Israel launches a new military operation in Gaza. Netanyahu tells negotiating team to stay at talks
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Saturday it launched a major military operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a negotiating team to remain in Qatar for indirect talks with the militant group.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with 'great force.' Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.
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Winnipeg Free Press
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At least 20 wounded in Russian combined drone and missile attack on Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A combined Russian and missile attack in Kyiv overnight Tuesday left at least 20 people wounded, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack, the latest in a spate of mass drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, occurred as world leaders convened at the Group of Seven meeting in Canada, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend. The summit runs through Tuesday. Kyiv's Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said nine people were wounded in the city's Sviatoshynskyi district and 11 more in the Solomianskyi district. The mayor said six people were hospitalized. Fires broke out in two other Kyiv districts as a result of falling debris from shot down Ukrainian air defenses. Canada, which assumed the presidency of the G7 this year, invited Zelenskyy to the summit, where he is expected to hold one-on-one meetings with world leaders. Zelenskyy was set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Canada on Tuesday, though the White House announced that Trump would be returning unexpectedly to Washington on Monday night instead of Tuesday night because of tensions in the Mideast. Russia has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks. Moscow escalated attacks after Ukraine's Security Service agency staged an audacious operation targeting war planes in air bases deep inside Russian territory. Little progress has emerged from direct peace talks held in Istanbul, with the exception of prisoner exchanges, expected to conclude next week, said Zelenskyy.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
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After a calm night, LA mayor shortens downtown curfew hours imposed after violent protests
LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a calm night in downtown Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass on Monday slightly trimmed the hours of a curfew imposed last week after days of violent protests and looting that followed President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Bass' announcement that the nightly curfew would be narrowed — it will start at 10 p.m. Monday, rather than at 8 p.m., and extend until 6 a.m. Tuesday — followed the disclosure that there were no arrests by police in the area on Sunday. The mayor's office said the slightly trimmed curfew time reflects a marked reduction in violence, vandalism and looting in downtown that followed the protests. When the curfew was imposed on June 10, officials said it was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators looking to cause trouble. At the time, Bass said the city 'reached a tipping point' after 23 businesses were looted. In a statement Monday, Bass said 'the curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, have been largely successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential communities from bad actors who do not care about the immigrant community.' Bass has given no indication when the curfew will end. The curfew covers a relatively tiny slice of the sprawling city — a 1-square-mile (2.5 square kilometer) section of downtown that includes the area where protests have occurred. Last week, Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the second-largest U.S. city following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. On Sunday, Trump directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities, a move that comes after large protests erupted in Los Angeles and other major cities against his administration's immigration policies.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
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Trump urges all of Tehran to evacuate in social media post as he says Iran can't have nuclear weapon
KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — President Donald Trump urges all of Tehran to evacuate 'immediately' in new post as he says Iran can't have nuclear weapon. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — Israel struck Iran's state-run television station Monday during a live broadcast, forcing a reporter to run off camera following an explosion, after Iran fired a new wave of missiles at Israel that killed at least eight people. In other developments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes have set Iran's nuclear program back a 'very, very long time.' He added that Israel is not attempting to topple the Iranian government, but he said he would not be surprised if that happened as a result of the strikes. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'The regime is very weak,' Netanyahu told a news conference. He also said he is in daily touch with U.S. President Donald Trump. As he spoke, large numbers of explosions were heard in Tehran. Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people in the middle of the Iranian capital to evacuate ahead of the strike against the TV station, which the military said provided a cover for Iranian military operations. The warning came on the fourth day of the conflict, when the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats. The warning affected up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country's state TV and police headquarters. The military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes. State-run television abruptly stopped a live broadcast after the station was hit, according to Iran's state-run news agency. While on the air, an Iranian state television reporter said the studio was filling with dust after 'the sound of aggression against the homeland.' Suddenly, an explosion occurred, cutting the screen behind her as she hurried off camera. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The broadcast quickly switched to prerecorded programs. The station later said its building was hit by four bombs. An anchor said on air that a few colleagues had been hurt, but their families should not be worried. The network said its live programs were transferred to another studio. Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said his country's forces had 'achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran's skies.' The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran's total, as well as two F-14 planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft and multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran's Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran. The Israeli strikes 'amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat,' Defrin said. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Elsewhere, three drones struck South Pars, Iran's main gas production center, according to Iranian state news. The report did not specify the extent of the damage. Iran, meanwhile, announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for the sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure that have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 injured, Israeli officials said, after Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones. One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, with its blast waves causing minor damage, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. He added that no American personnel were injured. The latest conflict began when Israel launched an assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists that it said was necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chooses to do so. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Iran has retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel. The back-and-forth has raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Explosions rock Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, and Haifa oil refinery Powerful explosions rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city. Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said Iranian missiles hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments. Iranian missiles also hit an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa for the second night in a row. The early morning strike killed three workers, ignited a significant fire and damaged a building, Israel's fire and rescue services said. The workers were sheltering in the building's safe room when the impact caused a stairwell to collapse, trapping them inside. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue them, but the three died before rescuers could reach them. The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service also reported that five people were killed in the strikes in central Israel. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki rushed with his family to a shelter after hearing an air-raid alert. They emerged after it was over to find his apartment destroyed. Despite losing his home, he urged Netanyahu to keep up the attacks on Iran. 'It's totally worth it,' the 60-year-old said. 'This is for the sake of our children and grandchildren.' In addition to those killed, the emergency service said paramedics evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes. 'When we arrived at the scene of the rocket strike, we saw massive destruction,' said Dr. Gal Rosen, a paramedic with the service who said he rescued a 4-day-old baby as fires blazed from the building. No sign of conflict letting up Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to make a veiled outreach Monday for the U.S. to step in and negotiate an end to hostilities between Israel and Iran. In a post on X, Araghchi wrote that if Trump is 'genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu,' Iran's top diplomat wrote. 'That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.' The message to Washington was sent as the latest talks between the U.S. and Iran were canceled over the weekend after Israel targeted key military and political officials in Tehran. On Sunday, Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same. But after a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations, the Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line on Monday, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be 'more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones.' Health authorities reported that 1,277 people were wounded in Iran. Iranians also reported fuel rationing. Rights groups such as the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group Human Rights Activists have suggested that the Iranian government's death toll is a significant undercount. The group says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians. Ahead of Israel's initial attack, its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran. Since then, Iran has reportedly detained several people and hanged one on suspicion of espionage. ___ Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv; Isaac Scharf and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
