Hamas says it's ready for a ceasefire but it must put an an end to the war in Gaza
Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The U.S. leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war.
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Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump tours Florida immigration lockup, jokes about escapees having to run from alligators
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured a new immigration detention centre surrounded by alligator-filled swamps in the Florida Everglades, suggesting it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations. Trump said he'd like to see similar centres in 'really, many states' and raised the prospect of also deporting U.S. citizens. He endorsed having Florida National Guard forces serve as immigration judges to ensure migrants are ejected from the country even faster, despite the dubious constitutional implications of doing so. 'Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet,' Trump said of the Florida site known as 'Alligator Alcatraz.' He added: 'The only way out, really, is deportation.' Hundreds of protesters converged outside the site – a remote airstrip with tents and trailers. They waved signs calling for the humane treatment of migrants as well as the protection of the expansive preserve that is home to a few Native American tribes and many endangered animal species. The White House has delighted in the area's remoteness – about 80 kilometres west of Miami – and the fact that it is teeming with pythons and alligators. It hopes to convey a message to detainees and the rest of the world that repercussions will be severe if the immigration laws of the United States are not followed. Before arriving, Trump even joked of migrants being held there, 'We're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison.' 'Don't run in a straight line. Run like this,' Trump said, as he moved his hand in a zigzag motion. 'And you know what? Your chances go up about 1%.' Alligator experts suggest it is better to dash in one direction in the rare situation when the reptile gives chase, according to a website run by the University of Florida. Trump on his tour walked through medical facilities and other parts of the detention centre, then held a lengthy roundtable where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and assorted state and federal officials, heaped him with praise. Authorities originally suggested it could house up to 5,000 detainees upon completion, but DeSantis said it would actually hold around 3,000, with some starting to arrive Wednesday. The centre was built in eight days over 16 km of Everglades. It features more than 200 security cameras, 8,500 metres of barbed wire and 400 security personnel. Trump dismissed concerns from critics, particularly the argument of the potential impact on a delicate ecosystem. He said there was already an airstrip in the area, which meant authorities won't be 'dropping dirt.' 'Frankly, it's, like, perfect,' Trump said. 'I don't think you're doing anything to the Everglades. You're just enhancing it.' Other, though, are appalled, including Phyllis Andrews, a retired teacher who drove from Naples, Florida, to protest Trump's visit and called migrants 'fine people.' 'They do not deserve to be incarcerated here,' Andrews said. 'It's terrible that there's a bounty on their head.' Trump administration sues Los Angeles over immigration enforcement Some Trump supporters showed up near the detention centre as well, including Enrique Tarrio, a former leader of the Proud Boys whom Trump pardoned for his conviction related to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. He suggested Trump won last year's election because voters wanted 'mass deportation' and 'retribution.' Crackdowns on the U.S.-Mexico border and harsh immigration policies have long been a centrepiece of Trump's political brand for years. During his first term in 2019, Trump denied reports that he floated the idea of building a moat filled with alligators at the southern border. Trump has more recently suggested that his administration could reopen Alcatraz, the notorious island prison off San Francisco. The White House similarly promoted the political shock value of sending some immigrants awaiting deportation from the U.S. to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador. His administration has vowed that mass deportations are coming, even if some of those notions are impractical. Transforming Alcatraz from a tourist attraction into a prison would be very costly, and Guantánamo Bay is being used less often than administration officials originally envisioned. Trump also mused Tuesday about deporting dangerous people born in the United States, like ones who 'knife you when you're walking down the street' or who kill people from behind with a baseball bat. 'They're not new to our country. They're old to our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too,' Trump said. 'So maybe that'll be the next job that we'll work on together.' Alluding to his criminal indictments during President Joe Biden's administration, Trump said of the detention facility, 'Biden wanted me here,' using an expletive to describe his predecessor. David Shribman: U.S. Supreme Court ruling jeopardizes birthright citizenship Florida plans to offer members of the National Guard to be 'deputized' and assist immigration judges, as a way to loosen another choke point in the country's long-overburdened immigration court system. Guard personnel could provide site security along perimeter and entry control points, but also serve as staff augmentation while being ready to provide other support, officials say. The detention centre has an estimated annual cost of $450-million, but state officials say at least some of that will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency – which is best known for responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters. During his tour, Trump greeted around 20 FEMA employees and construction workers and bonded with DeSantis, who once bitterly challenged him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. 'We have blood that seems to match pretty well,' Trump said of Florida's governor. When DeSantis suggested that members of the Guard could ease immigration judges' workloads, Trump offered, 'He didn't even have to ask me. He has my approval.' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was also on the tour, said immigrants arriving to the site could still opt to 'self-deport' and board flights to their home countries rather than being held in it. She said she hoped 'my phone rings off the hook' with other states looking to follow Florida's lead and open similar sites.
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Iran's president orders country to suspend co-operation with UN nuclear watchdog
Published Jul 02, 2025 • 5 minute read Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Reza Najafi, left, attends an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Monday, June 23, 2025. Photo by Michael Gruber / AP Photo DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's president on Wednesday ordered the country to suspend its co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after American and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities, likely further limiting inspectors' ability to track Tehran's program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The order by President Masoud Pezeshkian included no timetables or details about what that suspension would entail. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled in a CBS News interview that Tehran still would be willing to continue negotiations with the United States. 'I don't think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,' Araghchi said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's comments that talks could start as early as this week. However, he added: 'The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.' Pressure tactic Iran has limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic in negotiating with the West — though as of right now Tehran has denied that there's any immediate plans to resume talks with the United States that had been upended by the 12-day Iran-Israel war. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Iranian state television announced Pezeshkian's order, which followed a law passed by Iran's parliament to suspend that co-operation. The bill already received the approval of Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, on Thursday, and likely the support of the country's Supreme National Security Council, which Pezeshkian chairs. 'The government is mandated to immediately suspend all co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its related Safeguards Agreement,' state television quoted the bill as saying. 'This suspension will remain in effect until certain conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear facilities and scientists.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More It wasn't immediately clear what that would mean for the Vienna-based IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. The agency long has monitored Iran's nuclear program and said that it was waiting for an official communication from Iran on what the suspension meant. A diplomat with knowledge of IAEA operations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation in Iran, said that IAEA inspectors were still there after the announcement and hadn't been told by the government to leave. Israel condemns move Iran's decision drew an immediate condemnation from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Iran has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its co-operation with the IAEA,' he said in an X post. 'This is a complete renunciation of all its international nuclear obligations and commitments.' Saar urged European nations that were part of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal to implement its so-called snapback clause. That would reimpose all UN sanctions on it originally lifted by Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, if one of its western parties declares the Islamic Republic is out of compliance with it. Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, and the IAEA doesn't have access to its weapons-related facilities. Iran's decision stops short of experts' worst fears Iran's move so far stops short of what experts feared the most. They had been concerned that Tehran, in response to the war, could decide to fully end its co-operation with the IAEA, abandon the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and rush toward a bomb. That treaty has countries agree not to build or obtain nuclear weapons and allows the IAEA to conduct inspections to verify that countries correctly declared their programs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Iran's 2015 nuclear deal allowed Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67% — enough to fuel a nuclear power plant, but far below the threshold of 90% needed for weapons-grade uranium. It also drastically reduced Iran's stockpile of uranium, limited its use of centrifuges and relied on the IAEA to oversee Tehran's compliance through additional oversight. The IAEA served as the main assessor of Iran's commitment to the deal. RECOMMENDED VIDEO But Trump, in his first term in 2018, unilaterally withdrew Washington from the accord, insisting it wasn't tough enough and didn't address Iran's missile program or its support for militant groups in the wider Middle East. That set in motion years of tensions, including attacks at sea and on land. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Iran had been enriching up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. It also has enough of a stockpile to build multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose to do so. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the IAEA, western intelligence agencies and others say Tehran had an organized weapons program up until 2003. Suspension comes after Israel, U.S. airstrikes Israeli airstrikes, which began June 13, decimated the upper ranks of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and targeted its arsenal of ballistic missiles. The strikes also hit Iran's nuclear sites, which Israel claimed put Tehran within reach of a nuclear weapon. Iran has said the Israeli attacks killed 935 'Iranian citizens,' including 38 children and 102 women. However, Iran has a long history of offering lower death counts around unrest over political considerations. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has put the death toll at 1,190 people killed, including 436 civilians and 435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people, the group said. Meanwhile, it appears that Iranian officials now are assessing the damage done by the American strikes conducted on the three nuclear sites on June 22, including those at Fordo, a site built under a mountain about 100 km southwest of Tehran. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show Iranian officials at Fordo on Monday likely examining the damage caused by American bunker-busters. Trucks could be seen in the images, as well as at least one crane and an excavator at tunnels on the site. That corresponded to images shot Sunday by Maxar Technologies similarly showing the ongoing work. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. U.S. intelligence suggests the facilities were 'completely obliterated' by the strikes, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters Wednesday in a briefing, repeating the Trump administration's assertion. He said the operation set back Iran's nuclear program by up to two years. 'We destroyed the components they would need to build a bomb,' Parnell said. 'We believe Iran's nuclear capability has been severely degraded.' — Associated Press writers Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna, Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, and David Klepper in Washington contributed to this report. Sports Money News News MLB Editorial Cartoons
Toronto Star
3 hours ago
- Toronto Star
FDA vaccine official restricted COVID vaccine approvals against the advice of agency staff
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's top vaccine official working under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently restricted the approval of two COVID-19 vaccines, disregarding recommendations from government scientists, according to federal documents released Wednesday. The new memos from the Food and Drug Administration show how the agency's vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, personally intervened to place restrictions on COVID shots from vaccine makers Novavax and Moderna.
