Iran’s nuclear program could be back online “in a matter of months,” despite punishing U.S. and Israeli attacks on key facilities, UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned in an interview — contradicting claims from President Donald Trump and Israeli officials that Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been set back for years. Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CBS News that although damage to Iranian nuclear sites was “serious,” critical capabilities remained intact. “Some is still standing,” he said, adding that Iran could have “a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium” in months, or possibly less. His comments mirror a preliminary Pentagon intelligence report leaked last week that concluded U.S.

Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa is drawing fierce criticism for stubbornly staying in a race that many warn could hand New York City to a radical socialist bent on dismantling the economic foundations of America’s largest metropolis. Sliwa, speaking Sunday on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable,” noted that Zohran Mamdani — a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist — has surged thanks to a powerful digital campaign targeting younger voters, but said his win his ultimately Mayor Adams’ fault. Mamdani, once a blip at just 1% in February, has since clinched the Democratic nomination and is poised to lead a city synonymous with free enterprise and capitalism. “There is no Zohran Mamdani if Eric Adams had done a decent job,” Sliwa argued, seeking to shift blame onto the embattled mayor.

The IDF on Sunday ordered mass evacuations across northern Gaza ahead of an intensified assault against Hamas, even as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up public pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lock down a ceasefire deal. The evacuation directive, issued in Arabic posts and in text messages sent directly to Palestinian phones, covers the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts — neighborhoods that had already been designated as no-go zones weeks ago. Residents were told to head toward the Mawasi area in southern Gaza, a narrow coastal zone where tens of thousands have already sought refuge.

Socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is standing firm on his controversial plan to raise property taxes on what he calls “richer and whiter neighborhoods” — and went even further Sunday, saying billionaires shouldn’t exist at all. Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mamdani claimed his tax plan was “not driven by race” — despite his campaign platform explicitly targeting white homeowners. “That is just a description of what we see right now. It’s not driven by race. It’s more of an assessment of what neighborhoods are being under-taxed versus over-taxed,” Mamdani said. “We’ve seen time and again that this is a property tax system that is inequitable. It’s one that actually Eric Adams ran on, saying that he would change in the first 100 days,” he added.

CNN host Michael Smerconish delivered an on-air assessment Saturday, arguing President Donald Trump is “on a roll” and enjoying the strongest stretch of his second term yet, citing the president’s series of military, economic, and political victories that have left opponents scrambling. “Donald Trump is having a moment,” Smerconish declared at the top of his CNN program, acknowledging his own past criticism of the president but insisting that “viewed objectively,” the past 10 days have been Trump’s best since returning to the White House. Among the highlights, Smerconish pointed to Trump’s precision bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, praising its stealth and the absence of American casualties.

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. The onslaught was “the most massive airstrike” on the country since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles, Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine’s air force, told The Associated Press.

Tropical Storm Barry formed Sunday near Mexico’s southeast coast and is expected to drench the region for several days. The storm’s center was located about 90 miles (140 kilometers) east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico and about 165 miles (about 265 kilometers) southeast of Tampico, Mexico, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving northwest at 6 mph (9 kph). A tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Boca de Catan southward to Tecolutla. The storm is expected to strengthen slightly before it reaches the coast of southeastern Mexico. Rapid weakening is expected after the system moves inland.

More than four years after a Florida condominium collapse killed 98 people, federal investigators have yet to make a final determination of the cause — but they do have some leading theories. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the agency handling the probe, said this week it hopes to conclude the investigation in 2026. “We intend for our investigation of this failure to have a lasting impact, save future lives and ensure this never happens again,” NIST investigator Judith Mitrani-Reiser said in the agency’s latest report. Most residents were asleep in the 12-story Champlain Towers South when the beachfront condo building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed into a huge pile of rubble at 1:22 a.m. on June 24, 2021.

Trump on Mamdani: “He’s a pure communist. I think he admits it … If he does get in, I’m gonna be president and he’s gonna have to the right thing or they’re not getting any money. He’s gotta do the right thing.”

Israel and Syria are on track to sign a landmark peace agreement before the end of 2025, according to a Syrian source speaking to i24NEWS. Under the reported framework, Israel would gradually withdraw from all Syrian territory it seized during its incursion into the buffer zone on December 8, including the strategic peak of Mount Hermon. The deal, if finalized, would fully normalize ties between the two longtime adversaries, with one source describing the Golan Heights as being transformed into “a garden for peace.”