World Report - August 2: Saturday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: August 2, 2025

All eyes are on Ottawa now that higher US tariffs on some Canadian exports are a fact of life.US President Donald Trump says he is moving a pair of US nuclear submarines closer to Russia.Israel's government is facing growing calls to end the war in Gaza.Canada Post is considering its next steps this morning, after unionized workers rejected its latest offer.Officials say pilot who died in small plane crash near Ottawa airport on Thursday, was trying to make an emergency landing.Canada's swimming sensation Summer McIntosh loses gold medal to American Katie Ledecky at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore - comes in third.International crew of astronauts is welcomed onto the International Space Station after taking off on SpaceX rocket early Saturday.

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This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Sam Samson. All eyes are on Ottawa now that higher U.S. tariffs on some Canadian exports are a fact of life. President Donald Trump made good on his threat to impose the 35% levies. And the pressure is now on for Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to respond. Some observers are urging the government to focus on a long-term goal, strengthening the Canada-U-S-Mexico trade agreement.

The CBC's Mike Crawley has more from Washington. While U.S. President Donald Trump put lower tariffs than he'd threatened on dozens of countries and gave Mexico a three-month reprieve, he slapped Canada with a tariff increase. Clearly not a win for Ottawa, but how large of a loss is it really? We need to play a bit of a long game here. John Manley is a former Deputy Prime Minister, now chair of an investment banking firm. You know, the 93% of Canadian goods that cross the border currently tariff-free under USMCA. That's what we really need to protect.

Whether you call it USMCA or Kusma, the free trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, is up for review next year. Trade policy expert in Umannock with the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank in Washington, believes what's really driving Trump's tariffs is getting leverage. I do think a lot of this has to do with some sort of renegotiation of parts of the Kusma deal that the Trump administration is not happy with. And Manick says Canada's tactics so far are just fine. There's no really good way to go about doing this. And no matter what, everyone seems to be getting hit with tariffs.

There's data that Canada is getting hit less hard by tariffs than other countries. Because of all the exemptions under Kusma, most economists estimate the average tariff on Canada's exports to be down in the single digits, lower than any major U.S. trading partner outside of Mexico. Mike Crawley, CBC News, Washington. Canada Post is considering its next steps this morning after unionized workers rejected its latest offer. It would have hiked wages 13% over four years, but it would have also added part-time employees to the workforce. that the Crown Corporation says are needed to stay in business. The Canadian Union of Postal workers urged its members to turn down the offer and says Canada Post needs to return to bargaining.

The two sides have been in a dispute for more than a year and a half. Israel's government is facing growing calls to end the war in Gaza. As famine plays out in the Palestinian population, critics say Israel is not doing enough to save civilian lives. But as Susan Ormiston reports, Hamas is also being accused of using hunger as a weapon. Strong reaction this morning from families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas after a stark new video released last night. The Israeli government must be stopped. The Hamas video shows Aviatar David, thin, frail in what appears to be a tunnel, allegedly marking off the days he ate and the days he didn't on a wall.

Hamas accuses Israel of starving Gazans and the hostages alike. But some former hostages say Hamas is the one starving its people, that their captors never went without food. Hunger has become a bargaining chip with Hamas doubling down on international horror at the signs of severe malnutrition and escalating food crisis inside Gaza. The families fed up with a cycle of temporary ceasefires now urge Israel to negotiate a full release of all hostages. There is no time left. Nothing is working.

But negotiations on any kind of ceasefire are at a deadlock. According to Israeli media, Hamas refuses to negotiate until aid flows freely. A U.S. diplomatic team visited an aid distribution center on Friday. Middle East envoy Steve Whitkoff says he is briefing U.S. President Donald Trump on the aid situation, but offered no details on how it might be changed. Susan Ormiston, CBC News, Jerusalem. We are waiting to see what impact Donald Trump's latest threats against Russia will have on the war in Ukraine. Trump says he's moving a pair of U.S. nuclear submarines closer to Russia. It's in response to comments made by the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council.

former president, Dmitri Medvedev. He called Trump's threat of sanctions against his country a step towards war. Julia Chapman has the latest. Dmitri Medvedev is known for making inflammatory statements, but he wields little power in Russia. Nevertheless, Donald Trump said words can often lead to unintended consequences. A threat was made, and we didn't think it was appropriate. Medvedev's comments followed an ultimatum issued by the U.S. president.

He demanded that Russia end the war in Ukraine by August 8th. Last month, he also threatened tariffs on the country's energy exports. His statements suggest growing frustration over Moscow's refusal to back down. Leslie Vingermori is president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. It is an escalation. Whether it's an escalation to de-escalate remains to be seen. It's a sort of thing that when you send nuclear submarines, you normally do it under a veil of secrecy, not stating your intentions.

The Kremlin hasn't commented on America's submarine deployment. But Friday, President Vladimir Putin suggested Trump's deadline wouldn't make him change course. The Russian leader said the army is continuing to advance. Earlier this week, Moscow carried out its largest airstrike on Kiev this year. Donald Trump described Russia's actions as disgusting. But so far, he's been unable. to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. Julia Chapman, CBC News, London.

It's been a summer of wildfires in Portugal. One in particular, near Ponte debarka, has officials on edge. Firefighters have worked for days to bring it under control, and yet, crews continue to monitor winds that could whip up the flames. It's a danger that's forced thousands of people from their homes. Alison Roberts reports from Lisbon. A week after it was reported, A fire in the hills near Ponte da Barca in Portugal's far north is still burning,

with hundreds of firefighters on the ground. Residents of four villages have already had to flee their homes. In this and other cases, arson is suspected, and at least one individual has been detained. But conditions are also ripe for fires to spread. The vast majority of land holdings in the north and centre of Portugal are small, and few are professionally managed to reduce fire risk. and in the last couple of weeks there's been a sharp rise in daytime temperatures

and just as importantly in overnight lows. Even before that, over 3,000 wildfires had been recorded so far this year, burning three times the area of the same period last year. Temperatures are seen climbing further today and Sunday to as high as 40 degrees in the capital, Lisbon and 42 in the interior. Alison Roberts for CBC News, Lisbon. And now coming into view is Zena Cardman, again, her first time on board the International Space Station as well. An international crew of astronauts is welcomed onto the International Space Station.

The crew includes two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut, and a Japanese astronaut. They took off on a space X rocket early this morning for the mission, which NASA is calling routine. What's not routine is how long they're expected to stay on board the international space. station. This mission, dubbed Crew 11, is expected to last eight months. It's part of a new routine time up from the usual six months. NASA says

it's intended to better align the mission schedules of the U.S. and Russia. Summer McIntosh came up just short in her quest for a fourth gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships. McIntosh won bronze in the women's 800 meter freestyle in Singapore

and Devin Haru was poolside. It was built the race of the century and the women's 800-meter freestyle did not disappoint, but in the end, Summer McIntosh not able to steal the gold from American legend Katie Ladecki. Because Katie Ladecki has sprinted clear, what an effort responding to the challenge, and Ladecky wins the gold again, a seven-time champion this event. It was a riveting race with three women shoulder to shoulder across three lanes throughout all of it. Summer McIntosh led with about 100 meters to go, but it was Katie Ledecki and Lonnie Pallister from Australia who pulled away in the closing meters.

Ledecki with a championship record for her seventh title. Summer McIntosh was evidently disappointed after the race. She told me this is only going to fuel her. It's her fourth individual medal at the World Aquatics Championships, and she'll look to close it in golden style in the 400 meter individual medley. On Sunday night, here at the World Aquatics Championships. For CBC Sports in Singapore, I'm Devin Haru. That's your latest national and international news from World Report.

I'm Sam Samson. This is CBC News.