July 27 (UPI) — The U.S. Consulate in Toronto was shot at early Monday, according to authorities, marking the second time the facility been targeted by gunfire this year.
Deputy Chief Frank Barredo of the Toronto Police Service told reporters in a press conference that a police security detail at the consulate in downtown Toronto heard what sounded like a gunshot in the vicinity at 4:46 a.m. EDT.
The officer noticed a white late-model Honda Accord with no license plates speed away from the building and radioed the information. Additional officers noticed the suspect vehicle nearby and engaged it in a high-speed chase onto the Don Valley Parkway, heading northbound.
Barredo said the suspect vehicle was driving at speeds in excess of 87 miles per hour, prompting officers to end the chase, in accordance with police procedures because of the danger posed to the public, near the Don Mills Road and the DVP.
At the scene, police recovered a single shell casing, he said. The building’s facade also suffered damage, he added.
While no motive is known, Barredo said police suspect the shooting was premeditated.
“I don’t think it’s just a fluke that there was no license plate on the vehicle,” he said. He also described the shooting as “brazen” and “reckless” given that a police cruiser was parked outside.
Two security officers were inside the heavily fortified building at the time of the shooting, though Barredo said they would not necessarily have noticed the shot.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow mirrored Barredo’s description of the shooting as a “brazen attack” and vowed to work with authorities to get “the illegal American guns off our street” and to bring those responsible to justice.
“I want to say to the person or persons responsible. We will get you. We have apprehended the previous shooters, all three of them, and we will bring you to justice. You will be held accountable,” she said.
UPI has contacted the consulate for comment.
The shooting comes amid fraying relations between Canada and the United States. President Donald Trump‘s combative rhetoric and actions, including threatening to annex Canada and imposing stiff tariffs on it, have angered many across the Great White North and have compelled Ottawa to begin distancing itself economically and militarily from Washington.
In March, multiple shots were fired at the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto.
Last month, Toronto police arrested three people in connection with the March shooting. Constable Marc Pinizzotto was killed in a related police raid.
Police said the shooting was one of at least 27 they believe were carried out by criminals for hire. Authorities have not made public who hired them.
The second shooting at the consulate also occurred as two Jewish-owned bakeries in the city were the targets of vandalism, at least one of which was shot at.
Asked if the second shooting at the consulate was potentially another criminal-for-hire plot or connected to the bakery shootings, Barredo said it was too early to tell.
“We, obviously, would not rule that out as a possibility,” he said.
“We do know that is a phenomenon that has grown in the GTA area. Some criminals simply perform services for hire. They don’t have any personal interest in matter; they simply are hired to carry out a specific act of criminality.”
Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree said in an online statement he was “appalled by the brazen shooting” and has spoken with Chow, and offered his full support to the Toronto Police Service.
“Violence of any kind will never be tolerated in Canada,” he said.
From journalist to CEO to PM: Han Seong-sook breaks barriers to lead Korea’s AI revolution.
The National Assembly — South Korea’s parliament — has confirmed former Naver CEO Han Seong-sook as the country’s new prime minister. The 59-year-old will be only the second woman to hold the position in South Korea. The first female prime minister was Han Myeong-sook, who served from 2006 to 2007.
After President Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party dominated June’s local elections, he nominated Han as prime minister. She had previously served as minister for small businesses and startups.
Han began her career as a technology journalist, then joined a search startup, and later rose through Naver’s senior ranks. She was the first non-engineer CEO of a major South Korean technology company and, at the time, the only woman outside the chaebol families — the dynasties that control the country’s large industrial conglomerates — to lead a top-100 firm.
During her five-year stint at Naver, Han pushed the company beyond search into shopping, payments, and content generation, cementing its position as the country’s top internet group. With a reputation for hands-on communication, she gave up the top-floor suite for a mid-level office to be closer to staff. When she entered government last year, she became the richest public-office nominee in Korea’s post-1993, post-autocracy history.
Driving South Korea’s AI Growth Agenda
“I think one can interpret the nomination of Han Seong-sook as a deliberate signal to markets: a former CEO rather than a career politician is being installed to place a credible tech operator at the heart of Lee’s AI-led growth agenda,” says Hannes Mosler, chair of East Asian Social Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “The promise is continuity in the semiconductor export boom and a pledge to recycle those gains into AI and a sturdier social safety net.”
Yet, Han’s nomination remains clouded by suspicion.
Mosler notes: “The controversies are real, but mostly the standard Korean confirmation gauntlet: multiple-home ownership that sits badly against Lee’s anti-speculation line, a data breach in her own ministry’s startup program, and family property dealings. None look good on her, nor do they look disqualifying, even though you never know.”
The harder question, Mosler argues, is not so much her confirmation, since Lee’s party holds the majority in Parliament, but rather her ability to deliver.
“Korea’s premiership is largely administrative,” he points out, “so Han’s real influence depends on whether President Lee genuinely lets a technocrat drive industrial policy or keeps her as the public face.”
Luca Ventura is a contributing writer based in Italy.
Virat Kohli survives an umpire review before being dismissed with the very next ball as Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid combine to give England an “important breakthrough” against India during the second one-day international in Cardiff.
The United States on Sunday carried out a second night of airstrikes against Iranian targets as their dispute over transit rights in the Strait of Hormuz threatened to escalate beyond the region. U.S. Navy file photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Zoe Simpson
July 12 (UPI) — The U.S. military said late Sunday ithad completed a new wave of attacks against Iran, as world leaders raised fears that a fragile cease-fire would collapse and the conflict could widen beyond the region.
The Sunday attack was the second consecutive night that the United States had attacked Iran and was the fourth round in a week, prompting retaliatory strikes from Tehran against regional U.S. military assets following each operation, as the two sides battle over the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
U.S. Central Command said its forces had completed the wave of strikes, claiming to have hit dozens of targets with precision munitions with the intent to “degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iranian air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities and small boats were among the targets attacked by U.S. fighter jets, naval assets and aerial and sea drones on Sunday, CENTCOM said.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
“Iran does not control it.”
The announcement of the operation’s conclusion came hours after CENTCOM said it had begun and after the U.S. military refuted Iran’s claims that it had closed the vital waterway in response to what it characterized as violations of the 25-day-old U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that established the shaky cease-fire.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway,” CENTCOM declared. “U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations. Iran does not control the strait.
“Traffic is flowing.”
Late Sunday, Iranian media reported explosions near Sirik and west of Bandar Abbas in the country’s south during the second night of U.S. strikes, which came shortly after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted what it called American military assets in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
As CENTCOM announced the completion of its strikes, state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was targeting U.S. bases in Jordan.
Those attacks drew condemnation from the Gulf states and warnings from world leaders that events were spiraling quickly.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it is “following with deep concern the recent incidents that are further escalating the regional tensions.”
Islamabad, which mediated the memorandum of understanding, “reiterates its strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all brotherly countries in the region, and urges all sides to exercise restraint, take immediate steps towards de-escalation, and uphold respective commitments under the [MOU].”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday similarly expressed “deep concerns” over what he called a “serious escalation & renewed military confrontations in the Gulf, including the Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the attacks by the U.S. on Iran, and the attacks by Iran on targets in the neighboring countries.
“These attacks must all stop,” he said, warning that “a return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences — for the peoples of the region, for international peace & security & for the global economy.
“I urge Iran & the U.S. to urgently resume negotiations & to address outstanding issues through diplomacy,” Guterres said.
The fighting comes as the two sides were negotiating the implementation of the MOU, with the Strait of Hormuz appearing to be a sticking point.
The United States resumed striking Iran on Wednesday after Iran attacked three commercial ships in the vital chokepoint. The Trump administration is seeking to regain freedom of navigation through the strait, while Iran seeks to maintain control over ships transiting it.
A missile identified as “Khorramshahr-4” was on display during a public rally in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on April 21, 2026. Photo by Behnam Tofighi/UPI | License Photo
Unionized members of Kakao Corp. stage a rally outside of the company’s headquarters in Pangyo, south of Seoul, in this file photo taken on June 10. Photo by Yonhap
Unionized workers of Kakao Corp., South Korea’s messenger app operator, took a day off en masse on Monday in a sign of protest amid a continued gridlock in wage negotiations.
In their second collective action, unionized members staged what they called a “Log-out Day” by taking simultaneous annual leave.
Some 2,100 workers from five units of Kakao, including its headquarters, Kakao Pay and Kakao Enterprise, have participated, the labor union claimed.
The company, however, said it estimates only 800 employees from Kakao’s headquarters took part in the latest industrial action.
Wage talks between Kakao’s labor union and management have been at a standstill since May, after the two sides failed to narrow differences in performance-based incentives.
The union is reportedly demanding the company pay around 13 to 14 percent of operating profit as bonuses, while the management has rejected such demands, claiming they put too much burden on the company.
On June 10, workers staged their first-ever strike. Some 1,500 union members walked out from their jobs for four hours and rallied near the company’s headquarters in Pangyo, south of Seoul.
Despite concerns from industry watchers, no disruptions were reported on Monday, including in the company’s key messenger service, KakaoTalk.
Kakao’s management had previously said it plans to continue negotiations with the union, while remaining on standby to ensure stable service operations.
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Four years on from his last Test appearance, Matt Fisher returns to the England side in style with a wicket in just his third over as he removes Devon Conway for nine on the opening morning of the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval.
With former Biden Cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra surging in recent polls, the two candidates battling to win the second spot in this week’s primary and advance to the November election highlighted the strategic reasons why they believe voters ought to support them.
Republican Steve Hilton — a former conservative commentator who rocketed past his main GOP rival, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, after President Trump endorsed him in April — urged voters to back him to avoid the possibility of two Democrats facing off in November.
“I want us to fight like we are third. We aren’t going to let this slip away,” Hilton told a few hundred people at the Santa Monica Hilton Hotel & Suites on Sunday morning.
Steve Hilton surged ahead of his GOP rival, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, after receiving an endorsement from the president.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
The former British political strategist once led the polls, but has slipped slightly behind Becerra. Not too far behind Hilton is billionaire hedge fund founder turned climate change activist Tom Steyer, a Democrat.
During his hour and a half appearance, Hilton veered between his oft-repeated criticisms about 16 years of Democrat-led rule in California to jabs at the top Democrats in the race.
Steyer’s nonstop advertising blitz is “one reason alone to defeat him,” while Becerra is the “living embodiment of more of the same.”
“Our secret weapon? The Democrat candidates,” Hilton said to chuckles.
Asked why voters shouldn’t back Bianco, Hilton said it was simple math. Only the first- and second-place finishers in the June 2 primary will advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
“Every vote for Chad Bianco is a vote for two Democrats in the top two,” he said.
If a GOP gubernatorial candidate fails to make the November ballot, it would depress the Republican vote, harming the party’s down-ballot candidates, as well as handicap a Republican-led ballot initiative that would require voters to show government-issued ID to cast ballots.
California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer takes a picture with a volunteer during a Get Out the Vote rally at Los Angeles Trade Technical College on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Steyer, who has spent a record-breaking $216 million of his wealth on his gubernatorial bid, argued that he is the only candidate in the race who is not beholden to special interests. He hammered Becerra for the support he has received from corporations including Meta, Airbnb, Uber and Chevron. Steyer argued that Becerra, if elected governor, would be more responsive to special interests than financially strapped Californians.
“We’ve seen it in this race. Chevron cuts you a check and you look the other way when they hike prices at the pump. Meta gives you money and your AI plan starts sounding like ChatGPT,” Steyer, sporting a ball cap labeling himself a “class traitor,” told more than 500 supporters at a community college near downtown Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. “That’s the story of Xavier Becerra.”
Corporations, along with labor unions and interest groups including the California Assn. of Realtors, have spent more than $18.7 million to boost Becerra as of Sunday, according to the election spending tracker California Target Book.
“These companies may be selfish, but they’re not stupid. They don’t give hundreds of thousands of dollars to get someone elected unless they know he’s going to be on their side,” Steyer said.
Though Steyer earned his fortune in part through past investments in private prisons, fossil fuels and private equity, his supporters described him as a reformed billionaire who stepped away from those industries more than a decade ago.
Francesca Fiorentini, a comedian and podcaster, compared Steyer to Charles Dickens’ fictional miser Ebenezer Scrooge.
“At the end of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ nobody turns to Ebenezer and is like, ‘No, I’m not gonna accept your gifts.’ No, they welcome him. They might clown him a little bit, but we need to welcome someone like Tom Steyer,” Fiorentini said. “Tom Steyer is actually listening, he actually cares, he’s actually changing his belief system and he’s acting accordingly.”
Though he mainly went after Becerra, Steyer also made sure to criticize Hilton.
“You are not voting for who’s on the ballot, you’re voting for the California that comes after,” Steyer said. “The California that Steve Hilton is running on sounds exactly like what Trump wants: higher prices, lower wages, and less freedom.”
His campaign underscored his attacks against Becerra by having a handful of supporters dressed as zombies speak outside of Becerra’s Sunday evening rally in Long Beach. Waving signs naming businesses that have supported Becerra, they wore lanyards describing “Big Oil,” “Big Tech” and other corporate sectors as Becerra’s “bestie.”
At a raucous rally, elected officials, labor leaders and reproductive rights advocates were among the speakers who introduced Becerra, who attacked Steyer and Hilton, though not by name.
“We are not going to let a billionaire or Trump’s handpicked candidate take over this state,” he told more than 1,000 people at the city’s convention center. “We are not going to let them gut Medicaid while Californians work hard to build a future. We are not going to let them buy an election…. Not here, not in this state, not on our watch.”
Becerra seemed in awe as he stood in front of the packed room.
“Look around this room. One of our opponents has a billion dollars in a checkbook,” he said. “We have something better… We don’t have the money, but we have the movement. We don’t have the money, but we’ve got the momentum. And in this state, if you’ve got the momentum, you run across the finish line, and you win, baby, you win.”
Becerra also released a new video that ostensibly attacks Hilton as “Trump’s favorite” — a thinly veiled effort to prop up Hilton among Republicans to ensure he finished ahead of Steyer in the primary. Given that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by almost 2 to 1, Becerra would much rather face Hilton than Steyer in the general election.
Newsom’s campaign employed this strategy to boost GOP businessman John Cox in the 2018 gubernatorial election, as did then-Rep. Adam Schiff against Republican Steve Garvey in Schiff’s successful 2024 U.S. Senate race.
Billionaire Tom Steyer has argued that he is the only candidate not beholden to special interests.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Steyer launched an ad this weekend titled “Risky” that implies Becerra could face criminal charges related to the acts of two former advisors who have plead guilty to federal charges related to stealing campaign funds from a dormant Becerra campaign account.
Becerra’s campaign called the ad defamatory in a cease and desist letter sent to the Steyer campaign on Saturday.
Becerra, Hilton and Steyer, the front-runners in the race, barnstormed the state in the final days before the June 2 primary. They devoted much of their attention to voters in Southern California, which is home to many of the state’s 23.2 million registered voters. Lower-polling candidates also stumped in the Southland — San José Mayor Matt Mahan greeted diners at Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles, and former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter kicked off a union canvassing event in Orange on Saturday.
Unlike recent contests to lead the nation’s most populous state, this year’s gubernatorial contest failed to energize the electorate. Despite a crowded field of candidates with notable resumes, as well as record-breaking spending by Steyer and independent-expenditure committees. Californians only recently tuned in.
Political experts of both parties believe voters malaise was due to fatigue about the nation’s political polarization, as well as Trump administration policies such as federal tariffs that drove up prices everywhere and some that disproportionately affected California, such as immigration raids. Southern Californians were also reeling from the devastating wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena and last year’s special election to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.
Earlier this year, Democratic leaders worried that their voters would splinter among their candidates, creating a scenario where two Republicans advanced to the general election. They controversially urged their party’s candidates to assess their viability, effectively urging several low-polling candidates to drop out of the race.
Democratic turnout also prompted concerns. As of May 22, mail ballots returned by Democrats were 9.2% lower compared with the 2022 gubernatorial primary, while ballots returned by Republicans were 11.6% higher, according to Political Data Intelligence. But the return rates are shifting — as of Friday, Democrats were 7% behind their 2022 return rate, while Republicans were 6.8% higher.
The most recent polls suggest that the prospect of two Republicans advancing to the general election is nonexistent, and there is now a slim chance that two Democrats win the top two spots in the June 2 primary.
