Two Russian men secretly working for Ukraine’s intelligence services have given rare accounts of operations they claim to have been involved with, that have targeted military assets and personnel inside Russia.
One of the men, whom we are calling Ivan, claims to have played a role from Russia in Ukrainian drone attacks on strategic bombers and munitions factories on his home soil.
He features in a BBC World Service documentary about the shadowy world of Russian saboteurs.
There’s a nightmare that keeps one of NATO’s most senior military commanders up at night and it’s not what you might think.
It isn’t the idea of Russian tanks rolling into the Baltic states or Poland. Nor is it a sudden military confrontation in the Arctic.
The scenario that keeps NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Pierre Vandier up at night is the notion of the Western military alliance being caught unprepared and unable to keep up with the pace of technological innovation that’s happening on the modern battlefield.
Another side of that same fear …
US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his decision to waive some sanctions on Russia, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not wanting to end the war.
“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” he added.
The only thing that will keep you safe from the third world invaders… 🥓 https://t.co/mJZDlDzM7R
— Jaimee Michell (@JaimeeUSA) October 18, 2026
A much-overlooked element of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government’s new Building Canada Strong Act is major labour relations reforms that will bring about more predictability in the federal government’s responses to significant labour disputes.
Over the past three years, Canada has seen several labour disputes that have affected Canadians and our country’s reputation as a reliable international trading partner. We’ve seen rail, port and airline stoppages, all of which have affected Canadians, our economy and our ability to trade internationally.
Federal independent MP Helen Haines is fighting for life after being hit by a car in what’s been described as a deliberate attack outside her regional Victoria electorate office.
The 43-year-old driver of a white Toyota Landcruiser was detained by bystanders and arrested on the main street of Wangaratta after the “tragic, horrific incident” about 3.35pm on Monday. Police said they seized a knife from the vehicle.
#BREAKING: Federal MP Helen Haines has been struck by a car outside her electoral office in Wangaratta.
#9News understands the Member for Indi has lost her leg in the incident, in what is believed to be a possible targeted attack.
More to come. https://t.co/sexS4tOK5A
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) October 19, 2026
Motive?
This is White liberal woman Helen Haines, an Australian Member of Parliament. She has repeatedly called for more cultural diversity in Australia, saying “we need to welcome people of all faiths and corners of the world.” She has supported efforts to resettle Afghans and Palestinians across Rural Australia.
Today she was run over outside her office by a 43-year-old man in a Toyota Land Cruiser. He had a knife on him and the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack. Police are not sharing the suspect’s name.
She is currently in the ICU fighting for her life.
— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) October 19, 2026
The mother of one of the men killed in a deadly fire at an Alberta military base says her son was a bright light who wanted to serve his country.
Pte. Aidan Goulding, from 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, died Saturday after a grass fire swept through Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, killing four soldiers and leaving dozens more grievously injured.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed that ‘multiple warrants’ were executed at Ilhan Omar’s home in a single day, as Barack Obama mounted a stunning defense of the Minnesota congresswoman.
Mullin, 49, gave limited details regarding the ongoing investigation into the Democratic representative as he appeared on the Charlie Kirk Show on Friday.
‘All I can say is one, yes we served a warrant, I can’t say that it was on a specific person or not but she wasn’t or it wasn’t the only place we served a warrant there was multiple other warrants served on that same day,’ he said.
I hope her entire family rots in jail.
Gas price analyst and Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague issued a challenge to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“I would call on Ford and Carney to sit down, and get this right, at least temporarily, to alleviate the incredible, excruciating burden fuel prices are putting on Canadians,” McTeague told the Toronto Sun.
France: Arab and Black youths make throat-slitting gesture while Spanish journalist reports on French riots
Just a French “student” doing a knife to throat signal on live TV…🚨
Why is nobody stopping this madness?? https://t.co/oZh9Pu2I6I
— Olly Parramore 🇬🇧 (@OllyParramore) October 17, 2026
It is now exactly 562 days since Donald Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Even longer since he proclaimed that the United States no longer needs Canadian cars (not to mention lumber, energy, and dairy). In that time, there has been despair, lots of head-scratching, even more outright bewilderment, and, of course, the requisite amount of political finger-pointing. What there hasn’t been a lot of — at least not as it pertains the Canada’s auto industry — is the kind of planning one would expect when faced with an existential threat to a country’s second largest industry.
Emmanuel Macron has said public gatherings will be banned to halt rioting if necessary, after French cities were burned and looted.
The French president announced civil liberties could be curtailed in an evening address from the Élysée Palace after government buildings were torched and shops ransacked in nationwide protests.
The central government’s prefects, responsible for upholding law across France, would work with local authorities to impose bans on “certain gatherings when necessary”, Mr Macron said.
Sounds pretty wishy washy.
@fancypants_s
— Patti Jo (@TheSupeHero) October 18, 2026
Macron Blames Trump!
During National Address to France President Macron Says He "Doesn’t Know What is Going On" but He’s Sure President Trump is to Blame
Remarkably, in the beginning of his remarks Macron says no one in the French government understands what is happening, but he is demanding an investigation.
A few paragraphs into the prepared transcript and Macron says high fuel prices driven by President Trump’s war against Iran, "a war we had nothing to do with," is certainly the cause of the protests that have mysteriously turned violent
https://t.co/RbiyTiQHGe
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) October 18, 2026
h/t Hermes
On October 9, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a lengthy judgment in R. v. Cope, grappling with provisions in Canada’s Criminal Code that govern the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders, and how sentences should be imposed when the crime victim is Aboriginal.
The tragic facts before the Court arose in Halifax in 2021, when Harry Cope brutally attacked Brittany Sack, his common law partner. A video recording documented a vicious, prolonged beating, during which Harry repeatedly punched and kicked Brittany. Found lying on the sidewalk, Brittany had a broken bone in her face, a possible break in her breastbone, pooling of blood under the skin of her breastbone and significant swelling of her eye.
They found a rat when uncovering the roses, so they deployed the tactical assault cat. https://t.co/L0wGDKCjc5
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 18, 2026
The benefits of technology are in the eyes — and, in this case, the ears — of the beholder, as police departments in Calgary, Edmonton, and other Canadian cities may soon have technology with the power to block cellphone communications.
Currently, only the RCMP is authorized to use the call-jamming technology, using it, for example, to monitor and jam illegal calls out of and into prisons to detect drug dealing and drug use in the facilities.
