World Report - August 14: Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

Air Canada expected to start grounding flights in preparation for a potential work stoppage this weekend. 20-year-old Newfoundland man charged for allegedly setting multiple fires in downtown St. John's. Drought on Vancouver Island testing fire crews in new ways. California Governor Gavin Newsom is poised to follow through on his threat of tit-for-tat gerrymandering. More than 100 humanitarian groups pen letter accusing Israel of weaponizing aid to Gaza. Trump Administration cuts could affect NOAA and the US National Weather Service during hurricane season. 

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Certain conditions apply. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. Canada's largest airline will start grounding flights tonight in preparation for a potential lockout or flight attendant strike this weekend. Ariel Melul Weschler is Air Canada's chief human resources officer. She says the company and the flight attendants Union are at a

impasse. We never left the table. We are still available to bargain at any time on the condition that the negotiation has substance. The work stoppage could affect more than 100,000 passengers each day. The CBC's Linda Ward is at Toronto Pearson International Airport this morning, and Linda, what is happening there? Well, taking a look at the Departures Board here at Terminal one, it is business as usual, at least so far, but we know that is definitely going to to change through the day. Air Canada says they will be canceling flights today and tomorrow. This all part of a gradual shutdown ahead of a possible strike and lockout if no deal is reached by early Saturday. But travelers here who've been waiting a long time for a vacation,

aren't letting the uncertainty stop them. I met the Ramos-Rachalska family. Mom Ivana says they'll take their chances. Hopefully they said they could try to ship this with another airline or, yeah, we'll just have to repurchase tickets. So they don't want to miss out, they don't want to disappoint the kids, and they say they're willing to deal with a couple of extra days stranded in Miami if they have to. What is Air Canada doing for passengers? Air Canada says they've given passengers the option to change their flight from August 15th to August 18th, if that ticket was purchased no later than yesterday for another flight between August 21st and

September 12th. Now, if their flight is canceled, they'll try to rebook people on the first available flight with another airline. But remember, this is peak travel season and space is limited. They're saying passengers can also choose a refund. They do have obligations to passengers under passenger protection regulations. You have to communicate flight cancellations through phone, text, email. They have to provide options to get you where you're going within 48 hours. And if they can't do that, they have to offer a refund. Thanks, Linda. You're welcome. The CBC's Linda Ward reporting from Toronto's Pearson International Airport. A Newfoundland man is facing serious consequences for allegedly starting multiple fires in downtown St. John's. Police

have arrested a 20-year-old man. They say he will be in court today on arson charges. Newfoundland Labrador Premier John Hogan says he will also be facing a hefty fine. That individual will have three $50,000 fines in relation to these brush fires. It just continues to, I guess, be unbelievable. I think every Newfoundlander and Labradorian feels like I feel and like all the ministers feel and probably all of you feel. I'm just shocked and surprised that someone would do something like that. No one was injured in those brush fires and no structural damage was reported, but officials say any new fire has the potential to be destructive.

Conditions across Newfoundland and Labrador are extremely dry. On Vancouver Island, fire crews are working to protect the city of Port Albany. The nearby Mount Underwood Wildfire is roughly as large as the city of Victoria, and a drought on Vancouver Island is testing crews in new ways. My World Report co-host, John Northcott, is following this story for us. And, John, why is the Mount Underwood fire proving so challenging for fire crews? Marcia, officials are using the words unusual. and aggressive to describe the fire on the outskirts of Port Albarnie.

The city, population 22,000, has residents of its southern neighborhoods under evacuation alert. The nearby First Nation, also keeping a wary eye and issuing alerts about the fire that is being described as explosive. Winds have shifted, and in 24 hours it grew from 1,400 hectares to over 2,000. But for the 64 firefighting crews on the ground, the big challenge is the dry conditions, prompted by a drought that started as far back as May. Here's fire information officer, Carly DeRosier. It would take a significant amount of rain over a longer period to really penetrate the ground, to extinguish the fire that is going to be burning deep in the ground,

which is common when we see wildfires burning in areas that are impacted by drought. So what about the rain? What is in the forecast? Marcia, while there is rain in the forecast, officials point out previous outlooks are over predictions. In other words, overly optimistic. when it came to the amount of rain. What they really need is what you might call a Goldilocks solution. Too little? Too little to help. Too much

all at once, and the water quickly washes over and away from the dry, drought-packed terrain. What they really need is not only rain, but a steady, sustained rain that will penetrate the ground and really get at the fires still active underground. Thank you, John. Thanks, Marcia.

John Northcott, with me in studio. More than 100 humanitarian groups are accusing Israel of weaponizing aid to Gaza. They say in a letter the regulations introduced in March have slowed aid to a trickle. Christopher Locke here is with Doctors Without Borders. We're hanging on by a thread in terms of essential supplies, medicine. We got a few pallets in a week or so ago, but compared to the need of the entire population of Gaza, what we're getting in is absolutely minuscule. The aid groups say Israel's registration requirements are designed to erode their independence.

Israel says the rules are there to make sure Hamas does not get the aid. California Governor Gavin Newsom is poised to follow through on his threat of a tit-for-tat gerrymandering. Texas Republicans are still pushing ahead with plans to redraw electoral districts and change the map to favor their party. Now Newsom is about to do the same thing in California so he can give Democrats a boost. Steve Futterman has more. California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom will a fifth. announced today what he plans to do to counter efforts by Republicans in Texas to change the congressional maps. We are trying to defend democracy as opposed to see it destroyed district by district.

As Texas Republicans continue to try to redraw their congressional maps to possibly get five more GOP members into the U.S. House, Newsom says he will fight fire with fire. Normally, state congressional maps are redrawn every 10 years following the U.S. census. The last census was in 2020. The redrawings often turn into contentious battles, with the party and power in each state trying to manipulate the map to its advantage. But Texas is trying to do it midway through the normal 10-year cycle,

and President Trump is all for it. We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats, and we are entitled to five more seats. Today, Newsom is expected to call for a special election in November. Californians would be asked to approve. a new map redrawn to favor Democrats, but this battle could be expanding beyond California and Texas. Other highly partisan states on both sides are now discussing changing their maps as well. Steve Futterman for CBC News, Los Angeles.

Tropical storm air and could bring heavy rain and high winds to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands this weekend and perhaps affect the eastern United States next week. But some people in the U.S. are getting ready for more than the storm. They're worried about how federal cuts will affect the agencies that study and forecast hurricanes. Katie Nicholson has that story. I apologize. This is just horrific. Veteran broadcast meteorologist John Morales broke down on air as Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified off the Florida coast last October. This year, something else is upsetting him.

We're down 560 people in the U.S. National Weather Service. This is not allowing us to release our weather balloons as frequently as we would. Normally, at any weather office, they're done twice a day. Now they're down to once or zero times per day. The Trump administration cut hundreds of jobs from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Weather Service. Last week, the administration greenlit hiring 450 people at the Weather Service, but it's unlikely they'll be in place in time for peak hurricane season.

Morales worries the cuts could impact how many hurricane hunter flights fly into the storms and collect data like they did during Milton. It's very likely that without that Hurricane Hunter mission, we would have not seen how rapidly the hurricane was intensifying. So that's how crucial this information is to get the aircraft reconnaissance data feeding constantly. And accuracy is crucial for emergency managers. We're tied at the hit with NOAA and the National Weather Service, so they have an actual seat here.

In Miami-Dade County, Pete Gomez walks to the Emergency Management Command Center he oversees. Well, if we're not getting timely, accurate information, then we can't make timely, accurate decisions. Noah also shares information with Canada during hurricane season. Environment and climate change, Canada says it has contingencies, relationships with other national hydrometeorological bodies it can work with. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Miami. That is the latest national and international news from World Report News Anytime at cBCNews.ca. I'm Marcia Young.