Russia launches biggest aerial attack on Ukraine since the start of the war
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war.
Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine's air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
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Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Chilean communist scores surprise win in primary vote as battle with far-right looms
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean Communist Jeannette Jara, the country's former labor minister, won the primary election for left-wing parties Sunday with surprising ease, beating out a more moderate rival to clinch over 60% of the vote. The decisive upset makes Jara, 51, the candidate representing Chile's beleaguered incumbent government in November elections, set to face off against center-right and far-right contenders who have surged in the polls.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Chilean communist scores surprise win in primary vote as battle with far-right looms
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean Communist Jeannette Jara, the country's former labor minister, won the primary election for left-wing parties Sunday with surprising ease, beating out a more moderate rival to clinch over 60% of the vote. The decisive upset makes Jara, 51, the candidate representing Chile's beleaguered incumbent government in November elections, set to face off against center-right and far-right contenders who have surged in the polls. Because of term limits, the current leftist president, Gabriel Boric, 39, cannot run for a second consecutive term. Jara, a lawyer and member of Chile's Communist Party who was Boric's labor minister before resigning to run for president, secured 60.5% of the vote. The runner-up who had been considered a favorite — former Interior Minister Carolina Toha from the traditional Democratic Socialist party — took 27.7%. 'Today begins a new path that we will walk together, with the conviction to build a fairer and more democratic Chile,' Jara wrote on social media. 'In the face of the threat from the far-right, we respond with unity, dialogue and hope.' After Boric's 2022 election, voting was made compulsory, adding unpredictability to this year's race. Preliminary turnout figures from electoral authorities showed that turnout was much lower than expected, with just 1.4 million people casting ballots. Chile has some 15.4 million eligible voters. Although Jara's landslide win represents the rise of hard-liners within Boric's coalition, analysts have described Jara as less dogmatic and more diplomatic than some of her Communist peers. As labor minister, she earned praise for a program that increased minimum wage and reduced the working week to 40 hours. She has earned comparisons to Michelle Bachelet, Chile's former center-left president and an icon of female empowerment who governed 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018. Paying tribute to Bachelet in her victory speech, she said: 'She was the one who showed us the path that nothing is impossible.' But Jara faces a tough climb to the top job. Recent opinion polls show the left-wing government declining in popularity at a moment of sluggish economic growth and rising fears over organized crime and migration in what has long been regarded as one of the region's most stable and prosperous democracies. Those hot-button issues have helped mobilize support for Chile's right-wing candidates, particularly ultraconservative lawyer and former lawmaker Jose Antonio Kast, and set the stage for a deeply polarized election. Another favorite on the right is Evelyn Matthei, a former minister of labor whose business friendly policy proposals have charmed investors. Chileans will go to the polls Nov. 16 to elect a president for the 2026-2030 term.
Toronto Sun
4 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
CIA chief told lawmakers Iran's nuclear program set back years by strikes
Published Jun 29, 2025 • 3 minute read This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Isfahan nuclear technology centre in Iran after U.S. strikes, Sunday, June 22, 2025. Photo by Maxar Technologies via AP WASHINGTON — CIA Director John Ratcliffe told skeptical U.S. lawmakers that American military strikes destroyed Iran's lone metal conversion facility and in the process delivered a monumental setback to Tehran's nuclear program that would take years to overcome, a U.S. official said Sunday. 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 official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence, said Ratcliffe laid out the importance of the strikes on the metal conversion facility during a classified hearing for U.S. lawmakers last week. Details about the private briefings surfaced as President Donald Trump and his administration keep pushing back on questions from Democratic lawmakers and others about how far Iran was set back by the strikes before last Tuesday's ceasefire with Israel took hold. 'It was obliterating like nobody's ever seen before,' Trump said in an interview on Fox News Channel's Sunday Morning Futures . 'And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time.' Ratcliffe also told lawmakers that the intelligence community assessed the vast majority of Iran's amassed enriched uranium likely remains buried under the rubble at Isfahan and Fordo, two of the three key nuclear facilities targeted by U.S. strikes. 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. But even if the uranium remains intact, the loss of its metal conversion facility effectively has taken away Tehran's ability to build a bomb for years to come, the official said. Read More Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation that the three Iranian sites with 'capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium have been destroyed to an important degree.' But, he added, 'some is still standing' and because capabilities remain, 'if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.' He said assessing the full damage comes down to Iran allowing in inspectors. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared, and there is nothing there,' Grossi said. Trump has insisted from just hours after three key targets were struck by U.S. bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk missiles that Iran's nuclear program was 'obliterated.' Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said they were 'destroyed.' A preliminary report issued by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, meanwhile, said the strikes did significant damage to the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan sites, but did not totally destroy the facilities. As a result of Israeli and U.S. strikes, Grossi says that 'it is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage.' Israel claims it has set back Iran's nuclear program by 'many years.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The metal conversion facility that Ratcliffe said was destroyed was located at the Isfahan nuclear facility. The process of transforming enriched uranium gas into dense metal, or metallization, is a key step in building the explosive core of a bomb. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Secretary of State Marco Rubio in comments at the NATO summit last week also suggested that it was likely the U.S. strikes had destroyed the metal conversion facility. 'You can't do a nuclear weapon without a conversion facility,' Rubio said. 'We can't even find where it is, where it used to be on the map. You can't even find where it used to be because the whole thing is just blackened out. It's gone. It's wiped out.' The CIA director also stressed to lawmakers during the congressional briefing that Iran's air defences were shattered during the 12-day assault. As a result, any attempt by Iran to rebuild its nuclear program could now easily be thwarted by Israeli strikes that Iran currently has little wherewithal to defend against, the official said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ratcliffe's briefing to lawmakers on the U.S. findings appeared to mesh with some of Israeli officials' battle damage assessments. Israeli officials have determined that Iran's ability to enrich uranium to a weapons-grade level was neutralized for a prolonged period, according to a senior Israeli military official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the matter. Tehran's nuclear program also was significantly damaged by the strikes killing key scientists, damage to Iran's missile production industry and the battering of Iran's aerial defence system, according to the Israeli's assessment. Grossi, and some Democrats, note that Iran still has the know-how. 'You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have,' Grossi said, emphasizing the need to come to a diplomatic deal on the country's nuclear program. — AP writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report. Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Sports World Toronto Maple Leafs
