World Report - February 18: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

BREAKING NEWS: Prime Minister Mark Carney says Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux is crossing the floor of the House of Commons to sit as a Liberal. Meta head Mark Zuckerberg to testify at California trial about social media addiction.Comedian Stephen Colbert accuses CBS of pulling political interview, fearing retaliation from FCC.Palestinians in Gaza begin Ramadan under shaky ceasefire.Defence companies in Newfoundland and Labrador are poised to cash in on Ottawa's planned investment in the defence sector.

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This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Arcia Young. Prime Minister Mark Carney says conservative MP Matt Jenneru is joining the federal liberals. Back in November, there was speculation he would cross the floor. Instead, the Edmonton MP said he would be resigning from the House of Commons. But an official departure date was never announced. For more, let's go to CBC's Janice McGregor in our Parliamentary Bureau.

And Janice, I guess this means Geno is not giving up his seat. Apparently not. One of the most curious things about the Prime Minister's social post announcing this floor crossing is that indeed, Generu is apparently staying on as the MP for Edmonton Riverbent. Last November, with rumors swirling that he was about to defect to the liberals at that point, the then-conservative MP announced he would resign his seat at the Senate. some unspecified future date.

He said he wanted to spend more time with his family. That was motivating his decision. He said his conservative colleagues remained very close friends. But he has not been present in the House of Commons in the months since, nor did he vote remotely during key confidence votes, giving the impression he had one foot out the door, and a by-election in that Edmonton riding would be coming soon. In a statement he's just posted on his social feed, Jennerut now says he had conversations around his family's kitchen table this winter about how best to stand up for Canada.

He said that the Prime Minister's speech in Davos helped him decide to join the liberal government's fight. The Prime Minister has made him now a new special advisor on economic and security partnerships, issues he worked on as a parliamentarian on the opposition side. Carney's itinerary has been revised to show a meeting with Genereux in the Prime Minister's hometown of Edmonton later today. Early indications from the conservatives are that they did not see this coming, although they have been looking over their shoulders, afraid of more floor crossers, ever since they lost their first two to the Liberals last fall.

How does this affect the seat math in the House of Commons? Well, three by-elections are now underway, two to replace Christopherland and Bill Blair in their Toronto seats, and one that's now required in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne, after the Supreme Court nullified the election result that saw a liberal win there by just one vote. If the liberals hold all those three seats, the first two, very likely, the third one way less certain.

And Generous stays on, but on the liberal bench, well, the liberals will have their majority. Thank you, Janice. You're welcome. The CBC's Janice McGregor in Ottawa. Mark Zuckerberg will testify today at a high-profile trial in California. He is the head of Meta,

which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. And this is his first time appearing before a jury to address allegations his social media platforms harm children and teens. The landmark trial is focusing on social media addiction. Willie Lowry is in our Washington Bureau. And Willie, tell us more about this trial. So this case really centers on one question. Did social media giants meta and Google through their various platforms create intentionally addictive and harmful apps for children? The plaintiff in the case known only as Kaylee or KGM and her mother have accused the tech companies of intentionally creating addictive platforms that caused her to develop a host of mental health issues, including suicidal thoughts.

Here's Matthew Bergman, a member of KGM's legal team. He says KGM, who is now 20, was a child when she started using social media. She got on social media when she was six years old and through the dangerous algorithms and through the, the addictive design became highly addicted to social media and develop body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, and to this day, continues to suffer for mental health harms as a result of the deliberate design decisions that these companies have made. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify later today. He's appeared before Congress many times to address the safety of his platforms and even

apologize to families of people negatively impacted by social media, but this will be the first time he appears before a jury. META says it disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit. This is being called a landmark trial. What is at stake here? So this is the first of more than 1,500 other pending lawsuits to go on trial. The results could have profound implications. If the jury sides with KGM, the plaintiff,

it could set a precedent for how social media companies are held accountable and potentially cost them billions. of dollars in settlements. Thank you, Willie. My pleasure. The CBC's Willie Lowry in Washington. Late show host, Stephen Colbert, is taking another shot at his soon-to-be former employer, CBS. He is accusing the broadcaster of pulling one of his interviews out of fear of the U.S. federal regulator.

I'm just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies. Colbert interviewed Texas Senate Democratic candidate. James Telerico. But it did not air on television. Colbert says CBS lawyers raised concerns about an FCC rule requiring equal air time for political candidates. There has long been a very famous exception to that rule, and that exception included talk shows interviews with politicians. We looked, and we can't find one example of this rule being enforced for any talk show interview, not only for my entire late-night career, but for anyone's late-night career going back to the 1960s.

CBS says it did not prohibit the interview. It only gave legal guidance, but it has been accused of caving to political pressure in the past. Colbert's show will be canceled after May 21st. Palestinians in Gaza are marking the start of Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam. It comes amid a fragile ceasefire and devastation from the Israel-Harm.

loss war. Gaza still faces severe food shortages and other critical supplies. Cameron McIntosh has more. Prayers mark the beginning of the sacred month of Ramadan. In Gaza, the first after two years of war.

In a market near Gaza city, Ahmad Farage says nothing feels normal. Many vendors have full shelves, fruits, vegetables, sweets, festive staples of Ramadan. But Farage says most struggle for the basics.

The prices are high for the main products, flour, sugar, cereal, all food supplies. The four-month ceasefire is allowing food aid in, slowly, but not near enough, driving up prices. We have managed to push back the threat of famine. But many are still getting by on just a meal a day, says Sean Hughes, country director for the UN's World Food Program. We need better humanitarian access. So we need all. the crossings into Gaza to be open and to be open predictably. Right now, no signs of that happening. Despite it all, some talk of chasing Ramadan vibes. Mohanid al-Nazir slices several long slits up and down an old aluminum drink can. Pushing down, it flares out in the middle,

a makeshift Ramadan lantern. It makes me happy, he says, despite the war, the pain, the strikes. stringing up dozens, being as festive as he can, under a precarious ceasefire. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Jerusalem. The next big employer in Newfoundland and Labrador could be the defense sector. Industry leaders say the province has been quietly punching above its weight for years. As Ryan Cook reports, the region could benefit from Ottawa's plans to spend more. We know that the world has changed and that Canada must change with it. Prime Minister Mark Carney is promising a new path for defense spending,

one that will see 70% of federal defense contracts awarded to Canadian companies within a decade. Welcome news in Canada's most eastern province. This is relevant for us and we're ready to go. Megan K. Fowlo heads up the Co-Innovation Center in St. John's, a massive 54,000 square foot facility where companies work together to reach scale, including a growing number in aerospace and defense. Companies in Newfoundland and Labrador are already working in those spaces. We've already developed those capabilities.

We have infrastructure in place to be able, basically to be ready to respond to what they've laid out. The federal government projects 125,000 additional jobs in the defense sector as spending ramps up over the next 10 years. About 10,000 currently work in the defense sector in the four Atlantic provinces. Victoria Belbin, CEO of Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Defense, expects to see that number grow considerably under this new strategy. It's a very unique region. We're small, but we're very mighty, and you can see that in the numbers. For Newfoundland and Labrador, a province with economic challenges and geographic advantages, Belbin says the potential is huge, as long as the commitment from Kearney is met with real action.

Ryan Cook, CBC News, St. John's. That is the latest national and international news from World Report News Anytime, CBCNews.ca. I'm Marcia Young. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca.com.