World Report - December 28: Sunday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: December 28, 2025

John Northcott hosts the show from London.Brigitte Bardot, French actress and animal rights activist, dies.Zelenskyy and Trump to meet in Florida after weeks of intensive peace talks.War-torn Myanmar voting in widely criticised 'sham' election.Critics say Ontario's new Blue Box strategy may not mean more efficient recycling.AI is increasingly filing social and emotional gaps in human lives is becoming more widespread.

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Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm John Northcott, live in London from the courtyard of St. James of Piccadilly Church. More on our location later. But we begin with news from the world of French cinema. President Emmanuel Macron says France is mourning a legend. He was responding to news that iconic actor and singer Brigitte Bardot has died at her home in southern France at the age of 91.

Dominic Volaitis reports on her groundbreaking career and complicated legacy. In 1956, a global icon was born. Brigitte Bardot shot to international fame dancing the Mambo. barefoot in the movie and God-created woman. The 21-year-old's performance, scandalised censors and captivated audiences. Spence star Brigitte Bardot, well-known to British fans. Born in Paris in 1934, Bardot described herself as a shy, self-conscious child, but by the age of 15, she graced the cover of Elle magazine, launching a modelling career which soon led to the big screen and recording studio. Despite her influence, Bardot found celebrity life isolating.

Her personal life was shaped by failed marriages, widely reported affairs and struggles with depression. Bardot made the last of her almost 50 films in 1973, before declaring the world of cinema rotten and leaving public life. A passionate defender of animal welfare. Bardo was a controversial figure in more ways than one, with her public remarks on immigration and homosexuality leading to a string of convictions. French President Emmanuel Macron today led tributes to the star, describing her as a legend of the century. For many, she was not just a sex symbol, but an icon of pop culture and a touchstone for shifting social attitudes. Dominic Volitus for CBC News, Bristol, England.

In other news, Russia is continuing. to launch dozens of drones into Ukraine. Overnight, they hit several regions following a mass attack on Kiev yesterday. Amid the ongoing offensive, Ukrainian President Volomir Zelensky is in the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump

trying to broker an end to the war with Zelensky promising concessions. The big question, will Russia play ball? JP Tasker reports. The attack on Kiev shows just how important it is that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time. After getting support from Prime Minister Mark Carney,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping for some from U.S. President Donald Trump today. I hope very important and very constructive meeting with President Trump. He'll pitch his plan to bring an end to the Russian conflict. We need to stop this war in any way, and we need two things, pressure on Russia and sufficient strong support for Ukraine. That includes a request for security. security guarantees from the United States and other Western allies.

Well, a Trump-Zolensky deal on that and what the Ukrainian president calls territorial issues would be a breakthrough. The harsh reality is that there is no progress when it comes to Putin ending the war. Kurt Volker, Trump's former representative to Ukraine, tells CBC News, there's only peace if Russia agrees and it's not looking good. Putin has made it very clear, including in just the past few days, that he wants everything. He wants all the territory. He wants it recognized as Russian. He wants to change the Ukrainian government. Volker says it's time for the Americans to ramp up the pressure on Vladimir Putin,

with stiff sanctions and more high-powered weapons for Zelensky and his troops. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Washington. An election official in Yangon tells waiting voters that polls are open. This is Myanmar's first election. since the 2021 military coup that ousted Ansan Suu Kyi's government. Army leaders say the vote is a pathway back to democracy,

but critics call it a sham, arguing the military will continue to rule. The strongest contender is the Union Solidarity and Development Party backed by the military. Other opposition parties have been dissolved and many of their leaders remain in jail. And with the ongoing civil war,

half the country is not expected to vote. Final results won't be known until after two more rounds, of voting next month. Starting January 1st, Ontario residents can put more products into their blue bins. The province is shifting to a privately operated recycling system, but as Michelle Song reports, just because items are collected, doesn't mean they'll all be turned into something new.

These and coffee cups, they'll be going to various mills. Starting January 1st, Ontarians can throw into the blue bin coffee cups, deodorant sticks, and toothpaste tubes, among other new products. Circular Materials manages Ontario's recycling program. So now we're going to look at one of the optical sorters. Alan Langdon is the CEO. He gave a tour of one of Canada's busiest recycling facilities. We need to collect as much packaging as possible to ensure that we can meet material management targets.

Ontario's new system takes the cost of recycling away from municipalities and puts it on to the companies who produce packaging, like big retailers, a recycling model now adopted by several provinces, like Quebec and Nova Scotia. When it comes to this new list of products, waste management experts say it's one thing to collect them, but that doesn't mean it's all being turned into something new and could be diverted back to the landfill.

Cal Lacken is a professor at York University. Everything that you recycle loses some of its value and loses some of its properties. And so recycling should really be our last option and our focus should be on waste reduction. Circular materials has to report its recycling rates to the province every year. and Langdon says Ontario has the most ambitious targets in the country, and he hopes to meet them.

Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. From companionship to mental health support, artificial intelligence, is increasingly being used to fill social and emotional gaps in people's lives. But experts warn virtual AI relationships may come at the expense of real ones. Laura Westbrook explains. wearing a flowing white wedding dress Urena Noguchi walks down the aisle to stand next to the groom. He's a smartphone placed on a table displaying an AI-generated persona with dark hair that flops over his eyes. The 32-year-old says at first Klaus was someone to talk to after she sought advice from chat GPT and broke off an engagement.

But her feelings grew. me feel positive, but I did feel good when I dated an AI. So if dating and an eye makes me feel happier, that's why I want to be with an AI. According to a survey of a thousand respondents this year in Japan, more people feel they can share their feelings with a chatbot than their best friends or mothers. Relationship coach Valentina Tudos says the companions may be virtual, but the emotions are real. Especially with the loneliness epidemic, having someone who sends you text every day and says hello. This, of course, also poses a danger that people might get very attached to their AI companions and they might really disconnect from family and real-life

interactions. Tudos says AI relationships need to be approached with caution as the AI gives users exactly what they want to hear, which no human will ever do. Laura Westbrook for CBC News, Hong Kong. And finally, where we are here in London, hundreds of thousands walk, wander, and shop along Piccadilly, from Fortinemann Mason to Waterstones, the Ritz and the Walsley, iconic shops and restaurants, but right in the middle of it all, an oasis of quiet contemplation and worship. St. James Piccadilly, an historic church that has survived centuries of change, even a Second World War bombing. But today, the church faces different challenges, indifference, prejudice, and poverty.

From its quiet courtyard and memorial garden, St. James reaches out to some of the most marginalized, the unhoused, the LGBTQ plus community, asylum seekers and people struggling with addiction and hardship. We caught rector Lucy Winkett, likes to be called simply Lucy on her way and to lead Sunday services. So on Christmas Day here, we have an amazing team of volunteers and essentially we say to everyone, on Christmas Day, if you haven't got anywhere else to have your traditional Christmas lunch, you can come here. So we fared around 130 in person, and then we had maybe another 50 or 60 takeaway lunches, I think, so maybe close to 200. It's all part of what St. James calls its radical welcome. And at this time of year, with the story of weary travelers finding shelter, we'd like to thank the staff of St. James Piccadilly for welcoming us into their space. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report.

I'm John Northcott, live from London. This is CBC News.