Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone ... A Theatre of War

"On April 26, 1986, technicians at Unit 4 in Chernobyl, Ukraine, were conducting a test of their RBMK nuclear reactor when they inadvertently started a runaway reaction. Excess, superheated steam built up, the core was blasted open, and a huge plume of radioactive material wafted into the sky. The heat was so intense that it caused the nuclear fuel still in the plant to liquefy, where it mixed with other materials, such as concrete, and formed a lava-like material that flowed into the spaces below. At least 31 people died as an immediate result of the accident, and tens of thousands of people living nearby were evacuated."

"To contain the radiation, the ruined reactor was hastily entombed. Several months after the accident, the destroyed reactor was completely covered with a concrete and steel shell called the sarcophagus." "Authorities declared it would last 'for eternity'."

"But '[t]he sarcophagus began cracking soon after it was built and must be strengthened or replaced. To complicate matters, the sarcophagus is also sinking into the earth, and the ground water is rather near the surface . . .', noted an article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in September 1992. At that time, a Ukrainian parliament deputy, Vladimir Yavorivsky, called for ideas about what to do, announcing a competition among world scientists to come up with a solution to the failing tomb."

"That was more than 28 years ago."

"Now, finally, a multinational consortium is at the half-way point in building a huge, $1.5 billion, state of the art, all-stainless-steel hangar that will sit over the ruined remains of reactor Unit 4 like the world’s largest Quonset hut. Pictures in the New York Times show an immense and imposing structure whose construction is long overdue."

"Tall enough to house the Statue of Liberty, the new, 32,000-ton hangar is being assembled a few hundred yards away from the still-radioactive site. Once it is finished, it will be rolled into place over the existing sarcophagus—which is starting to show its age. (A portion of the roof over the adjacent turbine collapsed last year, releasing a small amount of radiation.) Once in place, the new structure should contain radioactive dust, preventing any atmospheric contamination should the old sarcophagus collapse. The new building is expected to last anywhere from 100 to 300 years."

"There is still some question as to what to do after the new cover is rolled into place and the site completely sealed up in 2017. Fuel is still contained amid the debris beneath the old sarcophagus; engineers are still undecided as to whether to remove it or leave it in place."

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 2014 

Credit: eight8 / Adobe Stock

 

"Russia is once again bringing the world to the brink of a man-made disaster — Russian-Iranian Shaheds regularly fly over the [Chernobyl] plant, and one of them struck the confinement last year."

"The world must not allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its reckless attacks."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

Emptied of its human residents following the catastrophic explosion and meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant 40 years ago, the towns that were once home to tens of thousands of people now stand, ghostlike, nature exercising her generative power to encourage flora to grow exuberantly through broken windows where the evidence of a desperate emergency caused people to leave everything and just get out, remain evident in the presence of dishes left unwashed, children's shoes and toys scattered about, silent remnants of human habitation.

 

When people evacuated their homes, their towns and villages on April 26, 1986, the area became an exclusion zone. Even to the present day, high levels of radiation translate to a reality that never again may humans live in the areas affected. Yet these disaster areas now form another function, as a theatrical setpiece for military practise where Ukrainian servicemen trained amidst the ruins of one vibrant-habitation.

 

The elements of defence against irradiated land against Russian attacks, created a double practise for the  soldiers, mindful of avoiding the most radioactive areas, while defending against Russian occupation there. Russian forces  entered the Chernobyl zone in 2022, following the initiation of Vladimir Putin's 

'special military operation'. It was occupied for a five-week period, where Moscow made use of the region as a staging area focused on attacking Kyiv.

 

The recent training exercises saw soldiers crouched along walls covered with mould, aiming their rifles. Live grenades were thrown into homes, further damaging dry-rot crumbling walls. Chernobyl has become an army-controlled security belt along the border with Russian ally Belarus. Fire and radioactive material spewed into the atmosphere in the world's worst nuclear disaster when the plant exploded in 1986. The explosion killed two workers followed by dozens of emergency workers dying from radiation exposure in the weeks that followed. An estimated 200,000 people were relocated.

 

Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, on February 14 last year. Photo: AP

 

The radioactive towns, villages and forests present as a conundrum to Ukrainian authorities knowing the land cannot be repopulated as a result of long-lived contamination. The issue of using the area however for some useful purpose is being considered, such as use as a storage area for nuclear waste, a test site for  new reactors, a place for solar farm installations, and a disaster tourism destination; the last somewhat ghastly in its exploitation of boundless human curiosity about disasters, natural or human-enhanced. 

 

New risks have emerged, however, as a result of the conflict, where scientists can no longer reach wells to measure groundwater radiation in fear of stepping on land mines. Firefighters are unable to extinguish wildfires that spread radiation through resulting smoke, since the land is littered with mines. The dangers inherent both in the active combat situation and the lurking threat of landmine explosions persuaded foreign scientists studying environmental radiation to flee.

 

The  fragile situation was further endangered when a Russian drone  flew into the huge steel shell enclosing an older rickety structure built over the ruined reactor, in February of 2025. Known as the sarcophagus, the older structure is close to collapsing entirely and when it does there will be another release of radiation. A hole was smashed in the $2.5-billion outer shell by the drone explosion, starting a fire within the New Safe Confinement shell which burned material that maintained the airtight seal. While no radiation escaped, the strike negated two decades of isolating the worst of Chernobyl's radiation. 

 

Fortified against Russian attacks, Chernobyl  remains a military site where tank traps, appearing like X's created from steel beams and coils of  razor wire stretch over fields in the zone where soldiers patrol the overgrown ghost towns. The area commander cautioned that in comparison with destruction Russian forces inflict throughout Ukraine, an attack at Chernobyl could release  more  radiation that would be "on a completely different scale".   

 

A man looks at a memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the 1986 Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear disaster, ahead of its 40th anniversary in Slavutych, Ukraine, Saturday, April 25, 2026. Chornobyl is the Ukrainian name for the city. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)

Cruise Ship Journeys: Expect the Unexpected

"Although uncommon, limited human‑to‑human transmission of HPS due to Andes virus has been reported in community settings involving close and prolonged contact."

"Secondary infections among healthcare workers have been previously documented in healthcare facilities, though remain rare."

WHO situation report

 

"[Everyone on board is] in the same boat, literally."

"You don’t embark on a trip with the idea that one of your fellow passengers won’t make it."

"We receive information at regular intervals. It is accurate. For the rest, it is a waiting game."

"Today we received fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. That was very important to us."

Helene Goessaert, ship passenger

 

"We do know that some of the cases had very close contact with each other and certainly human-to-human transmission can’t be ruled out so as a precaution this is what we are assuming."

"The risk to the general public is low, [any suspected human-to-human transmission would have occurred between very close contacts like married couples]."

"This is not a virus that spreads like flu or like COVID. It’s quite different."

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention  

WHO: Human-to-human transmission may have occurred aboard the Hondius expedition ship. Still from video, CBCNews

 

According to the Wold Health Organization, commenting on a viral outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, thus far one case of hantavirus has been confirmed, with five suspected cases. Two of those cases were fatal; within a three-week cruising period, three of the ship's passengers have died. Many such cruise ships carry far more passengers than the Hondius expedition ship; thousands in comparison to hundreds. So with that relatively small number of passengers, that three have mysteriously died represents quite a shock.

 

According to the operator of the Hondius -- Oceanwide Expeditions -- one ship's passenger is in intensive care in Johannesburg and two crew members remaining aboard the vessel exhibit respiratory symptoms. The ship is now carrying 87 passengers and  61 crew. Typically, following exposure to the virus, symptoms begin to erupt between one and eight weeks. The remaining passengers may or may not begin to exhibit further signs of the viral infection.

 

Hantavirus is an extremely serious condition normally linked to exposure to the urine or feces of infected rodents. It is able, in rare instances, to spread in people-to-people contact. Hantaviruses are capable of causing serious illness and death, spread for the most part by rodents. That infection can be the cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, common respectively in the United States and Europe and Asia. What they have in common, whatever the symptoms in the family of the virus, is their severity and potential lethality. 

 

The cruise ship MV Hondius is seen stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on Monday. (AFP/Getty Images)

 

The condition in which the remaining passengers and crew on board the ship is one of uncertainty. They await permission to leave the ship at some port whose national health authority may permit them to disembark and regain their position on land. And from there, they can arrange to be repatriated to their countries of origin. But this cannot be done without thorough medical examinations and testing for the presence of the virus, since they may be regarded as ticking health time-bombs. Any who do begin to exhibit symptoms may speedily deteriorate into life-threatening condition. 

 

On Monday, Oceanwide Expeditions released a timeline of the "serious medical situation" aboard the Hondius off the coast of Cape Verde, along the western coast of Africa. A Dutch passenger died on board on April 11, cause of death unknown at the time. When the dead man was brought off the ship, his wife accompanied him. Once she too had left the ship, she too became ill and subsequently died, just as her husband had.

 

Two weeks later, a British passenger became seriously ill and was medically evacuated to South Africa and there, hantavirus was identified. He remains in the intensive-care unit of the  hospital he was placed in, in stable but still critical condition. And then a third passenger died on Saturday, a German national. It remains unconfirmed at this point whether all three deaths were caused by hantavirus.   

"Hantaviruses are a group of rodent-borne viruses typically transmitted through contact with contaminated environments, including inhalation of small dust particles contaminated with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva."

"Although human infections are uncommon, they can lead to severe illness, including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which may progress rapidly to respiratory failure."

"In the Americas, HPS has a reported case fatality rate of approximately 30 to 40 percent, underscoring the seriousness of infection once symptomatic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

"Unlike respiratory viruses such as influenza or COVID-19, hantaviruses are not typically spread from person-to-person, however direct human transmission has been documented for one hantavirus, the Andes virus, under conditions of prolonged, close contact. The Andes virus is endemic to Argentina, where the cruise ship departed three weeks ago."

News Medical Life Sciences 

 

"By following the money and leveraging the power of financial intelligence we can effectively target, disrupt and dismantle the organized criminal networks that profit from this illicit activity and threaten the safety of  Canadians."

Sarah Paquet, chief executive officer, FINTRAC

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre to drive Canada’s fight against extortion  Lexpert

 

According to a recently released report by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), comes the revelation that a more than sixfold increase in extortion cases have occurred in the first quarter of 2025. More extortion cases have been logged thus far in 2025 than in the preceding two years combined -- recognized as reflecting a dramatic increase in financial crimes committed in Canada over the past few years.

 

The Centre  handed off to police more than 100 such extortion cases since the start of the year, the majority  of the crimes having taken place in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. Threatening phone calls reflect the most common communication between the criminals and their victims; the targets receive phone calls or encrypted social media messages containing threats if large sums of money are not paid. Such threats can reach the hundreds of thousands of dollars demanded.

 

The FINTRAC 100 extortion cases involved over 63,00 financial transactions from some 300 subjects frequently seen to be linked to money laundering and terrorist financing. Small and medium-sized businesses become targets of these schemes, reflecting sectors such as retail, transportation, construction, real estate and hospitality. Agents acting as bridges between criminal organizations and the  intended victim represent the usual scheme, with agents between 17 and 28 years of age with an Indian passport, registered as foreign students at community colleges.

 

Edmonton police say this fire inside a home under construction in the city's west end last January is believed to be linked to a known extortion scheme. (David Bajer/CBC)

 

When the transaction has been successfully extorted, the agent makes deposits at several financial institutions or money services businesses, then sends money on to individuals or companies located in India, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, or Kenya or Portugal. The FINTRAC analysis reveals the involvement of multiple crime organizations -- two well-known rival gangs included -- the Bishnoi Gang and Bambiha Gang, based in northern India.

 

These organizations are known for extortion and contract killing, whose crimes are mostly targeted at Indo-Canadian businesses and individuals. The proliferation of the digital world where the virtual currency market has emerged has spurred the extortion wave, leading to FINTRAC setting a new record in the sheer number of cases it tracked and sent on to police for potential criminal investigation.

 

Leaps in fraud, cyber ransomware, online child sexual exploitation and a range of similar online crimes frequently directly related to other financial crimes like money laundering and terrorist financing encompassed this wave of extortion. Canadians, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, were scammed out of $643 million in 2024, in online fraud. 

 

RCMP report on the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its alleged ties to the government of India. Global News

 

* The Bishnoi Gang, led by Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, is one of the most prominent and violent organized‑crime groups originating in northern India. The Bishnoi Gang is a transnational criminal organization with a presence in Canada and is active in areas with significant diaspora communities. The gang’s core criminal portfolio reportedly includes a variety of fraud schemes, human trafficking, narcotics trafficking, extortion, and targeted killings, which are described as its largest revenue sources both domestically and abroad. The group operates through a vast network of enforcers and international associates, including collaborators from other Indian crime syndicates, who help coordinate contract killings and other financially motivated crimes from outside India. The Bishnoi Gang creates a climate of insecurity for Canadians in diaspora communities as it targets them, their prominent community members, their businesses, as well as cultural figures within the community. The entity is also known as Bishnoi Group, Lawrence Bishnoi Group, and the Bishnoi Crime Group and was designated by the Government of Canada as a listed terrorist entity on September 29, 2025.

* The Bambiha Gang, named after deceased leader Davinder Bambiha, functions as a rival to the Bishnoi syndicate and has grown into a sprawling network of operatives involved in extortion, contract violence, and large‑scale protection rackets. The organization operates through a multi‑layered structure of regional commanders inside India and international coordinators based abroad (including Canada and the U.S.), enabling it to sustain operations ranging from violent attacks to coordinated intimidation campaigns. The gang reportedly forges alliances with other criminal syndicates to expand its influence and revenue streams, particularly in the lucrative extortion economy.

FINTRAC Bulletin 

In the news today: Extortion schemes   (The Canadian Press)

 

 

Mexico City Settling Back Into the Cradle of an Ancient Lake Bed

"It [encroaching sea water] damages part of the critical infrastructure of Mexico City, such as the subway, the drainage system, the water, the potable water system, housing and streets."

"It' a very big problem."

"We have one of the fastest velocities of land subsidence in the whole world."

"To do long-term mitigation of the situation, the first step is to just understand [the subsidence issue to respond to its worst effects]." 

Enrique Cabral, researcher, National Autonomous University of Mexico 

 

"[By capturing details of the Earth from space, the project is also] telling us something about what's actually happening below the surface."

"It's basically documentation of all of these changes within a city."

"You can see the full magnitude of the problem."

NISAR scientist Paul Rosen 

Mexico City has been sinking for a century. A NASA satellite is watching it happen  ABC News

 

New satellite imagery confirms that Mexico City has been sinking by close to ten inches (nearly 25 centimetres) annually, ranking it as one of the fastest-subsiding metropolises on the globe. At about 7,800 square kilometres hosting 22 million people, the  capital of Mexico and surrounding cities were built over an ancient lake bed. At one time in the distant past there were canals which are now downtown streets.

 

Groundwater pumping and urban development have served to shrink the aquifer on which the city sits, which has led to over a century of Mexico City sinking, resulting in monuments and older buildings such as the Metropolitan Cathedral (built in 1573) visibly tilting. A chronic water crisis is also attributed to the contracting aquifer, a situation that will continue to become ever more serious.

 

David Bekaert/JPL-Caltech//NASA - PHOTO: New data from NISAR shows where Mexico City and its environs subsided by up to a few centimeters per month (shown in blue) between Oct. 25, 2025, and Jan. 17, 2026.

 

According to NASA, some parts of Mexico City are sinking at a rate of 2 cm monthly. The main airport and the monument commonly recognized as the Angel of Independence, among them. Over less than a century, a yearly subsidence rate of around 24 cm has been identified, amounting in total to over 12 metres.

 

A powerful satellite known as NISAR which can track real-time changes on the Earth's surface -- a joint initiative between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization -- has rendered estimates based on measurements taken between October 2025 and January of 2026. NISAR captures details of the Earth from space. 

 

The NISAR research team anticipates an opportunity over time to be able to zoom in on specific areas and eventually obtain measurements on a building-by-building basis. Researchers hope to apply the technology to track events such a natural disasters, fault line alterations, and climate change in regions such as Antarctica and other areas of the world.  

"This all allows us to build time series or snapshots on how the ground is moving over time."

"That compaction causes the ground surface to sink, and because it doesn't happen evenly, different parts of the city move at different rates."

"More broadly, my interest lies in mapping ground motion across coastal zones, where a large proportion of the world's population lives -- and understanding surface change is particularly important." 

David Bekaert, scientist, NISAR mission 

 

"The houses that are founded in [volcanic] rock are stable, but the houses in the middle between the rock and the lacustrine plain are already broken, most of them."

"In 2017, a taxi fell inside a fracture."  

"And what I saw in the Philippines is really terrible because they have two phenomena working together that is very bad for the population: subsidence and sea level rise. They are sinking 30 centimeters per year." 

"To have these tools and to realize the distribution of these differential rates –it's amazing. Things that we only learned by walking everywhere when we were young, it's different now. Technology is here to help us." 

Dora Carreón-Freyre, Mexico City-sinking researcher 

The NISAR satellite reveals the progressive subsidence in Mexico City, with areas sinking more than 2 centimeters per month.  Noticias Ambientales

 

Oops ... Cultural 'Misunderstanding'

"The fact that Mr. Govindbalunikam has been in Canada for more than 12 years demands that he would have been well aware of this country's cultural norms."

 "Any suggestion to the contrary -- especially for someone of Mr. Govindbalunikam's ability and experience -- would constitute willful blindness at the very least. As such, I reject the defence position that this case amounts to a 'cultural misunderstanding'."

"Simply put, the crime was of such a magnitude that giving this factor any meaningful weight would only serve to achieve exactly that which the Supreme Court of Canada cautioned against: It would create another, lighter sentencing regime for non-citizens."

"The import of this phenomenon is somewhat lessened by the fact that Mr. Govindbalunikam continues to minimize the offence as a 'cultural misunderstanding'." 

Judge Michael Varpio, Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Manoj Govindbalunikam leaves the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse after a sentencing hearing on Oct. 30, 2025. He was not wearing a mask during the hour-long hearing, but put one on as he was leaving the building.  Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday

 

On April 21, it was explained  at the trial of Manoj Govindbalunikan, 37, that the real estate broker had driven from Brampton where he lives as a permanent resident of Canada, to Thessalon, northern Ontario, with the intention to search for properties that might be for sale, in line with his real estate business. He was driving a yellow Chevrolet Camaro with black racing stripes, which would create an impression in the town, sufficient to draw attention that he was a stranger to the community, which bystanders would take casual note of.

 

His trip of August 15, 2023 included a sightseeing tour of the Thessalon River, where he approached a nine-year-old boy fishing at the river's edge. He struck up a conversation with the child, offering him a fidget spinner toy, while informing the boy that he was in the presence of a realtor. The boy left the area with his fishing gear, and Govindbalunikan just happened to be driving by when he stopped the boy to offer him a drive home, which the boy accepted. 

 

They started out from the Thessalon curling club where the boy was convinced that he should leave his bicycle and fishing gear there, both of which he could pick up at a later time, since there wasn't room in the vehicle for them to be transported. They drove to the nearby Sinton Tavern where an ice cream cone was bought for the boy. The boy was known to several people in the tavern who became suspicious since they failed to recognize the man with the boy.

 

"They got into their pickup truck and drove to the victim's residence. They spoke with the victim's father who indicated that he did not know anyone who had a yellow Camaro. The victim's father asked the pair for a ride to the location where they last saw the victim", Justice Varpio explained to the court. Mr. Govindbalunikam was enroute to the address the boy had given  him and once it was reached, the boy asked to be let out of the vehicle.

 

India-origin realtor convicted in Ontario court for abducting minor. Indian Express

 

While Mr. Govindbalunikam slowed down, he failed to stop and continued past the boy's home. Soon afterward the boy's father saw the Camaro driving down Federation Street and the couple driving the pickup truck pulled up beside the Camaro. "The father approached the driver's side of the Camaro. He observed the victim in the front passenger seat eating ice cream. As the father approached, Mr. Govindbalunikam pulled away."

 

That's when he father reeached into the vehicle to stop its further progress. Mr. Govindbalunikam explained that as a realtor he was looking for area houses, giving the father his business card. In turn the father told the realtor in no uncertain terms that he should leave the community, ordering his son to exit the vehicle. A day later, Ontario Provincial Police arrested Mr. Govindbalunikam.  

 

His cellphone was seized and found to contain a number of photos including one of himself and the boy alongside the Thessalon River, and another of the boy eating his ice cream cone in the Camaro. 

 

Having arrived in Canada in 2012, Mr. Govindbalunikam was granted permanent resident status in 2017. His professional education includes an aerospace engineering degree from India and a master's degree in  aerospace engineering from the University of Toronto. He was employed at one of the largest aerospace companies in Ontario from 2019 to 2023 but was dismissed and then laid off when a periodic criminal record check by the company revealed a record of malfeasance. 

 

At trial, Govindbalunikam apologized to the boy and his parents, explaining that his intention was to be  helpful in offering the boy a ride back home.  Justice Varpio decided on a sentence of 18 months in prison and three years' probation. Despite that the Crown had asked for a term of 18 months in jail, the lawyer representing Mr. Govindbalunikam argued for a conditional discharge which would enable her client to avoid deportation, since a jail sentence of six months or longer would make him inadmissible to Canada and mark him eligible for deportation..   

 

 

 

The Russian Roulette of Ultra-Processed Foods

"To put our findings in perspective, a 10 percent increase in ultra-processed foods is roughly equivalent to adding a standard packet of chips to your daily diet."

"In clinical terms, this translated to consistently lower scores on standardized cognitive tests measuring visual attention and processing speed."

"Food ultra-processing often destroys the natural structure of food and introduces potentially harmful substances like artificial additives or processing chemicals."

"These additives suggest the link between diet and cognitive function extends beyond just missing out on foods known as healthy, pointing to mechanisms linked to the degree of food processing itself."

Dr. Barbara Cardoso, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Victorian Heart Institute, Monash University, Australia 

Adding ultraprocessed foods may add to risk of dementia  Getty Images

 

A  diet high in ultra-processed foods (UPFs), according to a new study from Monash University in Australia, may increase the risk of developing dementia. Published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, the study analyzed over 2,100 Australians for their diets and cognitive health. The study group was comprised of dementia-free adults between ages 40 to 70 from November of 2015 to December of 2023.

 

A daily increase of as minimal as 10 percent of ultra-processed foods in an intake alongside healthy whole foods was demonstrated to be linked to a drop in attention span, irrespective of an otherwise healthy overall diet. Based on the average food intake of the Australian population, a 10 percent increase in UPF corresponds, according to the study, to approximately 150 g/day.

 

Ultra-processed foods contain ingredients such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, fats and artificial colouring, all of which alter the composition of whole foods with their addition as they go through multiple processing techniques such as moulding and extrusion. These food products include potato chips, energy drinks, hotdogs, fast food and  candy, among many others.

 

According to research in Canada conducted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, close to half of people's daily caloric intake represent ultra-processed foods. Higher UPF consumption, the new study affirms, is linked to an increase in risk factors for developing dementia. Health conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity are also included as health risks due to the consumption of UPFs.  

 

Ultra-processed foods. Credit:Lauri Patterson/Getty Images

 

Each 10-precent increase in UPF intake was associated with lower attention scores and higher dementia risk even among people who adhered otherwise to a healthy Mediterranean-style diet, according to the study results. A direct association between UPFs and memory loss however, did not result from the study findings, which noted that attention span signals many vital brain functions such as learning and problem-solving.

 

Ultra-processed food consumption has been associated to date, with over 30 adverse health outcomes, noted the research out of Monash University. The recently published study results add to a growing body of research that link UPF consumption to adverse brain health. 

 

Harald Walker / Stocksy United

 

Dangerously Psychotic Yet He Lives Free To Reoffend

"He reported not having consumed alcohol beforehand but did use crystal methamphetamine, along with two or three joints of cannabis."

"He reported hearing voices both with and without the use of crystal methamphetamine, but they became worse when he used the substance."

"Counsel for all parties agreed that Mr. Pillar represented a significant threat to public safety [and that his ban on] the non-medical use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances [should be dropped]."

"[In the years before the stabbing he was the subject of] multiple Community Treatment Orders, during which Mr. Pillar continued to use drugs and alcohol and was non-compliant with his prescribed medication and appointments."

"The history also includes several attempts at mental health diversion for various criminal charges. His reported symptoms, when unwell, included command auditory hallucinations to kill both men and women, but chiefly women." 

Ontario Review Board

 

"In a significant legal decision, the Ontario Review Board lifted a drug ban for Richard P. Pillar, who was found not criminally responsible for a violent incident in Windsor. On September 28, 2016."

"At approximately 11 a.m., 83-year-old Rina Campagna was attacked and severely injured by Pillar near a bank."

"The attack, which occurred in Windsor, Ontario, left Campagna with the loss of an eye. Pillar, who suffers from multiple mental health disorders, was under the influence of drugs at the time."

UL Lawyers Professional Corporation 

Photograph of assaulted 83-year-old woman being taken to hospital by paramedics. Photo: Postmedia

 

Found not criminally responsible after stabbing an 83-year-old stranger in the eye, an Ontario man has had his drug ban lifted, despite that he had used crystal methamphetamine and smoked two or three joints of cannabis beforehand. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, social anxiety disorder and substance use disorder, Richard P. Pillar, with his anti-social personality disorder and borderline intellectual functioning was found, at trial, not criminally responsible of aggravated assault after his attack on Rina Campagna.

 

Walking unaccompanied to a Windsor bank on September 28, 2016, the elderly woman was accosted by Pillar from behind, and brought to the ground. Her assailant took hold of the woman's head and with a knife, stabbed one of her eyes. Ms. Campagna was left with severe injuries that included loss of the injured eye, pointed out the independent tribunal tasked with reviewing the status of individuals found not criminally responsible for violent crimes they commit. 

 

Witnesses at the scene recounted seeing Pillar discarding his clothing as he fled the area. An arrest took place within the day. Pillar had been bound by two probation orders which prohibited him from weapons possession, at the time of the attack on the woman. Neither victim nor attacker were known to one another. Pillar informed authorities that he deliberately withheld taking his antipsychotic injection two weeks previous to the attack. "He wanted to see what it was like if he did not take the medication", the ORB decision noted. 

 

In this Sept. 28, 2016, file photo, Windsor police, paramedic and fire emergency response crews converge in the 1300 block of Ottawa Street following a brutal stabbing attack on an elderly woman. Photo by Jason Kryk /Windsor Star

 

"I no longer feel safe and secure doing my daily routine like shopping, visiting people or going to church."

"[I've missed important family events], because I thought I looked like a monster. I don’t feel good about myself anymore."

"I say no to a lot of friends asking me to come over because I am afraid to walk alone and I have a hard time talking in a group back and forth with one eye and double vision."

"And I am so scared that if he ever gets out he might come back to attack me again."

Victim Impact Statement, Rina Campagna  

The day previous to Pillar's attack on Ms. Campagna he had made a failed effort  to attack another pedestrian, but his aim was deflected. He was given a discharge by the ORB in March of 2025 with conditions attached, that he report to a  hospital at least twice monthly, "abstain from intoxicants, submit samples for analysis [and] refrain from the possession of weapons". At the time Pillar had lived for four years in the community with no recorded hospital readmissions.

 

Now 37, Pillar lives alone in a subsidized one-bedroom apartment in St. Thomas, Ontario. The psychiatric medical team that has been overseeing his conditions advised the Review Board that they're in the process of preparing Pillar to be discharged from the forensic system, and recommends a removal of the 'abstain' clause from his disposition. 

 

Mental health issues and criminal behaviour marked Pillar's early life, beginning when he started using alcohol at age nine, cannabis at age 11, cocaine at age 14, and crystal methamphetamine at age 25. In April 2017, in pretrial detention, he struck a correctional officer, stating that voices instructed him to hit correctional staff. Months following his hospital admission as a result of the stabbing, he attacked a nursing station where a female staff member had retreated when he became angry.  

 

Police investigate area on Ottawa Street where Richard Pillar stabbed an 83 year-old woman in 2016. (CBC File)

 

"He ... continued to fixate on the [female medical] staff member, stating that he wanted to kill her. He also threatened to stab someone in the eye and kill them if he gained weight from his injection of antipsychotic medication."

"He was placed in seclusion and later tried to grab a female staff member through an opening in the seclusion room door."

"[A resurgence of symptoms], resulting from medication ineffectiveness of non-adherence, substance use, or all three, is likely to have very serious consequences."

"That history, including but not limited to the index offences, involves acting on command hallucinations directing him to harm or kill people."

Ontario Review Board