World Report - August 4: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney to tour Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges in Nanaimo, BC. There's a push on Canada's east coast to beef up home-grown space infrastructure. Spanish police say they have stopped a criminal network suspected of smuggling Yemeni migrants into Canada and the U.K.Kremlin says US special envoy Steve Witkoff could travel to Russia on Wednesday. Gold prices rise again, as investors spend more on the safe-haven asset. 3,200 Boeing employees walk off the job in the United States. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns videos of 2 emaciated Israeli hostages released by Hamas. Hilary Weston, former fashion business leader and Ontario lieutenant-governor, dead at 83. Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh's international success inspires young swimmers back home. 

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This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Angie Seth. Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to be in Animal BC this afternoon, touring the Canadian Forces, Maritime, Experimental, and Test Ranges. The site focuses on the research and development of naval technologies. And Carney has promised to invest more in Canadian defense. He wants to spend another 9 billion. million dollars on defense by April. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, there's a push for Canada to beef

up its space infrastructure, and that means more rockets, satellites, and launch facilities, things we increasingly rely on to support daily life down here on Earth. The CPC's Brett Ruskin has more for us from Halifax. Ten, nine. Countdown for a SpaceX rocket set to rumble up to orbit. Inside a shoebox-sized satellite that took a Nova Scotia-based team two and a half years to build. The team was led by Arad Garaghera Gozli from Galaxia mission systems. It's very excited to see it go into space. And lift off off a nine, go to space. The satellite was built here in Canada, but there was no Canadian way to get it to space. We have to launch them elsewhere. That means relying on the United States.

So now we're number one in space by a lot. The strained Canada-U.S. relationship has some questioning that reliance. Steve Mateer is head of Maritime Launch Services. You know, we went through that with COVID, and the sovereign capability for production of vaccines. It's that lesson, I think, that's very real. Mateer and his team are building a spaceport in Canso, Nova Scotia. It'll be like an airport for rockets where companies can come to launch in a remote but well-supported location. And location is perhaps the East Coast's biggest strength. With only ocean in many directions, launches from Nova Scotia or Newfoundland can reach key north-south orbits around the Earth.

officials in this region say could attract companies here from around the world. Brett Ruskin, CBC News, Halifax. Spanish police say they have stopped a criminal network suspected of smuggling Yemeni migrants into Canada and the UK. Police were tipped off by the Canadian Border Services Agency in September after multiple Yemeni nationals trying to enter via Spain using forged passports. The group allegedly facilitated more than 40 illegal migration attempts, charging up to $5,000 per person, 11 people have been arrested in raids

in Madrid and southern Spain. The Kremlin says it is expecting a visit from senior U.S. officials this week. Foreign Ministry spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, says the dialogue is continuing between Moscow and Washington and U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Whitkoff, may travel to Russia on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has given the Kremlin until Friday. to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face new sanctions, but the war is grinding on. Russian missiles have injured seven people in a residential part of southern Ukraine, and Ukraine's military says it attacked an oil depot near Sochi. And as Russia escalates its war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump boosts tariffs on trading partners, investors are looking at gold as a safe haven asset. Prices, in fact, are up today at one point rising above $3,3,380 U.S. dollars.

an ounce. As Rebecca Bundin reports, it's benefiting millions of households in India where gold holds enormous cultural and religious significance. Sideshwa Shirsat first started buying gold nine years ago when he got married. He's a driver who lives in the suburbs of India's densely populated financial capital, Mumbai, and he wanted a nest egg for his family. Shearsat says his interest in gold. grew as rates climbed. He's happy that gold prices have risen more than 25% since the start of the year to over 3,300 US dollars an ounce amid global economic uncertainty. Like many Indians, he purchases gold in the form of jewelry for himself and his wife. It's also an important

part of weddings and some Hindu festivals. We all in India have a family doctor, so to say, and we have family children. is the regional CEO for India at the World Gold Council. He says India is one of the world's largest consumers of gold, buying about 800 tonnes a year. India is a very unique market for gold and the consumption. Gold is a part of a social fabric, and you don't need to be any particular economic strata to consume gold.

Steeper prices are having an impact, but with forecasts that gold could hit $4,000 an ounce next year and given the country's love of gold, the precious metal isn't losing any of its shine in India. Rebecca Bunzin for CBC News, Mumbai. 3,200 Boeing employees in the United States are on strike. They walked off the job just after midnight, after workers at facilities in St. Louis and elsewhere rejected a four-year labor agreement. The union says its workers deserve a contract that recognizes their expertise.

Meantime, Boeing says it is disappointed employees rejected an offer. that included 40% average wage growth. Israel's foreign ministers heading to New York for a special U.N. Security Council session. He says he pushed for the session after Hamas released videos of two starving Israeli hostages. Israel's prime minister says he's shocked by the images, and they prove Hamas doesn't want a deal. Meantime, Hamas says it is prepared to let the Red Cross help the hostages, but only if Israel sets up eight corridors. Blake Sifton has more for us from Tel Aviv.

So, Blake, what is the latest from the Israeli Prime Minister? Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday in a statement that these videos prove that Hamas is not interested in reaching a ceasefire deal and that the video is now strengthened his will to eliminate the group. But of course, his statement comes amid reports in the Israeli press that, well, the ceasefire talks have stalled. The Israeli government is now planning to expand the war in Gaza to try to win the release of the remaining 50 hostages held there. and then this would be carried out through what an unnamed official has called decisive military victory. The Israelis apparently believe that with the international condemnation of Israel over the mass starvation in Gaza growing, that that's emboldened Hamas and made them less willing to negotiate a ceasefire.

So meanwhile, the families of the hostages still held in Gaza, they've reacted with total outrage to all this talk of returning them through fighting. That is a fraud and expanding the war endangers their lives. Of course, only a handful of hostages have been rescued. by the Israeli military throughout the war. And before any kind of expanded ground operation begins, though, it's important to also say that there are other reports that the U.S. and Israel are said to be first planning to present Hamas with an ultimatum, where they would be told to release

the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and agreed to disarm in order to end the war. And otherwise, the Israeli military will expand their ground campaign, according to these reports. And with that being said, Hamas says that it will grant the Red Cross access to the hostages. But what is it seeking in return? A Hamas spokesperson now says that they're willing to allow the Red Cross to bring food and medicine to the hostages. But if Israel opens what they say are permanent humanitarian aid corridors into Gaza and halts all air activity during the hostage visits. Blake sift in for us from Tel Aviv. Blake, thank you for this.

Thank you very much. And now the news, Hillary Weston, the matriarch of one of Canada's wealthiest families has died. She was born in Ireland in 1942 and moved to Canada in the 70s after she married Gailen Weston Sr. She worked with luxury clothing brands, Holt Renfrew and Brown Thomas, and the family was known for its connection to the LobloG grocery store chain. In 1996, Weston was appointed lieutenant governor of Ontario. She was also a philanthropist supporting charities focused on social issues and the environment. Hillary Weston was 83. Summer McIntosh's success in Singapore is making waves back home. The 18-year-old won four gold medals at the World Championships last week, and as Kelsey Arnett reports, her international

dominance is inspiring young Canadian swimmers. So it's the fantastic Canadian, Summer Macintosh in lane five there. It's so cool that she, like, it's already like breaking new records and like getting gold medals. Amy Yao is a 12-year-old swimmer with Calgary's Cascade Swim Club. Her favorite event is the individual medley, just like Summer McIntosh. She says watching her success at the world championships is amazing. It gives you motivation to keep going.

Jason Pratt manages the swim club. He's also in Singapore, supporting his son and daughter as they compete for the national team. He says watching McIntosh swim is exciting and gives young swimmers someone to look up to. It just shows them that, hey, you can do it too. Along with his son and daughter, Cascade's very own Ingrid Wilm is competing too. She just won a bronze in the mixed team individual medley with her. fellow Albertan Oliver Dawson. Pratt says having local athletes compete

on the international stage is special for young swimmers. It's very inspiring for all of the young members, all of those other 1,500 swimmers in the club who get in there with dreams of going to the Olympics of the World Championship someday. Dave McDonald, a coach with the University of Calgary Swim Club,

agrees. They see that it's something that is possible. It's possible for people who are in club swimming in Canada. McDonald also says the overall youth of the national team shows other up-and-comers what they can strive for. Kelsey Arnett, CBC News, Calgary. And that's the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm Angie Seth. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca.com.