World Report - April 06: Sunday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: April 6, 2025

We're approaching the halfway mark of the federal election campaign.NDP leader Jagmeet Singh announces affordable housing plan.One man is under arrest after an hours-long lockdown on Parliament Hill.Ukraine says at least one person is dead after overnight drone and missile strikes in Kyiv.Pope Francis makes his first public appearance since being discharged from hospital two weeks ago.Some of President Donald Trump's new policies have some Canadian sports teams choosing to stay put. Baseball bat makers are seeing a surge in the sport's latest craze - the torpedo bat. Canadian scientist, Dr. Daniel Drucker, wins 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for role in discovering hormone used in Ozempic.

When they predict we'll fall, we rise to the challenge. When they say we're not a country, we stand on guard. This land taught us to be brave and caring, to protect our values, to leave no one behind. Canada is on the line, and it's time to vote as though our country depends on it, because like never before, it does. I'm Jonathan Pedneau, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada.

This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the Registeredleader of the Green Party of Canada. This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the registered agent of the Green Party of Canada. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning, I'm John Northcott. We begin with the federal election campaign. The leaders approaching the halfway mark as they work to woo voters following it all. The host of Rosemary Barton Live. Rosemary, a lot happened last week. What stood out for you?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, John, the week was dominated again by President Trump and the tariff war. And for the second time in this campaign, the liberal leader stepped off the campaign trail into his role as prime minister to take action and put those counter tariffs on the US for its moves against the auto sector, which has already led to temporary layoffs in Ontario. Mark Carney said yesterday that Canada can expect pressure on employment in this economy. He also talked about the risks of further job cuts, higher inflation, and an American recession, which of course will undoubtedly have an impact on the Canadian economy. And he again, yesterday pointed to his experience as the head of the Bank of England during

Brexit to suggest that he is the best suited to deal with what is ahead. And this past week, John, we also saw Pierre Poilie have shift his message somewhat to talk more about the threats of Donald Trump, vowing to make Canada's economy more independent as conservatives would fast track pipelines, natural gas plants, and other natural resource projects. But he also maintained that his election strategy is the right one because he's talking about the issues that matter to Canadians around affordability and other things. And it continues, John, to be really difficult for the smaller parties to position themselves

given that they are not going to form government. Okay, Rosemary, week three, what are you watching for ahead? Well, I think there are no tariff deadlines this week, but there are ongoing threats, in particular this news that the US is set to more than double the duty it charges on softwood lumber imports from Canada. According to BC Premier David Eby, who called that an attack on forest workers

and British Columbians, Eby says he will meet with Mark Carney in Victoria tomorrow to discuss supports and things that the government might do there. So another way that this trade war continues to ripple across the country continues to affect the election campaign. P. Paulyev also in British Columbia today, which is really a key battleground for the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP, though the NDP's struggle in the polls also being reflected out West, even though Jagmeet Singh's own riding is in that province. Rosemary Barton, thank you.

Thanks, John. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is campaigning in Halifax this morning. Affordable housing is his topic today. Singh says too many people don't have a safe, affordable place to live. Our plan is national rent control. We want to make sure that people actually have protections, that renters are protected. Our plan is to end fixed term leases.

We want to end rent evictions and dem evictions. We want to strengthen tenant unions to be able to negotiate for their tenants with the landlords. We want to end the collusion that's going on, where large corporate landlords are colluding to jack up rent. The NDP says any province or municipality wanting federal funds for housing will need to adopt laws to protect renters. Singh is heading to Montreal later today. Meanwhile Bloq

Québécois leader Yves-Francois-Banchard is also in Quebec attending events in a Montreal suburb. Conservative leader Pierre Polyev is on the West Coast making stops in Metro Vancouver. Liberal leader Mark Carney is holding an event tonight in Victoria. The Green Party co-leaders Jonathan Pedneau and Elizabeth May are holding events in New Brunswick and BC respectively. A 31-year-old man is facing several charges after an hours-long lockdown on Parliament Hill. Ottawa police say a man gained unauthorized access to the East Block yesterday afternoon before barricading himself inside the building. The East Block houses parliamentary offices. The building was eventually evacuated. Ottawa

police say in the end the man surrendered peacefully. He's facing two counts of breach of probation as well as public mischief and uttering threats to cause property damage. At least one person is dead after an overnight strike in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say Russia launched more than a hundred drones and nearly two dozen missiles targeting the capital. A separate strike left at least three people injured and caused several fires. Reporter Dominic Velaitis has the latest.

Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine overnight. In the capital, Kyiv, several office buildings were damaged and what the authorities said was another Russian missile attack. One man was killed, at least three others were injured. This morning, the damage was clear to see. A huge crater is visible. In one of the buildings that was hit, debris is scattered all around. And with fires recorded in at least three districts of Kiev, smoke can be seen rising in the distance.

The early morning attack on the capital came after officials in Ukraine's southern region of Mikolai said three women had been injured and several buildings damaged in another Russian strike. Yesterday, Ukrainian officials said 19 people were killed, including nine children, in President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown of Kriviry. Yesterday evening and today many are in the world. In his overnight address, Zelensky thanked those allies which condemned the Russian missile and drone strikes. But in a separate post on social media, he criticised the US Embassy in Ukraine for what he described as its surprisingly disappointing response to the attack. Dominic Vlaitis for CBC News, Riga, Latvia.

Pope Francis makes his first public appearance since being discharged from hospital two weeks ago. The crowd in St Peter's Square cheers and applauds as the pontiff greets them in a raspy voice. Francis spent five weeks in a Rome hospital battling life-threatening pneumonia before being released on March 23rd. The Vatican says the 88-year-old's health is improving and he's in good spirits. More Canadians are voicing their concerns about travelling to the United States. Some of President Donald Trump's new policies have some Canadian sports teams choosing to

stay put. Emma Weller explains. In a sports dome in Ottawa, these ultimate Frisbee athletes are fighting for a spot on the competitive team. If they make it, they would typically kick off their season by going to the U.S. for a tournament in May. But not this year. Terry Lynn Belanger is with the Ottawa Carlton Ultimate Association. We had no concerns about actually being at the tournament itself, but there are many touch points along the way that concerned us for some of our athletes who may feel unsafe

traveling down to the U.S. at this time. Their decision came after Donald Trump created an executive order recognizing only two genders, which Belanger says would put some of their members at risk. Parents like Andrew Anderson applaud the organization's stance, and so do some of the young athletes. My daughter was on board with Let's Not Go. She's been very vocal in thinking it's the wrong thing to do right now. Angela Ives Thurston is with the Ottawa Valley Roller Derby. She says for the same reasons, they too canceled their U.S. travel plans. We've seen the warning signs of this for years, and it's not something that is foreign to Canada. We're absolutely seeing the rise in transphobic,

blatant transphobic hate and discrimination. Both leagues say they're now looking to make alternative plans here in Canada. Emma Weller, CBC News, Ottawa. Baseball bat makers are seeing a surge in the sport's latest craze, the torpedo bat. It was recently featured in Major League Baseball's opening weekend when the New York Yankees hit a record number of home runs. Now a Quebec City business is among the manufacturers swinging to keep up with the demand for these unique bats. Rachel Watts reports.

Basically we have a torpedo bat. Bat maker Manuel Buffard is busy sanding and sawing in the B45 baseball factory. He's making a lot more torpedo bats than usual. It's unlike a regular bat. The torpedo was designed by an MIT physicist and brings the most amount of wood or mass to the part of the bat where contact most often happens.

B45 baseball has been making the bats for about a year. Marie-Pierre Gaslin is the general manager. As of last Saturday, demand for torpedoes was zero, and now that's basically all the requests we've been getting. It's 25 times more than what the company would usually expect she says. Just this week they received interest from about 30 players in the MLB. It's a small planet, it's a small team so it's we're a little tired we didn't expect that for sure but it's exciting. Assistant General Manager

Olivier Le Pen doesn't know how long interest will last. I don't think this bat can fit for everybody, but if I was a hitter, because now I'm too old, but if I was a hitter, I would try, I want to try that bat, of course, because I want to see if it helps me get better results. While some claim it makes for a faster swing, Le Pen says he's hesitant to rule the bat as a game-changer in the sport just yet. Rachel Watts, CBC News, Quebec City. And finally, a Canadian scientist is the winner of a 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Dr. Daniel Drucker is an endocrinology researcher at the University of Toronto. Now, he won for

his role in discovering the GLP-1 hormone. It was used in Ozempic and other medications. Drucker and four of his international colleagues have been awarded $3 million US. Well, that is the latest national and international news from World Report. If you're enjoying the World Report podcast, and we hope you are, please tell a friend or rate and review us. It helps spread the word. I'm John Northcott. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with us here at CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.