Russia's Teetering Conflict-Impacted Economy

"The upstream oil industry is sliding into a crisis, and the most recent sanctions are going to accelerate that."

"[The newly imposed U.S. sanctions represent] an aggressive move that spell more trouble."

"You can keep raising more taxes on average Russians or borrow still more to cover growing deficits. But you ask yourself: Is this making my negotiating position stronger or weaker?"

"It definitely makes Russia look weaker." 

Craig Kennedy, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard 

 

"A banking crisis is possible."

"A nonpayments crisis is possible."

"I don't want to think about a continuation of the war or an escalation."

Anonymous Russian official 

Vladimir Putin is under pressure from business elites (Image: Getty)

"Russia entered the war already facing a severe demographic and labor crisis. More than a decade ago, Russia’s statistical service created three population scenarios, dependent on various levels of migration into the country. Its most optimistic scenario required Russia to bring in 550,000 migrants every year just to keep the national population from shrinking. Even then, the size of the labor force was expected to shrink."

"The war has only worsened what was once called the “biggest political, social, and economic challenge for Russia” through 2050. This spring, unemployment hit a record low of 2.2 percent, signifying a tight economy and labor shortage. In 2024, Russian job site SuperJob reported that 73 percent of the country’s businesses were understaffed."

"Even Russia’s most stable and vital industries are feeling the strain; postings for oil and gas positions rose 24 percent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period a year earlier. When the country’s most economically critical and traditionally resilient sectors struggle to staff operations, something is seriously wrong."

Lindsey Cliff, researcher, American Foreign Policy, Washington   

The National Interest

 

The Kremlin, according to economists, has used most of its cash reserves and the borrowed funding used to fuel the surge in spending on its war in Ukraine -- Vladimir Putin's arch 'special military operation' --leaving it with a crushing headache of a steadily weakening economy. Russia was experiencing a labour shortage even before its invasion of Ukraine. The workforce depended on migrant workers, but even that element of its workforce that is Russian has been steadily shrinking as Putin has called upon Russians to answer the call of its battlefront need of more soldiers to bulk up its forces, in view of the high cost of life that special military operation has resulted in on both sides of the conflict.

 

The newly imposed tough sanctions on Russia's oil sector add to the cash squeeze that may portend a banking crisis in 2026, despite Vladimir Putin's hard line in negotiations ongoing to end the war, a farce he engages in to keep U.S. President Donald Trump on board. Meeting with his German and British counterparts in London this month, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of the latest EU-imposed sanctions outlawing shipping oil weakening the Russian economy: "We must keep up this effort and maintain pressure".  

"Sanctions can undoubtedly disrupt an economy. Consider the array of sanctions levied against the Russian oil trade in response to its illegal invasion of Ukraine."

"These actions substantially lowered the profitability of Russia’s export of crude oil and refined petroleum products, reducing the associated government revenues in the process. "

"Whether these and other sanctions changed the course of the conflict is unknowable, but it is without question that sanctions can impose higher costs on countries that violate international law."

Brookings Institute 

Shutterstock / Photo Magistr

 

The October sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury on Russia's larges oil majors, Rosneft and Lukoil has been increasing pressure on the budget and energy sector, forcing Moscow to accept increasingly steeper discounts of over $20 per barrel of oil; much less than the $69 price the 2025 budget was drafted with, now discounted to $35 for its Urals blend. These oil and gas revenues are crucial for the budget, yet set to fall by 49 percent compared with the previous year, given the new sanctions, leading to deeper deficits while military spending climbed to $149 billion for the first 3/4 of 2025.

The Russian economy was heading toward recession even prior to the new sanctions, with its central bank compelled to raise interests rates to record highs of over 20 percent to rein in inflation following the first three years of war with high military spending, causing government to blaze through its reserves. A corporate lending boom resulted, even as a result of sanctions import prices soared. Company profits and cash reserves have been impaired, leading to stalled investment and plummeting output.

Once benefiting from positive factors such as high global commodity prices and a spending-driven boom, the Russian economy is now reeling. Independent Russian media outlet the Bell heard from economist Alexandra Prokopenko in a video conference, stating despite denials by the Russian leadership the economy is being enfeebled, sanctions biting. The economy, she said "is frozen and fundamentally it is looks to me unsustainable. The closest analogy would be like a car idling in neutral with the engine overheating. The car isn't moving forward or backward, but the longer it sits there, the more damage accumulates under the hood."

Problems have dug deep into the banking system resulting  from Russia's massive expansion of corporate lending in the  past three years, combined with its prolonged period of high interest rates. Defence sector loans represent close to a  quarter of overall corporate ruble loans, totalling just over $202 billion. "It is a big black pool of poorly regulated, opaque debt, and it's sitting in the middle of the banking system", explained Craig Kennedy.

The bleak situation has begun to trickle down to Russian consumers. Belt-tightening is making its presence known, according to a report by Russian state bank Sberbank. People have cut their spending on clothing by 8.7 percent compared with the previous year; on household goods by 8.8 percent, and on health and beauty by 5.9 percent. Governments that bring their countries to war always keep an ear and eye out for citizens' unrest when conflict begins to etch deeply into their comfort zones of everyday living. Moscow has much to be nervous about in the coming year.  

War and sanctions are driving the Russian economy to collapse (Getty Images)

 

India's Winters of Discontent

"Imagine the impact of that on a baby’s lungs. Children are forced to go to school in these circumstances, and even masks aren’t recommended for kids below 12."         "We are literally killing our kids."                                                                                     "Our life expectancies are reduced by 5, 10 years, but the government is doing nothing about it. [Three-year-olds at her clinic struggle with a] cough that never goes away."                                                                                                                                           Dr. Vandana Prasad, New Delhi pediatrician 

 

"I want to tell Delhi’s citizens that the government has installed anti-smog guns on high-rise buildings, done dust mitigation with water sprinklers, we are monitoring ongoing constructions."

"[However], ten years of damage [presumably by the previous government] cannot be undone in 7 months."

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa  

 

"Effective cloud seeding requires specific cloud conditions, which are generally absent during Delhi’s cold and dry winter months."

"Even if suitable clouds were present, the dry atmospheric layer beneath them could cause any developed precipitation to evaporate before reaching the surface."

Indian Meteorological Department   

Smog around Delhi's famous Red Fort   Reuters

 

Public health research groups in India publish statistics to the effect that air pollution may be linked to over 17,000 deaths in 2023 in New Delhi, representing about 15 percent of the city's fatalities in that year. Long-term exposure to air pollution, according to a recent study, may contribute up to 1.5 million deaths annually in the country. When winter arrives after months of stifling 40C summer heat, the cold brings no weather relief to New Delhi. Hundreds of millions of people in India suffer through three long months of suffocating air pollution. 

 

New Delhi has gained the deserved reputation in the past several decades of being one of the most polluted major cities worldwide, wrapped in a dull fog of haze, the toxic odour of smog that burns the throat, suffuses lungs and stings the eyes. Pollution levels in India's capital city are like few others on Earth, each winter bringing anew a health crisis to the 30 million residents of the city. Pollution levels that repeatedly and frighteningly exceed the upper limits of the government's air quality index, becoming excessively health-hazardous when it is over a hundred times what global health authorities agree is safe.  

 

Protesters gathered near India Gate in New Delhi on November 9 to urge the government to act over rising air pollution.    Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

 

And for this first time, fed-up and  fearful Delhi residents have launched protests to deliver a message to their government that the situation is unsustainable. That no citizens anywhere should have to live with a menace threatening their health and longevity. The breath-strangling smog forces people to remain indoors; windows closed shut with tape and air purifiers for those that can afford them, humming its tune of reassurance. The worst smog conditions are mornings, with slight clearing in early afternoon, when people break out of their homes in a mad dash to run errands before the resumption of the heavy, cloistering smog.

 

Those residents that of necessity can afford it, install pressurized clean air systems to create a sealed bubble in their apartments, with some people going so far as to carry with them wherever they go portable air quality monitors measuring particulate matter levels. Most people, however, simply cannot afford luxuries like that, with millions living in substandard  housing, where open vents cannot be sealed. They have little choice but to face the outdoors to earn a living.

 

The wall of the Himalayas prevent polluted air from dispersing, compounding an already serious condition resulting from colder, heavier winter air unable to cope  with construction site dust, and the exhaust of millions of Delhi cars making the haze ever denser. And then there is the traditional seasonal burning of crop residue in states nearby, choking the air with fine particulate matter, invading lungs and raising risks of heart disease, lung cancer, strokes and other threats to human health.

 

The government responds to the yearly winter crisis with sprinklers and water guns in the hope of bringing particulates to ground level where road sweepers go into action, along with dust-control measures for construction sites. A number of emergency response plans contribute their not-entirely-successful methods of tackling the staggering level of polluted air. Yet despite the danger posed by New Delhi's air pollution, citizen concerns first list jobs, inflation, economic growth and coping with soaring prices for consumer goods. Environmental concerns limp in at the very last. 

 

High-rise buildings under construction cloaked in heavy smog pollution on October 29, 2025 in Noida, outskirts of New Delhi, India.   Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images

 

MAID: Decision of Last Resort in Canada

"I think most people in Canada would at least acknowledge that we've gone way beyond an exceptional practice that is a last-resort measure."

"It is troubling that documented problematic applications of MAID have not yet resulted in either criminal or professional regulatory intervention."

"Some of the frequent providers will say there's a high provision because there's a high demand. 'It's the law of the market'." 

"But I think it's still appropriate to say that it's quite extraordinary, it's simply a fact, that MAID has been prioritized and is so easily accessible." 

Trudo Lemmens, health law and policy professor, University of Toronto 

 

"The current legal regime for delivering MAID is enormously popular among Canadians. That is a lot of potential demand."

"If we  regard an increasing number of joint replacements or abortions as a success, with supply having risen to meet demand, why should we think that an increasing number of MAID provisions is a failure, or somehow a problem."

"If more awareness, more providers and more support are good things for these other services, why are they a bad thing for MAID?"

"Of course, I think MAID is very different from a lot of other medical procedures, just by virtue of its very nature." 

"[MAID], both causes death and is intended to do so. That makes it special enough to require a statutory exemption from the  general legal prohibition of consensual homicide and assisting a suicide."

Professor emeritus Wayne Sumner, University of Toronto

The Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario. (AP Photo/Angie Wang)

 

In Canada almost ten years ago, the Criminal Code saw medical assistance in dying (MAID) become law, permitting medical staff under certain conditions to end the life of a consenting person living with constant pain and foreseeably approaching imminent death. Since its original guidelines there have been some changes that relax the strictness of those guidelines. The result has been over the years to the present that one in 20 deaths in Canada is now attributable to MAID. In 2024, a total of 16,499 individuals died by physician-administered lethal injection.

 

In Ontario, 88 percent of 4,356 MAID deaths that took place in 2024 met all legislative requirements to legally proceed with the procedure. Still, concerns noted by the death review committee which Dr. Lemmens is a member of, include legislated safeguards being given lax interpretation, along with minimal or careless assessment of an individual's legal capacity to opt for assisted death. As well, minimal discussions respecting alternatives for the relief of suffering, risks of coercion from burnt-out family members, along with doctors taking nods and hand squeezes as assent before lethal injection, were also flagged. 

 

The law itself has been significantly altered over the years, leading to setting aside the rigid requirement of death being foreseeable, nor must all available options to relieve suffering be exhausted before MAID can be considered. Moreover, it is possible to access MAID more readily than vital medical care that might prevent it, pointed out Dr. Lemmens, given Canada's overburdened and tardily-accessible health care system. Further inclusive expansion of  MAID is of particular concern to Dr. Lemmens and his think-alike colleagues. 

 

People in the lowest ‘material resource’ category represent 20 per cent of the general population, but they make up 28.4 per cent of Track 2 MAiD recipients, compared to 21.5 per cent of Track 1 recipients. (Shutterstock)

 

Although MAID sees wide public acceptance, the potential of permitting people with degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's to plan for a written request while they still can, prompted Dr. Lemmens to respond "Who will decide when the time has come? On what basis will these judgments be made? How can we  expect physicians or nurse practitioners to end the life of a person who has no clue as to why they are being sedated or getting a needle inserted into their arm?"

 

Since MAID was legalized in 2016, 75,475 MAID 'provisions' were carried out. The number of  Canadians whose suffering was "enduring and intolerable", but their natural deaths not reasonably foreseeable, who were euthanized as 'Track 2' cases reached 732 in total. "These are 732 people who would be alive (today). We have to ask, in all these 732 cases of people who suffered intolerably, were there no other options? I have my doubts", charged Dr. Lemmens.

 

Canada's record of 5.1 percent of MAID deaths within the total of death from all causes, eclipsed that of Belgium, with 3.6 percent of all deaths in recent years and where since 2002 euthanasia has been legal. Netherlands has a 4.8 percent of total deaths by euthanasia occurrence. However, within Canada, the province of Quebec's average MAID deaths reached 7.9 percent of all deaths; the most globally prolific. 

 

People who chose medically assisted death when they were not terminally ill were more likely to be marginalized than those who chose MAiD when death was already imminent. (Shutterstock)

 

Islamic State Thrives and Lives On Globally

Twenty-one years after its founding in 2004 and eleven years since declaring a caliphate in 2014, the Islamic State’s territorial presence in Iraq and Syria has diminished significantly. At its height, the organisation fielded up to 80,000 militants, including more than 42,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 120 countries. In contrast, by mid-2025, estimates suggest only 1,500 to 3,000 fighters remain active in Syria and Iraq.  

Despite the Islamic State having shrunk in the Middle East, its global presence has expanded significantly, and by the end of 2024, the Islamic State remained the deadliest terrorist organisation in the world. Since the loss of its self-proclaimed Caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2019, and some 60,000 combatants, the organisation has undergone radical structural and operational changes. In 2025, the Islamic State relies primarily on a dynamic network of regional affiliates who operate with a greater autonomy of action than ever before."

The Islamic State’s digital operations in 2025 remain a key pillar of its strategy to maintain global influence, project power, and advance its ideological and operational goals. The organisation  effectively exploits social media platforms and encrypted messaging tools to disseminate propaganda, radicalise, and recruit supporters, particularly targeting younger demographics who are both most active online and vulnerable to radicalisation. 

International Centre for Counter-Terrorism

AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed

 

"With the events of last weekend — an Islamic State (IS) attack in Palmyra, Syria that killed three Americans and an IS-inspired (or directed, pending further investigation) terror attack in Sydney, Australia targeting a Hanukkah celebration that killed 15, the Islamic State is once again back in the headlines."

"One of the most frequently asked questions from journalists and the media was, does this suggest the beginning of a new wave of IS attacks across the globe? In truth, nobody knows."

"But the attacks were less about a resurgence of IS, and more a reflection of a longstanding reality — the group has not been defeated and will remain a major counterterrorism challenge for the foreseeable future."

The Soufan Center 

One of the three men arrested in Toronto charged with hate-motivated extremism targeting women and members of the Jewish community last week, 26-year-old Waleed Khan faces ISIS-linked terrorism charges. Khan conspired with "persons known and unknown" in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario to commit murder, according to the RCMP. It appears fairly reasonable to comprehend from this that Islamic State-linked extremists dedicated to jihad make their homes in Canada. 

 

Earlier occurrences in Montreal and Newmarket respecting ISIS-related arrests, make this most recent one in Toronto, a third in what appears to be a growing series where since 2023, 23 such arrests have taken place in Canada. Mere days ago an ISIS attack in Syria killed three U.S. soldiers, while an ISIS-inspired attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney saw 15 people killed and 40 wounded. A reminder to the world that the Islamic State Caliphate has morphed from a since-routed territory within Syria and Iraq to the far more difficult-to-expunge minds of aspiring Islamist jihadists where the Internet plays a central role in radicalizing young Muslims.

 

Australian PM: Bondi Beach Atrocity inspired by ISIS

 

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has ventured an estimate of at minimum 200 individuals with connections to Canada travelled overseas to serve as fighters, recruiters, fundraisers and propagandists in league with Islamic State in its heyday. The agency warned early in 2025 of its "increasing...concern" for the risk of ISIS-inspired attacks at  home. A Canadian has been identified as one of the group's most notorious online propagandists. The kind of propaganda appealing to restless young man prone and prey to self-radicalization as "lone-wolf" terrorists eager to make their mark striking anywhere.

 

The psychologically corrosive allure of violent action in a cause believed to be divine, with the faithful of Islam responding to one of the major faith edicts of jihad, promises a role for those willing and able to weaponize the grievances of victimhood and nowhere at present is that target of lethal vengeance more alive than in Israel's military response in Gaza to the Palestinian terrorist attack of 7 October 2023; a flashpoint of rage and retribution. 

 

Waleed Khan, Osman Azizov and Fahad Sadaat are facing a combined total of 79 charges according to police, including attempted kidnapping with a firearm and sexual assault with a weapon, police say. Khan is also accused of funding ISIS and aiding terrorist activity, the RCMP said. (Toronto Police Service/YouTube)

 

As the most recent arrests to take place in Canada demonstrate, terrorism's allure is increasingly for the young to incite violence within their own areas of domicile where governments tend to be lenient in their response to the destabilizing, socially divisive solitary and group actions of the disaffected demographic that reacts compulsively to the prods of incitement that claim Israel has mounted a genocide against the people of 'Palestine'. Clamouring for Israel's destruction from afar has its satisfying long-range echoes, but Jew-hate can be practised anywhere and in Canada, the ongoing 'pro-Palestinian', anti-Israel marches target the Jewish contingent in the country for a 'Final Solution'. 

 

Deviations from a crowd mentality are those lone wolves who strike out to commit violent acts of terror; acts as wide-ranging as fire-bombing synagogues, firing at Jewish parochial schools, vandalizing Jewish community centers and Jewish businesses, and now the most recently revealed pursuits, hunting down Jewish women with the intention of kidnapping and sexual assaults. Petty and disturbing incidents of ripping mezuzahs (small metal lozenges containing sacred scrolls) commonly placed on Jewish door posts, are disconcertingly frightening for the elderly residents in targeted homes.

 

And yet, through all these warning signs, along with the rising decibel of fear and loathing, Canadian authorities at all levels cling to inaction. Failure to make use of existing laws against public disorder, threats, violence and instigation of acts of violence have served to embolden those who continue to slanderously stigmatize others, threaten their peace of mind and deviate when it suits them from targeting Canadian Jews, to harass shoppers at Christmas markets, or enter Jewish-owned businesses to confront those shopping there. 

 

The Government of Canada recently announced additions to its terrorist list. A year ago it added Samidoun, yet it still permits the terrorist entity to operate its foreign affiliates out of Vancouver. 

 

The Government of Canada is taking action to counter terrorism and violent extremism, in particular the radicalization of young people online, by adding four new organizations to the Criminal Code list of terrorist entities. These measures help protect Canadians and communities from intimidation, hate, and acts of violent extremism and terrorism.

Today, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety, announced the addition of the following groups: 764, Maniac Murder Cult, Terrorgram Collective, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as Daesh) affiliate Islamic State-Mozambique.

Under Canada's Criminal Code, these organizations are now legally defined as "terrorist groups". This gives Canadian law enforcement and security agencies stronger tools to prevent and disrupt terrorist activity. Key implications include:

• All property owned by these groups in Canada must be frozen and reported to CSIS or the RCMP.
• It is a criminal offence for anyone in Canada and Canadians abroad to knowingly deal with property belonging to a listed terrorist group.
• Providing property or financial services that benefit these groups is also prohibited.
• Immigration and border officials can use this listing to inform decisions on admissibility under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

764, Maniac Murder Cult and Terrorgram Collective are transnational ideologically motivated violent extremist (IMVE) networks. They use social media and online gaming platforms to recruit and radicalize individuals, spread propaganda and violent extremist narratives, and incite violence both online and offline. Canada is the first country to list 764 as a terrorist entity, taking a leadership position in combatting the significant threat of IMVE and fighting against emerging terrorist trends. Listing these groups helps Canada protect the safety and security of Canadians, including children and vulnerable populations, against terrorism and violent extremism.

Islamic State-Mozambique (IS-M) is an official ISIS branch. It is an armed insurgent group based in Mozambique seeking to replace the governing authority with Sharia-based governance by seizing territory, infiltrating civilian populations and security forces, and committing violent acts of terrorism.

Listing these entities will help Canadian security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in combatting their crimes and terrorist activities, and make our communities safer.

Government of Canada, December 10, 2025

 

Washington Institute for Near-East Policy

 

 

Glitter and Pride in Ukrainian Mettle

Well-known Ukrainian dancer Dmytro Dikusar, now serving as a soldier with his platoon on the front lines, performs during the filming of the Christmas TV show "Dancing with the Stars" in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 18.  Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press

"We are filming this project in a country where there is a war. ... We have power cuts, we may have an air alert, it could be bombing."

"What do I feel? I feel a genuine desire to live a full life, no matter what happens."

Yevhen Halych, Ukrainian rock musician 

 

"Our dance number is about life. It’s about accepting love. Because in reality, when your body is wounded, it’s very difficult to love yourself."

"And allowing someone else to love you is even harder."

"[Injury did not end her life and now she wants to show] thousands of wounded boys and girls who are starting their lives over again [that it's not the end of theirs]."

Ruslana Danilkina, Ukrainian war veteran 

Volunteer soldier Ruslana Danilkina, 21, who lost her leg in Russia-Ukraine war, and choreographer Pavlo Semakin perform during the shooting of the Christmas episode of ''Dancing With the Stars'' in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.   (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

 

Ukraine's own version of Dancing With the Stars has experienced a brief reprieve; the popular television show which has dazzled audiences in Ukraine where celebrities and professional dancers illuminate the stage and entertain a wildly appreciative audience was brought back into action for a special Christmas 2025 show featuring Ukrainian servicemen and servicewomen who had sustained injuries in the performance of their duties protecting their country from Russia's violent invasion. 

 

Amputees demonstrating their fealty to the professionalism of their performances and their embrace of life over dreadful wartime losses.

 

Ukrainian wartime heroes were brought to perform as cherished citizens of the land and the nation they represent, returned for this special performing episode. Symbolic of the nation's resilience under fire. In the Dancing With the Stars competition of 2006, a young actor -- Volodymyr Zelenskyy -- won the competition when the cherished show made its initial debut to Ukrainian audiences. Tantsi z zirkamy was a wildly popular hit back then, and so it remains to this day. 

 

Volunteer soldier Rusya Danylkina, 21, who lost her leg in Russia-Ukraine war, and choreographer Pavlo Semakin perform during the shooting of the Christmas TV show ''Dancing with the Stars'' in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

 

For this one-time special Christmas extravaganza, performances took place with prosthetic limbs demonstrating the dancers' strength, capable of overcoming dire adversity in the challenge of dancing with grace and finesse equalling the past when their acclaimed performances were perfect in every detail. And while the challenge in mounting such a gala was monumental in and of itself, with the performing cast dedicated to outdoing themselves as celebrated professions, there was the added concern that during wartime, there was no guarantee that the frequency of power outages would respect the show.

 

A pre-recording rehearsal saw dancers spin, leap and glide under the bright lights -- in some instances their movements seeming to flawlessly integrate prosthetic limbs with the choreography as seamlessly as they did when full-bodied. "It's about our resilience and it's about our future", stated creative producer Volodymyr Zavadiuk, emphasizing the vital message to be received by the entire observing world that the nation forges on, despite challenging times. 

 

The specialist clinic for the treatment and rehabilitation of war-wounded victims of Russia's criminal war -- the Superhumans center -- will directly realize all proceeds of ticket sales for the performance. Ruslana Danilkina who at age 18 lost one of her legs in combat in 2022, is now renowned in her country for the way she has dedicated herself to aiding injured troops in the transition of prosthesis adaptation, both a physical and psychological shock to their futures. She overcame her traumatic doubt, and now enables others to do the same by her example and tutelage.

 

Her performance spoke to the reclamation of her womanhood in the wake of the traumatic injury she suffered. Her courage and determination are now transmitted not only to those experiencing trauma similar to hers, to help them adjust their life expectations with the realization they can continue the  trajectory they planned on with basic modifications, but also the public at large -- that it is entirely possible to pick up shattered pieces and learn to carry on with pride and passion. 

 

Well-known Ukrainian artists perform during the filming of the Christmas TV show "Dancing with the Stars" in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 18. Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press

The Practicality of Helsinki's Underground Bomb Bunkers

"[Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine] changed a lot. In '22, there was a humongous increase in calls coming in: Where's my shelter? Where's my shelter'?"

"We build, and we let people know we build."

"We are also letting our opponents, possible enemy, know: 'We have the capability and means to protect'."

"Your terror will not succeed." 

Pasi Raatikainen, senior civil defense planner, Helsinki 

 

"We were thinking, with modern warfare security, you don't need to go into hiding anymore."

"But Russia showed us, they don't do modern warfare."

"It's old-fashioned bombing of civilians. Even with drones."

"It's useful to go to shelters."

Teemu Kurkela, founder JMM Architects, Helsinki 

Below the bustling streets of Helsinki, Temppeliaukio Church is one of several subterranean sites that attract locals and tourists alike. Subodh Agnihotri/Alamy

 

Finland's president Alexander Stubb does not mince words, nor concern himself that warning against Moscow's likely plans to extend a version of its 'Special Military Operation' elsewhere among Russia's near-abroad once it finishes with Ukraine, will have the effect of unduly alarming Finns, potentially causing widespread public panic. And that is due to the fact that Finland has been through this before, and Finns have the good sense to feel a certain level of apprehension, leavened by their trust in their own government to have the security of their nation uppermost in mind and under control.

 

Finland long ago built a network of "aestonsuoja" -- civil defense shelters for haven from bombs from its violently aggressive neighbour with which it shares an uneasy border of 830 miles. Unlike most other European countries that had built civilian shelters, and following the collapse of the Cold War, felt sufficiently reassured that the fangs had been drawn from the dragon that threatened their autonomy and way of life, to abandon them, Finland kept its intact.

 

At the Underground Formula Center beneath eastern Helsinki’s Myllypuro neighborhood, go-kart enthusiasts race around a course. Courtesy of City of Helsinki

 

As a result, there are about 5,500 civil defense shelters, a number more than sufficient to comfortably shelter Helsinki's 700,000 residents at a time of need. Some fifty of the sites are located in immense subterranean spaces where they serve as parking lots, metro stations, skateboard parks, go-kart tracks, archery ranges and the city's popular Itakeskus swimming hall. The Vapaan Taiteen Tila performance space is located in one of these spaces, offering stage productions and art exhibitions in a cave.

 

Each of these subterranean halls were designed to be able to withstand blast waves and building collapses, as well as radiation. They serve as fortified bunkers in the event of a military invasion -- even with the potential of a nuclear blast in mind. Play Caves are immensely popular with children  and their parents, viewed as safe and engaging places of fun and games. They are complete with rope ladders and trampolines, challenging the acrobatic derring-do of the young, accessible through well-known mazes.

 

A view of an underground hockey rink in Helsinki, Finland, a city with a secret "Underground City" underneath it.   ABC News

 

The city rents out the cave spaces on the condition that they can retain their security utility by conversion to shelter use within a 72-hour period. Shelters located in residential and commercial buildings share the same conversion requirements. A map and telephone hotline assists residents in locating nearby shelters. Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its expansionary threat to Russia's other neighbours, Finnish architects felt the shelter mandate to be out of date. Unfortunately, territorial aggression and the conflict that accompanies it is never out of date.  

 

The Itakeskus shelter accommodates an Olympic-size pool, water slides, high dives, a gym and saunas. Transformed into its original shelter purpose it can house 3,800 people during a time of conflict. "It's just part of who we are. Everybody here knows how to use a gun", commented 37-year-old real estate developer Isto Okonhovi for whom the space that readily doubles as a bunker recalls hearing war stories from his grandfather, twice injured by Russian bombs.

 

The Museum of Civil Defense operated by the Civil Defence Association of Helsinki is located in one such cave where volunteers are trained to serve as shelter operators. "We need to have them if war should break out, and demand is high. It feels important to be able to help", explained Jukka Lehtiranta, chairman of the association board. 

 

Swimmers relax in an underground pool in Helsinki, Finland. All buildings above a certain size in Finland are required by law to have their own bunkers.   ABC News

 

Canada's Forgiving Attitude to Ethnic Criminality is Racist

"In my view, this is a case where the need for denunciation is so pressing [that] incarceration is the only civil way in which to express society's condemnation of Mr. Jegede's conduct."

"The absence of adult mentors or role models further exacerbated Mr. Jegede's vulnerability. His parents had hoped  his football coach would provide guidance, but this need went unmet."

"Two very serious sexual assault and offences against two different victims at the same school, in similar circumstances, approximately five months apart, which is concerning, because it suggests that Mr. Jegede may be dangerous ... In other words, this is not an isolated incident involving one victim, the nature of both offences and their immediate lasting consequences make them very serious offences."

"It should be noted that but for the contents of the Impact of Race and Culture Assessment [IRCA], the pre-sentence report and all the mitigating factors surrounding Omogbolahan [Teddy] Jegede, this sentence would have been much higher."

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Frank Hoskins 

 

"I grew up around black people in Brampton and Fort McMurray."

"Many of them were immigrants, which allowed us to relate to each other on many levels, especially culture."

"It was like that until I moved to Antigonish to attend university."

Omogbolahan Jegede, 25, rapist

Omogbolahan (Teddy) Jegede initially faced four charges, but two of those were withdrawn earlier this year. He was found guilty on the remaining two charges. (CBC)

 

The Liberal government of Canada practises a forgiving agenda on penalizing criminality of Canadians of minority backgrounds or those originally from less developed and conflicted countries of the world whose values and customs are different from those of Western democracies, primarily in the areas of human rights but also encompassing crimes of any dimension and all directions that flout Canadian criminal law. In effect, excusing criminal  behaviour on the basis of a less privileged background than that of the hosting nation. A notion and a practise that is in and of itself racist.

 

In so doing, needless to say, what government and its agencies are doing is assuring an ethnic or aboriginal criminal element that their crimes are forgivable to a degree; they will always qualify for bail, and for lesser punishment once convicted at trial of the charges that brought them into court. The kind of punishment meted out stands as an encouragement to the hyphenated-population from which they spring that if a crime is committed it will not be  taken seriously enough to really concern them, ending with a vastly attenuated penalty. 

"In March 2023, the RCMP received a complaint of sexual assault against Jegede and quickly thereafter three more.  St. Francis Xavier University has stated that it had been conducting its own investigation since March of 2023."

"It appears that this is not the first time the police or St. FX have received sexual abuse complaints about Jegede from other students at St. FX. Another complaint was made in the 2019/2020 academic year. This raises the question of what steps should St. FX have taken earlier to protect its students?"

"On April 14, 2023, University Vice-President, Elizabeth Yeo, release a statement to the St. FX university stating that in March of 2023, it had become aware of multiple complaints of sexual abuse against one perpetrator and takes these allegations seriously. In compliance with its “survivor-centered approach” it started to investigate these allegations but noted that if criminal charges are initiated St. FX’s investigation would cease. In response, Dr. Rachel Hurst, Professor and Coordinator, Women’s and Gender Studies of St. FX., asked why St. FX had expunged Jegede’s football profile from its website if it indeed was taking sexual violence on campus seriously."

Wagners Law Firm, Halifax 

What the former university football player whose immigrant family originated in Nigeria was on trial for and convicted of, was the sexual assault of two young women, one to the point of strangulation. Deemed eligible for a reduced sentence because of his ethnicity, he was handed a prison sentence of two years, as a Black man worthy of a standardized Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (right in tune with Critical Race Theory) that would have the effect of minimizing his crime and diminishing his responsibility.

 

The two women who were victims of Omogbolahan Jegede have now been victimized a second time around, given the lax attitude exhibited in relation to the physical and psychological harm they suffered at his hands. And which continue to play havoc to their emotional state of safety and security. Both were resident on campus at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 2022 and 2023. According to the testimony of one woman Jegede choked her to unconsciousness, the other forced to perform oral sex.

 

The assaults happened when Jegede was a student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. (CBC)

"On the duration of sentence we're maybe not that far apart, but the Crown is looking for actual jail sentence whereas the defence is recommending a custodial sentence, but to be served in the community as a conditional sentence order."

"So that is a pretty stark difference in some ways, yes." 

Jegede's lawyer, Adam Rodgers 

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Jegede moved with his family to Canada in 2010, first living in Brampton, Ontario, then Fort McMurray, Alberta. Jegede's mother spoke of the social difficulty of the transition for her youngest son, that he "experienced bullying in elementary school due to his accent and racial identity" as a Black child. Jegede spoke of struggling with a sense of isolation in a predominantly white university town. An experience familiar to all children of visible and even invisible racialized backgrounds.

 

According to the individual who had interviewed Jegede for the IRCA report to be turned over to the presiding judge to guide him in his sentencing decision, Jegede was under intense pressure at the time of the assaults, with no access to culturally appropriate support at a time when it was needed. Evidently his mother had  expectations that while her son was at St.Francis Xavier on their football team, the coach would extend social/cultural counselling to make him feel  comfortable in his surroundings.

 

The Jegede family has lived in Canada for 15 years, more than ample time to become fully immersed in the culture and value system of the country they immigrated to. From the time that Omogbolahan Jegede was ten years of age, to  his young adult years, he was steeped in Canadian culture which does not include rape as a relief mechanism for stress. To claim victimhood as a Black child undergoing persecution as a visible minority overlooks the fact that Jewish children in Canada face discrimination but it has never resulted in courts excusing Jews for criminal misconduct which very few appear in court to be judged for. 

 

Omogbolahan (Teddy) Jegede, a former football player at St, Francis Xavier University, was found guilty May 23 on two counts of sexual assault following a jury trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Antigonish. Photo by Nova Scotia judiciary 

"IRCAs are pre-sentencing reports that help sentencing judges to better understand the effect of poverty, marginalization, racism, and social exclusion on the offender and their life experience."

"IRCAs explain how the offender's lived experiences of racism and discrimination inform the circumstances of the offender, the offence committed, and the offender's experience with the justice system."

Justice Department 2021 news release 

 

Canada's New "Progressive Liberalism"

Agreement Value:

$471,842.00

Agreement Date:

Nov 30, 2021 - Mar 31, 2024

Description:

This 29-month project will support a feminist response and recovery from the current impacts of COVID-19, through systemic change. The National Council of Canadian Muslims will achieve this by addressing systemic employment barriers for Muslim women in Quebec. At the end of the project, the organization will have contributed to addressing systemic barriers by collecting, examining and disseminating qualitative and quantitative data on the experiences of Quebec Muslims women whose employment opportunities have been dually impacted by discriminatory legislation, Bill 21, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organization:

Women and Gender Equality Canada 

"We work with the government to challenge discriminatory laws, strengthen protections, and stop Islamophobia. Our FAQ answers common questions about our advocacy, your rights, and how we are fighting. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, reach out—we’re always here to help.

Canadians mobilized against Islamophobia. Between sending emails, calling officials, engaging in positive dialogue with local elected representatives, we engaged over 1.2 million members of our community to get involved."

"Canadians mobilized against Islamophobia. Between sending emails, calling officials, engaging in positive dialogue with local elected representatives, we engaged over 1.2 million members of our "community to get involved."

The media, including both news and entertainment, plays a massive role in shaping Canadians’ attitudes about Islam and Muslims." 

National Council of Canadian Muslims  

National Council of Canadian Muslims/aka Canadian branch, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

 

"Queer Momentum applauds the Government of Canada's announcement of continued investment in gender equality and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities."

"[October announcement of multi-million dollar government] gender equality [funding, with over $10 million annually] to support LGBTQ communities." 

"This announcement wouldn't have happened without our collective advocacy."

"[The Conservative opposition to bar male offenders from women's prisons based on self-identified gender] if enacted, would place  transgender women at increased risk of violence and harm in an already-violent criminal justice system." 

Queer Momentum  

It is, then, just and proper for Canadian taxpayers to lift the spirits of the transgender community with public funding. This is a community representing a minority within the greater Canadian population. Their uplift comes at a cost to half of the entire population in Canada -- women. When males profess that biology is irrelevant and it is their choice to put science in the garbage can while presenting themselves as women, suddenly women's spaces are no longer reserved for women. From schools to workplaces to sport arenas, women's and girls' restrooms have become open to men guised as women.

 

Women's sports are no longer reserved exclusively for women who must now compete in the sport of their choice with biological males presenting as women. Their greater male strength, endurance and size give transgender 'women' a monumental physical advantage over biological women. In the prison system where 'equality' is also held to be sacrosanct at a security penalty for women, men can circulate within a women's prison, share intimate spaces and represent themselves as no threat to women, since they are also women, even if the criminal act that had them incarcerated was violent rape. 

 

The nation's leading trans advocacy group Egale Canada founded in 1986 as a charity launched to support equal rights for gays and lesbians -- as Canada's "leading organization for 2SLGQI people and issues" defending gender identity -- has mounted strong opposition to laws newly enacted in Alberta that bar males from women's sports and ban prescription puberty blockers for minors. Their funding from government represents fully 69 percent of their total revenue, with $4.2 million received in 2023. 

 

This government has fully invested itself in funding for causes that comfortably fit their progressive agenda focusing on Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and virtually anything that can be classed as 'woke' liberal-left. Gender equity, climate change and anti-racism ventures qualify big time. 

In the process, as with women being sacrificed to the 'cause' of transgenderism support, when government funds Muslim initiatives purportedly aimed at making the Muslim community more comfortable in Canada, the much smaller Jewish community -- though part of the Canadian population for hundreds of years, whereas decades of immigration, refugee intake and illegal migration has seen the Muslim demographic boom -- becomes the sacrificial lamb. 

 

Pro-Palestinian protesters chant during a demonstration protesters are calling a "National March for Palestine" near Parliament Hill on Saturday. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

 

The fly in the ointment of offering Canadian citizenship to people fleeing dictatorships, conflict, poverty and ideological/religious indoctrination incompatible with traditional Canadian values is that there is always someone well established that tends to suffer. While the federal government generously views Islamic issues favourably, the kind of fiscal and social caution that should be part and parcel of integration into Canadian society that should start with assessing the suitability of immigration prospects, sees in reality careless decision making.

 

As for example, in a climate of blatant, raging antisemitism linked to the presence of Palestinians and other Muslim groups in Canada, when the group Toronto Palestinian Families approached government for funding for a program they describe as "combating anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian racism for all 2024", it was somehow overlooked that there were links with the Palestinian Youth Movement in Canada which openly celebrated the October 7 atrocity in Israel and  which has organized viral threatening street protests against Israel's linked conflict in Gaza, while also harassing the Canadian Jewish community. 

Dear Prime Minister Carney

"We are calling for Canada to stand on principle. By imposing sanctions on the Netanyahu government, Canada would simply be enacting its own commitment to uphold international law, regardless of whether the perpetrator is an ally. It is impossible to imagine that any other world leader could order the massacre of 400 civilians in less than 24 hours without facing international condemnation."
"Canada simply cannot allow the Palestinian people of Gaza to endure another period of relentless bombing and starvation at the hands of the Netanyahu government. Now is the time for definitive action."
Respectfully,
National Council of Canadian Muslims  

Muslim organizations in Canada lobbying for anti-Israel policies going so far  as to accuse Canada of complicity in the "genocide" that Israel is inflicting in Gaza, are not considered immune from government funding. The  website of the National Council of Canadian Muslims boasted that their lobbying succeeded in persuading Prime Minister Mark Carney to state his intention to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he set foot in Canada. Their lobbying extends to advocating a stop to Canada Revenue Agency's Research and Analysis Division which has kept a tight eye for links to terrorism by Muslim charities. 

 

The NCCM has been the recipient of ten grants since 2018. One, from Canadian Heritage in the amount of $451,158 was for "engaging schools, parents and communities against Islamophobia", (a program that also manages to malign Jews) this year. The Arab Canadian Lawyers Association earlier in the year published a guide to "anti-Palestinian racism" which deems it racist to link Palestinian politics to terrorism -- an absurdity in and of itself, given the plethora of Palestinian terrorist groups, many of which are identified as such on Canada's own list of terrorists -- writing that "jihad" is a benign  term  which the West has misrepresented. Heritage Canada paid $99,950 for that guide through its "Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program". 

 

Honest Reporting Canada