Big Headlines: Iran is seeking revenge after the killing of another top leader and a new poll suggests most Canadians want to remain neutral in this war

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Iran is in revenge mode after the killing of its top leaders, three now in the last two

days.

And a new poll suggests most Canadians want this country to stay out of it.

Hi, I'm Vergestave.

This is Big headlines, everything you need to know to be in the know in just five minutes.

For the third time in two days, Israel's claiming it's assassinated a top official in the

Iranian regime, now saying the Iranian intelligence chief has been killed.

Iran has been retaliating with cluster bombs over Tel Aviv.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social now suggesting what if the United States finished

off Iran and let allies deal with the Strait of Hormuz?

He's been calling out NATO allies for not helping.

Congressman John Garamendi is a senior member of the U.S. Armed Services Committee.

I have no idea what that statement's all about except he's upset that the rest of the

world doesn't want to go to war with him.

And I can understand that because it's not all clear what he wants to do.

This as the U.S. drops one of the most powerful non-nuclear weapons in its arsenal, 5,000

pound-deep penetrator bombs on Iranian missile sites along the crucial oil shipping

choke point.

President Trump has expressed disappointment that none of his allies wanted to donate

their military resources to guard commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, then

said he wasn't surprised in NATO worked on what he called a one-way street basis.

So how will Trump's miscalculation of ally support cost Canadians?

First Karen C. Olin speaks to Willie Lowry, one of the hosts of two blocks from the White

House, and a correspondent for CBC News in Washington today on the big story.

Can the U.S. reopen the Strait and I guess more broadly see this war through without the

help of allies?

Well, that's a great question.

I mean, again, you know, the U.S. would probably argue that it is in many ways open, right?

That they possess aerial superiority that they've got.

There's aircraft carriers in the region that it is more or less safe, but again, it's

that threat, the unknown that Iran possesses that are deterring these ships.

So is it that military escort that some in the Defense Department have suggested with

that achievement?

You know, I'm not sure.

It doesn't necessarily take away the threat of an Iranian, some sort of kind of attack,

right?

It just wouldn't perhaps make it less likely to be effective.

So it's really hard to eliminate threats until you kind of resolve this conflict.

You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

As the war in Iran rages on for a 19th day, a new leje poll suggests most Canadians believe

the government of Canada should remain neutral, while one in four say this country should

support the U.S. and Israel in their attacks on Iran.

Leje's executive vice president for Central Canada says the political divide by party support

puts the government in a sort of difficult position.

You see that a little bit in how the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense are being

very careful at choosing their words and sometimes getting caught up in terms of what they

say and having to explain things.

And I think it's challenging for them because I think their supporters want a much more

category.

This shouldn't.

This is really bad.

And we should be taking a strong stand against it.

Liberal and blockade by qua voters were more likely to say Canada should remain neutral

on the war.

Conservative voters were more likely to say Canada should support the U.S. and Israel in their

attacks on Iran.

Also making big headlines, the Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate at 2.25 percent

today as the economy performs below expectations.

But war in Iran is threatening higher inflation.

The central bank's decision to keep to the sidelines was widely expected, but the future

path for the policy rate is much less clear.

Governor Tiff Macklems says the Bank of Canada is in a dilemma with U.S. trade uncertainty

keeping the economy soft, but the war in Iran is sending global oil prices surging and

is likely spurring higher inflation in the months to come.

The federal government is appealing a ruling on its use of the Emergency Act to the Supreme

Court.

The Act was used four years ago to remove blockades at multiple border crossings and to end

the week's long freedom convoy protests in downtown Ottawa.

Jason White of the Canadian Press has more.

The Emergency Act defines a national emergency as a temporary but urgent and critical situation

that seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians, exceeds the capacity

or authority of a province to deal with it and cannot be effectively dealt with under any

other law of Canada.

The federal court of appeal concluded the government did not have reasonable grounds to believe

a national emergency existed.

The government has previously said the steps it took were targeted, proportional, time-limited

and compliant with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It was a nail-biter finale of the World Baseball Classic in Florida, a team Venezuela nearly

losing the game after blowing a two-run lead to Bryce Harper and Team USA in the A-Finning

before Venezuela managed to come back and hold off any last-ditch efforts from the U.S.

This is the first World Baseball Classic Championship title for Venezuela, ESPN's Jason Roberts

has the final call.

Venezuela's acting president has declared today a national day of joy and made it a non-working

holiday, except, of course, for essential workers.

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I'm Rajesh Dev, we'll talk to you tomorrow.