in which 17 people including five U.N. staff were killed.

A preliminary investigation showed similarities between the Sevare and Bamako hotel attacks, a senior U.N. official said.

Belmokhtar is blamed for an assault on an Algerian gas field in 2013 and linked with insurgencies across North Africa.

(Additional reporting by Joe Penney in Bamako, John Irish in Paris, Jason Bush in Moscow and Michael Martina in Beijing; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Four Israelis were stabbed and wounded in the country's south on Saturday while violence continued to roil the West Bank ahead of US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit next week.

Police also raided and shut down a Palestinian radio station in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron, and a Palestinian fireman was allegedly shot by Israeli forces.

In the southern city of Kiryat Gat, the four Jews were stabbed by an attacker near the football stadium, police said.

"Four Israeli citizens were injured," a police statement said.

The suspect had fled and hid in a nearby building for more than four hours before being apprehended by police, who identified him as a 16- or 17-year-old Palestinian from a village near Hebron.

Police said two other Palestinian teens were arrested nearby for assisting him.

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Palestinian protesters throw stones towards Israeli security forces during clashes on November 20, 2 …

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said the victims included a man and woman in their 50s, a woman in her 40s and a 13-year-old girl, who were moderately wounded but in "stable" condition.

The incident bore the characteristics of a spate of attacks by Palestinians, predominantly stabbings, since the beginning of October, including in Kiryat Gat.

On October 7, a Palestinian stabbed a soldier and grabbed his gun in the same city, which is near Hebron, before being shot by security forces.

In the occupied West Bank, tensions were high Saturday as Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian protesters near the town of Dayr Samet, west of Hebron.

A gas grenade fired by Israeli forces caused a fire in a warehouse, and when Palestinian firemen arrived the soldiers fired at them, a fireman told AFP, adding that one was wounded in the leg with a rubber- coated bullet.

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An Israeli policeman walks in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusa …

A military spokeswoman confirmed the clashes but said they were looking into the report about the fireman.

Elsewhere clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli soldiers near Silwad, north of Ramallah, wounded at least one Palestinian, medical sources said. The army troops had fired on the group but could not confirm any injuries.

Earlier, a woman was arrested in Hebron allegedly in possession of a knife. Police said she appeared to be attempting to "carry out a stabbing operation against (Israeli) forces".

- Radio station shut down -

Israeli officials have repeatedly accused Palestinian media of inciting such violence by spreading false information, and forces raided and shut down a radio station overnight.

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Palestinian journalists check the damage after Israeli soldiers entered the offices of the local Al- …

Israel's civil administration, a unit of the defence ministry, said Al-Khalil Radio had broadcast "lies about Palestinians being executed and abducted by security forces".

In a recording provided to journalists that was allegedly played on the channel, a singer urges listeners to "lock and load your machinegun and move forward" and to show "no mercy".

Ezz Haddad, head of programming at the station, denied the accusation.

He confirmed that Al-Khalil had been given a six-month broadcasting ban, the second radio station in Hebron to be penalised this month.

The wave of violence since October 1 has left 86 Palestinians dead -- many of them alleged assailants -- as well as 15 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

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US Secretary of State John Kerry, pictured on November 18, 2015, is due to visit Israel and the West …

Palestinians point to fears of changes to the status quo at the Dome of the Rock -- Islam's third most holy site but known to Jews as Temple Mount -- as the spark for the violence.

Israel has repeatedly denied it is seeking to change the current rules, under which Jews and Christians can visit but only Muslims can pray at the site.

Against the polarised backdrop, Kerry is due to visit Israel and the West Bank next week to push for the violence to end.

Peace talks proper between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since April 2014.

Kerry is due to arrive Tuesday to visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah for talks with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials.

During those meetings, Kerry is expected to discuss ways to ease the violence by improving conditions on the ground.

He will also use the opportunity to discuss issues including Syria and the Islamic State group.