In the news today: U.S.-Iran tensions grow, rate decision, chiefs gather in Ottawa

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

Tehran threatens to halt all Mideast energy exports after U.S. reimposes its blockade on Iran

Iranian state media says U.S. strikes overnight on Iran killed at least seven troops assigned to the 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

State television reported Wednesday that the troops of the 388th were at a barracks in Bampour in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The report said the Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and that the dead included conscripts and career soldiers, while a number of other troops were wounded.

The army said it would “give a decisive response to this aggressive action by the American enemy,” state TV added.

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Bank of Canada to deliver fifth interest rate decision of the year

The Bank of Canada is set to deliver its fifth interest rate decision of the year this morning.

Economists widely expect the central bank will remain on hold, keeping its policy rate at 2.25 per cent.

Inflation has jumped above three per cent in recent months as higher oil prices from the Iran war sent gasoline costs skyrocketing over the spring.

Officials at the Bank of Canada have made clear they’re willing to look beyond the initial price shock from the war but are prepared to act if there are signs inflation is spreading beyond the gas pumps.

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First Nations chiefs gather in Ottawa for second day of AFN general assembly

First Nations leaders attending the Assembly of First Nations annual general meeting in Ottawa today are expected to debate the terms of an upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the premiers and territorial leaders.

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said a planned meeting this fall between first ministers and chiefs from across the country was hard to secure and must not be the last of its kind.

Woodhouse Nepinak told chiefs the Prime Minister’s Office has confirmed the meeting will take place in October.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is also expected to attend this week’s AFN gathering to talk about the federal housing and infrastructure strategy.

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Sentencing expected for boy who killed elderly woman in Pickering, Ont.

An Ontario Superior Court judge is expected to rule today on the sentence for a 15-year-old boy who pleaded guilty to murdering an elderly woman in Pickering, Ont., last year.

The boy apologized in court on Tuesday for repeatedly stabbing Eleanor Doney, an 83-year-old grandmother and retired kindergarten teacher, in an unprovoked attack as she was cleaning up her yard in May 2025. 

The Crown and defence agreed that the maximum youth sentence of six years in custody and four years of conditional supervision would be appropriate in the case.

The boy, who was 14 at the time of the murder, cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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Will Hamilton hit pause on data centres? Council set to vote on moratorium

Hamilton is expected to vote today on whether to become the first city in Canada to put a temporary pause on new data centres. 

The moratorium vote comes as local lawmakers across the country wrestle with the noise, energy and water concerns around a new wave of data centres powering the boom in artificial intelligence. 

Supporters say it will ensure Hamilton can establish proper guardrails around the new facilities and guarantee public benefits, while critics say the pause could jeopardize investment in a city hit hard by steel tariffs. 

A developer’s plan to include a data centre campus in its overhaul of a portion of the city’s industrial waterfront prompted backlash and fuelled the push for a moratorium in recent weeks. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.