World Report - December 13: Saturday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: December 13, 2025

Federal health minister vows to safeguard Canada's publicly-funded health system as Alberta opens door to more privatization.Floodwaters is BC's Fraser Valley receding but more wet weather is forecast.Belarus frees Nobel prize laureate Bialiatski, opposition figure Kolesnikova as US lifts sanctions.Kim Jong-un admits North Korean troops clearing landmines for Russia.A stadium in India erupted into chaos during a visit by soccer superstar Lionel Messi.IndiGo, India's largest airline, cancels flights en masse, creating travel chaos.Dick Van Dyke turns 100.

This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over-delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing.

Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning, I'm John Northcott. The federal health minister is speaking out on two major challenges facing the country. In an interview with CBC Radio's The House, Marjorie Michelle says she's keeping a close eye on, number one, the spread of vaccine misinformation coming from the United States,

and number two, the rise of private health care. in this country. Catherine Cullen, host of the House, has more. We are trying to keep everybody under the Canada health tent. Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michelle says she doesn't believe there's room for more private health care in Canada, though she emphasizes her desire to work with provinces. Last month, Alberta announced plans to let doctors work in the public and private pay for access system simultaneously, a first in Canada. In a social media post, Premier Danielle Smith suggested it would reduce weight.

So for example, a surgeon could choose to perform publicly funded surgeries during regular business hours while performing private surgeries after regular business hours or on weekends, should they wish. Michelle says federal lawyers are still examining Alberta's legislation, which hasn't become law yet. So if Alberta is going out of the Canada Health Act, we will have to step in, you know. Another subject on the minister's mind is the U.S. Health Administration's approach to vaccines. It's a big worry for me. Recently, a U.S. panel recommended rolling back hepatitis B vaccines for all healthy newborns. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has regularly contradicted scientific consensus.

Could that also cause damage here in Canada? I think he will make the damage if we are buying what they are saying. Do you think Canadians are buying what he's saying? Some. She notes Canada has problems too, having recently lost its measles elimination status because the highly contagious disease has been spreading for so long. Michelle says she's working with organizations on the ground to help get more Canadians vaccinated. Catherine Cullen, CBC News, Ottawa.

And you can hear more on all of this, on the House, right after World Report, or wherever you get your podcasts. Flood waters in BC are receding after this week's devastating atmospheric river. Hundreds of people remain out of their homes in the Fraser Valley region. The CBC's Mark Carcassol is following developments and joins us in studio. Mark, where do you think stand right now? Well, John, a lot of the warnings and highway closures and whatnot that we've seen over the last couple of days have subsided, and the flooding has peaked, but nothing is quite normal just yet. For instance, there are still local states of emergency in B.C.'s Fraser Valley. There are still flood warnings along the Sumas River, looking at spillover from the Nooksack River in Washington State, which is flowing northward, causing these bodies of water to overflow their banks. there are still evacuation orders in place, 460 properties in total, and there are still some major highway closures in effect.

One thing we do know is that the mayor of Abbotsford, Ross Siemens, is not happy with the federal government. He throws back to flooding in Abbotsford in 2021, which was very serious. He says there was a flood mitigation plan put together not long after that, but the federal governments need to sign off on it, and they haven't done that. And he called them out in a news conference yesterday. We need to be pressing a full court press for this issue to be addressed by the federal government. I need that long-term flood mitigation plan to be adopted sooner as opposed to later. Mayor Siemens does say he met with the federal emergency management minister yesterday after calling them out on that, but still no real concrete plans there. Mark, though, the threat is not over. What's ahead for the region?

Yeah, there is another atmospheric river moving into the region for tomorrow. And they really don't know at this point what it could bring. Some forecasts that I've heard have said that there's potential for another 75 to 125 millimeters of rain for the area, but it's a wait-and-see situation. Mark Carcassel joining us in studio. Thanks, Mark. Thank you. Belarus is releasing 123 prisoners. This includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Alice Velotsky and opposition leader Maria Kalistakova. The moves come after the U.S. announced.

it would lift sanctions on a key Belarusian export potash. That release followed two days of talks with U.S. envoy as President Lukashenko appears to be trying to improve relations with the White House. Belarus has been a close ally of Russia. It has faced years of Western sanctions over its human rights record and also for allowing Russia to use its territory in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. North Korean State Television Broadcasting an emotional welcome home ceremony in Pyongyang

with leader Kim Jong-un personally embracing soldiers, some of them visibly injured and in wheelchairs. It was a public acknowledgement of North Korea's direct military involvement in the Ukraine war. In his speech, Kim confirmed that the unit was sent to Russia's Kursk region to clear landmines. A stadium in India erupted into chaos during a visit by soccer superstar Lionel Messi.

Messi kicked off the first leg of his India tour in Kolkata today. It was supposed to be a chance for fans to get a good glimpse of the phenom, but as Dominic Valladis tells us, it didn't all go as planned. Crowds line the streets of India's Kolkata this morning, many hoping to catch a glimpse of soccer legend Lionel Messi, whose three-day tour of India kicked off today. It's very good. It's one of my dream just to see Messi, the feeling to see he's playing. I'm feeling very good.

No words to explain. Super excited because in childhood I used to watch Messi. I love him so much. But the jubilant atmosphere soon turned sour when the Argentina and Inter Miami Forward visited the city's Salt Lake Stadium. Fans who paid more than a hundred dollars for a ticket complained that Messi's brief 20-minute tour of the ground was obscured by a large group of VIPs, officials and security. Many even ripped up seats and threw them onto the pitch in disgust.

We couldn't even see him, we couldn't even get a glimpse of him. Everyone was furious, everyone was very furious. It was a total scam. We want our money back. a black day for Kolkata. With the main organizer of the stadium tour reportedly arrested, officials say disappointed fans will have their tickets refunded and that those responsible will be punished.

Dominic Vilas for CBC News, Bristol, England. Meanwhile, India's largest airline, Indigo, is emerging from what authorities are calling one of the worst operational breakdowns in the country's aviation history. Indigo controls some 60% of the air travel. market. So it's no surprise there was chaos as the airline began canceling thousands of flights this month. Critics say it didn't plan for new regulations coming into full effect. Ishan Gurg reports from New Delhi. Thousands of passengers stranded at Indian airports, demanding clarity on their flights.

Among them, brides and grooms hoping to make it to their own wedding in time, and family members trying to reach their loved ones in an emergency. We were like, you know, mentally, physically, we're very upset. We were helpless. On December 3rd, Indigo began canceling services on Mars. The airlines grabbed more than 4,000 domestic flights in just nine days. It says cruise shortages were triggered by new pilot duty time regulations which increased mandatory weekly rest from 36 to 48 hours.

Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu blames the airline for being unprepared for the rules that were announced months ago. No airline, however large, will be permitted to cause such hardship to passengers through planning failures, non-compliance or non-adherence to statutory provisions. The government is now punishing the airline by slashing its flight schedule by 10% and offering those flights to competitors. Officials say the industry needs more competition, but critics question whether regulatory oversight can keep pace with India's rapidly expanding skies. Flight operations are now stabilizing, and Indigo says it has processed millions of dollars in refunds to affected passengers. Ishaan Gherg for CBC News, New Delhi. And finally. Jim Chimmini, chim chim chimney, chim chim chim chri.

A sweep is as lucky as lucky as well. The sound of a man who really needs no introduction, Dick Van Dyke, he turns 100 years old today. The legendary Mary Poppins star will be celebrating his centennial quietly at home with his wife binge-watching Jeopardy reruns. Remarkably, he is still working. He won the Daytime Emmy Award just last year for his guest role on Days of Our Lives, becoming the oldest person ever to win the award. He says he is lucky, goes to the gym three times a week, and says, a hundred years is, quote, simply not enough. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report.

I'm John Northcott. Thanks for spending your Dick Van Dyke birthday with us here at CBC News. Chim chimney, chim chim chim chim cheroo. Good luck we're above. c.ca slash podcasts.