World Report - April 29: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

John Northcott is in Ottawa for a detailed look at the Carney government's spring economic update. Helmets and hard hats: A look at Canada's plan to boost the military with skills training. Rising oil prices, driven higher by war in Iran, mean Ottawa is expected to see higher revenues. Bank of Canada holds key interest rate at 2.25 percent.British police say stabbing attack in north London that injured 2 Jewish men is a terrorist incident. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to be questioned by US lawmakers about war in Iran for the first time today. King Charles subtly jabs at US President Donald Trump in historic address while also calling for closer co-operation. European Union accuses Meta of failing to stop underage users from accessing Facebook and Instagram. 

Okay, three songs. You guess who there by. Three little birds, one love, and jamming. Yeah, that was a really hard quiz. These are all, of course, by Bob Marley. A whole lot of the world felt close to Bob and his music before and after his passing. But the guy who really knew him best was his son, Ziggy. On Q, Ziggy Marley will tell you about his new record and about the song he says, connect him to his late father, Bob Marley.

You can hear that conversation now. Just search Q with Tom Power wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm John Northcott coming to you today from Ottawa. We have comprehensive coverage of the federal government's economic update for you, digging deeper into the details of the statement. The carni liberals are announcing a fiscal position that is better than expected.

They're also spending billions of additional dollars, including investments in skilled trades. As Murray Brewster reports, that initiative is dovetailing with another government priority, strengthening the military. There's a number of program existing, a number of government institutions that have been having different programs to help people in the trades. But we've not seen a comprehensive approach. Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne

on how Canada has been dealing with a chronic gap of 20,000 skilled tradespeople. At the same time, the Canadian military is short reservists and hopes over the next decade to add tens of thousands of part-time soldiers. Enter the economic update with a plan to pay the education of reservists if they take up a skilled trade. The country's top military commander, General Jenny Kerynan, says the forces is already forging partnerships with trade schools to alleviate their own training issues. We can exploit those resources that are outside of our training system. we're having a lot of success during this. The Economic Update also promises to make the new Defense Investment Agency a separate entity with expanded powers

to move equipment projects along more swiftly. What wasn't in the update, a detailed accounting of how billions in extra funds meant to get Canada to NATO's 2% target were spent. Dave Perry is a defense expert. We've seen an overdue, a very welcome commitment of a serious injection of funding, but really remarkably little explanation of what,

where those dollars are actually going to go. Perry says it won't be long before the public starts asking questions, especially as government cuts elsewhere become more apparent. Marie Brewster, CBC News, Ottawa. Much of the optimism expressed in the economic update is founded on the expectation of revenue being higher than previously forecast. That's because rising oil prices, largely due to the war in Iran, are bringing more money into government coffers.

Even so, economists say the, update drastically underestimates how much money Ottawa will take in this year. CBC's senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong tells us what this means for the federal books. Merci, merci, Mr. President. Finance Minister Francois-Ferilippe-Champin tables the spring economic update in the House of Commons. He says the federal deficit is lower than expected, and the Canadian economy is performing better than expected. And the good news, Mr. Speaker, we're just getting started. And the federal liberals will get started on the next budget with what experts are calling a windfall.

The economic assumptions the economic update has built on were submitted before global energy prices spike. So instead of the main North American benchmark for oil fetching $75 per barrel, it's now closer to $100. Sahir Khan from the Institute of Fiscal Studies in Democracy says futures contracts show it will remain elevated well into next year. So, you know, if that comes to pass that we're at $80, $90 a barrel, then the federal government will have significantly higher revenues in the fall. And that's on top of, I think, the tax revenue that's coming in at a faster pace that was expected in the fall. That means the government can build in a cushion to use on whatever it chooses when it sits down to write the next budget later this year. Peter Armstrong, CBC News, Toronto. The Bank of Canada is not changing its key interest rate.

It remains at 2.25% where it's been since last hour. October. Here's Governor Tiff Macklam. Canada is being buffeted by global events and geopolitical uncertainties, but our economy is growing, and we expect it to continue to grow. The central bank is predicting the fiscal headwinds facing the economy are not changing any time soon. It's forecasting U.S. tariffs will remain in place, and the price of oil will remain high. The bank also warns of other significant risks, including the ongoing Middle East conflict and the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S. U.S. Mexico trade agreement.

British police say two Jewish men are in stable condition after being stabbed in North London. Witnesses say a man with a knife was seen running down a main street in Golders Green. One man was stabbed outside a synagogue, the other by some nearby stores. Police say a 45-year-old man is in custody. British Prime Minister Kier Starrmer is condemning the attack. It is deeply concerning to everyone in this house. There is now a police investigation, and I think we all need to do everything we can to support that investigation and be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offenses,

the like of which we've seen too much recently. Golders Green is the same area where four Jewish community ambulances were set on fire last month. Police are now calling this a terrorist incident, and the Israeli Prime Minister's office has issued a statement demanding the British government take action to protect Jews. King Charles and Queen Camilla are in New York today, part of their state visit. For two days, the U.S. President has been hosting the Royals in Washington, D.C. A visit capped off with a lavish state dinner last night.

The CBC's Katie Nicholson brings us the highlights. U.S. President Donald Trump had only praise for the King's speech before Congress. He got the Democrats to say, and I've never been able to do that. The state dinner in the King's office. honor, a more relaxed affair, but serious issues never that far off, like the war with Iran. Charles agrees with me, even more than I do. We're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon. For his part, the king nodded to the White House correspondence dinner shooting. May I also just start by paying tribute to your own courage and steadfastness, as well as to your

security services. And he reinforced some of the same points he made earlier on Capitol Hill, like the importance of NATO in defending Europe's freedom. And I shall never forget that, not least as freedom is again under attack following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. King Charles then presented Trump with a bell rescued from an old submarine, the HMS Trump. May it stand as a testimony to our nation's shared history and shining future. Much has been made of whether this visit will smooth over the rough patches, between the U.S. and British governments. I offer a toast to 250 years of American freedom,

and very importantly to a great man, his majesty, King Charles III. While Trump clearly admires the king, it remains to be seen whether that will in any way help the British Prime Minister. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. The European Union is accusing meta of failing to stop underage users from accessing Facebook and Instagram.

It would be a violation of the EU's tough digital rules requiring social media sites to protect miners. The penalty is a hefty fine, up to 6% of the company's global annual revenues. Meta will have a chance to respond before the EU issues its final decision. And finally, Europe is the fastest warming continent. The latest report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service says that means less snow cover, rapidly melting glaciers, and warming seas. Crystal Gamansing reports. We're seeing all these climate indicators that show that we're experiencing climate change now, and we really need to adapt accordingly.

Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, tells CBC as the Earth warms weather patterns change, impacting our physical environment. She says a record 86% of the region experienced at least one strong marine heat wave. Greenland's ice sheet lost one. 139 billion tons of ice, the equivalent of losing 100 Olympic-sized pools every minute. And snow cover in Europe at the end of March was 1.3-2 million square kilometers below average. That's about the same area as France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria combined. More exposed dark land means more energy absorbed, leading to hotter, drier conditions.

Any small, inadvertent action by people like setting campfires and dry locations can result in huge wildfires, destroying tree cover. But it's not just carbon-absorbing areas on land affected. The warming seas can kill off seagrass, another powerful natural carbon sink. Climate change is, of course, a huge issue. Jonas Leipch sees those changes firsthand. He studies glaciers in Iceland and jokes he may have chosen a disappearing. career path. For me, it's giving purpose to at least know that whatever you estimate or work on it will help us to adjust to the changes we inevitably face. Rapid changes that reach across the globe.

Crystal Gamansing, CBC News, London. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. For news anytime, go to our website, cbcnews.ca. I'm John Northcott from Ottawa. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.