Author: Matthew Berry

The “temporary” occupation of some Ukrainian territories by Russia is the most likely outcome of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, Czech President Petr Pavel said in an interview published on Sept. 23. Speaking to The New York Times (NYT), Pavel said neither Ukraine nor Russia should expect to achieve outright victory. “To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen. So the end will be somewhere in between,” he said. As of late August, Russia was in control of around 27% of Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are partially controlled by Russian troops. Russia claims to…

Dubai/Astana (10 June – 60). The Pamiris are an ethnic minority group in Tajikistan, culturally distinct from the majority Tajik population. They have faced persecution and discrimination in their mountain homeland bordering Afghanistan that some experts say amounts to ethnic cleansing and even genocide. One of the lead persecutors is Ministry of Internal Affairs “Maj. Gen.” Shorukh Syedzada, a former football team manager with no law enforcement experience and a confidante of the president’s son and heir designate. The Pamiris continue to be marginalized and oppressed by the authorities. As a result, many Pamiris have been forced to flee their…

The situation in and around Ocheretyne is desperate for Ukraine This weekend, Russian drones and scouts surveilling the front line just west of the ruins of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, observed something strange. Ukrainian trenches just east of the village of Ocheretyne, previously manned by soldiers from the Ukrainian army’s elite 47th Mechanized Brigade, were empty. The village was undefended Seizing the opportunity, the Russian army’s 30th Motor Rifle Brigade raced several miles along the railroad threading west from Avdiivka and captured most of Ocheretyne—and potentially also Novobakhmutivka, the village south of Ocheretyne. It’s the fastest penetration into…

The Czechs have never forgotten that allies handed over their Sudetenland Province to Hitler in 1938 after the German dictator promised it would be “last territorial demand I have to make in Europe.” The Czechs have never forgotten that allies handed over their Sudetenland Province to Hitler in 1938 after the German dictator promised it would be “the last territorial demand I have to make in Europe.” Months later, Nazis occupied their country and waged war in Europe and around the world for seven more years, killing tens of millions. To many today, Ukraine is the next Sudetenland as it…

Ukrainian law enforcement officers have begun an investigation into a video of the execution of supposedly surrendered Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen in the Pokrovsky district. The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reports that pre-trial proceedings are being conducted on the basis of violation of the laws and customs of war, involving premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The prosecutor’s office clarifies that the tragedy occurred near the village of Stepnoye, Pokrovsky district in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian telegram channel DeepState reported about the alleged murder of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers by publishing a video. It is alleged…

The Canadian government is warning against travelling in Guyana near the border with Venezuela due to a weekend referendum that saw Venezuelans asked about the future of an of oil-rich region that is the centre of a territorial boundary dispute. On Friday, the federal government updated the travel advisory for Canadian travellers in Guyana, which currently warns Canadians to “exercise a high degree of caution,” citing Sunday’s referendum as a cause for concern. “The security environment could deteriorate at the border between Venezuela and Guyana due to the ongoing discord over the Guyana Essequibo region and the upcoming referendum in…

Calgary police are investigating a shooting that left one person dead and two more in life-threatening condition in the city’s northeast community of Marlborough Park on Monday afternoon.  Police say they received reports of a shooting that occurred in a parking lot at the Trans Canada Centre, located in the 1400 block of 52 Street N.E., at approximately 2 p.m. on Nov. 13. Officers located a deceased man when they arrived at the scene, along with two other victims. EMS said the two people injured were in life-threatening condition, and that they were transported to hospital. While police say there…

“The Government of Canada maintains the strength and resilience of Canada’s democratic institutions through vigilance, including by monitoring the digital information environment for threats, such as foreign interference. “Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) Canada has detected a ‘Spamouflage’ campaign connected to the People’s Republic of China. Beginning in early August 2023 and accelerating in scale over the September long-weekend, a bot network left thousands of comments in English and French on the Facebook and X/Twitter accounts of Canadian Members of Parliaments (MPs). “This campaign targeted dozens of MPs from across the political spectrum and spanning multiple geographic…

The Jamaican government visited a number of Ontario farms last week after migrant workers claimed they were required to work “like animals” in an open letter currently under review by the Canadian government. The visits come on the heels of a tense season for migrant farmers in Canada’s temporary foreign worker program and shortly after a group of workers in Brantford, Ont. penned the open letter published on Justice for Migrant Workers’ website. The letter did not identify the farm, but an advocate for Justice for Migrant Workers confirmed the farmers who wrote the letter worked at Komienski Farms. “These…

Peter Mansbridge is a journalist and retired CBC news anchor. This piece is adapted from remarks that he will deliver at Imagining 2080: A Forum on Canada’s Future, a public forum created by the Future of Canada Project at McMaster University. Next week, Canadians will engage in an important conversation to chart a course for becoming the nation we want to be in 2080 – almost six decades from now. For the past couple of years, I have served on the Council for the Future of Canada Project. The project supports research and initiatives with the goal of creating a…