Terrorism Abounds in Pakistan

Rescue workers transport one of the many injured victims of the bomb explosion at a mosque in Islamabad on Friday. (M.A. Sheikh/The Associated Press)

 

"By the time I reached it there had already been an explosion."

"Bodies were lying everywhere, some were missing arms, some missing legs."

"We took the most injured in our own vehicle [to hospital]." 

Mosque caretaker Syed Ashfaq  

"The morning of February 6, a suicide bomber attacked a Shia mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. The attack risks worsening regional instability amid a deteriorating security situation in Pakistan. Early reports suggest the attack was carried out by a single actor, who opened fire at security personnel outside a mosque before entering and detonating a suicide vest. In an official statement, Islamabad’s deputy commissioner announced that 31 people had been killed, with another 169 people hospitalized locally, but the death toll is likely to rise."

"No group has yet claimed the attack. Pakistan is home to an enormous variety of terrorist organizations: U.S. officials have identified at least 15 groups, while the Indian nonprofit South Asian Terrorism Portal has listed 44 terrorist organizations operating in the country. Most terrorist violence in Pakistan is associated with three actors: the Islamic State, Baloch militants, and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The most likely perpetrator appears to be the Islamic State–⁠Khorasan Province (IS-KP), which operates both in Afghanistan and Pakistan but has a significant interest in mass-casualty international attacks. The group has been implicated in a variety of recent international attacks and plots, including mass-casualty attacks against Crocus City Hall in Moscow and a memorial for Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Tehran, and plots against the Paris Olympics, cathedrals in Cologne and Vienna, and protests outside of the Swedish parliament."

Center for Strategic and International Studies  

"[India -- Pakistan's eastern neighbour was] assisting the Taliban regime and threatening not only Pakistan but regional and global peace."

"[Pakistan takes strong exception to the situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban regime has created conditions similar to or worse than pre-9/11, when terror organizations posed threats to global peace." 

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari

Photo: Aamir QURESHI / AFP via Getty Images

 

Tension between Pakistan and the Taliban government next door are high, as Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of supporting Pakistan's own Taliban. How things have changed; before and during the U.S.-led, UN-approved invasion of Afghanistan by NATO forces following the 9/11 atrocities in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania it was Pakistan  through its military and its Inter-agency Intelligence group that supported and gave haven to the Afghan Taliban, at the very time that it declared itself in league with the U.S. in combating terrorism.

 

Afghanistan was invaded by the combined Western forces led by the U.S. because the-then-governing Taliban was sheltering al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden. Refusing to surrender Osama bin Laden, known to have been the mastermind of 9/11, a 20-year conflict was launched when the U.S. sought the elusive al-Qaeda leader in the mountains of Afghanistan. It was, in fact, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, at a secret compound, where U.S. Navy Seal commandos found bin Laden and killed him.

 

That compound was not far from a Pakistan army base. It was clear that Pakistan's military knew of the presence of the secretive head of al-Qaeda and likely facilitated his stay there. Next to the compound lived a Pakistani medical doctor who suspected that his neighbour was the infamous bin Laden, and in the belief that his country was in league with the U.S. to discover his whereabouts, he confirmed to the U.S. that the man whose suspicious presence was thought to be bin Laden, really was.

 

For his efforts, Shakil Afridi, the Pakistan physician who had been so helpful to the U.S. was later arrested, charged and convicted in a Pakistan court of treason, and sentenced to 33 years in prison. So much for Pakistan's double game of supporting the war on terrorism while enabling it and giving haven to its leaders. It's fairly rich that now, the country overrun with terrorist groups, portrays itself as an innocent victim. 

 

Thousands gathered in Islamabad to mourn the 32 victims of Friday's attack   Reuters

 

Pakistan accuses India of planning terrorist attacks on Pakistan's soil, but it was a Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar e-Taiba that conducted a 2008 attack on India's financial hub in Mumbai. A dozen coordinated attacks took place over a period of three days of chaos and violence. Fire, grenade attacks and gunfire took its terror-toll of over $1-billion in damage. No fewer than 166 innocent people died in that series of attacks, with some 300 people wounded. India has much to blame Pakistan for; not the other way around.

 

Last Friday's suicide bombing that took place at a Shiite mosque killing 31 worshippers and wounding 169 was the work of Pakistan's own Islamic State terrorist group, which in fact claimed the glory for the gore it had created. The assertion by Pakistan that terrorism cannot be confronted by any single country in isolation, arrived after global reaction condemning the attack, but Pakistan's role in aiding and abetting terrorists that prey on other countries reveals them for the hypocrites that they are.

 

The government in Afghanistan responded to the claims from Pakistan by proclaiming its innocence in the affair. Its focus is on terrifying its own population, which apparently takes up all its energies, particularly addicted to characterizing women as somewhat subhuman whose role is to complement male desires and to produce following generations, with no self-agency, no rights, no access to education or personal fulfillment. 

 

Police commandos take positions at the site of a bomb explosion at a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, on Friday. (Anjum Naveed/The Associated Press)

 

Both New Delhi and Afghanistan's Defence Ministry separately rejected the allegation of the Pakistan government, decrying Islamabad's irresponsibility. The Taliban in Afghanistan, returned to government with the withdrawal of U.S. forces and its allies in 2011, has continued its persecution of its  population and is itself the locus of the presence of other terrorist groups, including ISIS. The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, has also denied any link to the mosque bombing. 

 

Pakistan's security forces arrested four suspects, among them an Afghan national accused of links to the IS group in Afghanistan, said to have assisted in masterminding the attack. The bomber's mother and brother-in-law have evidently also been detained, with the investigation ongoing. 

 

A Guatemalan Tragedy of Unspeakable Proportions

"All of the villagers in the well were ultimately killed ... I find those killings were done under the watch and orders of Mr. Sosa."

"When the well was being covered up, screams and cries of victims could still be heard. They were left to die a horrible death."

"Members of the patrol unit laughed, as if nothing had happened."

"Mr. Sosa denies that he was present at Las Dos Erres when the massacre took place; however, I place no credence in anything he says."

"Indeed, I consider Mr. Sosa to be a consummate liar."

Federal Court Justice Roger Lafreniere  

Graduation ceremony at the Kaibil, counterinsurgency unit 

"On January 18, 2011, Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes was arrested in Alberta, Canada on charges of naturalization fraud in the United States."

"Sosa Orantes, 52, is a former commanding officer of the Guatemalan Special Forces, or Kaibil unit, which brutally murdered more than 250 men, women and children during the 1982 massacre."

"The massacre was part of the Guatemalan military's "scorched earth campaign" and was carried out by the Kaibiles ranger unit. The Kaibiles were specially trained soldiers who became notorious for their use of torture and brutal killing tactics. "

"According to witness testimony, and corroborated through U.S. declassified archives, the Kaibiles entered the town of Dos Erres on the morning of December 6, 1982, and separated the men from women and children. They started torturing the men and raping the women and by the afternoon they had killed almost the entire community, including the children."

"Nearly the entire town was murdered, their bodies thrown into a well and left in nearby fields. The U.S. documents reveal that American officials deliberated over theories of how an entire town could just "disappear," and concluded that the Army was the only force capable of such an organized atrocity. More than 250 people are believed to have died in the massacre."

U.S. National Security Archive 

Harrowing testimony of 'extreme cruelty' perpetrated by unit commanders like Sosa, who ordered the entire village be slaughtered detailed the horror of that fateful day in extinguishing an entire village. The government military force called the Kaibiles had entered the village of Las Dos Erres, in 1982, home to 200 people, searching for weapons said to have been stolen by guerilla forces from the military, and hidden at the village, during the decades-long Guatemalan civil war. No weapons were found, but the order to butcher the entire population of the village commenced over an agonizing period of hours.

 

A baby was thrown into a well to drown, children were smashed against trees, and countless other members of the community were flung into that well, some alive, many dead, their skulls crushed or shot. Women were raped and murdered in front of their children. Sosa, in charge, shot a man and threw a grenade into the well to still the wailing cries of people in their death throes. Ten years after the atrocity investigators exhuming the remains found 'a minimum' of 162 had died in the well; the first victims lying at the bottom were children under age 12, and women.

 

Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes was fourth in command of the unit at the time, known to have personally committed murder at the time, and who had also ordered the slaughter of civilians. Testimony from one of Sosa's former military colleagues spoke of his having taught his special military unit techniques of torture on live victims at a zone set aside for practise; the "zombie area".

 

He has been living in Canada for 34 years. Guatemalan authorities, after a prolonged investigation, had issued an arrest warrant against the man in 2000, long after he had left the country. Sosa had moved to the United States where he applied for asylum, in 1985. His claim was denied and he turned to Canada in 1987, applying for asylum at the San Francisco-based Canadian consulate. He withheld the vital information from immigration officials that he had served in the Guatemalan military. Granted refugee status, he achieved citizenship in Canada in 1992.

 

Sosa married an American citizen, then applied and received U.S. citizenship in 1997. U.S. officials became aware of his subterfuge of withholding critical background information in his refugee claims --leading to his extradition from Canada to the U.S. where he was sentenced to ten years in an American prison for immigration fraud, in 2014. Canadian immigration officials three years later initiated a legal process asking a court to revoke Sosa's citizenship, declaring him inadmissible to Canada. 

 

Schoolchildren gather in Dos Erres for an Independence Day celebration on Sept. 15, 1982. (Submitted by Sara Romero)

 

Finally, Canadian citizenship was revoked on the basis of Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes having committed unspeakable crimes in Guatemala forty years ago. Federal Court Justice Roger Lafreniere revoked that 34-year-old citizenship, declaring the man inadmissible to the country. Sosa was ordered to pay close to $250,000 to cover costs for the trial expended by the federal government. Costs related to arranging testimony of one of two massacre survivors, of two of Sosa's former military colleagues present at the bloodbath, and eight expert witnesses including Canadian immigration officials.

 

The well in Dos Erres was examined during a dig by forensic anthropologists that was organized by Aura Elana Farfan. (Submitted by FAMDEGUA)

 

President Trump's 'Art of the Deal'

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump pose for a photo during a meeting at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 22, 2026. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock

"The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule."

"And they say that they want to do everything by June. And they will do everything to end the war. And they want a clear schedule of all events."

"Difficult issues remained difficult. Ukraine once again confirmed its position on the Donbas issue."

"'We stand where we stand' is the fairest and most reliable model for a ceasefire today, in our opinion."

"The elections are, for them, definitely more important. Let’s not be naive. They say they want to achieve everything by June, and they will do everything possible to ensure the war ends that way."

"[U.S.] Intelligence showed me the so-called ‘Dmitriev package’ that he [$12 trillion economic cooperation package Russian envoy Kirill Dimitriev] presented in the US."

"There are also various signals, both in the media and elsewhere, that some of these agreements could also involve issues related to Ukraine — for example, our sovereignty or Ukraine’s security."

"We are making it clear that Ukraine will not support any such potential agreements about us that are made without us." 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

People shelter inside a metro station during a Russian overnight missile and drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 7, 2026.   Alina Smutko/Reuters

 

Russia, revealed President Zelenskyy, presented the U.S. with a $12-trillion (U.S.) economic proposal which he referred to as the 'Dmitriev package'. Such bilateral economic deals form part of the broader negotiating process, meeting certain expectations of U.S. President Trump, the supreme dealmaker. Kyiv, on the other hand, has acquiesced to Trump's wish to ensure U.S. interests are met in Ukraine's rich stores of minerals, to keep in the game.

 

While negotiators on behalf of the U.S. speak of a cessation of conflict, Vladimir Putin knows that the longer Moscow strings out the agonizing process of achieving an agreement represents more opportunity for the Russian military to achieve greater territorial gains. Meaning to continue to press down hard on demanding that Ukraine agree to withdrawing its troops and its continued sovereign aspirations from all territory that Russia has so far wrenched away through its almost-four-year invasion.

 

While President Zelenskyy anxiously tries to read which way President Trump's moods are shifting at any given time, their Russian counterpart oversees ongoing strikes on energy infrastructure in Ukraine, forcing nuclear power plants to cut their output. Over 400 drones and about 40 missile were launched overnight Saturday targeting Ukraine's energy grid, generation facilities and distribution networks.  

"The Russians deliberately targeted, among other things, energy facilities on which the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants depends."

"This puts at risk not only our security in Ukraine, but also the shared regional and European security."

"This is a level of attack that no terrorist in the world has ever dared, and Russia must feel the world’s response."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Firefighters battle a blaze after a Ukrainian industrial enterprise was struck by a Russian drone attack on Feb. 6, 2026. via REUTERS

 

Ukraine's state energy transmission operator Ukrenergo described this latest attack as the second mass strike on energy infrastructure since the new year. Nuclear power plants were forced to reduce their output; eight facilities in eight regions under attack. "As a result of missile strikes on key high-voltage substations that ensured the output of nuclear power units, all nuclear power plants in the territories under control were forced to reduce their load", increasing the country's power deficit "significantly" forcing hourly power outages in all regions to be extended.

 

Trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi produced no breakthrough -- with both Ukraine and Russia repeating mutually exclusive positions; Russia pressing Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas where intense fighting is taking place; a demand that Kyiv will never accede to. No common ground  was reached to manage the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant being held by Russia. As for the U.S. proposal that the Donbas region be turned into a free economic zone, Mr. Zelenskyy was skeptical.

 

"I do not know whether this can be implemented, because when we talked about a free economic zone, we had different views on it." Repeated aerial assaults by Russia have focused on the Ukraine power grid. leading to blackouts and heating and water supply disruptions during a bitterly cold winter. Once more the U.S. proposed a ceasefire banning strikes on energy infrastructure. While Ukraine is prepared to observe such a pause, Russia's response could be predicted in its violation of a previous one-week pause it had agreed to in principle that lasted all of four days. 

 

Russia has regularly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure during winter

 

 

Raising An AI Pet

"When it comes to data-privacy concerns, the core problem is that the public has very little transparency into what companies are actually doing."

"If you're having highly personal conversations, [with these sweet and cuddly AI toy-companions] there are companies on the other end that are doing the listening and the talking."

R.J. Cross, director, consumer privacy campaign, U.S. Public Interest Research Group

 

"[AI companion toys ranked at No. 9 in official] Top 10 Products of the Year [list in 2025]."

"After all, they not only look cute but also speak nicely."

"They have already outperformed 90 percent of human partners."

Taobao online shopping platform, China 

Zhou Yushu, co-founder of ROPET and a professor at Renmin University of China, poses for photos with AI pet products he has developed, in Beijing, capital of China, May 23, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Sijia)

"As an extension of traditional pets, AI companions offer stickiness and sustainability."

"Annual compound growth rate has exceeded 8 percent in recent years, and forecasts indicate it could reach 10 percent over the next five years."

Professor Wei Xiang,  University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences  

AI companion pets are the latest consumer sensation out of China where young people have taken to talking pets with no need of being taken for walks nor the routine of messy clean-ups afterward, taking the place of marriage. The digital creatures have become comfort companions, replacing human-to-human interaction; an emotional safety net that owners can confide in without fear of their inner thoughts being broadcast about a circle of friends potentially causing embarrassment and requiring explanations.

AI pets have endeared themselves mostly to young, unattached adults as well as to children. Chinese tech-producing companies including Huawei have designed and developed AI pets with young Chinese who live alone specifically in mind as pet-consumers of the AI-variety. Most of the 'pets' have a fluffy body with large, expressive eyes that light up and have the appearance of emotional expression. Their proliferation has state support within a tightly integrated industrial supply mechanism.

 

The Shenzhen Toy Industry Association projects the AI toy market in China is set to surpass US$1.4 billion by year 2030 at an annual compound growth rate of over 70 percent. This is big business under the umbrella of the state as an experiment in social engineering manipulation that may restore a level of emotional satisfaction and fulfillment absent in a social aura of discontent over economic stability linked to difficulties in securing life partners and establishing families.

Ropet robotic pets mimic the behaviour of a real animal. They require regular feeding and make grumbling sounds when hungry. If you present it with fruits like apples, oranges, or bananas, its eyes—two LED screens—light up with images of food, making interactions with it more enjoyable. PHOTO: CHINA DAILY

 

AI toys with distinct personalities are being offered, such as digital pets by the Shanghai-based tech company Robopoet where, in Las Vegas last month, Fuzozo made its U.S. debut, dubbed the CES event's 'cutest' renditions of 'tech'. Attendees crowded around the show floor to experiment with the palm-size devices to test their responses in various languages, witness how they wobble and briefly appear 'dizzy' when shaken. Two units placed in proximity can communicate with one another for the amused appreciation of onlookers.

 

Most AI toy owners are women in their 20s and 30s who share their experiences on Chinese social media platforms. Female users on Rednote speak of their pets filling an emotional void: "Other people are getting married and giving birth; I'm already raising an AI pet". Moreover, one that can express joy with widened eyes. While real living pets come with real-life problems, AI pets present none of those tedious responsibility burdens.

 

AI pets are considered part of the 'emotional economy', steadily rising in popularity. "This is exactly the need AI pets currently meet: providing emotional companionship along with minimal caregiving costs", pointed out Qi Ye, associate professor of psychology, Renmin University, Beijing. Urban younger generations weighted by the struggle for good grades, find good jobs settle down and have multiple children, find the AI-toy companion trend particularly resonating to their emotional needs.

Zhang Yachun talking to her AI-powered robot named Aluo, AFP

Lapsed START Treaty ... World Doomsday Clock

89 SecsMidnight Doomsday Clock

"The last nuclear arms control deal between the United States and Russia is set to expire today— [Feb.5] though eleventh-hour talks are reportedly working to prolong it. Unnamed sources told Axios the two countries were weighing an extension of the New START treaty, which limits the size of both countries’ nuclear arsenals and provides for inspections and information exchanges. Russia had halted inspections in 2023 in response to U.S. military support for Ukraine, and Trump did not formally respond to a proposal from Moscow last September to extend the treaty for a year. As China expands its own nuclear arsenal and U.S. allies in Europe question the reliability of Washington’s nuclear umbrella as a deterrent, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said yesterday that “the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades.”   

"Details on the reported talks to extend the deal were not immediately available. In January, Trump had told the New York Times that the United States would seek “a better agreement” than New START that should also include China. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday that it would not be fair for Beijing to join nuclear disarmament talks given its nuclear arsenal was smaller than the United States’. Russia said it remained open to diplomacy to “comprehensively stabilize the strategic situation” and that it regretted the lapse of the deal."

Council on Foreign Relations  

"[Trump has made it clear that] in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it's impossible to do something that doesn't include China because of their vast and growing stockpile."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

 

"[Russia will maintain its] responsible, thorough approach to stability when it comes to nuclear weapons."

"Of course, it will be guided primarily by its national interests."

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman

 

"[Moscow] remains ready to take decisive military-technical measures to counter potential additional threats to the national security."

"At the same time, our country remains open to seeking political diplomatic ways to comprehensively stabilize the strategic situation on the basis of equal and mutually beneficial dialogue solutions, if the appropriate conditions for such cooperation are shaped."

Russian Foreign Ministry   

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile is test-launched from the Ohio-class U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska off the coast of Californi-a, U.S. March 26, 2018. U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ronald Gutridge/Reuters

 

"If the president supports, or is willing to tolerate, the prospect of nuclear proliferation by allies, a post-American nuclear order may materialize quickly…Such an outcome would rapidly accelerate Trump’s push to shift defense burdens to allies by diminishing their reliance on U.S. conventional and nuclear deterrence."

"But in doing so, it would also undercut the United States’ influence over allied policies while creating significant new nuclear risks."

Rebecca Lissner/Erin D. Dumbacher, CFR experts, Foreign Policy 

The last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States has now expired, leaving no limits on the atomic arsenals of the two largest holders of atomic arms in the world, for the first time in over a half-century. Termination of the New START Treaty took place on Thursday, February 5, 2026, leading arms control experts to the opinion that an unconstrained nuclear arms race may now proceed.

Last year, at a similar expiration juncture, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated his readiness to cement the limits the treaty imposes for another year, should Washington agree. This year, American President Donald Trump appears noncommittal-to-indifferent over extending the Treaty once again, indicating he is holding out for China to become an integral third-party of a new pact. Beijing's response to that expectation was a clear 'not interested'.  

The pact's expiration occasioned President Putin to discuss the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping the day before the treaty expired, emphasizing the U.S. failure in responding positively to Mr. Putin's recommended overture for another extension for the limitations, emphasizing that Russia "will act in a balanced the responsible manner based on thorough analysis of the security situation".

With the expiration of the New START, the United States and Russia reached an agreement to re-establish high-level military-to-military dialogue following a meeting between senior officials representing both sides that took place in Abu Dhabi, according to the U.S. military command in Europe. New START restricted each side to no greater numbers than 1,550 nuclear warheads on no more than 700 missiles and bombers.

The treaty was signed by then-U.S. president Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart, in 2010. The treaty was originally meant to expire in 2021, but had been extended on mutual agreement for an additional five years -- now elapsed. 

"Today, I can reveal that the U.S. Government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons."

“China conducted one such yield producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020,” he said, without providing further details. A former senior US official told CNN that information about China’s 2020 test had been declassified.

"[The Chinese military sought] to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments."

"China has used decoupling – a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring – to hide their activities from the world."

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno  

Land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles at V-day ceremony Tienanmen Square, Beijing, September 3, 2025. Getty Images

Law and Order Impeded by Rogue Police

"It is alleged that these officers have demonstrated varying degrees of criminality and associations to criminal networks."

"We are alleging that some police officers were collecting personal and private information unlawfully and distributing it to members of organized crime, which ultimately resulted in serious harm in our communities."

"[Criminals sought and obtained] confidential information from various Toronto police officers. In some cases, police officers were offered bribes for this information." 

Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan, York Regional Police

 

"In all, three officers and one retired officer have been charged with offences related to unlawful queries and the distribution of confidential, personal information."

"Four officers face bribery charges in connection to this operation." 

"[A plan was uncovered to] support the operation of illegal cannabis dispensaries by accepting bribes to obstruct any possible enforcement action to be taken at those locations."

York Regional Police

 

"[This is] a painful and unsettling moment."

"I was not provided an opportunity to make investigative decisions [impacting] the speed and flow of the investigation."

Toronto Police Service Chief Myron Demkiw  

From left to right: Toronto Police Service Chief Myron Demkiw, York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween and York Regional Police Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan. The three men spoke at a press conference on Feb. 5, 2026, to announce the arrest of seven Toronto police officers and one retired Toronto officer. York Regional Police

 

An investigation of Toronto police officers of some months' duration was finally wrapped up when an investigation into a conspiracy to commit murder, led to the arrest of seven of Toronto's police officers and a retired officer. Ranging in age from 24 to 57 years, the officers were suspended from duty; in the case of four of those charged, suspension without pay is being sought in reflection of the serious nature of the charges.

 

One officer's charges include drug trafficking (MDMA, cocaine, Oxycodone, Adderall and Xanax) along with trafficking property obtained by crime, leading to a total of 17 charges. A total of eight charges were levied against another officer who faces charges including breach of trust and possession of a prohibited weapon. The investigation led as well to the arrest of another 19 suspects.

 

A conspiracy to murder a member of corrections management working at an Ontario facility was uncovered in June of 2025, which led to the investigation being initiated. Over a 36-hour period, suspects appeared at the targeted man's home on three occasions. Evidence is lacking, according to police, that the corrections member had been involved in criminal activity of any kind. Speculation is that his "commitment to integrity in his position" may have led to his being targeted.  

 

Security camera footage shows a gunman entering a Toronto pub during a mass shooting in March 2025 that was linked to tow truck industry violence. Toronto police arrested 10 people in connection with the incident. (CBC News: The National)

 

Surveillance footage revealed three masked men returning to the residence armed with a loaded handgun, likely intending to commit murder. A vehicle was rammed by the suspects into a police cruiser where officers tasked to protect the victim were at the scene in response to discovering the man had become a target. It was there and then that the three suspects were arrested.

 

Police allege that a Toronto police officer had accessed confidential information unlawfully relating to the victim, giving it to a key figure within a criminal network who forwarded the information on within the network. At a later time, three other suspects who were part of the murder plot were also arrested. A number of serious criminal acts were identified by police which included seven shootings in York Region. A suspect could be seen shooting in residential neighbourhoods in one surveillance video.

 

 Police uncovered a plan led by a key figure in the criminal network to "support the operation of illegal cannabis dispensaries by accepting bribes to obstruct any possible enforcement action to be taken at those locations". One of the criminals the investigation revealed was affiliated with the tow  truck industry, long plagued with violence and extortion in the Greater Toronto Area linked to a turf war. Over $4.2 million in assets and over a dozen arrests took place in last year's industry crackdown. 

 

Toronto Police Service Chief Myron Demkiw came to the defence of involvement by the Toronto police in the investigation, brushing aside allegations that it represented a conflict of interest since the investigation was led by York Regional Police. The charged officers represented four different divisions within the Toronto Police Service. The retired officer had been a member of the Emergency Management Unit. Arrested with him was his son, both suspects in the investigation of criminal activity. 

 

John Madeley Sr. (left) and John Madeley Jr. (right), the father and son accused in Project South, a seven-month-long investigation into organized crime and corruption.  CTV News

 

 

 

"Go Get Help!"

Austin, 13, recounts how he swam over two miles for four hours to get help for his mother and siblings who were stranded at sea.   ABC Australia

 

"The actions of the 13-year-old boy cannot be praised highly enough -- his determination and courage ultimately saved the lives of his mother and siblings."

"This incident is a reminder that ocean conditions can change rapidly."

"Thankfully, all three people were wearing life-jackets, which contributed to their survival." 

South West District off Inspector James Bradley, Australia

 

"I knew it would be a long way -- but the kayak kept taking in water, I was fighting rough seas."

"I was very puffed out but I couldn't feel how tired I was. The waves were massive."

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming [he told himself]."

"I just said 'all right, not today, not today, not today'. I have to keep on going."

"I was thinking about mum, Beau and Grace. I was also thinking about my friends and my girlfriend -- I have a really good bunch of friends,."

"When I hit the floor I thought, how am I on land right now - is this a dream?"

"[Finally] I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed."

13-year-old Austin Appelbee

 

"[It was] one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I knew he was the strongest and he could do it."

"I have three babies. All three of them made it. That was all that mattered."

"I had assumed Austin had made it a lot quicker than he had. As the day progressed, no vessels and nothing coming to save us."

"If he hasn't made it, what have I done, have I made the wrong decision, and is anyone going to come and save my other two?"

Joanne Appelbee, mother of three, Australia

The family was on holiday in Geographe Bay, Western Australia    Getty Images

 

An emergency call was received on Friday around 6:00 p.m. by Western Australia Police, alerting them that a woman and her two children had been swept out to sea in rough conditions. Joanne Appelbee had gone out with her three children on what had been a beautiful day to spend it  kayaking and paddleboarding in Geographe Bay, southwestern Australia off the coast of Quindalup. They hadn't reckoned with the sudden turn in the weather when conditions swiftly deteriorated and their joyous vacation turned into a dangerous situation. 

 

Joanne in fear of the situation she found herself and her three children in, vulnerable to an open sea that had suddenly turned rogue, made the difficult decision to remain where she was with 12-year-old Beau and daughter Grace, eight years old. She and the younger two children awaited rescue, clinging for eight hours in the roiling, wind-swept ocean to a paddleboard. Older son Austin was directed by his mother to set out on his own to make the perilous journey back to land where he could appeal for help for all of them.

 

Paddling off with his kayak in a determined effort to complete the mission assigned to him, knowing his success in reaching shore would mean the difference between life and death for his family, Austin encountered a number of decision-making imperatives that added to the stress he was under, but made those decisions and forced himself to complete a heroic journey, while taxing his strength and endurance to a point well beyond exhaustion. And when he had completed the initial portion of his feat of endurance, he continued on until his task was completed.

 

He described the failure of his kayak and the inevitable decision to abandon it. Instead swimming. And because his lifejacket constrained his movements, he abandoned it as well. As daylight faded and the conditions on the water became even more concerning, he swam for four kilometres alternating between a breaststroke, freestyle and survival backstroke for long distance energy-preservation. As he swam he made himself think of his family, his friends and his everyday life, pleasant thoughts that inspired him onward.

 

When he finally reached shore, stepping out of the water, there was no time to rest, to recuperate and regain some strength, since time was of the essence and so much depended on spurring a rescue operation for his family at sea. There was another kilometre left to challenge the completion of his mission. This time on land, he sprinted forward and onward where he found his mother's phone where they'd left their belongings, and called emergency services to report his family stranded at sea. Multiple maritime sea rescue services and a rescue helicopter were dispatched to locate and bring mother Joanne, younger son Beau and daughter Grace to safety.  

 

A map showing roughly where the family was found in Geographe Bay, and the wind speed. (ABC News)

 

"[Austin's survival was a] remarkable achievement." 

"He must be an accomplished swimmer, but even then, the water was cold enough to incapacitate him without unrelenting effort." 

"He was clearly driven on by the desire to save  his family -- this is a common and critical factor in such survival scenarios."

Mike Tipton, survival expert, professor of Human and Applied Physiology, University of Portsmouth, Britain  

Joanne and Austin with Beau, 12, and Grace, eight   ABC News/Briana Shepherd