World Report - December 15: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Breaking News: Rob Reiner's son Nick has been taken into custody after the Hollywood director and his wife Michele were found dead. Questions are mounting after 15 people were shot dead in Sydney, Australia this weekend in what officials are calling a terrorist attack.Hong Kong court finds Jimmy Lai guilty of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. Pussy Riot designated an extremist organization in Russia. Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation held steady at 2.2 per cent in the month of November.The federal government says it will spend 9 million dollars on new projects aimed at incorporating more Canadian wood products in construction.Some Canadian companies say they are bringing on new hires just to make sure there are no mistakes in the US cross-border paperwork.

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Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Angie Seth. We begin with breaking news out of Los Angeles. Nick Reiner, the son of Hollywood director, Rob Reiner, is in police custody. And bail is set at $4 million. Los Angeles police arrested him late last night,

shortly after the director and his wife, Michelle, were found dead. Police are treating the incident as a hospital. Homicide. Rob Reiner directed nearly two dozen films, including This Is Spinal Tap, when Harry met Sally and the Princess Bride. 32-year-old Nick has spoken publicly in the past about his struggles with mental health and drug addiction. In other news, Australian leaders are vowing to overhaul national gun control laws after the deadly weekend shooting on Sydney's Bondi Beach. 15 people were killed, several more injured, while attending a festival marking the beginning of Hanukkah. Officials are calling the shooting a terrorist attack.

Mercer joins us now from Bondi Beach, where there's a growing memorial for the victims. So, Phil, what are we learning about some of the people who were killed? Well, we're learning who they were and a bit about their lives. We know that the 15 victims include a 10-year-old girl called Matilda and an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor. We know that there was a British-born rabbi, a father of five, who worked in a Jewish centre in Sydney, a man who was a former police detective who was working as a photographer. And also we heard details of another man who died, apparently protecting his wife from gunfire. So throughout the day, we've learned more about the victims of this atrocity. And we've also learned more about the people who police believe perpetrated it.

unbelievably, a father and son, 50 and 24 years of age. The older man was shot dead by the police at the scene. The younger man is critically ill in hospital. Just an unbelievably, as you say, tragic situation. What are we hearing from authorities? This will be an exhaustive process for Australia. There will, you'd imagine, be multiple inquiries into the response by the government in terms of allegations that it hasn't taken anti-Semitism and the rise of anti-Jewish sentiment seriously in this country there will clearly be an investigation into the background of this father and son who perpetrated this mass shooting

and also the response of the emergency services. Then, of course, gun controls. So many, many issues for Australia to wade through and perhaps the most serious is how does Australia deal with this trauma. Reporter Phil Mercer at Bondi Beach, Phil, thank you for this. Thank you. To another story we're following very closely, Sebastian Lai, says his family is saddened, but not surprised his father, Jimmy Lai, has been convicted under China's national security law. What we've seen today and actually have lost past five years is a complete breakdown in Hong Kong legal

system. The pro-democracy campaigner founded the now defunct Apple Daily newspaper. Lai could be jailed for life. A three-judge panel ruled he conspired to publish seditious materials and collude with foreign forces. Laura Westbrook has more from Hong Kong. Jimmy Lai is the most prominent pro-democracy figure arrested in 2020 under the national security law imposed by Beijing in the wake of anti-government protests the year before. One of the three national security judges Esther Toh says there was no doubt in the judge's minds that Lai had never wavered in his intention to destabilize China. and continued to call for sanctions against China and Hong Kong

after the national security law took effect. Listening to the verdict, Jimmy Lai sat stoically with his arms folded and later waved to his family and supporters as he was escorted out of the glass dock. Here's Hong Kong's national security police chief, Steve Lee. The court particularly highlighted that the testimony of a lie is a contradiction, inconsistent and reliable, and also highlighted that he is the mastermind of the free charges. A vocal critic of China's leaders, Jimmy Lai founded the well-known Pro-Democracy Apple Daily newspaper.

It was forced to shut down in 2021. William Wong is one of the newspaper's long-time readers. Our voice has been destroyed by the government. 78-year-old Lai faces up to life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. Laura Westbrook for CBC News, Hong Kong. The feminist punk collective, known as Pussy Riot, is now considered an extremist organization in Russia. Pussy Riot became known globally back in 2012 after they were jailed for staging a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Russian Orthodox cathedral.

Those women have all left Russia, but they continue to speak out against the war in Ukraine. And today a Moscow court labeled them foreign agents and handed them jail sentences in absentia for spreading lies about the Russian army. On social media, Pussy Riot's founder says, if telling the truth is extremism, they're happy to be extremists. Back here at home, we're getting a much clear picture of how Canada's economy is faring. Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation held steady at 2.2% in the month of November, and that is on par with the year-over-year increase in October. Senior Business Correspondent, Peter Armstrong, has more details. This falls right about where economists were expecting to see inflation land this month.

The biggest driver up was food prices, groceries were up 4.7% year over year. Frozen beef, for example, up 17.7%. The biggest driver down was in a category of travel, tours, and accommodation. And as it turns out, was that we're still working our way through the Taylor Swift, impact on economic data. In November of last year, of course, Swift came through Canada and we saw hotel and travel costs shot up as demand surged. Well, now here we are a year later, an accommodation without Taylor Swift in town

has come back down 6.9%. Rents at the same time are also rising, but they're rising at a slower pace. And all of this together keeps the rate of inflation right at that target range, the Bank of Canada likes to see. Peter Armstrong. CBC News, Toronto. Meantam in the face of U.S. tariffs, natural resources minister, Tim Hodgson, is announcing new support for the forestry sector. He says the federal government will spend $9 million on new projects aimed at incorporating more Canadian wood products in construction. These projects will tackle insurance challenges, develop a mass timber costing guide,

advance building code changes for low-carbon materials, expand wood construction education and increase the use of wood solutions through technical support and training. Hodgson says he has already struck a task force aiming at transforming Canada's forest sector. It will focus on making the industry more competitive over the long term, as well as it will gather input from provinces, territories, indigenous peoples, and industry. And those tariffs are also adding another cost to manufacturers' bottom lines. Some companies say they're bringing on new hires just to make sure there are no mistakes in the cross-border paperwork.

Trade experts say it's turning routine administrative shipping tasks into executive-level priorities. The CBC's Chris Ensing explains. In a Detroit warehouse next to North America's busiest land crossing, U.S. Customs Border and Protection Import Specialist Mark Bellelli is checking skits. And that's what they will be doing, is they'll say this is an auto part bypassing the steel tariffs. Bellelli will apply the appropriate 25% tariff and see if this was an honest mistake or an attempt to avoid American tariffs. Declarations are being scrutinized a lot more by

customs. Ray Fisher is a cross-border trade expert with Don Grant Thornton and says tariff classifications went from a low-level task to a CEO's nightmare. The discussions that we are having are with the C-sweets, the owners. Getting it wrong a decade ago wouldn't come with much of a financial penalty, but tariffs have changed the risk level entirely. The U.S. ranked in close to $33 billion on tariff enforcement actions this fiscal year, an exponential jump from the $700 million the year before. So this is the vicious cycle Canada is going through right now. Casey Vasudeva owns ultra-form manufacturing in Ontario.

His auto parts can cross the border five times during production before they're finished. Vasudeva has laid off more than a double. employee's blaming tariffs for his operations slowdowns, but he's hired two people to make sure the paperwork is accurate. That's what gives us the heading. Back at the warehouse, Bollelli moves on to the next skit, knowing his decision could spark chaos inside a Canadian office. Chris Hensing, CBC News, Detroit.

And that's the latest national and international news from World Report. For news anytime, go to cbcnews.ca.ca. I'm Angie Seth. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.