World Report - August 20: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

Air Canada flight attendants are in the process of ratifying the contract agreement that ended their strike. Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are back to the bargaining table today, as the union upholds a ban on overtime work. Russian drones and missiles strike several locations in Ukraine ahead of a NATO meeting to discuss ending the war.50-thousand Israeli reservists will be called up before the IDF pushes forward with its ground offensive into Gaza City. More National Guard troops from Republican states arriving in Washington DC, to help US President Donald Trump crackdown on crime. The proportion of Mounties on long-term, off-duty sick leave is at an all-time high. Nova Scotia fire officials say they are making progress containing the Long Lake fire burning in Annapolis County.Newfoundland firefighters hoping for rain as three wildfires still burn out of control. 

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Certain conditions apply. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. Air Canada flight attendants are in the process of ratifying the contract agreement that ended their strike. Their union reached a deal with the airline. It brought workers off the picket lines. But as Yasmin Ranea reports, the effects of the strike will be felt for days.

Air Canada planes are in the sky once again, but the airline says passengers should still expect cancellations in the coming days while it returns to normal operations. We had a flight on Monday, and it was canceled. I think it was Sunday. Spanish tourists Carlos Reyes and his family are stuck in Vancouver, unable to catch a flight until the end of the week, spending hundreds of dollars on hotels in the meantime. Air Canada doesn't pay anything.

They say it's a strike and so they are not responsible. for the costs of the hotel. But hotels aren't an option for everyone. So I slept in chairs on the airport last night. Kate Brown waited for hours at Vancouver International Airport to return to Toronto. I'm really stressed and I really want to take a shower and just lie in a proper bed. Air Canada estimates half a million passengers have been affected by the strike. Vancouver resident Lucy Bingfield and her partner have lost days off their Portugal trip,

but say it's worth it. At the end of the day, what's more important us going on vacation or people? getting paid for that to what they do. Yeah. Air Canada says it could take more than a week for operations to return to normal. Yes, Miranea, CBC News, Vancouver. Canada Post and the union representing its workers are back at the bargaining table today.

The union is upholding a ban on overtime work. Postal workers rejected the Crown Corporation's latest offer a few weeks ago. The offer would have included wage hikes of around 13% over four years and the addition of part-time workers. NATO military leaders will meet virtually today to find solutions to ending the war in Ukraine. Kiev is looking for security assurances, but Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will not tolerate NATO troops in Ukraine. As Crystal Gomansing reports from London, Russia is not backing down on its attacks.

A fuel and energy facility in the Odessa region, region in southern Ukraine was hit in the early morning hours. Fire teams struggled to control the inferno. State emergency services describe it as being the result of a massive Russian drone strike. Vlomir Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, shared images of the attack and another in the Sumi region on his telegram channel, writing that new sanctions and tariffs are needed on Moscow until diplomacy works fully. In the meantime, NATO military experts are preparing to discuss potential post-conflict plans for Ukraine. Deterrants rests on the credible ability to fight, or it's not a worthwhile guarantee. Retired General Richard Barron's was the commander of the UK's Joint Forces Command

until 2016. While many nations, including Canada, France and the UK, have said they will be involved in security guarantees for Ukraine, what that means in real terms is unknown. The rules of engagement are going to have to be robust enough to deal with a very tense, difficult situation. And you must assume that any agreement will at least fray at the edges at some point. The front line in Ukraine stretches over 1,000 kilometers, and Russia has not committed to ending the war or even engaging in more talks. Crystal Gamansing, CBC News. An Israeli military officials says about 60,000 reservists will be called up before the IDF pushes forward with its ground offensive into Gaza City.

The call-up notices could be sent in the coming days, and reservists will be ordered to report for duty in September. The official told Reuters News Agency, the reservists could be in the Air Force, intelligence, or supporting roles, or they may replace active duty soldiers stationed outside Gaza. The statement comes as Israel is still under pressure to respond to a 60-day ceasefire deal. Hamas has already agreed. Israel is expected to respond by Friday. More U.S. troops are moving into Washington, D.C. They have been ordered there to help U.S. President Donald Trump clean up crime. Members of the National Guard from West Virginia are now in the U.S. Capitol. And Republican governors from other states say they are deploying more members, too. The CBC's Lisa Sching is in Washington this morning.

Lisa, exactly how many U.S. troops are in D.C. or headed there? So there are already 800 National Guard troops in D.C. Now, the Republican governors of six states are sending an additional thousand troops to the district. Guards from West Virginia are in Washington already and could be operational today. These Republican governors, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee, as well as West Virginia, like I said, all announced they'll send guards here. This is a show of force and escalation as U.S. President Donald Trump cracks down on crime. If you remember last week, Trump announced a federal takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan

Police Force, citing a public safety emergency. Now, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has routinely said that's overkill that this isn't about crime in the district. The numbers on the ground in the district don't support a thousand people from other states coming to Washington, D.C. While crime is an issue here, the stats show violent crime is down 27% this year compared with last year. But Trump is disputing the mayor's crime stats, right? He is. There are reports the Justice Department is now looking into whether the D.C. Police Department manipulated crime data. Trump seemed to confirm this investigation, saying on social media that D.C. gave fake crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety. The D.C. Police Department put one of its commanders on leave back in May and started investigating him for allegedly making changes to crime data.

But the mayor has said the police chief has investigated all of the city's policing districts and only had concerns about the one command. Thank you, Lisa. You're welcome. The CBC's Lisa Sching in Washington. The proportion of Mounties on long-term off-duty sick leave is at an all-time high, and an outside task force suggests it is now a critical issue for the RCMP. Long-term off-duty sick status is for absences longer than 30 days, caused by illness, injury, or disability. As of the end of last year, about 7% of regular members were on this kind of leave. cost an estimated $58 million. The task force says it could affect public safety and it suggests unlimited sick leave at full pay needs to be reconsidered. The RC&P Union says it strongly disagrees. Nova Scotia fire officials say they are making progress containing a large wildfire in Annapolis County.

They say the Long Lake fire did not grow overnight, but manager of fire protection, Scott Tingley, says the danger isn't over. do anticipate that there could be a couple of challenging days in between now and likely Saturday and Sunday. Winds are expected to become more volatile as Hurricane Aaron approaches the East Coast. Newfoundland and Labradori is not expected to be directly affected by the storm, but fire crews there are hoping for more rain. Three wildfires are still burning out of control in the province.

Karen Pauls has the latest on how some residents are doing. Christine McNeil is cooking up some fish and ships in her restaurant called The Mess Town. We were tasked this morning with 20 meals. We were told for the operators on the front line. They're doing so much for us. It's nice that I actually had the opportunity to get back to them. Not far away, the road is blocked off because of Newfoundland's largest fire, which has already destroyed more than 200 structures, houses, garages, and sheds.

McNeil's cook lost his home and his truck. Like many here, he's too traumatized to talk about it. They're absolutely devastated. Their whole lives have just. just disappeared. They're not sure what they're going to see when they go back in. Some are saying that they will rebuild and others are saying they don't want to take a chance and others just say we're too old. We're just going to go with family or seniors' homes. There's been rain here in the last day. Good news for firefighters, the 3,000 people who've been forced from their homes

and nearly 13,000 still on evacuation alert, like Louise Power, who takes her medication and other necessities with her whenever she leaves the house, just in case. I'm still worried. It's not over till it's finally out. And that's a worry that everybody around here has on their mind. When is this going to be over? The province says it could be weeks or even months before people can get into these affected areas. That has implications for kids heading back to school in a few weeks and for all those people looking for a place to live, heading into colder weather. Karen Paul, CBC News near Job's Cove, Newfoundland.

That is the latest national and international news from World Report News Anytime at cbcnews.ca.ca. I'm Marcia Young.