World Report - April 6: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

Orion spacecraft enters lunar sphere of influence, Canadian Jeremy Hansen and the other 3 Artemis II astronauts prepare to fly by the far side of the moon. Reports say mediators propose 45 day ceasefire to end US and Israeli war with Iran. India leans on Russian oil as Middle East war chokes off traditional supplies. Air Canada Vacations and WestJet add surcharge to some flights to address soaring price of gas. Canada's trade routes to the US are changing amidst high toll and geopolitical uncertainty.A new distance nursing program hopes to help northern Manitoba First Nation retains its health-care workers.Cruise ship hits reef, runs aground near tiny island in Fiji. 

This is really shaping up to be an incredibly consequential and potentially fast-moving week in Canadian politics. I'm Jamie Poisson, host of the Daily News podcast Front Burner and will be all over this story. The Liberals could lock a majority conservative leader Pierre Pollyev is struggling to control an insurrection in his party ranks. Can he remain party leader? Follow Frontburner for all the analysis you need to understand the moment. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Martina Fitzgerald.

We have passed into the looter sphere of gravitational influence. Canadian Jeremy Hanson and the three other astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft could make history today. Artemis II mission is scheduled to travel around the far side of the moon. They will be farther away from Earth than any humans have ever been before. and will see things never seen by human eyes. NASA's Marie Henderson has been training the astronauts on how to document what they observe. During Apollo, the astronauts were so much closer to the lunar surface.

Our astronauts are going to be doing a flyby at a higher altitude, so they're going to be able to see the whole moon as a lunar disk on the lunar far side. That's a brand new, unique perspective that humans haven't been able to look at before. The whole lunar flyby will take about seven hours, and for about 40 minutes this afternoon, just before 4 Pacific, no one will be able to communicate with Orion. The astronauts will be completely alone in space.

U.S. President Donald Trump is warning Iran the U.S. will attack if his deadline of 5 o'clock Pacific tomorrow is not meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has dubbed Tuesday, power plant, and bridge day. He's threatening to level Iran's critical infrastructure. But as the rhetoric sharpens, reports say mediators have proposed a 45-day ceasefire. The CBC's Willie Lowry is in Washington.

Willie, the U.S. President's deadline is tomorrow. How firm is the messaging from the White House regarding these strikes? Well, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to speak to the press later this afternoon, where we will likely get an indication of just how serious he is. Trump issuing yet another threat against Iran, this time in a profanity-laced message, demanding that the Iranians, quote, open the effing straight, end quote, or face the wrath of the U.S. military. Trump promising to destroy power plants and bridges, which could amount to war crimes if followed through the infrastructure it would hit as dual use. Democrats were not impressed.

Here is Representative Rokane and Senator Tim Kaine. Let me tell you what won't reopen the Strait of Formul's threatening war crimes of bombing indiscriminately power plants cursing at Iran. This is all embarrassing and juvenile, and it's people trying to act like they're puffed up and tough when what we really see from the administration in this war is the absence of a plan. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces said if the U.S. and Israel carry out their threats on civilian targets, Iran would respond on a much wider scale, according to the semi-official news agency, Tasnim.

Willie, is the administration even acknowledging this 45-day ceasefire proposal or is the entire focus in Washington just on military options? In an interview with Axios, Trump said that the U.S. was in, quote, deep negotiations with Iran and that there was a good chance a deal would be reached. He said, if it's not, quote, I am blowing up everything over there, end quote. Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators are leading the efforts. At the heart of the proposal is a 45-day ceasefire that could eventually lead to an end of the conflict. Thank you, Willie. My pleasure. That is CBC reporter Willie Lowry in Washington.

India's imports of Russian crude oil have nearly doubled in the last month, as New Delhi scrambles to replace supplies cut off at the Strait of Hormuz. It was made possible by a temporary U.S. waiver of sanctions. It expired this past weekend. But as Nea Pune reports, the oil is still arriving. A month ago, the U.S. said it was temporarily allowing India to buy Russian crude. India imports 90% of its crude oil, and the reprieve meant Indian refiners began buying millions of barrels of Russian crude. Imports doubled in March compared to the previous month. Ambassador Winod Kumar says, this is why India has fared better than other Asian economy.

New Delhi says it has enough crude supply to last two months. The US waiver does reduce a friction point in the excellent India-US relations, but should not be expected to be a primary factor in India's purchases in the long run. In January, India's oil imports from Moscow fell to a three-year low following months of US pressure. New Delhi was forced to turn to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to fill this gap. But then the war in Iran started, the Strait of Hormuz shut down, and hit 59% of India's crude oil imports from West Asia. New Delhi says it wants to prioritize the energy needs of its 1.4 billion people.

This week, it hosted Russia's first Prime Minister and Moscow has promised to increase oil supplies to New Delhi again. India's foreign ministry's spokesperson, Randhya Jaisal. It looks very well for a relationship which is deep-rooted and time-tested in terms of its strategic content. Experts say the Iran war is a reminder that India needs to find find ways to protect its long-term energy security, and relying on Russia may be a necessity, not a choice.

Neha Pune for CBC News, New Delhi. Soaring fuel prices tied to the U.S.-Israel war in Iran are forcing airlines to adjust operations. Westjet is introducing a temporary $60 surcharge on some bookings. It has also combined flights on lower-demand routes to reduce the total number of flights this month and next. Travel agents say Air Canada Vacations will be charging a $50 surcharge starting today. It will apply to Sun destinations.

Canada's busiest trade corridor has quietly moved an hour north. High toll rates at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario are sending more trucks to Sarnia. It's reshaping cross-border trade as the long-delayed Gordy Howe Bridge in Windsor remains unopened. As Colin Butler tells us, truckers are voting with their wheels. The Ambassador Bridge was always the leading crossing between Michigan and Ontario. Stephen Laskowski is the president and CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance. For decades, Windsor was the main artery for trade between Canada and the U.S. Now more traffic is crossing an hour north in Sarnia.

Laskowski says the reason is simple, much higher tolls in Windsor. So it goes to show you the price sensitivity of tolls and the tremendous value of the Gordy Howe bridge to the supply chain. Only one problem. The Gordy Howe bridge isn't open yet. It's been delayed twice and is now $700 million over budget, and it wasn't supposed to be that way. You can transfer risk on paper, and no one takes on risk for free. University of Toronto professor Maddie Simey-a-Tickey says the idea behind the Gordy Howe Bridge was simple. Shift the risk to the private sector, but that's not how it worked. The COVID-19 pandemic and Donald Trump's threats to stop the bridge were risks no one could plan for.

The private sector is not best able to manage geopolitical risk of our neighbors, you know, bringing in a trade war and threatening not to open the bridge. There's still no official opening date for the Gordy Howe bridge. And in the meantime, the traffic it was meant to handle is already moving elsewhere. Colin Butler. CBC News, London, Ontario. A northern Manitoba First Nation is launching a new program to train and retain its own nurses. The health care system at Red Sucker Lake, Anasina New Nation, has long-faced staffing shortages. As Santiago Arias Orozco reports, the fly-in community is addressing the gap itself.

It's going on to the next chapter and we're ready to get the show on the road. Nina McClellan is weeks away from starting a pre-health science course. It's the last step before she can join nursing school right at home in her flying Manitoba First Nation. I don't have to leave my family to be able to pursue. a career that I've always wanted. It's very comforting. McClellan is one of 20 students training to become a licensed

practical nurse in Red Socker Lake. The community is roughly 700 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg. And since the pandemic, it has struggled to retain nurses, farther limiting health care services. Sam Nott is the chief. Notice that there's an uprise

on people not well, especially the flow that's been meeting around the community. We desperately need about these resources. Without the program, residents would need to leave the First Nation to study. McClellan, the nursing students, as relocating would limit many, including her, because she has children.

To remove barriers, a cinema in college is delivering the nursing program directly in Red Soccer Lake. Michael Cameron is the dean in charge. If we take people from our community and train them as nurses, they're going to stay in the community and give back. The chief is hopeful other First Nations follows the same model to improve health care services for indigenous people across Canada. Tiago Arias Orozco, CVC News.

Winnipeg. A small cruise ship has run aground off an island in Fiji, the same island where the Tom Hanks film Castaway was filmed. All 30 passengers have been evacuated from the vessel. The ship contained roughly 20,000 liters of diesel, but salvage crews were brought into pump out fuel and oil. They're now trying to recover the cruise ship from the reef. And that is the latest national.

and international news from World Report. I'm Martina Fitzgerald. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca. com.com.