Dating back to the Middle Ages, the town of Semestene in Sardinia, Italy, has quite a history — one that could come to an end within a decade. With a population that has dwindled rapidly in recent years, 54 of its 126 residents are aged 65 or over. The town has just four children under 10 years old remaining. And its last birth, a 2023 report held, was eight years earlier.
Welcome to Ghost Town Italy.
Sound like exaggeration? Well, consider that the U.S. has approximately 3,800 ghost towns, with New Mexico having about 400 alone. Italy is about the size of that state.
And it has at least 6,000 ghost towns.
“At least,” that is, because that estimate was made in 2015 — and informed that another 15,000 localities were “on the brink.”
One could in fact wonder if this is the emptiest a European nation’s towns have been since the medieval black plague wiped out one-quarter to one-half of the continent’s population. The problem now is another plague, too.
The plague of low fertility.
Why worry about this? I mean, with pasta and pizza and the like having spread throughout the world, we needn’t worry about losing our favorite buonissima(!) Italian fare. What’s more, there are in excess of eight billion people on the planet. So shouldn’t we cheer this bambini bust? Perhaps not.
Not Just Italy Getting the Demographic Boot
First, it’s ironic that a birthplace of Western civilization now leads in its decline because of a lack of births. But that is reality: Italy is merely representative of Western European countries in general. And front and center warning about this has been billionaire visionary Elon Musk. Just consider comments he made — and those of a popular X user — not long ago (tweet with video below).
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?c
That user, a German entrepreneur named Ole Lehmann, also posted some other striking information (below). For one thing, he points out that by “2100, Europe will have lost 117 million [more] people.”
In fact, note (below) how much the number of births has declined in Europe in just one year (2022-23.) The only European nation on the list that registered an increase is Norway.
50px
Of course, this wouldn’t be too consequential if the decline occurred within the context of still robust birth rates. In reality, however, many of the world’s fertility rates — and Western peoples’ in particular — have long been strikingly low. (Map-style statistics follow. Note: 2.1 children per woman is replacement level.)
&width=550px
“Poof!” Goes the West?
This may not matter much to the hate-the-West-first crowd — or those believing that, somehow, Western ideals will be perpetuated by non-Western peoples. But those who know what a world without the West really means for humanity will be alarmed. (Recommended reading: my 2023 essay “A World Without the West.”) Also troubled may be those who understand that, as commentator Mark Steyn put it, “The future belongs to those who show up for it.”
Westerners are showing up less than most other peoples, too. And what this means exactly was explained by Marko Jukic, a senior analyst at Bismarck Analysis. “A fertility rate below 1.6 means 50% less new people after three generations, say 100 years. Below 1.2 means an 80% drop,” Newsweekquoted him as stating in October. “The U.S. is at 1.64. China, Japan, Poland, Spain all below 1.2. South Korea is at 0.7—96% drop. Mass extinction numbers.”
Oh, Italy is at 1.2 as well.
What Happens in the West Doesn’t Stay in the West
All this said, declining fertility is a worldwide phenomenon. As HealthData.org wrote in March, quoting The Lancet:
By 2050, over three-quarters (155 of 204) of countries will not have high enough fertility rates to sustain population size over time; this will increase to 97% of countries (198 of 204) by 2100.
While the zero-population-growth types and misanthropes will applaud, this, again, comes with some negative consequences. As Earth.com explained last Wednesday:
When fewer babies are born, the workforce thins out in a matter of decades.
Economic systems depend on a steady stream of workers, consumers, and taxpayers. If countries produce fewer citizens, they may struggle to maintain productivity and keep growth on track.
Economists worry that, as population structures skew towards older groups, tax bases might shrink, and this could make it harder to pay for services that keep society running smoothly.
As an example, consider again good ol’ (and old) Italy. As Maria Rita Testa, a professor of demography at Luiss University in Rome, told CNN last year:
“In our pension system, which is a pay-as-you-go system, where the current workers pay for the pension benefits of the current retired people, this will create a big challenge and burden.”
Put differently, a highly fecund civilization is like a pyramid. There’s a wide pool of young people at the bottom and a much smaller group of elderly near the tip. With baby-bust demographic collapse, however, this pyramid flips upside-down. A relatively small group of young people at that ground-level “tip” then support a larger group of elderly up top.
Remedies?
The one factor that may change this equation at least somewhat, if not profoundly, is the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence and robotics. As this technology replaces workers, it may end up supporting the elderly (and others). But this is, of course, uncharted economic and social territory.
Moreover, we perhaps shouldn’t bet that our future AI automatons will preserve Western culture. Given this, it’s wise to consider the findings and prescriptions of what’s perhaps the best documentary on the baby-bust subject: 2008’s Demographic Winter (below).
What, though, if we can’t resurrect the be-fruitful-and-multiply spirit? Well, then know that population collapse does have at least one bright side. Remember Sardinia, that increasingly child-free Italian isle? Starving for residents, a local government there will sell you a villa for just a bit more than one dollar.
So take the trip and “Buon appetito!” Just be sure, amico, that you don’t mind eating alone.
Peel police bust auto theft ring, 12 charged, $1.2M in stolen vehicles recovered
with a total of 81 charges laid. Officers have been able to recover nine of the
Peel Regional Police have announced several arrests in connection to an auto-theft in the GTA. Police say a total of 12 people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, with a total of 81 charges laid.
Peel Regional Police investigators say they’ve “disrupted and dismantled” an organized auto theft ring, recovering nine vehicles and laying 81 charges after a months-long probe dubbed Project Memphis.
The project started in March 2023 when police were tipped off about a re-vinned vehicle.
Re-vinning takes place when the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from a stolen vehicle is changed to a legitimate one to mask the fact that it was stolen.
“Investigators determined some of the stolen vehicles were being re-vinned, fraudulently re-registered and sold in Mississauga,” a police release stated.
“In some cases, the accused attempted to defraud multiple financial and insurance institutions. Various investigative tools were used to identify multiple suspects, recover these stolen vehicles and prevent insurance fraud.”
Following the probe 12 people were charged with a slew of offences and investigators say over $350,000 of insurance fraud was prevented. (CBC, November 29, 2023)
A New School of Anti-White (French)Historical Thinking in Montreal? In mid-September 2024, a curious story surfaced in several newspapers: six history professors at the University of Montreal (UdeM) were attempting to strip the Lionel Groulx Pavilion of its name. Their reasoning? The esteemed hist
orian and Catholic canon no longer fits the trendy new dogmas of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Shortly afterward, the
announced it was renaming the Lionel Groulx Prize, citing the words of a young, self-righteous historian from Montreal. To the untrained eye, this might seem like a sudden break from tradition. But those paying attention to the ideological winds blowing through UdeM will know this is merely the latest chapter in a broader campaign to redefine Quebec’s past. Just a year earlier, in September 2023, the university hosted a conference on colonialism that blurred the lines between academia and activism. Instead of reasoned historical analysis, attendees were treated to sessions packed with ideological sermons worthy of a political rally. The event was so overtly militant that even some Journal de Montréal columnists felt compelled to call it out.
And it didn’t stop there. The same group of activist-scholars has been busy holding lectures filled with absurd accusations. One memorable claim? That the decolonization theories espoused by Parti Pris sovereigntists were responsible for “erasing Indigenous peoples” and constitute “a form of colonial violence still present today in debates like systemic racism.” 1
These academics seem fixated on portraying Quebec’s francophone population as inherently oppressive. Some dedicate their careers to studying racial issues, but only to paint French Canadians in the worst possible light. Their arguments are often flimsy and deliberately inflammatory. One example: blaming the entire Quebec Catholic population for residential schools simply because they supported the clergy 2 . Using that logic, should taxpayers be held responsible for every government policy? Should all Muslims be blamed for terrorist attacks committed by extremists?
Worse still, these historians scour old textbooks and photographs to “prove” that Quebec’s national identity is rooted in racism. They conclude their work with declarations like, “I must recognize the privilege of my whiteness and understand how it enables me to deny or ignore the racist, colonial culture from which I come.” 3 Such statements might sound laughable, but they’re catnip for a radical left eager to undermine Quebec’s history and culture.
“The Montreal School”,The militant activism of today young historians is so pervasive it may well signal the emergence of a new school of historical thinking. Quebec has seen several such movements over its history. The “Montreal School,” led by figures like Michel Brunet, Guy Frégault, and Maurice Séguin, argued that French Canadians’ social and economic struggles stemmed from the dislocation caused by the British Conquest. The “Quebec School,” on the other hand, emphasized internal challenges, such as the Church’s influence. Revisionists eventually moved away from Quebec’s specificities altogether.
Now, the new UdeM historians seem intent on exposing the supposed flaws of French Canadians—too white for these apostles of diversity. Every minority group deserves to be glorified, except, of course, francophones. Pluralism must be exalted, even at the expense of common good 4 .
But what should we call this new school of thought? Philosopher Roger Scruton, in England and the Need for Nations, coined the term “oikophobia” to describe the rejection of one’s home andheritage (oikos meaning “home” in Greek). Oikophobes are elites who disdain and denigrate Western traditions, instinctively favoring foreign cultures. As early as the 2000s, Scruton noted how oikophobia was spreading through American universities. It’s a fitting label for UdeM’s new historians.
Some researches have shown a steady decline in university history program enrollment. These oikophobes are undoubtedly part of the problem. How many young people now turn away from history because its study has become synonymous with self-loathing and ideological indoctrination?
Instead of celebrating Quebec’s rich history, these scholars tear it down to align with the latest academic fads. If we allow this trend to continue unchecked, what kind of future are we building for the next generation? It’s time for Quebecers to reclaim their heritage and demand a more balanced, thoughtful approach to understanding the past.
1 Third paragraph in this report of the November 2021 workshop: https://histoireengagee.ca/retour-sur- latelier-le-colonialisme-dimplantation-au-quebec-un-impense-de-la-recherche-25-26-novembre-20211/ 2 See: https://histoireengagee.ca/lhistoire-des-pensionnats-de-louest-est-une-histoire-quebecoise/ 3 Catherine Larochelle, School of Racism: A Canadian History, 1830–1915, University of Manitoba Press, 2023. 4 See Catherine Larochelle’s brief as part of the consultations on Bill 64 (An Act to establish the Musée national de l’histoire du Québec, September 2024).
Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif have been handed life sentences for their killing of the 10-year-old.Urfan Sharif, 43, was jailed for a minimum term of 40 years and Beinash Batool, 30, will serve at least 33 years for their murder of the schoolgirl who they subject to “what can only be described as torture”.Sara’s uncle, 29-year-old Faisal Malik, who lived in the family home, was cleared of her murder but found guilty of causing or allowing her death and was jailed for 16 years.The three did not react at the Old Bailey as they were jailed for their of Sara.Sentencing them, Mr Justice John Cavanagh said that although the Old Bailey had heard many crimes, “few can have been more terrible” than their treatment of the youngster.The trio were convicted last week following an eight-week trial in which jurors heard Sara suffered more than 25 broken bones, scalding marks to her feet, and human bites during a campaign of abuse.Sara’s body was found at the family’s home in Surrey last year after being victim to treatment the judge described as “nothing short of gruesome”.Mr Justice Cavanagh, giving his reasons for the sentences, said that Sara’s death was the “culmination of years of neglect, frequent assaults and what can only be described as the torture of [Sara]”.He said her death illustrated the “dangers” of unsupervised home schooling as the couple managed to withdraw her from school when safeguarding issues were raised.None of the defendants had shown a “shred of remorse”, he added.At the court hearing, Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, described her daughter’s killers as “sadists” and “executioners”.In a statement read to the court, she said: “To this day I can’t understand how someone can be such a sadist to a child.“What has come out in court… I cannot understand what is wrong with these people.”In court, Sara’s family fought over who was most to blame, as Naeem Mian KC, for Sharif, claimed Batool was “equally culpable” for her death and encouraging the judge to “not draw any distinction between them”.In response, Batool’s barrister, Caroline Carberry KC, said her client was “subordinate” to her husband, who had been the “instigator of violence” against her stepdaughter.However, sentencing them, Mr Justice Cavanagh said the couple had “singled out” Sara because she was not Batool’s biological daughter with “truly horrific” treatment of which there were “a number of particular disturbing features”.He said Sharif was mainly responsible for the “campaign of abuse” – and that the degree of cruelty was “unbelievable” and “happened in plain sight”.The judge said Sara’s uncle, Malik, had “stood by and did nothing” when he must have been aware of the beatings, burnings and tying up and hooding she suffered.He described Sara as a “brave, feisty and spirited child” who was “not submissive as her father wanted her to be.“She stood up to you,” he said.“She was a very courageous little girl, with an unquenchable spirit.”Sara Sharif’s father guilty of her murder as it emerges he exploited EU rules to stay in UK Sara Sharif’s father guilty of her murder as it emerges he exploited EU rules to stay in UK
The 42-year-old arranged a ‘sham marriage’ that would permit him to remain in Britain when his visa expired
The father of Sara Sharif, who has been found guilty of the 10-year-old’s murder, exploited EU rules to stay in the UK, The Telegraph can reveal.
Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30 were convicted of killing the schoolgirl after an eight-week trial at the Old Bailey.
During the trial, it was revealed that Sharif, a “serial abuser of vulnerable women”, arranged a “sham marriage” to a Polish woman to remain in Britain.
The 42 year-old’s history of violence against vulnerable women and children was also laid bare. It emerged that at least three separate women had accused him of assault.
He was also accused of being a gambling addict with a taste for whisky.
Teachers noticed marks on Sara and reported it to social services Credit: SURREY POLICE
Jurors took just nine hours to unanimously find the pair guilty of the murder of 10-year-old Sara who was discovered with over 70 injuries, including 25 fractures, at her home in Woking, Surrey on Aug 10 last year.
Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death. He was found not guilty of her murder.
Batool, wearing a black blazer, cried as the verdicts were read out. Malik, in a grey prison issue sweatshirt, put his head in his hands.
Sharif, wearing a white zip up cardigan, did not react as the verdict was read out, but was seen holding his head in his hands as he left the courtroom.
Sharif moved to the UK in 2003 from Jhelum in Pakistan on a student visa to study business management in London.
By November 2009, Sharif was working part-time as a taxi driver and that same month he married Olga Domin, then 23, at a registry office in Surrey.
During his trial, Caroline Carberry KC, representing Batool accused Sharif of pursuing Polish women because the country was a member of the EU.
She accused him of entering into a sham marriage with Ms Domin, which he denied.
Beinash Batool was found guilty of Sara’s murder Credit: SURREY POLICE
By marrying her, he would be allowed to stay in the UK when his student visa expired as a result of conditions in the Free Movement Directive, introduced in 2004.
Sharif claimed in court he was later given indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases.
A pattern of behaviour
A year after getting married, Sharif was arrested after Ms Domin’s mother contacted police from Poland because she was concerned for her daughter’s safety.
Ms Domin told police that her husband had been violent in the home on more than one occasion.
Sharif claimed she had attacked him during an argument. He was later bailed and Ms Domin withdrew the allegation.
A month later, Sharif was convicted of stealing £1,700 from McDonald’s where he had been working as a manager.
He was arrested in December 2007 for false imprisonment, theft and criminal damage. His accuser was an 18-year-old Polish girl whom he had allegedly been going out with since 2004, when she would have been around 15.
Sara dressed up for Christmas festivities at her school Credit: SURREY POLICE
She alleged he locked her in the house against her will, took her passport and smashed her phone.
He then allegedly threatened her with a knife and told her he would kill her. Sharif denied the claims and suggested it was she who had in fact assaulted him.
Two years later, in March 2009, Anna, another Polish woman, then 31, emailed Surrey Police after she “escaped” Sharif’s home and fled back to her country.
Again he was interviewed but no further action was taken.
He called police when he arrived in Islamabad and confessed he had beaten her up “too much”.
Officers went to his former home and found Sara’s body in a bunk bed, with a confession note from Sharif on the pillow.
She had 10 spinal fractures and further fractures to her right collar bone, both shoulder blades, both arms, both hands, three separate fingers, bones near the wrist in each hand, two ribs and her hyoid bone in the neck.
There was evidence she had been restrained with packing tape and beaten, while a “homemade hood” made of plastic bags was discovered in a bin outside the house.
Jurors were brought to tears on several occasions as they heard details of Sara’s suffering. Sharif’s own barrister told the court his client was a “scumbag” who “would be in the circles of hell for eternity”.
Notes from Sharif were found next to Sara’s body in August 2023 Credit: SURREY POLICE
Sharif admitted to hitting Sara with a cricket bat two days before she died Credit: SURREY POLICE
Batool had told her sisters that Sharif would regularly “beat the crap” out of Sara over the course of more than two years, but failed to report what was going on.
By January 2023, Sara began wearing a hijab to cover up the bruises at school. Teachers noticed marks on her face and referred her to social services in March of that year, but the case was dropped within days.
Sara was born in January 2013 and because allegations of violence had been made by other children in Ms Domin and Sharif’s care, she was immediately placed on a child protection plan.
Friends said that while Sharif professed to be a devout Muslim, he was known to drink heavily at night and had developed a gambling addiction and mounting debts.
One former neighbour said that he had a run in with Sharif while he was having renovations done. “He became quite aggressive”, he said.
Ms Domin’s father said Sharif was “a great manipulator” who initially seemed charming but was in fact a “toxic abuser”.
Speaking from his home in Nowa Sól, Poland, Merzy Domin told The Times that “the whole system had failed” to protect his granddaughter.
Telling Polish TV channel Uwaga of his sadistic abuse, Ms Domin said: “Once, he tried to set me on fire, poured oil on me, but his cousin stopped him. He simply locked me in a room. Locked me in all day until the police arrived.”
Sara Sharif pictured here when she was four years old Credit: SURREY POLICE/PA
Imam Hafiz Hashmi, the leader of the local Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, said he knew of the Sharif family but they had not regularly attended prayers.
He said: “It is unacceptable and horrific and awful what has happened. I simply cannot imagine what went on in that house.”
From 2014 to 2017, after he split up with Ms Domin, Sharif was only allowed supervised contact with Sara.
In January 2015, one social worker who observed visits between Sharif and Sara at a Sure Start centre in Woking said that he was told Sharif had been waving a knife around at home.
The social worker “also noted during that meeting he appeared to be easily irritated when Sara played. When he went over to Sara, she would shout at him to go away”.
Despite these concerns, Sharif was awarded custody of Sara in 2019 by Guildford Family Court after he filmed Sara making allegations of domestic abuse against her mother.
Ms Domin was said to have learning difficulties and was deemed to be “vulnerable”.
Paying tribute to her daughter, Ms Domin, said: “My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon.
“Sara had beautiful brown eyes and an angelic voice. Sara’s smile could brighten up the darkest room.
“Everyone who knew Sara will know her unique character, her beautiful smile and loud laugh.
“She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you Princess.”
Det Supt Mark Chapman, the lead investigator, said before the jury reached its verdict, that it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the actions of other safeguarding agencies.
He added: “That scrutiny will come as we go into the safeguarding review and inquest.
“At that point, it will be for safeguarding partners, whether they’re within the council, social services, education, to answer as to the role of their employees in the safeguarding care that was provided to Sara in the months leading up to her death.”
Following the verdicts on Wednesday, Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, said it highlighted “profound weaknesses in our child protection system”.
She said: “There can be no doubt that Sara was failed in the starkest terms by the safety net of services around her.
“Even before she was born, she was known to social care – and yet she fell off their radar so entirely that by the time she died, she was invisible to them all.
“We can have no more reviews, no more strategies, no more debate. When we say ‘never again’, we have to mean it – let that be Sara’s legacy.”
She called for a raft of changes including “proper oversight” for children, like Sara, being homeschooled.
Maria Neophytou, acting chief executive of the NSPCC, said it was an “absolutely shocking case” raising “crucial questions” about child protection.
‘Cultural sensitivities’ may have stopped teachers intervening to save Sara Sharif, MP suggests
Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool forced their daughter to wear a hijab after bruises become too noticeable
Will Forster says the abuse Sara Sharif suffered at the hands of the people who were meant to protect her was “heartbreaking and vile” Credit: X/@WillForster
An inquest into the death of Sara Sharif should examine if concerns over cultural sensitivities meant teachers were afraid to question why she began wearing a hijab after being seen with bruises, an MP has suggested.
At the Old Bailey on Wednesday, Urfan Sharif, Sara’s father, 42, and Beinash Batool, her step-mother, 30, were convicted of her murder.
Faisal Malik, 29, her uncle, was convicted of causing or allowing her death but was cleared of murder.
Sara was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 last year after being “tortured” for years.
She was beaten with a cricket bat, burnt with an iron, and restrained and hooded with packing tape.
In the final eight months of her life, Sara was forced by Sharif and Batool to wear a hijab after bruises on her head and neck became too noticeable.
She had previously been seen with bruises on her face but despite that, The Telegraph understands the issue of the change in her appearance was never raised with social services.
Despite Sara being forced to wear the hijab by Sharif and Batool to cover the bruises, Surrey Police released an image of her in the headscarf at the conclusion of the trial.
Police released an image of Sara Sharif in a hijab Credit: Surrey Police/PA
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Forster said that what had come out during the trial was “appalling” but “there is still more to come out”.
He was asked by The Telegraph whether there were concerns over the fact that the school had never raised the fact that Sara had suddenly begun wearing a hijab after being seen with bruises.
Mr Forster replied: “Yes, everything needs to be looked at in the inquest and studied.”
He added: “Until we have the inquest and safeguarding review we won’t know the full facts. As soon as we do I think we can then learn lessons.”
Sara was taken out of school on two occasions prior to her death to be homeschooled.
A few weeks before she was removed for the first time, teachers noticed bruises on her face and made a referral to social services. The council conducted checks but closed the case within six days.
When she was taken out of school for the second time teachers at the school contacted the social services safeguarding team and were told that if they had concerns, they should make a referral. This did not happen.
Mr Forster said that the fact that Sara was taken out of school after being seen with bruises had to be examined to prevent other parents “abusing the system”.
He said that the abuse the schoolgirl suffered at the hands of the people who were meant to protect her was “heartbreaking and vile”.
He said: “Although it’s right that justice has been served, we now owe it to Sara’s memory to ensure that a horrendous case like this can’t happen again.
“Sara was tortured for ten years. It is heartbreaking to think of the warning signs that were missed that allowed her to die at the hands of those who were meant to protect her.
“We need an immediate inquest into her murder. This will be vital for understanding how the system let Sara down and what changes will be needed to prevent this tragedy from happening again.”
Meanwhile, the Children’s Commissioner has urged for the law to change so children who are suspected victims of abuse cannot be home educated.
Urfan Sharif, Sara Sharif’s father, was convicted of her murder while Faisal Malik, her uncle, was convicted of causing or allowing her death Credit: Elizabeth Cook/PA
Following the verdicts on Wednesday, Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said it highlighted “profound weaknesses in our child protection system”.
She said: “There can be no doubt that Sara was failed in the starkest terms by the safety net of services around her.
“Even before she was born, she was known to social care – and yet she fell off their radar so entirely that by the time she died, she was invisible to them all.
“We can have no more reviews, no more strategies, no more debate. When we say ‘never again’, we have to mean it – let that be Sara’s legacy.”
Beinash Batool, Sara Sharif’s step-mother, was also convicted of the 10-year-old’s murder Credit: Surrey Police/PA
She called for a raft of changes including “proper oversight” for children, like Sara, being homeschooled, including a home education register, which is to be included in the Government’s proposed Children’s Wellbeing Bill.
She also said councils should be given powers to sign off on home education requests for vulnerable children.
Maria Neophytou, acting chief executive of the NSPCC, said it was an “absolutely shocking case” raising “crucial questions” about child protection.
Rachael Wardell, from Surrey County Council, said that until an independent safeguarding review has concluded, a “complete picture cannot be understood or commented upon”.
Murdered schoolgirl had been on child protection list since birth over allegations of neglect and violence
Sara’s mother, who has learning difficulties, had given her consent for the children to be looked after by father Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool Credit: Surrey Police/PA
The Family Court gave Sara Sharif’s killer father shared custody of his daughter despite knowing he had been accused of abusing her siblings for years, it can now be revealed.
Urfan Sharif, 42, Sara’s father, and Beinash Batool, 30, her stepmother, were convicted of the 10-year-old’s murder on Wednesday following an eight-week trial.
In October 2019, almost four years before Sara was killed, the couple had been awarded shared custody of her by the Family Court.
Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, who has learning difficulties, had given her consent for the children to be looked after by Batool and Sharif.
Allegations of abuse and neglect had been made against both Ms Domin and Sharif at the time.
Ms Domin told police her husband had been violent in the home on more than one occasion, but Sharif claimed she had attacked him during an argument.
It was a pattern that was to continue for the next nine years with Ms Domin, Sharif and their children all making allegations of abuse.
Sharif was bailed and Ms Domin withdrew the allegation, but despite that, Sara and her sibling, who can only be named as U, were placed on a child protection plan by social services at Surrey county council.
Urfan Sharif, Sara’s father, who was convicted of her murder Credit: Surrey Police
Sibling told teacher of violence
Two months later, a social services investigation was triggered after another sibling, known as Z for legal reasons, told teachers he was being physically assaulted by his parents.
By the end of the year, child U and child Z were again made the subject of child protection plans following allegations of neglect.
Police who visited the family home in 2011 and 2012 reported that they had concerns the children were not being supervised adequately, were being abused emotionally and that the house was dirty.
Sara was born in January 2013 and was immediately placed on a child protection plan.
A month later, in February 2013, social services were called by teachers after one of her siblings told a teacher that their father had been slapping them.
Sara Sharif plays guitar and sings in a video grab image released by Surrey Police Credit: Surrey Police
In May 2013, Z was seen with a burn mark on his leg and forehead which appeared to have been caused by an iron in the family home.
An investigation was carried out and it was concluded that the burn happened accidentally.
During Sara’s murder trial, it emerged that she had been burned with an iron on her buttocks before she died. Police said that more than one person would have been needed to restrain her.
They were also to ensure that Sara could not access the front door and get outside of the property without adult supervision after another sibling was previously found outside of the home alone.
In November 2014, Sara was placed into foster care after her sibling Z said that Ms Domin had bitten him.
In July 2015 social workers noted that both Z and Sara had scars potentially consistent with cigarette burns. Ms Domin and Sharif said they were chicken pox scars.
Sara was reported to have some “disturbed behaviour”, which included standing facing a wall, and was said to be fearful of returning to her parents.
Despite all this, in November that year, the family court concluded that the children should live with Ms Domin and have supervised visits with Sharif.
He was ordered to carry out a domestic violence perpetrator course but attended 10 out of 16 sessions.
Mother agreed to Sara’s move
In the summer of 2017, Sharif finalised his divorce from Ms Domin and began a relationship with Batool.
He was granted permission to have unsupervised contact with Sara and her siblings partly because of the “positive influence” of Batool.
Beinash Batool, Sara’s stepmother, was also found guilty of murdering the schoolgirl Credit: Surrey Police
In March 2019, the children began living Sharif and Batool full-time. Sharif claimed this happened because Sara told him she was being abused by Ms Domin.
It was claimed that Sara had made allegations against her mother, saying she had slapped her and pulled her hair.
On another occasion, she claimed her mother tried to drown her in the bath.
In May Sharif and Batool applied, with Ms Domin’s consent, for Sara and her sibling to live with them.
In an s.7 report ordered by the Family Court on Sara’s welfare, the council recorded that Sara had disclosed physical assaults by Ms Domin, and concluded that the mother had a low capacity to meet Sara’s needs.
It recommended that Sara should live with Sharif and Batool and have supervised contact once per fortnight with Ms Domin.
A judge agreed with the s.7 report and granted Sharif and Batool custody.
From 2019 onwards, the family had no further dealings with the court system in any form until on Oct 14 this year, Batool and Sharif went on trial for Sara’s murder.
A criminology student who killed a stranger in a random attack on Bournemouth beach was accused of stalking three months before the murder, it can now be revealed.
Nasen Saadi, described by his grandfather as a “clever young man”, has been found guilty of fatally stabbing Amie Gray, 34, and attempting to murder a second woman following a nine-day trial at Winchester Crown Court.
The 20-year-old, from Croydon, was “inspired” by infamous high-profile stabbings and had made “provocative statements” to female students on his course at Greenwich University, including telling one that “women were weaker than men”.
Saadi, who is of Iraqi-Thai heritage and moved to the UK when he was four, killed physical trainer Gray and attempted to murder her friend Leanne Miles, 38, in Bournemouth on May 24 this year.
Nasen Saadi was convicted of fatally stabbing Amie Gray following a trial at Winchester Crown Court
The two women were sitting on the sand on Durley Chine beach at night when Saadi, who had been prowling the promenade looking for victims, approached them and began a frenzied attack.
Ms Miles said he only fled after she begged him to spare her life, saying: “Please stop, I’ve got children.”
Three months before the attack, an allegation of stalking was made against Saadi. The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the police watchdog as a result.
It can now be revealed that while in custody, Saadi asked a female prison officer how much press attention his case was getting before touching himself in his cell. A male officer was also said to have witnessed the incident.
Prosecutor Sarah Jones KC tried to persuade the judge that the jury should hear this evidence as it shows a motive for Saadi for carrying out the stabbing, namely excitement and press attention.
The prosecution said CCTV showed Nasen Saadi ‘loitering’ behind Amie Gray and Leanne Miles Credit: Crown Prosecution Service
Charlie Sherrard KC, defending, explained that Saadi was on a 24-hour watch at the time for safety reasons and claimed it was normal for a male prisoner in his position to do that in his cell.
The judge ruled in favour of the defence, not allowing the prison officer’s evidence to be heard by the jury, saying the evidence was “more prejudicial than probative” and it did not help the prosecution prove his motive.
Dr Lisa-Marie Reiss, Saadi’s lecturer at Greenwich University, provided a statement to the court in which she said he would make controversial remarks during seminars relating to “women being weaker than men” and how “they shouldn’t work in certain jobs”.
She said Saadi would “repeatedly make very provocative statements” during lessons and this had “upset” his course mates.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that quietly spoken Saadi, who declined to give evidence, carried out the killing because he “wanted to know what it felt like to take a life”.
Ms Jones said: “Perhaps he wanted to know what it would be like to make women feel afraid, perhaps he thought it would make him feel powerful, make him interesting to others.
“Perhaps he just couldn’t bear to see people engaged in a happy normal social interaction and he decided to lash out, to hurt, to butcher.”
Sian Grey, right, has attended every day of the trial following the murder of her wife, Aime Credit: Gray family
The trial heard Saadi had asked his lecturer so many questions about the criminal defence to murder that she had asked him: “You’re not planning a murder, are you?”
When he was arrested Saadi was living with his grandfather and aunt at their detached home in the quiet suburb of Purley, South London. He attended Selsdon Primary School before going on to Riddlesdown Collegiate.
A fellow student described him as quiet but “seemingly harmless”.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Saadi’s grandfather said the house was raided by armed officers with submachine guns four days after the murder.
He said: “Nasen was just sitting upstairs calmly in his room when they broke the door down and entered. I was sitting in the living room. Nasen had been living here ever since he left university.”
Plotting and preparing for months
Saadi’s grandfather, who refused to give his name, said he “knows his grandson is innocent”.
He said: “It is unfortunate because he joined a criminology course and when he, as a clever young man, tried to ask questions on the course, that has ended up being used as evidence against him.
“Basically, it is the only evidence against him.They don’t have any direct evidence. You have to ask your lecturer questions and now it is being turned against him.
“They had nothing on the weapons he is supposed to have used, there is no DNA or even CCTV.”
He added: “He is a clever boy, he is not naive, he thinks about things deeply, he plans them carefully, he works out what he is going to do, he is not stupid.”
Court sketch of Nasen Saadi during his trial at Winchester Crown Court Credit: ELIZABETH COOK/PA
The court heard Saadi had been plotting and preparing for the murder for months. Prosecutors said he had gone to “extraordinary” lengths to ensure there was no DNA evidence.
His grandfather claimed that before the murder, Saadi told him he wanted to go to Bournemouth for a holiday to “prove his independence” and swim in the sea.
Saadi checked into a Travelodge hotel in Bournemouth city centre at 3:09pm, on May 21 this year.
On his first night in the city he carried out a “recce” of the promenade where he would go on to stab Gray three days later.
Social struggles
He said that his grandson, who stabbed Gray 10 times, was so “gentle” he “couldn’t even crack an egg” if he was asked to.
This grandfather said Saadi wanted to go on holiday by himself as he didn’t really have any friends and “didn’t mix socially”. Neighbours said they rarely saw Saadi but knew the rest of the family well.
He said that Saadi was born in Thailand and came to the UK with his mother and father, who now run a fruit importation business, when he was four years old.
The Telegraph tried to approach his parents at their home in Purley but were told “no comment, nothing to say”.
Despite his grandfather’s claims, the trial heard that Saadi’s parents had been forced to hide two knives and an axe from him prior to the stabbing.
Saadi had taken an interest in “deliberately offensive-looking weapons” in the months preceding the murder and had purchased several knives from online retailers Saadi refused to provide detectives with the pin number for his phone and accepted a charge of failing to comply with a notice requirement disclosure.
His grandfather said Saadi was struggling in prison, adding: “He tells me he can’t sleep due to the noise of the other prisoners who are crying, shouting, fighting.
“He has basically stopped speaking. He said to his father “I don’t understand why they think it is m
Alleged ISIS-inspired Toronto attack plotter facing additional war crimes charges
Ahmed Eldidi, 62, was granted Canadian citizenship earlier this year after allegedly participating in a gruesome torture video for ISIS in 2015.
A man suspected of plotting a terrorist attack along with his son at the behest of ISIS is facing additional war crimes charges in Canada.
Ahmed Eldidi and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were originally arrested at a Richmond Hill, Ont. hotel in July of this year after authorities believed they were going to imminently commit a “violent, serious attack” in Toronto.
The younger Eldidi was reportedly in possession of a machete at the time of the arrests while his father was allegedly in possession of an axe.
The elder Eldidi is now being charged with war crimes offences in relation to an ISIS propaganda video posted online in 2015 that allegedly shows him dismembering a prisoner while acting on behalf of the terrorist group.
As reported by the CBC, Eldidi is being charged with torture, mutilation, murder, and outrages upon personal dignity under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
Both Eldidis are also being charged with conspiracy to commit murder along with other offences following their alleged terrorist plot for ISIS.
The two alleged terrorist’s arrests sparked a wave of criticism aimed at the Liberal government and immigration officials over inadequate vetting procedures.
Speaking about the alleged terrorists earlier this year, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre condemned the Liberals’ immigration measures and pledged to increase security.
“We will also secure our borders to make sure that never again do accused ISIS terrorists get into our country and become citizens of Canada,” he said.
Poilievre emphasized that Eldidi was allowed into Canada “even after the existence of a video apparently showing that same terrorist mutilating a human body on a crucifix during the ISIS war of over a decade ago.”
“These are the kinds of disastrous mistakes [and] radical approaches of the Liberal government that must end so that we can replace their costly incompetence with our common sense,” he added.
Eldidi is reportedly the first Islamic State-linked terror suspect to be charged in Canada under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. (Rebel News, December 17, 2024)
Quebec institutions debate pulling Groulx’s name from public places
Late historian’s views threaten legacy
National Post (National Edition)
12 Dec 2024
MORGAN LOWRIE
A statue of John A. Macdonald toppled and decapitated by Montreal activists in 2020. Now, the legacy of late Quebec historian Lionel Groulx has come under fire over claims of racism and antisemitism.
• In 2020, Montreal activists yanked down and decapitated a statue of Canada’s first prime minister, in protest of Sir John A. Macdonald’s role as the architect of the residential school system.
Now, another largerthan-life historical figure is coming under scrutiny, as Quebec municipalities and institutions are mulling whether to pull the name of priest and historian Lionel Groulx from public places over views described as antisemitic and racist.
Earlier this year, a Quebec-based history organization that Groulx founded in 1946 decided to remove his name from its prestigious annual prize, following a consultation with its members in which about 60 per cent advocated for the change.
“Today, with the recognition of diversity and the necessary reversal of perspectives towards colonialism in Quebec, the name of Groulx can hardly act as a unifier,” read a line in the 24-page document released by the Institut d’histoire de l’Amerique française.
Thomas Wien, the institute’s president, said in an interview that Groulx was someone who was “eminently complex, and eminently fascinating.”
Groulx was born in 1878 near Montreal. He was a historian who helped professionalize the field, an intellectual and a Quebec nationalist figure who inspired pride. Born of modest means, he went on to become a priest, writer and thinker who penned the slogan “maitres chez nous” (“masters in our own house”) that later became a rallying cry of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s.
However, he was also a conservative nationalist whose views were “tinted by racism and antisemitism,” including a belief that French-Canadian Catholics were a “chosen people” guided by divine providence, Wien said.
While the comparisons are inevitable, Wien maintains that Groulx and Macdonald have little in
WHAT WAS RECOGNIZED WITH THIS PRIZE WAS … THE PIONEER OF A DISCIPLINE.
common. While Canada’s first prime minister was a direct architect in the forced removal of Indigenous Peoples from their land and other atrocities, he said, Groulx was a historian whose legacy is more complex.
However, he noted that Groulx was a figure of controversy and criticism even when alive, suggesting he was not merely a product of his time whose views are being unfairly reinterpreted through a modern lens.
Renaming the prize, Wien said, doesn’t amount to denying history or “killing the father,” but rather an acknowledgment that his legacy is better kept alive in more nuanced forms, including a forthcoming page on the institute’s website.
Other historians disagree. “I can understand why English-Canadian historians have renamed the John A. Macdonald Prize,” wrote Eric Bedard, a historian who has studied Groulx. “It is difficult for me to explain that Quebec historians are imitating them for Lionel Groulx, since what was recognized with this prize was not his religious, social or political ideas, but the pioneer of a discipline.”
Of the 20 or so Quebec municipalities that are recorded as having places named after Groulx, only two — Gatineau in western Quebec and Ste-Julie, on Montreal’s South Shore — indicated that they intend to broach the subject of a possible renaming.
“The survey results point to some pushback on the issue of minority hiring in Canada and the United States,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, in an email.
In fact, equity hiring is less popular in Canada than the United States. While only 28 per cent of Canadians support equity hiring, 36 per cent of Americans support affirmative action. Meanwhile, less than half (46 per cent) of Americans oppose it.
The polling comes as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), has come under increased scrutiny in the business and political world. Last month, Walmart scrapped its diversity program, making it the largest corporation to do so. (Others, such as Harley Davidson and John Deere, have also done so.) In the political realm, some political parties, including Alberta’s governing United Conservatives, have policies that explicitly endorse the elimination of DEI hiring within the public service and Crown corporations.
The Canadian federal government has specific equity targets in its hiring, a practice that has existed since the 1980s. The percentage of visible minorities hired by the federal government grew from just shy of 18 per cent to just shy of 27 per cent between 2016 and 2024. Jedwab said he decided to focus on employment equity because it’s “one of the key core elements” of what’s being talked about in the DEI conversation.
B
“It is important that our workforce reflect to the best extent it can our demographic reality,” said Jedwab in an interview.
Diversity hiring is the most unpopular among Canadians between the ages of 45 and 54, at 62 per cent, although it’s similarly unpopular across all age groups. Even among 18 to 24 year olds, 50 per cent oppose diversity hiring.
Men and women, at 57 per cent, equally oppose such policies. Typically, women hold more progressive views on social issues than do men. Some of the pushback, Jedwab said, may be coming from those who believe there is systemic racism in Canada but that diversity hiring initiatives aren’t doing enough to rectify inequalities and that the ultimate targets or objectives might be unclear.
“The risk is, if the objective is, it can’t be met, people begin to ask what’s the point in the first place? And that’s problematic, because the program is important,” Jedwab said.
There are, however, some regional differences. In Quebec, where the provincial government has attempted to stamp out religious dress and jewelry in some workplaces, the objection to equity hiring is most strongly held: Sixty-three per cent of Quebecers disagree with it. Quebec is followed by Alberta, where 58 per cent say background shouldn’t be a consideration in hiring, and British Columbia, where 57 per cent hold that view. Fifty-five per cent of Ontarians polled agree, as do 53 per cent of those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Only in Atlantic Canada, where 50 per cent oppose diversity hiring, is there not an outright majority.
Article content
However, there are significant percentages of Canadians who say they don’t know the answer to the question. Nationally, 15 per cent of Canadians say they don’t know, a view that’s most likely in Ontario, where 19 per cent said they didn’t know the answer.
Immigrants are somewhat more likely than non-immigrants to support diversity hiring. Thirty-four per cent say it’s important to take background into consideration, compared to 26 per cent of non-immigrants. That said, a solid 50 per cent of immigrants still say that it should not be taken into consideration.
“There’s a hierarchy, a hierarchy of vulnerability, and some groups may feel that they don’t qualify,” said Jedwab. “There’s some confusion about who does and who doesn’t qualify in that hierarchy, which may also result in some support being diminished, because we’re also seeing that the support amongst minority groups themselves is not as high as we would have assumed.”
The polling did not specifically ask people why they object to equity hiring.
Freelance workers and the self employed, at 75 per cent, are most likely to oppose equity hiring, followed by full-time workers, at 58 per cent. Fifty-one per cent of part-time workers oppose equity hiring.
Article content
The polling sought responses from 1,539 people in Canada between Nov. 22 and Nov. 24 via an online panel. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey for comparison purposes. However, a probability sample of 1,539 respondents would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. In the United States, Leger polled 1,009 people over the same time period, and that online survey has a probabilistic margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The recent elections in East Germany reveal something far more profound than a shift in political allegiance – they signal the re-emergence of a deep-seated German spirit that refuses to bow to the decaying influence of Western liberalism. The success of the patriotic party AfD (Alternative for Germany) in the East is proof of the enduring divide between East and West Germany, a divide shaped by vastly different historical experiences and a clash of values.
East Germans have always been more conservative than their Western counterparts, and for good reason. After World War Two, West Germany was placed under the occupation of the Americans, who imposed their liberal ideology on the German people. Over the decades, this ideology has seeped into every corner of West German society, promoting concepts such as a nebulous “diversity,” multiculturalism, LGBT propaganda, and the insane trans cult. West Germany, inundated by American cultural imperialism, has lost touch with the very essence of what it means to be German, embracing ideologies that are alien to the German soul. It remains occupied in all but name, with numerous American military bases dotting its landscape – a constant reminder that it is not truly sovereign. West Germany’s blind loyalty to America has steered it towards a path of spiritual and cultural ruin.
In contrast, East Germany, under the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was part of the Soviet sphere of influence. Despite what many Western conservatives might believe, the Soviet Union was far from the “progressive” bastion it is often portrayed as. It re-criminalized homosexuality in 1934, dismissed modern art as decadent, and promoted traditional family values – everything that many genuine conservatives in the West today wish their societies would embrace once more. The GDR adopted many of these conservative principles, becoming the last truly German state – a state that preserved and revived the Prussian ideals of duty, discipline, and national pride. As a symbol of this continuity, the GDR re-erected the statue of the glorious populist leader Frederick the Great in East Berlin, reaffirming its connection to the Prussian legacy.
Sahra Wagenknecht and her movement, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), have emerged as key players in Germany’s struggle to resurrect its long-buried national identity. Wagenknecht, who has sharply criticized the liberal-left establishment for its role in destroying Germany’s cultural character, offers a ray of hope. Her movement combines leftist economic policies with culturally conservative positions, combined with staunch opposition to NATO meddling. Wagenknecht’s ideas are similar to those of Ernst Niekisch, the “National Bolshevik” thinker who believed that Germany should align with Russia rather than the liberal West. Niekisch, who was imprisoned by the Nazis for his beliefs and later liberated by the Red Army, understood that Germany’s future lay not in the West. It would be better off forging its own path alongside the East. Niekisch even argued that the GDR should officially rename itself to “Prussia.”
Yet, fear – deliberately cultivated by the dying liberal order – hinders the natural alliance between the AfD and BSW. Such an alliance could form because both parties share strong opposition to unrestricted immigration and skepticism towards Germany’s support for Ukraine and subservience to the American empire. Both also emphasize national sovereignty and protection of German interests, presenting themselves as defenders of traditional values in contrast to the liberal establishment. While the BSW leans more left economically, with calls for expanded social welfare, and the AfD favors limiting benefits, their shared stance on migration control and border security provides significant overlap that could bring them together politically.
The AfD has been relentlessly slandered as “right-wing extremist” by the mainstream media and political ruling class, portrayed as a threat to the very people it seeks to protect. This is a lie, a desperate attempt by a faltering regime to hold on to power. Wagenknecht and her supporters must see beyond this distortion and recognize that the AfD is not an enemy. Instead, it is a partner in the fight for Germany’s future. The unity of the AfD and BSW is not only politically necessary; it is a moral imperative.
The legacy of the GDR has been grossly mischaracterized, particularly by those in the West who interpret it through the lens of liberal ideology. The GDR was not the dystopian nightmare it is often portrayed as. Rather, it was a state that maintained the values that have always defined the German people. It placed the welfare of the people above all, creating a sense of community and purpose that the individualist West could never comprehend. The GDR’s rejection of Western decadence and embrace of socialist realism were not mere political moves but were significant cultural statements – an assertion of the enduring over the fleeting.
The GDR’s commitment to education, healthcare, and social cohesion was a continuation of the great Prussian tradition – a tradition that has always been the foundation of German culture. Unlike the West, which has been compromised by American influence and the mercantilist mentality of the British, the GDR remained faithful to itself, resisting the siren song of liberalism.
Germany’s future does not rest with the declining West but with the resilient and resurgent East. The recent electoral success of the AfD in Thuringia and Saxony is a political victory as well as a clear sign that the East is on the rise. However, this is not just a regional phenomenon; it is a national call to action. Germany must turn its gaze eastward, towards Russia, and away from the corrosive influence of America, which has led the West into moral and cultural decay. In doing so, it will fulfill the vision of Ernst Niekisch – a vision of a sovereign Germany, strong and allied with the East in pursuit of its own destiny.
If Germany is to reclaim its identity and future, unity is essential among those who oppose the liberal agenda. Together, the AfD and BSW can become a formidable force that will stand up for the German people and German ideals. The AfD is not the problem – it is the solution. It is the spearhead of a new Germany, one that will rise from the ashes of the old, stronger than ever before.
