World Report - February 8: Sunday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: February 8, 2026

Sidney Crosby officially named captain as star-studded Team Canada touches down in Milan.Lindsey Vonn in stable condition after being airlifted from harrowing Olympic crash.Underdog contenders face off in Silicon Valley for a politically charged Super Bowl LX.Keir Starmer’s chief of staff resigns over "wrong" decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as U.S. envoy. Guthrie family offers to pay ransom as search for kidnapped mother reaches critical deadline.Japan’s ruling coalition headed for a "super-majority" landslide after voters brave record snow.Portugal votes in a historic presidential runoff as moderates attempt to block a far-right surge.Newfoundland government axes proposed south coast marine park to protect fishing industry.Toronto's Eglinton LRT finally opens to passengers after 15 years of delays.

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Canada's men's hockey team is now in Milan, marking the long-awaited return of the NHL to the Olympic ice. At the team touchdown, Hockey Canada officially named Sidney Crosby as captain, joined by alternate's Connor McDavid and Kail McCar. Breyer Stewart is at Malpensa Airport? when the team arrived. I'm excited to be here, definitely. Sydney Crosby arrived in Milan

with most of Canada's hockey team where expectations are high. As the team walked through the airport, they were escorted by Italian police as passengers stood to the side snapping picks with their cell phones. The last time Canada won the gold medal was in 2014.

Before that, they won in Vancouver in 2010. It was Crosby who scored the golden goal in sudden death over time. Crosby's father, Troy, arrived in Milan before the men's team. What do you think it means to have the NHLers back? I think it's great. It's been a long time, 12 years, it's too long. Canada's men's team is comprised of 25 NHLers,

including Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan McKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. You know, it's been a lifelong dream and my first one at 30, so I'm excited for it. The team will have their first practice tonight and will be taking the ice shortly after the American. after the Americans. Unlike at previous games, Russia is unable to have a men's team compete at the Olympics because of IOC rules rolled out after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Canada will play its first game

at the Olympics against Chequia on Thursday. That same day, Canada's women's hockey team will take on Finland. Breyer Stewart, CBC News, Milan. We're getting the first official update on Lindsay Vaughn after she was airlifted from the Olympic downhill course this morning. this following her crash in the women's downhill race. The American team says Vaughn is now in stable condition under the care of specialist physicians in Italy. It follows a harrowing scene on the slopes that saw the race halted for 20 minutes

and Vaughn airlifted for medical care. The other major sporting event today, the Super Bowl. Football's biggest spectacle kicks off this afternoon in Silicon Valley featuring two teams that have defied the odds to reach the title game. Steve Futterman looks at the matchup and why a politically charged halftime show is already making headlines.

This could be the most unlikely Super Bowl ever. Before the season, neither the Patriots or the Seahawks were viewed as realistic contenders, yet here they are. Both teams have embraced their unexpected rise. When Seattle coach Mike McDonald was questioned, moments after the Seahawks earned their spot, he came up with a foreword phrase that has become the team. team's mantra. We did not care.

This week here in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle's star wide receiver Cooper Cup was displaying the four words. I wore the shirt. I don't know if you see it, this is a, you know, Mike's famous saying that we did not care. It's the belief that we had in ourselves that mattered. The Patriot Super Bowl year is even more of a surprise. Last year, New England won just four games.

It's one of the biggest turnarounds in league history. Patriot coach Mike Rable believes the rags to which story is something the average fan can appreciate. I think I would say the majority of people probably are more underdogs than they are favorites. And by the end of the day, one of these teams that no one expected to be here will be champion. Today's game will have unusual attention focused on the halftime show featuring Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. Last week at the Grammy awards, he spoke out against actions by ICE officers. It's not clear if he will make similar comments today. Steve Futterman, CBC News at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California.

More fallout from the Epstein files in the UK this morning. British Prime Minister Kier Starmar's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has resigned amid growing fury over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. McSweeney says he takes full responsibility for advising Starmer to give Mandelson the key diplomatic post, despite longstanding questions about Mandelson's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement, McSweeney admitted the decision was wrong and that it is damaged. Trust in the government. This is the only way we will have peace.

This is very valuable to us and we will pay. A desperate offer from Savannah Guthrie and her family as the search for their missing mother enters a critical phase. In a new video, the NBC anchor says, we will pay after multiple news outlets receive ransom demands for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie. This comes as investigators focus on the Tucson home of Savannah's sister, Annie, who was the last person to see their mother before she vanished. Voters in Japan braved record-breaking snow today to hand Prime Minister Saniakai Takaichi, a resounding mandate.

Exit polls from national broadcaster NHK suggest that Takeichi's conservative coalition is on track for a landslide victory, potentially secure. a two-thirds super majority in the lower house. The wind clears the path for the country's first female leader to push forward with a hardline agenda of military expansion and food tax cuts. The official count is now underway. Voters in Portugal are at the polls

for an historic presidential runoff the first in 40 years. The center-left moderate is heavily favored to win, but he faces a fierce challenge from a far-right movement built on a hard-line anti-immigrant platform. In Portugal, the president holds the ultimate power to veto laws or dissolve Parliament. Newfoundland at Labrador is scrapping plans for a major new marine conservation area on the province's south coast. The progressive conservative government says the move is necessary to protect the local fishing and aquaculture industries. But as Colleen Connors reports, the decision has left some coastal communities feeling blindsided.

comes down here and comes as far as west of Gray River. Town conservation official Barbara Barter points to a large map in her tiny office at Burgio's Town Hall, pointing out what could have been the 65,000-kilometer National Marine Conservation Area, an area that she says would sustain wildlife, protect the inshore fishery, and bring in money through adventure tourism. She's pushed for this designation for decades. You know, I was terribly disappointed. I mean, the town, like I said,

had worked on this for a quarter of a century, really. The proposed memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, was signed in June 2023. But the new PC government promised to dismantle it during the summer provincial campaign. And Environment Minister Chris Tibbs did just that early last week. He says to protect the fishing industry. I know some people are disappointed,

but we need to make sure that we protect the industries that are involved. And those industries are the drawing force of Newfoundland and Labrador. We want to make sure that the world knows Newfoundland and Labrador are open for business. Burgio Mayor Trevor Green says the proposal was in the early stages, and mapping and fishing zones had not been finalized. I want industry here in Burgundy, it's just the same as anybody else. So at the end of the day, I think we could have looked at it from both sides and worked together on it. The Environment Minister plans on meeting with the leaders of Burgio on the 17th. There is little confidence this decision will be reversed.

Colleen Conner's CBC News, Virgio. And finally, a light rail line, 15 years and billions of dollars in the making, finally opened in Toronto this morning. Lorenda Redikop explains. One, two, three. Politicians unveil a plaque inside a station along the Egglinton Cross Town LRT, ahead of what they call a soft launch. The Cross Town is a 19-kilometer line through Midtown Toronto.

some of it underground. Given the years of delays and cost overruns, a reporter asked Ontario Premier Doug Ford why they were celebrating. Buddy, you've got to be a little more positive. Asked about a potential public inquiry, something critics have demanded for years, Ford was unequivocal.

No, we aren't going to do that. We're going to move on and continue building the subways. We all know the mistakes, and we've acknowledged him and we've learned. The province's NDP leader, Marte Stiles, says the transparency of an inquiry is needed. for that transit line and others. The people of Ontario deserve those answers

so that we can do better. For businesses, the years of construction kept customers away. No gravy for you? On the right? I first interviewed Cheryl Bryan at her restaurant in Little Jamaica more than three years ago.

Already then, she said she was barely getting by. We're holding on by the grace of God. We can't thank God for that. Now, reached my phone, she says it's still tough, that people around her have suggested she closed. I just said no. Something propelling me, something's pushing me to continue to hold down, that the light is in a detail. But I'm still waiting for that light.

She hopes this LRT line will finally bring that light. Lorenzo Rattacop, CBC News, Toronto. And that is the latest national, international, and urban transit news from World Report. I'm John Northcott. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with us here at CBC News. My lonely days are over. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca.com.