Tensions Rising in Europe as Russian Threat Increases

"There is a real risk that drones or other types of missiles may fly into the territory of one or more NATO countries on the eastern flank, even cause destruction."

"[Russia's] official narrative will be that this is an accident and that there is no reason for anyone to think about any response from NATO."

"Sustained, very frequent and intense attacks are expected on six major Ukrainian cities, including the destruction of warehouses, all types of products essential for the country's defence, and, as we have witnessed very strongly in recent weeks, the railway infrastructure." 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk

 

"[The security situation has never been] so serious and so tense." 

"Can anyone imagine that we're told to prepare 5,000 soldiers, 10,000 soldiers? And they'll go to fight somewhere we don't even know with whom, why or for what?"

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico 

Lithuanian soldiers secure the area where Italian fighter jets shot down a drone during NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission near Pratkunai village, north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, September 15.  AP

 

Addressing parliament, Prime Minister Tusk spoke of the Kremlin's plans to destroy the economy and logistics of Ukraine, a conclusion supported by evidence intelligence services have gathered. Russia's plans extend to NATO's resolve, which it has focused on weakening by attacking the coalition's member states; in effect challenging them to respond. By launching 'hybrid style' drones and missile strikes against countries that are in support of Ukraine, NATO is being tested, even as the conflict launched by Vladimir Putin enters its debilitating fifth year.

 

As a key transit passage for Ukraine aid, Poland has undergone a number of suspicious incidents; multiple cyberattacks on public utilities. Critical domestic water, energy infrastructure and hospitals have been affected in Poland. The railway linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border sustained damage that had all the hallmarks of Russian sabotage. Late July  saw a Russian missile crash in eastern Poland. Other NATO nations close to Ukraine have experienced similar, albeit fewer such 'warnings' related to Mr. Putin's 'special military operation'.

 

At a time when Moscow has intensified its attacks against Ukraine, inclusive of targets adjacent the Polish border, NATO jets responded by shooting down a drone of Russian origin over Lithuania a week earlier. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made it clear that Slovakia, while taking its commitments to NATO seriously, he is prepared to do whatever he can to ensure that his country not be pulled into a conflict of uncertain value and outcome, in his opinion.

 

The fact is that Mr. Fico speaking for Slovakia does not regard Russia as posing a security threat. Advocating rapprochement with Moscow, he clearly diverges from other NATO members' concerns regarding the threat to their security posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin's territorial ambitions, pining for a return to the Soviet era with eastern Europe appendages of Greater Russia. The consequences of invoking NATO's Article 5, requiring all coalition members to act in defence of one another are unthinkable in Mr. Fico's considered opinion.

 

Military personnel from Poland, Lithuania, and France take part in training exercises during Operation Brave Boar 26 at the Orzysz Land Forces Training Center near the Suwalki Gap in Poland, on June 17.

Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg/Getty Images

 

"The path the world is on leads straight to the gates of hell. It is leading  us to World War Three", added Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, another critic of the European mainstream, at the IISS Prague Defence Summit. On the opposite side of the equation, the "rapidly worsening" situation concerning security and energy supplies in the face of conflicts afflicting Ukraine and the Middle East, motivates French President Emmanuel Macon to meet with government, party leaders and military and security officials to address the issues.

 

The oncoming, inevitable difficult winter ahead has Kyiv's full focus, along with that of its western allies. In meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr. Tusk spoke of the potential of co-operation through the "anti-ballistic coalition", and to fully address Ukraine's energy infrastructure, once again in Putin's crosshairs in the coming months. 

 

It is not only Eastern Europe that has become alarmed over gathering dark clouds of war. In the United Kingdom, its government has given notice that people should prepare to stockpile canned food and drinking water in preparation for the possibility of war as Britain faces the 'most dangerous' threat in decades. Hospitals in Germany are preparing for the possibility of an attack by Russia, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz warning of "decisive moments, defending the freedom and peace of our continent". Switzerland too issued calls for resilience and preparations to defend itself against an armed attack. 

  

Russian soldiers who participated in the military invasion of Ukraine march through the Victory Day parade in Moscow, May 9th. Getty Images

"[The Kremlin isn't ready for] any serious talks about a ceasefire, not to mention peace without -- de facto -- Ukraine's capitulation."

"They [the Russians] are convinced the winter will be tragically critical for Ukraine."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk 

Judged 'Not Criminally Responsible', Yet a Community Threat

Hamilton Police

"He pulled out a knife and began stabbing her with it in the back. She was stabbed upwards of seven times and suffered a severed bicep and collapsed lung amongst other injuries."

"He resumed using cannabis during the time he was living with his parents."

"[The panel] concluded that Mr. Ghawar remained a significant threat to the safety of the public and that a detention order was necessary and appropriate. With respect to the additional privileges suggested by the hospital, the panel determined that it was appropriate to include in the disposition seven-day passes accompanied by an approved person, and seven-day passes indirectly supervised with a pre-approved itinerary."

Ontario Review Board (ORB)  

"In April 2014, Mr. Ghawar stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication, and his mental health symptoms intensified almost immediately."

"According to his family, Mr. Ghawar became very anxious and irritable, and would refuse to leave the house alone."

Hospital Report  

This is an Ontario resident who twice stabbed people multiple times in the back, and subsequently found not criminally responsible, which led to his being granted a series of day passes, despite the fact that he remains, in the professional opinion of health experts, a "significant threat to the safety of the public". 

 

Diagnosed with schizophrenia and cannabis use disorder "in remission in a controlled environment", Muneeb Ali Ghawar was found in February of 2024 to be not criminally responsible for aggravated assault while wearing a disguise. The second episode where he stabbed a woman took place in 2023, at a Hamilton cannabis store. 

 

He had entered the Sweet Releaf Cannabis shop on February 3, 2023 wearing a mask and a trapper hat pulled down over his forehead. A female clerk began the process of ringing up his cannabis purchase, and while she was thus engaged, the man moved behind her, and withdrawing a knife, stabbed her back repeatedly. Ghawar ran from the store when another employee screamed and called 911. 

 

Lighting up a marijuana joint. Photo by Adobe Stock

 

Ghawar was identified through studying the surveillance video at the cannabis operation where he had appeared on a previous occasion, unmasked. Six days following the stabbing he was arrested. He is now under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Review Board for a second time. He had been declared 'not criminally responsible' for a similar attack nine years previously, when an acquaintance was stabbed in the back and torso by him. He was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward for two years then discharged to live with his family.   

"Mr. Ghawar was compliant with his medication, met consistently with the outpatient team, and maintained stable mental health. He was granted an absolute discharge on February 11, 2019."

"There has been no evidence of mood disorders or psychotic breakthrough. He engages appropriately with co-patients and staff and is always pleasant and polite during interactions."

"His persistent use of cannabis is a  significant risk factor."

"He was using cannabis at the time of the first index offence in 2014, and at the time of the current index offence in 2023. He became extremely psychotic and committed very violent offences that could have resulted in the death of either victim."

Ontario Review Board ruling  

Mental health symptoms had afflicted the man for years. He began the use of cannabis at age 15. In 2024 he was ordered to be placed at St. Joseph's Healthcare where he was given privileges whereby he could enter the community of Hamilton under indirect supervision. He has been treated for anxiety and depression since 2012 by a psychiatrist. He also has amassed a criminal record including assault, mischief, break-and-enter, and assault with a weapon.

 

A psychological assessment in 2023 revealed that Ghawar "expressed delusional thought content, such as that the victim of the index offence was selling bad cannabis to kids in order to draw them into sex trafficking", the ORB decision noted. Ghawar admitted long-standing auditory hallucinations, and that he had stopped taking his medication prior to the offence, while smoking marijuana. 

 

Sweet Releafs Inc.

 

"He again denied using cannabis, and suggested that the positive urine result was from others smoking cannabis around him", noted the ORB decision. And this is the man his parents plan to take to Pakistan to have him married there. "This would be an arranged marriage to a woman he has not met", even while his psychiatrist "expressed concern that bringing another person into the family home would increase the stress at a time when Mr. Ghawar is struggling with cannabis use".  

 

Making a Mockery of UN Nuclear Vigilance

"Electing Iran to the committee, just days after its non-compliance was referred to the United Nations Security Council, would be beyond shameful and an embarrassment to the credibility of this body."

"[The decision represents] an affront [to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its critical screening work]." 

U.S. Ambassador Preston Wells Griffith III 

 

"[This objection by Washington is a] childish type of behaviour."

"Nuclear science, technology, expertise and industry have taken deep roots in the country and cannot be eliminated through military actions or assassinations."

"Iran will not surrender."

Behrouz Kamalvandi, deputy head, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran 

Diplomats attend the Board of Governor’s Meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on September 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

 

As insane as it seems to anyone conscientiously following the news in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic of Iran which should rightfully be viewed as a pariah of a nation, dedicated to establishing itself as an  unparalleled power in the Middle East while posing a threat to the greater world order with its stealth infiltration in tandem with that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Western democratic nations with a goal to undermining the values inherent in free and civil society to attain a position of theistic control through jihad by both diplomatic and violent means, has been favoured with a seat on a board overseeing the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

 

This stunning turn of events staggers belief in the function of the United Nations, already under suspicion over its focus and support of the many facets of autocracy within its membership and its entanglement with coercive, exploitive states that persecute their own citizens. Iran is one of those most egregious of states, a theocracy that strangles internal dissent to its restrictive domination of peoples' lives. Its determination to develop nuclear weapons, allied with its technological advances in ballistic missile delivery systems and its formation of, training and financing of terrorist groups make it a dire threat to civilized society.

 

Yet, thanks to the cohesion of Muslim groups and the lobbying efforts of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, alongside the Arab League -- a country whose minority Shiite brand of Islam with its  goal of supremacy over the majority Sunni nations neighbouring it, many of which, in the Persian Gulf, were treated to barrages of missiles and military drones in Iran's conflict with the United States -- supported Iran's candidacy for the position, against the efforts of the United States to deny it that status.

 

Key issues such as nuclear safety and security, concerning the International Atomic Energy Agency, and its spurned efforts by Iran to continue making routine checks at Iranian nuclear sites, leaving it virtually deadlocked, provided the backdrop to its general conference. On Tuesday, Tehran, with support from the very Persian Gulf neighbours which had been the recipients of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards' firing of missiles and drones, helped Iran succeed in claiming a seat on the IAEA committee.

 

Intel Brief: Iran War Solution Nowhere in Sight as U.S. and Iran Remain Entrenched  AP Photo

 

In a secret ballot, 44 countries supported Iran's nomination, as opposed to 35 voting to deny Iran that seat, while 42 nations abstained from the vote. Iran is the only non-Arab (it is Aryan) Muslim state in the Middle East, surrounded by Arab nations and one tiny Jewish nation. What they have in common excluding Israel, is Islamic religious devotion, the sectarian divide aside. Yet despite the threat that Iran poses to its neighbours, having sent thousands of missiles and drones into their territory up to a month earlier, the religious ties that bind won the day for Iran.

 

Iran, in fact, boosted by its Islamic bedfellows, has been appointed to a number of UN-body groups, one dedicated to the protection of  women's rights among them in a wildly inappropriate match. Earlier Iran had been appointed by its fellow Middle Eastern neighbours to the organizing body of the conference itself. In the meanwhile, a country that refuses entry to the very body it now sits on a board for, making the entire exercise one of bemusing sanctimony, leaves the International Atomic Energy Agency unable to fulfill its mandate.

 

The work of the IAEA has been roadblocked in the single country in the world whose secretive, illegal, and dangerous nuclear work poses a direct threat to humanity. Iran wants to possess nuclear weaponry, as a theocracy that believes in the return of the Hidden Mahdi, whose reappearance will mean the end of humanity, when only the faithful in Islam will rise to Paradise, while all others descend to a place of eternal agony as punishment for denying Islam. Their logic is to create conditions of civilizational dysfunction so severe it will hasten the reappearance of a religious symbol of total world destruction. 

 

This shows Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran, on April, 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)

 

Life-Preserving Food Aid Delivery By Drone in Isolated Nepalese Villages

"We’ve been operating back ‌and forth early in the ⁠morning. So yes, it’s quite hectic, because we ⁠need to have this thing right now."

"Nepal has this geography, this ‌terrain where drones would be really ​faster, quicker and cheaper."

Milan Pandey, Airlift ​Technology, drone operating company

 

"We have seen disasters, we have seen earthquakes, we have seen disasters caused by floods, we have seen war situations, conflicts."

"We have had access challenges in many of these situations [but the challenges in Nepal were extreme]."

"This is a very unique access challenge where, in some places, the only way to reach people is by helicopters." 

"It's a very, very expensive operation."

"When the first drone went up in the air with the food attached to it, I knew that it was a game-changer... It's an innovation in delivering food assistance."

"What we are learning in Nepal with the use of these cargo drones will change the way WFP reaches people in need."  

United Nations World Food Programme Nepal Country's Director Riaz Lodhi  

Using drones to provide aid in Nepal is a game changer.  Prabin Ranashat / AFP via Gety Images

 

 Following Nepal's devastating floods, the UN World Food Programme faced the most challenging of its responses to such devastation as was caused when a Himalayan glacier collapsed on August 26, causing a catastrophic flood at the China-Nepal border. The ensuing floodwaters destroyed roads, bridges and hydropower dams. The tentative figure of 1,446 dead and over 6,500 people missing across both countries is a testament to the severity of the situation.

 

According to Riaz Lodhi, head of the World Food Programme in Nepal, the tsunami-like flood and its aftermath produced a situation that distinguished itself as being among the "top three most challenging disasters" ever faced by his agency. Rescue teams faced arduous journeys to reach  the isolated regions where the worst impact of the flood was situated. As a result of the altered landscape, efforts to reach the afflicted saw journeys that took two hours normally, became ordeals lasting a full day.

A drone carrying relief supplies to a flood-affected area takes off in Trishuli, Nepal's Nuwakot district, on September 4, 2026. Credit: PRABIN RANABHAT / AFP via Getty Images

 

Even so, there are many communities close to the epicentre of the flooding event that remain cut off, even yet. The World Food Programme decided to deploy cargo drones in delivering food to isolated communities. In 2015 during a previous deadly earthquake, the delivery of life-sustaining materials relied on the use of mules, yaks and porters hauling food on their backs. These missions could take two to three days before those in need were reached.

 

The drones are capable of carrying between 30 and 100 kilograms, given operating conditions. "People in need, they didn't have to wait for days", stated Mr. Lodhi. "The food was reaching there immediately", making the difference between death and survival under challenging conditions. 

 

Technicians prepare a drone before it carries relief supplies to a flood-affected area in Trishuli in Nepal on 4 September 2026 (AFP/Getty)

 

 

 

 

Seceding from the United Kingdom

"[We will] look at the issues raised by the community and in the referendum, [but the] vast majority [of British people backed a government plan to stop housing asylum seekers in hotels and it was] fair [to locate holding centres around the country]."

Prime Minister Andy Burnham

 

"For people who have fled war and violence and come to the UK to be safe, being accommodated in such remote and unsettling environments only exacerbates their sense of insecurity."

"And as we’ve seen from other sites, they’ve undermined social cohesion."

Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst, Refugee Council  

Residents of Piddington, which has a population of about 350, voted overwhelmingly for secession in a non-binding referendum. Source: AAP, Press Association / Joe Giddens

 

"[Going forward, the village will identify as the] Principality of Piddington." 

"For us, it's about proportionality. How does a small village of 350-odd people assimilate with 1,250 males?"

"[The government is] trying to rush this whole plan through."

"What we're doing is a very British thing - we're voting."

"Because this is a really important topic... not just in this region, [but] across the whole of the United Kingdom. We're just ground zero."

Piddington Parish council chair Tim McNally

 

"I think what this result shows is that Piddington campaigners have done an incredible job to highlight their concerns about the proposed asylum centre."

"[The government has proposed the plan] without engaging with local people."

"[The planned centre] will be a lightning-rod to the far right, who come here to protest [and] potentially attack [asylum seekers]." 

Leader of Oxfordshire county council, Tim Bearder   

Piddington is home to about 350 people and has few amenities or facilities to speak of

 

The vast majority of the citizens of the English village of Piddington reached a consensus and announced that the vote they cast in an 'independence referendum' that was staged to protest the British government's plans to house over 1,200 migrants in a nearby facility, was rejected by the community. The referendum validated concerns of the residents that their small rustic enclave would be overwhelmed by the presence of so many individuals -- a migrant population consisting of men from North Africa and the Middle East whose numbers were such that adequate vetting did not take place -- would present an intolerable burden to the village.

 

The culture, heritage and religion of these men from Eritrea, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia, war-torn countries with unstable governments and rife with terrorist groups, so radically at odds with the bucolic British landscape and the people living there, they represent a threat of great cultural-heritage dimensions, alongside the problem of values at great variance to those of the British themselves. Located in central England, Piddington is a hop-and-a-skip from the university city of Oxford.

 

Other towns and villages in the British countryside will also be targeted by the government to receive their share of the migrant influx. For the present, it is Piddington and its rejection of the government's migrant-housing plan which will totally disrupt village life, that has garnered the attention of the British public. Declaring itself prepared to secede from Britain rather than agree to the plans to house asylum seekers in a disused military site, their symbolic vote has no legal basis, but its message is loud and clear. 

 

Local residents pose with a "Principality of Piddington" sign in the village of Piddington, Oxfordshire, England -- PA Wire

 

Of the 312 ballots counted, 285 had voted for secession. Each of the village's residents were given a ballot paper with the statement: "I support Piddington seeking to secede from the United Kingdom and pursuing self-determination". Defiance of Whitehall to this degree sends a message impossible to avoid.

British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, speaking to the press, stated that a former military base "is a better option for housing asylum seekers" than hotels or rented accommodation.

 

"We do have to house people somewhere while we get a grip on the asylum chaos ... and that base will go ahead", she stated unequivocally. Elsewhere around Britain frequent protests have been staged against the housing of asylum seekers in hotels and other facilities in various towns and villages. According to 76-year-old Herbert Owen of Piddington, it felt to him as though the government did not 'care' about his village, which persuaded him to take a stance: "I voted to leave the United Kingdom". 

 

 

Forgiving Prison Sentences Avoiding Deportation

"The prison sentence has a much greater impact on the defendant than on other offenders who might have committed similar acts."

"In the particular circumstances of this case, there is no doubt that the consequences carry considerable gravity for the circumstances of the defendant, who is a permanent resident who has custody of four children."

Quebec Appeals Court judges Suzanne Gagne, Christine Baudouin, Genevieve Marcotte 

A sign for the Quebec Court of Appeal. It’s an established Canadian legal precedent that judges are required to consider the “collateral immigration consequences” of a criminal sentence. Photo by Adobe Stock

 

"When I tell people I was bit, they ask me what kind of animal, if it was by a pit bull. They can't believe it's a person who did this to me", said the unnamed woman who had the misfortune of being attacked in December of 2022 by a Haitian woman who bit her repeatedly outside a bar in Laval Quebec. A video of the assault shows the victim's hair being pulled, Monfiston kicking the woman's motionless form on the ground, straddling her body while biting her face.

 

When onlookers attempted to put a stop to the attack, Monfiston's boyfriend prevemted their efforts. The end result was that the woman was disfigured for life, and three years later,  after Monfiston pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2025, a Court of Quebec judge sentenced her to four years in prison, a sentence that represented a fraction of the maximum 14-year sentence under the Criminal Code for a crime of this magnitude. 

 

Monfiston appealed the sentence and according to the Quebec Court of Appeal, four years represented a too-harsh punishment since Monfiston that would place her in danger of deportation. She has never sought Canadian citizenship despite having been two years of age when she arrived in Canada with her family. She had been a permanent resident of Canada for 35 years at the time she attacked the unnamed woman. According to court records she dropped out of high school at age 14, and since then her experience has been one of 'precarious employment' complicated by 'regular drug use' and criminal convictions.

 

In 2012 she was convicted of theft, and in 2014 of obstructing a peace officer. While awaiting a court date for her attack Facebook / Macdala Monfiston

In 2012 Monfiston was convicted of theft, and in 2014 of obstructing a peace officer. While awaiting a court date for her biting attack outside the Laval bar, she was convicted of drug possession in 2024. The Court of Appeal, making note of these convictions, took into account that hers were not violent offences. As a single mother of five children, of whom four children remain under her care, those circumstances lent weight to the Appeal Court's decision to award her a lighter prison sentence.

 

Anyone imprisoned for a crime in Canada for a period over two years, is considered to be guilty of 'serious criminality', losing appeal rights once a removal order has been delivered. The three judges were moved to hand down a sentence of two years less a day, shielding Monfiston from any potential loss of her immigration appeal rights. Canada established a legal precedent requiring judges to consider the "collateral immigration consequences" of a criminal sentece. 

 

Judges must weigh the fact there is risk if a criminal conviction ends up having a foreign national removed, and in recognition of that punishment environment, must reduce the punishment (sentence) accordingly for the offender. In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that lower courts fail to consider how sentences would render a vulnerable immigrant unable to appeal a removal order. As a result, a firm guideline was handed down of a sentence of two years less a day to be applied to criminal offences committed by foreigners in Canada.

 

Which effectively gives foreigners living in Canada who commit serious criminal offences a type of  forgiving mercy sentence that no ordinary white Canadian could ever hope to receive. A similar provision is also in effect for Indigenous Canadians and Canadian citizens of ethnic groups considered to be in less favoured social positions, such as Blacks and those arriving in Canada from the Middle East. A very particular 'progressive' form of justice that rewards minority criminals and victimizes their victims. 

 

Victim of Macdala Monfiston    le journal de montreal   

 

Vehicular Manslaughter? Fault 'Colonialist Past', Forgiven for Indigenous Criminals

"[Wilson was suffering from cultural] disconnection [resulting from colonization, which] crystallized into the tragic events of February 11, 2022."

"Mr. Wilson's efforts to regain his culture, that which was taken from him and his family in a systematic fashion will once again be taken by the state if the court imposes a four-year penitentiary sentence." 

"I'm left with this simple refrain: 'If not now, when. If not this case, what case?' To which I simply reply: Now, and this case."

"The over-representation of Indigenous people in Canada’s prisons is a present-day product of this country’s colonial past."

"As Indigenous incarceration rates have climbed … this over incarceration is an ongoing source of intergenerational harm to families and communities. It is a striking sign of the discrimination that Indigenous peoples experience in all parts of the criminal justice system."

Ontario Justice Gethin Edward 

A driver convicted of dangerous driving causing death has been sentenced to two years of house arrest. Sierra Beverly, 12, was killed in the 2022 collision. SUBMITTED--Brantford Examiner

 

"These have been the most difficult four-and-a-half years of our lives."

"We are deeply disappointed that, after waiting so long for justice, the sentence feels so inadequate in light of everything Naomi has endured and continues to endure."

"The family hopes that sharing their experience will help highlight the devastating and lasting consequences that serious driving offences can have on victims and their families."  

Naomi Beverly and Larry Demelo – Sierra’s mom and step-dad  

Judge Gethin Edward is known to have championed the Gladue Indigenous Persons Court, in his campaign to 'decolonize' the Canadian legal system. He is himself a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, like the criminal offender to whom he awarded a 'get-out-of-jail' card for the crime of vehicular manslaughter. The 'Gladue' provisions whereby judges in Canada must tailor criminal sentencing for Indigenous offenders through recognition of 'circumstances' related to the generational effect of colonization on First Nations, it is a cudgel whereby criminal actions perpetrated by individuals of Indigenous descent receive light sentences unreflective of the crimes they commit.

 

It is the primary reason that Indigenous women are not served justice under the Act. Their male oppressors whose violence against them are accorded light sentences for murder on the basis of their presumed no-fault status given First Nations. Campaigns highlighting the plight of Canada's 'missing and murdered' women of Indigenous backgrounds cast a wide net of blame, citing racism and discrimination, while the reality of Indigenous male violence toward their female counterparts remains an indelicate subject not to be mentioned in the same breath as 'missing and murdered'.

 

Driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck within which lay a litter of empty and partially consumed cans of beer in 2022, Darris Wilson slammed head-on into a Mitsubishi subcompact driven by Naomi Beverley, her daughter Sierra Beverly 12, a passenger. Naomi suffered debilitating brain injuries necessitating 24-hour medical care. Her 12-year-old daughter needs no life-saving medical care; she was killed on impact that Friday afternoon when her mother was driving her to a sleep-over. 

 

Forensic examination of the crash by investigators revealed that the truck driver had made no effort to brake, driving at about 90 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone. Judge Edwards, however focused on Canada's 'colonial past' being entirely responsible for turning Darris Wilson into a drunk driver. Convicted of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm, which normally carries a maximum prison sentence of  14 years, Judge Edward in his aboriginal-activist role set that aside as totally inappropriate under the circumstances.

 

For being born to a First Nation represents a circumstance mandated for empathy -- not for the victim but for the perpetrator of the crime. While the Crown had requested a four-year prison sentence for killing a 12-year-old child, Justice Edward decided on a more 'justifiable' sentence of two years of house arrest, specifically citing the Indigenous background of the offender as requiring a sentence of that light magnitude. Justice Edward justified his decision as necessary to "erase this country's colonial past".

 

Justice Edward was made a visiting Indigenous scholar in 2024 at Wilfred Laurier University. The University school officials produced a statement declaring "we have a great deal to learn from Justice Edward's work to decolonize Canada's legal system".   

 

A two-vehicle collision on Oakland Road, southwest of Brantford on Feb. 11 claimed the life of 12-year-old Sierra Beverly (right). Her mother Naomi Beverly (pictured at left with her spouse Larry Demelo) was critically injured. Simcoe Reformer

 

"[The sentencing decision for Wilson is an] absolute moral outrage. Justice Edward is a] robed political activist cosplaying as a judge."

"We must stigmatize the vile theory that violent criminals are prima facie victims by virtue of their genetic profile."

Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney 

Reprehensible Chiding Those Mourning Death of Child

"[The victim impact statements filed in this case were of] unusual number, breadth, scope and contact."

"[Several ... statements came from] aunts, uncles and cousins of the direct victims. [Several more statements were given by] friends of the family [portions of which were disregarded by the court as they] recounted dramatized details of the hospital scene or memorialized the deceased."

"Material that is irrelevant, inflammatory, prejudicial or otherwise [outside Criminal Code bounds] should be removed or excluded before the statement is presented to the sentencing court."

"Three of the cousins of Miss Victoria Desjardins, very young children themselves, presented statements speaking in their own age-appropriate manner, about the loss of their cousin. While it is clear that they have been impacted, it was also clearly very difficult, and concerning to this Court, for them to present their victim impact statements in such a foreign and adult environment as an open court proceeding."

Justice Indra Maharaj, Calgary Court of Justice

Victoria Desjardins, 9, died in hospital after her family’s vehicle was struck by a driver who police say was fleeing officers when he ran a red light on Dec. 26, 2024. CTV News

 

 

Victim impact statements, chided Judge Indra Maharaj, must comply with the law, and the Crown prosecutor must ensure that they do. The Crown erred in this case, stated the judge, by failing to order the Desjardins extended family and friends to condense their victim impact statements into one cohesive and brief statement. The occasion of this trial in Calgary was the death by vehicular homicide of a nine-year-old child who had been in the car her mother was driving when the driver of a stolen  vehicle ran a red light at an intersection at 170 km/hr.

 

That driver, named as Duane Nepoose, happened to be under the influence of drugs, attempting to evade police in the wake of his criminal act of violently taking possession of a car from its owner. The Dodge Caravan careened through a red light, smashing into the Desardins' vehicle, seriously injuring the driver, seriously injuring her 12-year old daughter by the sheer force of the impact, and causing the death of the nine-year old, Victoria Desjardins. Another woman in a different vehicle was also injured. 

 

The seasoned repeat criminal offender, Duane Nepoose, had pleaded guilt to robbery, fleeing police, dangerous driving and causing death, along with an additional three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. He was finally sentenced to ten years in prison. During the court hearing that was to address the man's sentencing, the judge's pique at the numerous victim impact statements was aired before the court, as she admonished Crown counsel.

 

The Reitmeier-Desjardins family seen in a supplied image. Mother Amanda and daughter Madison, 12, were sent to hospital after being involved in a five-vehicle collision in Calgary on Boxing Day 2024, while daughter Victoria, 9, was killed in the crash. Postmedia file

 

There are a number of guidelines in producing a victim impact statement that must routinely be made available to those committed to producing such a statement. They would be made aware of what is permissible and what is not, which the specific family member/statement writer must adhere to. If statements do contain forbidden claims such as suggesting a sentence, or making unproven allegations, or complaints related to the investigation, the presiding judge is free to make note of areas in a statement in violation of the rules.

 

In this instance -- of the death of a beloved child, sister, cousin, extended family member -- the complaint by the judge was not the content of the statements so much as it was what she considered to be the overwhelming number of impact statements presented to the court for consideration. The violent death of a child is devastating to a family on a human scale of emotional, irreplaceable loss. The court invites victim impact statements routinely, and it is beyond comprehension that a judge would take the position that too many people -- adults and children alike -- not air their bereft anguish at such a grievous loss.

 

Such disrespect and lack of understanding on the part of the judge preparing to sentence the individual responsible for that death in his cavalier disregard for the safety of the public through his pursuit of criminal activity, is breathtaking in its lack of empathy, underscored disinterest in the emotional anguish of such loss in the presented statements. It is they, collectively, who should be outraged at the judge's comments, particularly those respecting the appropriateness of children heartfully expressing the extent of their emotional trauma.  

"While I accept that these young relatives were genuinely affected, their statements largely addressed the broader family and community impact of the death. In my respectful opinion, that material could have been more appropriately and efficiently presented through a community impact statement by an adult."

"[A statement by a babysitter] was also heartfelt but tended toward a memorial [and it] could have properly formed part of a community statement by the extended family."

Justice Indra Maharaj  

Duane Nepoose, seen on bodycam footage from a Calgary police officer, admitted to dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, robbery and fleeing a police officer in the crash. CP24

 

 

 

Freedom of Navigation in the Red Sea

"The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests—such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea—while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges."

"We are in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen Government regarding regional stability."

White House statement

US President Donald Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on May 13, 2025, during the president's multi-nation tour of the Gulf.  Win McNamee/Getty Images

 

"The failure this time is not with the Yemenis. It’s a disaster made in [Washington] DC and Riyadh."

"There was not one air strike throughout the day yesterday [by Saudi support forces], although there were minute-by-minute updates."

"It’s a Saudi-American f**k up of epic proportions."

Unnamed regional source

 

"It doesn’t make sense. I mean, you have the main backer of the militaries on the ground [UAE, ordered to leave south Yemen by the Saudis] … who are really doing all of this work for 10 years, and suddenly you ask them to leave, and you don’t fill that vacuum." 

"It’s just lack of strategy and poor management [not to have filled the UAE military absence with Saudi troops]."

"[The Houthis] don’t need to use advanced weapons to close Bab al-Mandeb. They can just use a cannon on a car."

"It’s a leverage that they have without using advanced weapons. And they will keep it."

 Amr Al-Bidh of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council   

In a large-scale operation meant to expel Saudi-backed forces from the Red Sea coast of Yemen that included areas providing leverage over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key waterway for Saudi oil exports, Houthis, backed by Iran claimed resounding success. This new state of affairs enables the Houthis to claim territory that has now changed hands enabling them to threaten and block at will, energy and other cargo shipments through the Bab al-Mandab in the Red Sea, to join Iran's blockaid of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

 

Saudi-led military coalition forces in their hundreds were killed, injured or taken prisoner in the fighting, exulted Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree. Control was seized of 2,000 square miles of land along the western coast of Yemen. A senior Yemen analyst for the International Crisis Group, added that the Houthis had made substantial advances since Thursday, as they pushed forward from the city of Mokha to capture the strategic town of Dhubab and Perim Island.

Fighters gather near damaged vehicles in the after what a Houthi-owned TV network says were strikes on pro-government forces in Yemen. Photograph: Al-Masirah Tv/Reuters

 

Iran congratulated its proxy militia. Threats to target Saudi ships were made by the Houthis who have searched for vengeance against Saudi Arabia for what they claim is a blockade on their country. Saudi Arabia supports the internationally recognized government in the south. A truce in the war that Saudi Arabia launched against the Houthis had left the Houthis in control of Yemen's north. A ground offensive was launched in recent days by the Houthis to capture key port cities along the Red Sea. 

"[There must be an end to the] illegal and inhuman blockade [of Yemen, imposed for years by Saudi Arabia]."

"[There must be an] immediate resumption of dialogue [to end the] unprecedented oppression and expansionism of the Israeli regime with US. complicity."

Iranian Foreign Ministry 

A Yemeni official explained that Yemen's Saudi-backed coalition forces had withdrawn. His government had hoped that the U.S. would strike the Houthis just as had occurred in 2025, but whether it plans to do so remains uncertain.  

"The moment represents a huge opportunity for the Houthis to negotiate from a position of power."

"They have a tremendous amount of momentum behind them."

Adam Baron, fellow, Future Security Program at New America, Washington think tank

 

"[The Houthi advance] is not just about Saudi but many countries and means that Iran can activate the Houthis against U.S. interests in the region."

Ahmed Nagi, Yemen analyst, International Crisis Group, Brussels 

 A sunken vessel is seen at the surface of the water in the port of Mocha the day after an attack by the Houthis on August 9, 2026. Strikes by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been happening on Yemen's west coast for weeks.  Khaled Ziad/AFP/Getty Images

 

 

Lake Ontario Name Change -- Return To Sender

Donald Trump points to a a map reading ‘Gulf of America’ after signing an executive order at the Oval Office on 25 February 2025. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

 

"We're fully committed to or users right now, and the users are showing what they believe in by downloading our app."

"[MapQuest's recent actions were not intended as a political statement, but to offer people the names of lakes they're familiar with]. It's fun that we're talking about geography."

"The poster may be gone, but Lake Ontario remains Lake Ontario on MapQuest and the route is still there whenever you need it."

"The routes are real, the locations are real and Lake Ontario is the name users will find when they open MapQuest."

"People rely on maps to make the world feel navigable and familiar. While keeping the names that people know and trust, this campaign brings our commitment to life while tapping into 30 years of nostalgia, and puts it all right back on the map." 

Doug Berger, general manager, MapQuest 

Canada's billboard is located in Toronto, at 43 Lower Jarvis Street. Photo by MapQuest

California-based MapQuest has installed billboards across the U.S. and Canada with detailed directions to Lake Ontario, responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the lake 'Lake America'. Six-foot-height posts were erected in Toronto, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Launched in 1996, MapQuest was one of the first mapping services on the web. It used old highway icons, a banner advertisement and an URL that runs across the bottom of each page. 

 

Toronto's billboard, owing to its proximity to Lake Ontario had one page of directions, whereas the other cities had three pages in the new campaign, following the company's confirmation that it has no intention of changing Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' on the spiteful whim of the president to overturn a name whose history is centuries old, derived from an Indigenous Iroquoian word. The company was not impressed by Mr. Trump's August 27 directive to the Department of the Interior.

 

MapQuest general manager Doug Berger poses next to the billboard in Chicago, which is located at State and Hubbard Street in the River North neighbourhood. Photo by MapQuest

 

Google Maps and Apple Maps, on the other hand, have gone halfway, adopting 'Lake America' for American users while retaining the authentic original name for all other international users. The reaction to MapQuest's decision to honour the original name of Lake Ontario even surprised them, when an unexpected surge of downloads of the apps occurred, indicating support by many of its users, to the extent that MapQuest has reached No.1 in the U.S. App Store, both for the navigation and overall categories.  

 

The app's usage, in fact, rose some 50 times what is considered normal, surpassing two million downloads. A thoroughly playful feature that allows users to rename Lake Ontario within the app on their own, builds on a tool launched by the company in the wake of the president's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. 

 

Donald Trump signs an executive order renaming Lake Ontario during an event in the Oval Office.  Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Facilitating Gender Dysphoric Children's Transition Defies Human Rights...

"I noticed that the injection is for gender re-assignment as patient is already in the waiting room with [her] mother."

"I called mother into the room and explained to her that I would not be able to give the injection. Based on my religious belief and cultural background."

"I believe in God created man and woman. And I find it difficult to be involved in anything against that." 

Dr. Henry Ajaero, British Columbia family medical practitioner

 

"He testified that he had never interacted with a trans person [to his knowledge] or been involved in any 'gender therapy.' He had never administered Lupron for any purpose. It was apparent from his evidence that, in all the circumstances, he felt uncomfortable and unprepared." 

"I accept that these feelings motivated his decision to deny services to Child Q, and were not based on an intention to discriminate against her." 

"Dr. Ajaero has not established that either the Religion Standard or the Expertise Standard were reasonably necessary to achieve their purposes. This is likely because they were developed quickly, in the context of a busy and stressful day, with incomplete information."

"This context is an explanation for Dr. Ajaero’s decision, but it does not justify his decision to deny medical services to a vulnerable trans youth because of her gender identity."

"While it is true that Lupron was prescribed through the Gender Clinic, and was intended to give Child Q time to consider options relating to her gender identity, it is not medication for gender re-assignment."

"It does not, on its own, conflict with Dr. Ajaero’s stated religious belief that 'God created man and woman.'" 

B.C. Human Rights Tribunal 

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal office,Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

 

 For refusing to administer a puberty-blocking drug to a transgender-identifying teen, the Human Rights Tribunal of British Columbia has ordered Henry Ajaero, a provincial family doctor, to compensate the transgender youth in the amount of $28,100. Dr. Ajaero practices in Delta, British Columbia. His is a busy practice, seeing an average of 50 patients a day out of the almost three thousand Delta residents his practice looks after. Dr. Ajaero, a practicing and devout Christian, is from Nigeria. He speaks of a religious devotion that "is an important part of his life". 

"I had begun puberty fairly early on, so I was already feeling a lot of the effects of testosterone and what testosterone was doing to my body."

"I can't describe in words the amount of pain that caused me."

Patient Q 

At age 14, Patient Q, a patient of Dr. Ajaero's since 2017, was referred by him to a gender clinic at the Children's Hospital, in 2020 where an endocrinologist prescribed the drug Lupron for her, which through regular injections, blocks release of testosterone and estrogen to apprehend body changes normal with the onset of puberty. These puberty blockers were banned for use in trans-identifying youth in the United Kingdom. 

 

With the prescription requiring an injection every three to four weeks, Child Q was given the option of learning to administer the injections on her own, but decided she would prefer it be done by a doctor. Accordingly a March 2021 appointment was booked at the Delta clinic with Dr. Ajaero. As they were seated in the waiting room, the doctor became aware what the injection was meant to do. Whereupon he informed Patient Q's mother he had "religious and cultural reasons" for not administering the drug.

 

Puberty blockers have come under increasing scrutiny, including in the U.K, where a major review led to their ban for use in trans-identifying youth. Photo by Unsplash

 

Child Q's mother lodged a complaint against the family physician. It was Dr. Ajaero's position that providing any care in relation to "gender reassignment" was inconsistent with his religious beliefs; the administering of Lupon was additionally outside his scope of practice and expertise, he added. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia was moved to reprimand Dr. Ajaero in 2023. 

"I am not persuaded that this [denial of medical services based on gender identity] was justified by [Ajaero's] religious beliefs or lack of medical expertise."

[Dr. Ajaero violated the B.C. Human Rights Code] by "continued use of he/him pronouns and [Child Q's deadname". 

"[I] corrected D. Ajaero's chart notes to properly reflect Child Q's gender."

Tribunal vice-chair Devyn Cousineau   

Adrienne Smith, counsel for Child Q in Child Q v. Ajaero (No. 2), 2026 BCHRT 189, over a gender-identity demonstration. Western Standard photo illustration by Alex Zoltan.

 

"She was self-harming. She had suicidal thoughts, with a plan" and was hoarding Tylenol, the ruling finding Dr. Ajaero in violation of the B.C. Human Rights Code, noted. Later that same day, Child Q received the injection at a walk-in clinic. According to the tribunal, the injections fall within a family doctor's scope of practice. "Until he learned what it was for", Dr. Ajaero had been prepared to give the injection. Dr. Ajaero was forthwith ordered to compensate Child Q for expenses incurred and for "injury to her dignity, feelings and self-respect". 

"The evidence] does not establish that refusing to administer medication whose purpose is to suppress puberty in trans youth is a particular line of conduct called for by Dr. Ajaero's religious custom or connection to God."

Devyn Cousineau, Tribunal vice-chair