Toronto Star
The ugly side of Botox
When Magdalena Chytros woke up with droopy eyelids, she didn't get too worried, thinking it was just a fleeting side effect of the Botox. But over the next few days she started struggling to swallow, and her breaths drew shorter. She slurred her...
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SHIFTING GROUND
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed...
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MAJOR SURPRISE
The majority government Liberals hoped for in the last federal election is finally within their grasp. The party technically crossed that threshold Wednesday with the defection of a former Conservative leadership candidate to the government benches —...
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Back from the brink
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, swerving to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal. Trump said he was holding off...
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Catholic school cuts mean a triple blow for some families
For Liliana Cruz's family, the Toronto Catholic school board's latest decisions — cutting international language classes, eliminating an intensive reading support program and shifting bell times — amount to a triple blow. “They're all terrible,” said...
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DIRT CHEAP — if you can get it
Nicaragua. Tanzania. Italy. Australia. On a sailboat in Antigua. For almost 18 years, Chiara Falorni, from different countries around the world, has set an alarm come March to wake up early to try to get a spot. It's not for a concert ticket queue but...
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A brush with death
She didn't realize what had happened, not right away. It was the calm ocean water turning bright red that told her something was deeply wrong. A bull shark had clamped its jaw around her left leg, the bite causing her muscles to flake away from the...
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Standing up for students
Children in Parkdale are missing meals, struggling to focus and being displaced from their community due to high housing costs, say teachers who have joined a fight against rent increases in the area. “Parkdale kids gossip and spread rumours as much...
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`We are go, for all of humanity'
With a splash of light and a violent rumble rolling over the Florida marshes, NASA's Artemis II mission to send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than five decades lifted off Wednesday evening with Canadian Jeremy Hansen on...
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Veni, vidi, very defeated
The Cafe Dip derby is cancelled then. The treasured tavernas and trattorie of Toronto's Little Italy must rip up summer plans. Big Italy is not coming. The most monumental day in the history of Canadian soccer will see not Gli Azzurri but Bosnia and...
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LEAFS FIRE GENERAL MANAGER
The Maple Leafs have relieved general manager Brad Treliving of his duties late in a disappointing season. No replacement was named, and no other firings or hirings were announced. Coach Craig Berube and special assistant Shane Doan, both Treliving...
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Juno love letter to Joni
Joni Mitchell took the stage for her first performance since 2024 after accepting a lifetime achievement award from Prime Minister Mark Carney at Sunday's Juno Awards. The Canadian folk icon was welcomed by Carney, who gave a glowing speech, saying...
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How to raise an astronaut
Jeremy Hansen sat his parents down not long ago and explained he might not be coming back from his mission. As early as Wednesday, Hansen, 50, will climb aboard a 98metretall rocket at NASA's Cape Canaveral launch pad for Artemis II, the mission...
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GO Expansion project hits major speed bumps
Metrolinx's promise of twoway, allday GO service has been delayed, internal documents from the provincial transit agency show. Meanwhile, under the reframed vision for what's known as GO Expansion, some riders on the province's train system could...
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Inside the Pearson heist
After pulling off the largest gold heist in Canadian history — a $24million haul stolen from Pearson airport — Arsalan Chaudhary took a portion of the spoils for himself and then distributed the profits to names on his handwritten “debt list.” Reading...
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`An absolute tragedy'
Canadian families are mourning the loss of two young pilots killed in a devastating runway collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York as passengers on Monday praised the pair's last act as potentially lifesaving. Just before midnight, an Air Canada...
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What in dog's name?
By some estimates, there are 300,000 dogs in Toronto and many thousands more in the GTA. In all likelihood, there is only one Diefenbarker. He is an incredibly friendly eightor nineyearold boxer mix with a greying muzzle and lowhanging jowls, and...
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False promises
Though his tours in Afghanistan and Ukraine left their mark on his body and brain, Tristan Barkwell hoped to live a normal life beyond the base. After his medical release last year, the 37yearold sergeant enrolled in the military's rehabilitation...
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THE NEW FACE OF CANCER
When he started out in medicine, Dr. Shady Ashamalla knew what to expect when he glanced into his hospital clinic's waiting room. The cancer patients sitting in the grey vinyl chairs were almost always in their retirement years — couples in their 70s...
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Fastbreaking times at Ridgeway mall
There's a controlled chaos when dining at Ridgeway Plaza during the last days of Ramadan. The sprawling Mississauga complex, with more than 100 restaurants and cafés, most with halalfriendly menus, has become a food destination for diners from across...
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A surprise guilty plea
Jennifer Pan stood in a mostly empty courtroom on Wednesday and apologized through tears to her family after taking ownership of her role in her mother's death. “I'm ashamed of what I did,” she said. The now39yearold woman pleaded guilty to...
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Ford touts HOV lanes for all in offpeak hours
Solo drivers could soon be allowed to cruise down Ontario's highoccupancy vehicle lanes, outside of peak hours, though experts say it will do little to address gridlock. The provincial government touted the move as the key to reducing congestion,...
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Joining the big leagues
Reigning MVP Shai GilgeousAlexander has earned a lot of praise over his stellar NBA career, including just last week when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive regularseason games with at least 20 points. But he's also received criticism...
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BATTLE ROYALE
“One Battle After Another,” a black comedy thriller about a single father trying to protect his daughter from his past as a revolutionary, won big at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night, claiming six statuettes, including for best picture. Paul...
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UP IN THE AIR
On a summer morning in Toronto, the waterfront is buzzing. A gaggle of children paddle kayaks on a day camp trip to the Toronto Islands. Waterfront condo dwellers sip coffee by their windows. Sailboats dot the sparkling water. Cyclists, pedestrians,...
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NO WAY OUT
The traffic light at Cherry Street and Lake Shore Boulevard East turned green and Uber driver Sudhanshu Sudhanshu watched as a Tesla Model Y in the next lane accelerated rapidly away into the night. Seconds later, he saw the Tesla hit uneven pavement....
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New Iranian leader vows to keep fighting
U.A.E. Iran's secretive new leader issued his first public statements Thursday, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted world energy supplies, the...
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On the edge of 172 seats
OTTAWA With a thin Liberal majority now all but secured, opposition parties lashed out at the government on Wednesday, claiming Prime Minister Mark Carney was wrongfully inching toward that threshold by poaching MPs without facing voters. The outrage...
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Ontario to claim airport, allow jets
In a dramatic move to bring jets and more flights into Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Premier Doug Ford says the province will expropriate the land and pay compensation to the city despite Mayor Olivia Chow's opposition to the expansion. Ford said...
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`One way or another'
Premier Doug Ford said Monday the federal government is on board and jets are coming to Billy Bishop airport “one way or another.” “We're going to move forward with the Island airport with cooperation with the federal government,” Ford said during a...
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Age of uncertainty
When Ryan first set foot in an Etobicoke youth shelter last fall at the age of 17, he felt a surge of relief. He'd been staying at a homeless shelter in Orangeville for months, but every day its occupants had to clear out for several hours, and he was...
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SO LONG
Congratulations, Toronto. We may be wan, vitamin D deficient and spiritually withered, but we made it. After months of what felt like relentless cold and snow, the residents of this city finally had a doubledigit degree day. Saturday's weather saw a...
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Shock of war reverberates in Toronto
Gamal Mansour's life has been shaped by Iran, though he's never lived there. Mansour grew up in Syria, under a dictatorship propped up by Tehran. Human rights were trampled on, and ordinary people weren't free to speak their minds. Things got so bad...
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Application denied
Developer Romit Malhotra says he had every confidence his building proposal in Scarborough would be approved. The apartment plan had endorsements from three divisions of city staff. It was supported by a new policy encouraging gentle densification on...
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A common cause
Prime Minister Mark Carney would not rule out military involvement in the spiralling Middle East war, stressing the possible need to defend Canadians and allies as the deadly conflict threatens to widen. Carney also appeared Thursday to harden his...
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`I will not be running'
John Tory shook up the Toronto mayoral race on Tuesday, but not in the way many had expected. After months of speculation that the politician who resigned abruptly from the city's highest office three years ago was planning a comeback bid this fall —...
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Assault on Iran likely to last weeks, Trump says
Israeli and U.S. airstrikes pounded Iran in an escalating campaign that U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday would likely take several weeks. Tehran and its allies retaliated across the region, striking Israel and a variety of targets inside Gulf...
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Strikes on Iran intensify amid fears of wider war
The U.S. and Israel pounded targets across Iran on Sunday, dropping massive bombs on the country's ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali...
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Supreme leader killed as U.S., Israel strike Iran
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability....
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100 days to kickoff
Young Malcolm McGuigan's world orbits a soccer ball. This summer, the highest expression of the game, the FIFA World Cup, is happening in his backyard and he's elated. “I played since I was young,” the nineyearold centremidfielder told the Star....
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Province unveils design for new Science Centre
Toronto is getting a dramatic new Ontario Science Centre on the waterfront as Premier Doug Ford also promises a massive “worldclass” downtown convention complex to be unveiled later this year. Hoping to turn the page on controversy over the abrupt...
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New powers for transit cops?
Premier Doug Ford says people using drugs on the TTC “need to be arrested,” as the province mulls expanded powers for the special constables. “If someone's using drugs or shooting up drugs on a subway, they need to be arrested and removed,” Ford told...
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Four years of bloodshed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared Tuesday that Russia has not “broken Ukrainians” nor triumphed in its war, four years after an invasion that has severely tested the resolve of Kyiv and its allies and fuelled European fears about the...
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Rattled by violence
There was an “eerie” calm in Puerto Vallarta on Monday, with typically touristfilled streets empty and storefronts closed, some burned. As some flights resume, thousands of Canadians remain stranded in the popular resort destination, one of many...
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Heartbreak and regret
MILAN They will see the moments flash in their minds for years: open nets, open ice, a chance to win gold for their country. In the first bestonbest men's Olympic hockey final in 12 years, Canada knew what was riding on this and was the better team,...
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Canada shows its true grit
MILAN This is why they came back. This is why NHL players, and especially stars, wanted to return to the Olympics: to play in the games that make legends, with the weight of a country on your shoulders. Canada 4, Czechia 3, Olympic quarterfinals,...
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Striking gold, again
Race time was approaching, and so was the end. Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais won gold in the team pursuit four years ago in Beijing and this was their last race, in an Olympic final. They hadn't really talked about it. In the...
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Back on the podium
MILAN Big air requires courage and Megan Oldham knows it. When she finished fourth in big air at the 2022 Olympics she just didn't have big enough jumps, so Oldham worked to change that. She became the first woman to land a triple cork in competition...
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GOING OUT ON TOP
MILAN When Mikaël Kingsbury was a child he told himself he would win Olympic gold in moguls one day, and there must have been so much wonder in that. He was entering a world with a destination, but no fixed ending; he was giving himself to the snow and...
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Marching in solidarity
A crowd estimated at 350,000 people took to the streets of North York in support of Iranian antiregime protesters on Saturday in one of the biggest rallies in the city's history. The march, which proceeded four kilometres down Yonge Street from...
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`We will always be with you'
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country's federal leaders stood shoulder to shoulder to offer their support and remember victims of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. on Friday night. “Nothing I can say will bring your children home,” Carney...
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A community gripped by grief
It was a day of mourning in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., as more details about the victims of the shooting massacre emerged Thursday and anguished parents posted online about children who will never come home. Most were tweens. Their faces still had cherub...
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A community in shock, a nation united in grief
An agonizing search for answers is underway in a small town in northern British Columbia after a teenager went on a rampage with a pair of guns, killing six children and two adults in an attack that started in the perpetrator's home and ended in the...
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Water under the bridge?
After speaking with Donald Trump on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney played down the U.S. president's threat to thwart the opening of the new Canadianbuilt bridge between Windsor and Detroit, but the White House doubled down on Trump's insistence...
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Duct tape, bravery and a bronze
Megan Oldham stood at the top of the hill with an Olympic medal on the line, a medal she'd wanted since she was a kid, and her body hurt. The 24yearold had crashed in her second run in the freestyle ski slopestyle final at the Milan Cortina...
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Crossing the finish line
On a brisk Sunday morning, the first TTC riders boarded Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT — a line that has finally opened after 15 years of delays and seemingly neverending construction. The inaugural train left from Kennedy Station at 7:29 a.m., a...
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Speeding to the podium
The first time Valérie Maltais cried was when she realized she had done it. She had met the love of her life, switched sports, hungrily worked to improve, won a gold medal in team pursuit at the Beijing Olympics, but it wasn't enough. Maltais wanted an...
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Getting in the ring
Una bella figura. For those who don't capisce Italian, that's an idiom meaning a whole bunch of things wrapped up in a few words: Stylish, cutting a fine figure, making a good impression, impeccable presentation, social grace. How this cosmopolitan...
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SCANDAL ROCKS POLICE
Seven police officers and one retired constable are facing charges in the wake of an unprecedented criminal corruption investigation that allegedly found Toronto cops leaking confidential information that facilitated shootings, extortions and a...
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The Olympic dispirit
This city must still be in her hair rollers and slip. Surely, before the guests formally arrive for Friday's opening ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympics, she'll be all set to fling open the front door and announce: Avanti! Avanti! But as the hours...
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The hear and now
For years, Anabia Bilal couldn't hear the simple sounds of her mother's footsteps walking around their home. The 10yearold couldn't hear a clock ticking or the wind whistling. And when people spoke to her during family gatherings, Anabia said it...
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Glimmer of hope in Gaza
CAIRO A dozen Palestinian returnees were allowed into Gaza from Egypt late Monday after the longawaited reopening of the Rafah border crossing was marred by delays. Their arrival came hours after a small group of medical evacuees was ferried from the...
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`We just want peace'
Throngs of demonstrators met at the city's downtown Sankofa Square Sunday afternoon, growing to an estimated crowd of 100,000 people in a march to Queen's Park, in a show of solidarity with Iranians who have been protesting the country's theocratic...
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The perfect storm
It was, in many ways, a perfect storm. It moved quietly, efficiently, leaving little untouched in its wake. A week after a recordbreaking snowfall hit Toronto, the evidence is still everywhere: snowbanks piled high at the edges of driveways, cars...
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A life of laughter
She was a global television and movie star who never lost her bred-in-Canada humility — who started out waitressing at Toronto's Second City club, soaking up lessons from the comedians she saw on its stage, and who went on to become a comedy legend...
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Undivided attention
Following revelations Thursday that U.S. government officials met Alberta separatists ahead of a possible independence referendum, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expects the Donald Trump administration to respect Canadian sovereignty “at all...
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At the top of their Games
Canada's flagbearers for the Milan Cortina Olympics are decorated athletes who have waded through adversity to get to their fourth Games. On Feb. 6, moguls skier Mikaël Kingsbury and ski cross racer Marielle Thompson will bear the Maple Leaf in...
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BREAKING POINT
News that a unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be present during the upcoming Winter Games has set off concern and confusion in Italy, where people have expressed outrage at the inclusion of an agency that has dominated headlines...
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CAN YOU DIG IT?
Days before the first snowflake fell in Toronto on Sunday, a crew of scientists in Florida boarded a plane nicknamed “Gonzo” and flew backtoback missions, first over the Gulf of Mexico and then the Atlantic. “Gonzo” is a Hurricane Hunter, a fleet of...
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White out
A massive storm walloped southern Ontario on Sunday, dumping a record amount of snow that clogged roads and crippled public transit, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and prompting school boards to call off classes on Monday. The city...
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Fresh fury after killing
A federal immigration officer shot and killed a man Saturday in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto frigid streets and ratcheting up tensions in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier. Family members identified the...
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