Category: General

A man who drove his car at worshippers at two Toronto mosques in Canada has been arrested after an ‘anti-Muslim, hate motivated investigation,’ it was reported Thursday. Police said they were called to services at a Toronto mosque after a man allegedly drove his car into the parking lot and attempted to strike worshippers as well as other vehicles. The driver then sped away and when to another mosque and repeated the same actions. The incidents occurred on April 5 around 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., police said. The suspect next drove to a nearby shopping mall, where he entered and accosted several shoppers in a threatening way and shouted anti-Islamic comments. A 28-year-old man was arrested and charged with two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, five counts of criminal harassment, uttering threats of bodily harm, assault, and indecent acts in a public place and insulting others. Police also ended up charging the suspect with another incident on April 7 at a mosque in the nearby city of Markham. In a separate incident in the city of Kitchener about 100 km west of Toronto, police charged a 27-year-old woman after an alleged hate-motivated attack that occurred as people waited in line at a driving test center on Wednesday. Mifrah Abid, the co-ordinator of the Together Against Islamophobia program for the Coalition of Muslim Women in the area, posted a video on Twitter in which she confronted a woman. She accused the woman of ‘making a racist comment about brown women.’ The woman denied the accusation, then lunged forward and seized Abid’s phone and threw it at her. A second video taken by another person showed the altercation. Police charged the suspect with assault, assault with a weapon and theft under $CAN5,000 ($US3,700).

Source: Anadolu Agency

Visual Soil Examination and Evaluation (VSEE) techniques are procedures for visually and tactilely evaluating soil structure.

Techniques have been designed to examine both the topsoil and subsoil, focusing on the impact of management on soil structural quality. Some procedures are semi-quantitative and include scoring frameworks, allowing visual assessments to be quantified.

Despite their apparent simplicity, techniques have been found to closely correlate with a number of quantitative soil measurements. VSEE techniques are quick to conduct, have the ability to holistically examine soil structure while generating immediate results by means of inexpensive and simple equipment – making them accessible to a range of users. VSEE techniques are therefore useful tools for both research and practical soil management.

Figure 1: A sample exhibiting good soil structural quality

A sample exhibiting good soil structure

Figure 2: A sample exhibiting poor soil structural quality

A sample exhibiting poor soil structure

The VESS method

VESS (Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure) (Guimarães et al., 2011; Ball et al., 2007) is an example of a VSEE technique and is one of the quickest methods to conduct. VESS should be conducted a number of times in both representative areas within a field and in areas where compaction is known to have taken place.

How to conduct VESS?

Carefully dig an intact soil sample block out of the ground and place it on a plastic sheet or tray. Identify any horizontal layers of different structure and record each layer’s thickness in centimetres. Assess each layer separately. Systematically work through the VESS score sheet by carefully breaking-up the layer by hand to reveal the soil aggregates.

Assess the size and shape of the aggregates. Are they rounded or sharp and pointed?

Break open the aggregates and assess the porosity (voids and spaces) within. Are cracks and pores visible or are aggregates solid dense blocks?

When breaking up the aggregates, note how easy it is to break them. Do aggregates crumble easily or does it require effort to break them?

Examine the roots, do they grow throughout the layer and within aggregates or are they distorted and restricted to cracks between aggregates?

Assess the soil colour, are orange blotches visible or are blue/grey zones present?

Apply the score that best describes the soil properties. Conduct the same assessment on any other layers found within the sample block. To get an overall score, simply multiply the score for each layer by the thickness of the layer. Add these layer scores up and divide the result by the total depth of the sample block.

Source: EMM/ The Agriculture and Food Development Authority

The Dutch government was unable to reach an agreement with the farmers regarding the future of the country’s agricultural sector, local media reported Thursday. Despite nearly 24 hours of negotiations, the cabinet and farmers’ organizations were unable to reach an agreement, as reported by public broadcaster NOS. The main point of contention was determining the amount of funds that would be allocated to farmers for nature conservation purposes. In response to the situation, Agriculture Minister Piet Adema commented, “It has been a long day. We have made significant progress, but we have not yet reached a final agreement.” He further mentioned that it might take a few more weeks to conclude a deal. According to NOS, one of the points on which the parties could not reach an agreement is the protection of farmers who wish to continue working on the land. Since December, Adema has been engaged in discussions with various stakeholders, including farmers’ and environmental organizations, supermarkets, and banks, regarding the future of agriculture in the period leading up to 2040. The objective of the discussions is to address the necessary changes to halve nitrogen emissions by 2030, thereby enabling the achievement of climate and water targets.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s alleged plans to blow up a Russian pipeline that supplies Hungary with oil represent a major threat to the country’s energy security, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told journalists on Wednesday. He was commenting on a recent report by the Washington Post detailing Zelensky’s alleged plan, citing leaked Pentagon documents.

Speaking during a visit to Austria, Szijjarto declared the idea nothing but “a threat against Hungary’s sovereignty. Security of energy supply is a matter of sovereignty. If someone calls for Hungary’s energy supply to be made impossible, [they] are virtually attacking Hungary’s sovereignty.”

The Ukrainian president reportedly proposed in February that Kiev should “blow up” the Russian Druzhba oil pipeline, that traverses the country, in order to “destroy” Hungary’s energy industry, which is heavily dependent on Russian oil. Last week, the Washington Post reported that Zelensky had suggested hitting targets deep within Russian territory, as well as occupying some Russian border cities to gain leverage in talks with Moscow.

Szijjarto also accused Kiev of being “increasingly hostile” towards Budapest, adding that his country would not support any more EU aid to Ukraine until relations became friendlier. The foreign minister also raised a longstanding issue – the rights of ethnic Hungarians inside Ukraine – as Budapest has insisted for years that the rights of Hungarian minorities are being violated.

Most recently, Budapest criticized the way education rights have been limited for ethnic Hungarians, adding that this issue could hamper Kiev’s prospects of ever joining the EU.

“It is obvious that the Ukrainians will only be able to move forward in the European Union accession negotiations if they guarantee that the Hungarian people will get back the rights they already had,” he said.

Budapest has taken a neutral stance in the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, as it refused to provide military aid to Ukraine or allow Western aid to pass through its territory. Although Hungary had largely taken part in the existing EU sanctions against Russia, it has repeatedly criticized the restrictions and opposed those that might affect its own economy.

On Wednesday, Szijjarto once again asked the EU to reconsider the efficacy of anti-Russian sanctions. “These … proposals do not bring us one centimeter closer to peace,” he said, referring to the 11th sanctions package currently being discussed by the bloc.

Source: Russia Today

Thousands of far-right Israelis gathered in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday for the annual ‘flag day’ march, which took place this year amid heightened tensions. Israeli authorities said they deployed 3,200 security personnel for the parade, which is held by Israeli settlers to celebrate what they call the unification of Jerusalem, referring to Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev was among the people with Israeli flags at the Damascus Gate Square. Crowds of Palestinians responded by waving Palestinian flags as the Israelis also performed their so-called ‘flag dance.’ The march begins in West Jerusalem, moving through the Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter in the Old City to the Buraq Wall, which Jews call the Wailing Wall. The controversial march has triggered violent clashes in recent years, including an 11-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza in May 2021. For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognized by the international community.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger has signalled a U-turn in his views on prospective NATO membership for Ukraine. The veteran politician told The Economist that he now believes peace in Europe cannot be achieved without Ukraine entering the US-led military bloc.

However, his reasoning is at odds with mainstream pro-Ukrainian thinking on the subject. Kissinger believes that adding Kiev to NATO will prevent its politicians from seeking to act unilaterally over territorial claims.

Last fall, Kissinger insisted that “it was not a wise American policy to attempt to include Ukraine into NATO.” He said the bloc’s eastward expansion since the fall of Soviet Union in 1991 had essentially removed Russia’s historic buffer zone, but insisted that was no justification for Moscow’s “surprise attack” on Ukraine.

However, in his interview on Wednesday with the British outlet, the politician, who turns 100 on May 27, suggested that “for the safety of Europe, it is better to have Ukraine in NATO.”

He acknowledged that he currently finds himself “in the weird position where people can say, ‘Look at him, he’s changed his mind. Now he’s for membership of Ukraine in NATO.’”

The reason for such shift is because “we [the West] have now armed Ukraine to a point where it will be the best-armed country and with the least strategically experienced leadership in Europe.” He added that he believes it’s also in Russia’s interests for Kiev to be under the bloc’s formal control.

Kissinger explained that “If I talked to [Russian president Vladimir] Putin, I would tell him that he, too, is safer with Ukraine in NATO.”

According to the former US Secretary of State, the position taken by some Western European countries towards Kiev’s membership is “madly dangerous.”

“The Europeans are saying we don’t want them in NATO because they’re too risky. And therefore, we’ll arm the hell out of them and give them the most advanced weapons. How can that possibly work?” he asked.

Back in 2008, NATO declared that Kiev would join the bloc, but did not specify a date for that to happen. “I thought that the decision to leave open the membership of Ukraine in NATO was very wrong. It was unwise, because if you looked at it from the Russian point of view, in 1989, they controlled Europe up to the Elbe River. They then withdrew from there” Kissinger said.

The possibility of Ukraine, which the Russians consider “the little brother closest to them organically, and historically,” being accepted into the US-led alliance became “a final turning point” for Putin when he decided to send troops to the neighboring country in February 2022, he explained.

Last month, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius suggested that “this is not the time to decide” about Ukraine’s place in NATO. He was backed by Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda, who said it “would be too difficult” to make Kiev a member of the bloc while the conflict with Moscow continues.

Russia, which sees NATO’s eastward expansion as a major security threat, had singled out Kiev’s push to join the bloc as among the main reasons for launching its military operation in Ukraine more than a year ago.

Writing on Telegram, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claimed that despite Kissinger’s vast experience, he was “totally wrong” to suggest that Ukrainian membership in NATO would somehow guarantee peace. Instead, it would only lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and the bloc, Medvedev insisted.

If the “dull-witted” NATO leadership decides to welcome Kiev into the bloc, “the Ukrainian nationalist regime won’t give up on attempts to regain lost territories,” added Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy head of Russia’s Security Council.

In response, Moscow “would have to reply harshly with all available means,” likely triggering NATO’s Article 5, which states that an attack on one member equates to an attack on the entire bloc, Medvedev explained.

Source: Russia Today

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday was sentenced to three years of prison after he lost his appeal against a 2021 corruption and influence peddling conviction. Although his lawyer announced that he will file a cassation complaint, Sarkozy is already implicated in many affairs. Many scandals, including the Bygmalion affair, allegations that he received Libyan financial support for his electoral campaign, and wiretapping affairs, stained the former Republican right-wing politician’s career. Bygmalion affair On Sept. 30, 2021, Sarkozy was sentenced to a year of prison for illegal funding of his election campaign in 2012. He will be tried once again in November for this on appeal. The former president is suspected of fraud using fake invoices of the Bygmalion company. Wiretapping affair Sarkozy was wiretapped in 2013 after suspicions that he illegally funded his election campaign from Libyan sources. Investigators found that the former president was using two other phone lines registered on Paul Bismuth. Sarkozy only communicated with his lawyer Thierry Herzog via those two numbers. Sarkozy, who led the country between 2007 and 2012, and his lawyer Thierry Herzog were accused of bribing Gilbert Azibert, a former judge in the French Court of Cassation, in 2014 to give them information about a judiciary investigation. In exchange, Sarkozy promised the judge a prestigious position in Monaco. Libyan funds for 2007 campaign Sarkozy is suspected to have received money in several suitcases coming from the Libyan regime in 2006-2007 to fund his electoral campaign in 2007. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) launched an investigation in 2013 and Sarkozy may be tried for criminal association, illegal funding of his election campaign, and concealment of stolen public funds.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish medical firm Invamed offers a non-surgical solution to brain aneurysm with an intracranial flow-diverting stent. Developed in Invamed’s research and development laboratories and manufactured in its production campus, Stena, an intracranial current converter stent, is used for the treatment of people with aneurysms caused by thinning artery walls or stenosis (narrowing) in their brain vessels. Thanks to the flow-diverting stents with special structures used in the treatment of brain aneurysms, there is no need to fill the aneurysm with pieces of wire. During the treatment, the blood flow into the aneurysm is directed to a different point in the vessel. This helps slow blood flow inside the aneurysm and stabilize it. Thus, the risk of rupture of the aneurysm can be prevented. The stent is placed in the neck of the aneurysm, creating a barrier that prevents the aneurysm from growing and a potential rupture. Stena has a structure and flexibility that provides optimum course with its nitinol structure. While some aneurysms do not cause any symptoms unless they are large enough to press on the surrounding tissues or the stenosis does not seriously impede blood flow, they can sometimes be discovered when they cause headache or other complaints. However, an aneurysm is always at risk of bursting, which can lead to serious life-threatening consequences such as stroke.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US has forbidden its European allies from providing Ukrainian pilots with training on F-16 fighter jets, the New York Times has reported, citing a high-ranking official in Kiev.

Without approval from Washington, the best that Ukrainian airmen can hope for are lessons on technical language and tactical training on the ground, the outlet said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been pressing his Western backers for fourth generation F-16 warplanes for months, arguing they are crucial for defending the country’s airspace amid a massive Russian missile campaign targeting military facilities and energy infrastructure.

The Ukrainian leader appeared to achieve limited progress during a recent European tour, with the UK and the Netherlands announcing on Tuesday that they would work on building an “international coalition” to provide Kiev “with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets.” London announced that training will begin this summer, while Zelensky’s office claimed that Belgium was also eager to help prepare Ukrainian pilots.

The unnamed Ukrainian official told the NYT that four nations, including the Netherlands and Norway, have “quietly signaled” that they are ready to supply Ukraine with the warplanes produced by Lockheed Martin.

F-16s contain classified technology and Washington’s allies must obtain special “releasability” permission from the Pentagon to even discuss it with outside partners such as Ukraine, a senior US Defense Department official explained to the paper.

Another American official told the NYT that the administration of US President Joe Biden is sticking to its stance of not sending its own F-16s to Kiev. Washington is said to be concerned that the expensive jets would absorb too much of the funding allocated by the US to help Kiev, and in any case the planes would not reach the battlefield in time for Ukraine’s long-expected counteroffensive.

However, the source did not rule out the possibility of the White House eventually issuing re-export licenses for the F-16s to European allies, which would enable them to supply the aircraft to Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that deliveries of more sophisticated weapons to Ukraine by the US and its allies could cross ‘red lines’, leading to a major escalation in the hostilities. Russia argues that the provision of arms, intelligence sharing, and training to Kiev’s troops already means that Western nations are de facto parties to the conflict.

Source: Russia Today

UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles have been used in Ukraine, according to UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace on Thursday. During a press conference with Norway’s Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram, Wallace confirmed the use of the missiles but refrained from providing further detail. “All I can say is it is my understanding that it has been used since we announced its deployment to Ukraine,” he said. He noted: “It’s also one of the mitigations that, if you can’t supply fighter aircraft, can you help provide one of the things that fighter aircraft deliver, which is deep strike? “And yes, we can, we can do that with Storm Shadow.” Meanwhile, when asked about Norway’s potential donation of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Gram stated that it was not currently on the agenda and he did not wish to speculate on any future donations. The British government last week announced that it would be providing long-range missiles to Ukraine. The long-range, air-launched cruise missiles can travel up to 350 miles and can carry a warhead of up to 450 kilograms (992 pounds). They were developed by British Aerospace and a French company, according to the Royal Air Force. Moscow has warned that the move will warrant an “appropriate response” from the Russian military. Other countries, including the US, have been hesitant to provide such arms, fearing that they may lead to an escalation in the conflict if used on targets in Russia.

Source: Anadolu Agency