World Report - August 28: Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Smoke from wildfires is seriously undermining the health of Canadians.At least 15 killed in Russian attack on Kyiv.U-S Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is suing the Trump Administration over its attempts to fire her.White House fires CDC director Susan Monarez after less than a month on the job.Minneapolis residents hold vigil for victims of the deadly shooting at Catholic school.Canada's Supreme Court will not hear a case about a land dispute between Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation and landowners along a Lake Huron beachfront. Trial concludes for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

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That's betterhelp.com slash Canada World. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. Smoke from wildfires is undermining the health of Canadians. 2023 was the worst wildfire season ever recorded here. Now a report from the University of Chicago says it led to some of the highest particulate pollution levels in more than 25 years.

As science reporter Nicole Mordillaro tells us experts fear it is reversing progress made in achieving clean air. It's hard not to remember the 2023 wildfire season when more than 16 million hectares of forest were lost and thousands were displaced from their homes. Today's report found that during the 2023 wildfire season, more than half of Canadians breathed air that surpassed our national standard. And if those levels continued for a person's lifetime, the average Canadian would lose roughly two years of their life expectancy. The worsening air quality is a frustrating reversal of progress made by Canada to reduce air pollution. Michael Greenstone is one of the report's authors. What's really interesting about the reversals in Canada and the United States is they're showing that air pollution is like the zombie that we thought we had killed, but it's coming back to life. With climate change worsening droughts, the risk of wildfires increases, as does the risk to Canadians.

Courtney Howard, an emergency room doctor in Yellowknife, said we could continue to see an increase in health effects, such as asthma, pneumonia, or even cardiac arrest. I started looking into wildfire smoke in about 2014 because we had two and a half months of wildfire smoke in Yellowknife. And I wanted to know just as an emergency position what that did to our patient population. We had a full doubling of emergency department visits due to asthma to our emergency department and a 50% increase in pneumonia. This year has been the second worst wildfire season on record. And experts warn that the risk to Canadians from exposure to smoke will likely increase each year. Nicole Mortillero, CBC News, Toronto. A heavy Russian bombardment overnight has killed at least 15 people in Kiev, including four children.

Dozens more have been injured. Ukrainian officials say the capital was targeted with more than 30 missiles and nearly 600 drones. Breyer Stewart has more from Kiev. One by one rescue crews carry away the dead on stretchers from a five-story apartment building in Kiev. A Russian missile slammed into it in the middle of the night, causing several floors to collapse. It was like several rocket attacks. Andre Luti lived in the building and told CBC news that he and others ran to the shelter when they started to hear explosions. One minute after he reached it, the missile struck the building.

When the shelter filled with smoke, he said some residents ran out to the street, but then a second missile hit a few dozen meters away. I was so shocked, but I'm very happy my mind to tell me the right stuff, what to do. It's like adrenaline stuff, I don't know. Officials say 20 districts were hit in the city in the overnight attack. The president of the European Council set an office in Kiev that belongs to the EU delegation to Ukraine was damaged in a deliberate Russian strike. Images showed the inside of the building strewn with ceiling tiles and other debris. This was the largest attack in the capital since the end of July,

and the deadliest one involving civilians since U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russia's president for a summit earlier this month. Today, Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that Vladimir Putin is choosing ballistic missiles rather than the negotiating table. And he said several deadlines and dozens of opportunities for diplomacy have already been wasted. Breyer Stewart, CBC News, Kiev. U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is suing the Trump administration over its attempts to fire her. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media he was removing her. He accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud in 2021. She denies that claim.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed, especially Chairman Jerome Powell, for not cutting interest rates. Critics say Cook's firing is the president's attempt to appoint a Trump loyalist in her place. The feud is unprecedented and threatens the Federal Reserve's political independence. The White House says it has fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control. Susan Moneras served as the CDC's top leader for less than a month. But after a confrontation with the U.S. Health Secretary and an attempt to remove her, Monarras refused to resign. As Steve Futterman tells us, her dismissal could add more chaos to the public health agency. The sudden move to dismiss Susan Meneras comes after a clash over vaccine policy with controversial health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has been seen by many as a vaccine denier. The White House says Menaris isn't aligned with the Trump agenda.

Her lawyers counter saying she is being targeted for standing up to science. What you sought at the CDC was a wholesale destruction of the leadership of the organization. Dr. Ashish Jha was the COVID-19 response coordinator during the Biden administration. Along with the attempt to remove Maneras, four other high-ranking CDC officials resigned late. Wednesday, one of them accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing public health. Dr. Jha agrees. It is an extraordinary moment, and as I said, one that leaves our country very vulnerable to biological threats. More criticism came from California Democratic Congressman Roe Kana.

The entire scientific community is outraged by this. She's just standing up for that, and she's being fired. I mean, you have an administration that basically has made a habit of rejecting all forms of knowledge and expertise. All this comes as the Kennedy-influenced Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday, restrictive guidelines on who is eligible to get the latest COVID-19 vaccines this fall. Steve Fetterman for CBC News, Los Angeles. Musicians play at a candlelight vigil last night for victims of the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school.

Two children were killed and seven. 17 other people were wounded when an attacker opened fire. The students were attending mass in a nearby church to mark the start of the school year. Officials say all of those wounded are expected to recover. The FBI is investigating the attack as an anti-Catholic hate crime. Canada's Supreme Court will not hear a case involving a First Nation and a disputed section of beach on Lake Huron. The decision follows a decades-long court fight.

The strip of shoreline that was in dispute is near the tourist town of Saobal Beach. A recent lower court decision upheld the claim of the Chippewas of Saagin First Nation. The ban successfully argued the land was promised to them in a treaty in 1854. The land was taken from them in a survey mistake. A group that included the municipality of South Bruce Peninsula and a handful of homeowners had hoped the Supreme Court would hear their appeal. Now the lower court decision will stand. The controversial trial for Jimmy Lai has concluded in Hong Kong.

The media tycoon was arrested five years ago during China's crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. The 77-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges of sedition and colluding with foreign forces. His case has been watched around the world. It is seen as a test of Beijing's rule over the International Financial Hub. Laura Westbrook has more. Outside court, a heavy police presence. William Wong says he's there so Jimmy Lai would know he was not forgotten. Jimmy Lai represent courage, resistance and a willingness to sacrifice personal freedom for the principle of free expression.

The billionaire businessman was charged in December 2020 under the national security law, accused of colluding with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious content in his role as founder of the now defunct Apple Daily newspaper. The law was imposed by Beijing in 2020 following anti-government protests the year before. Authorities say the law was necessary to restore stability. The prosecution is accused Lai of advocating for international sanctions against Hong Kong and China after Beijing imposed the national security law, a claim which Lai denies. Lai's defense lawyer sought to frame the trial as an attempt by prosecutors to denigate the

guarantee of fundamental rights, saying it was not wrong to support freedom of expression. Here's Eric Kly from the Georgetown Center for Asian Law. Jimmy Lai and his former colleagues were only exercising their rights to free speech, free press, and free political participation. And the national security law unfortunately criminalized all these peace, so activities consider them as threats to regime security. The Hong Kong government maintains that it. its judicial system is independent. A verdict could take weeks or months.

Laura Westbrook for CBC News, Hong Kong. That is the latest national and international news from World Report. News anytime at cbcnews.ca. I'm Marcia Young.