World Report - Friday's top stories in 10 minute

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Donald Trump avoids prison or fine as judge sentences him in historic case. Canada's Liberals will choose a new leader on March 9. The two biggest fires burning near Los Angeles are still mostly out of control.

Every language is a note in the symphony of our heritage. Together, they create a harmony that cannot be silenced. Discover your voice on the new APTN Languages TV channel. This is a CBC Podcast. This is World Report. Good morning, I'm John Northcott. We begin with breaking news from New York, where a judge has sentenced Donald Trump in

his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. He was found guilty last year of falsifying business records to cover up the sex scandal. New York Judge Juan Marchand has given Trump an unconditional discharge. It means no jail time, no probation, and no fines. But it does formalize Trump's status as a convicted felon, and makes him the first convicted criminal to become US president. To politics in this country,

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Jolie says she will not enter the race to take over as leader of the federal liberals. Am I ready to be the first woman to lead the Liberal Party of Canada? The answer is yes. Am I ready to step away from my responsibilities as Minister of Foreign Affairs,

where it is a crucial time in the Canada-U.S. relationship? The answer is no. Last night, the party's national board set the rules for that leadership contest. The cost to run will be higher than ever before. The rules around who can run for the next Liberal leader are also changing. And the timeline will be tight. The next Prime Minister will be chosen on March the 9th.

Kate McKenna has details. In two months, the Liberal Party will have a new leader and Canada will have a new Prime Minister. The party announced the leadership race rules on Thursday night, days after Justin Trudeau said he will resign when a new leader is chosen. According to the Liberal Party, candidates need to enter the race by January 23rd, two weeks from now, and the cost of entry is $350,000. It's the highest entry fee in Canadian history, and could result in a smaller group of candidates.

As well, the Liberals are tightening up their membership rules. Before, potential voters only had to have a Canadian address. Now they must be citizens or permanent residents. And the party set a registration cutoff date for new members. It's January 27th. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. Meanwhile, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making his case against new US tariffs to the American public while he was in Washington for Jimmy Carter's funeral yesterday

He did two interviews on major US networks Richard Madden is on the story for us from our Washington bureau Richard what message is Trudeau delivering to Americans? Yeah, he appeared on both CNN and MSNBC Prime Minister Trudeau said all this talk of Canada becoming the 51st state is a distraction from the much bigger issue on how the incoming presidents propose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports will impact prices on Americans from electricity to lumber, concrete and produce. If he does choose to go forward with tariffs that raise the cost of just about everything for American

citizens that on top of that we're going to have to have a robust response to that. And that response Trudeau said is Ottawa's compiling a list of its own counter tariffs on American-made imports if Trump follows through. Trudeau also denied Trump's reelection factored into his resignation. So Richard, how did Trump respond? Yeah, Trump justified his plan to impose these tariffs, pointing to the US trade deficit with Canada. Trump says the US has enough of its own resources and products. We don't need anything. We don't need their fuel, we don't need their energy, we don't need their oil and gas. We don't need the oil and gas. We don't need anything that they have." So all this puts into question the fate of the modernized NAFTA or USMCA agreement

that Trump brokered in his first term. That deal is up for renewal next year, so Trump appears to be signaling it may be in jeopardy. Richard Madden in Washington. Thanks Richard. You bet. Statistics Canada says 91,000 jobs were added to the economy last month. That's the biggest one-month employment gain in two years and it drops the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, down from 6.8 in November. Most of the new jobs are full-time and come primarily from the education, finance and

transportation sectors. Defence Minister Bill Blair says he has approved a request to send firefighters, equipment and more resources to California. And Quebec says it's sending two more air tankers at the request of U.S. authorities. Overnight authorities grounded a super-scooper aircraft already in California from Quebec. It hit a drone flying over the flames. Steve Futterman has more on a volatile situation that shows no sign of slowing down. The number of structures damaged or destroyed continues to rise and it's staggering.

More than 10,000 and it's likely most of them are homes. Gail McMahon returned to her apartment yesterday in Pacific Palisades to see what was left. It's devastating. I'm homeless. Everything I owned, everything. On the firefighting front, a tiny bit of progress was made yesterday with decreased winds Officials focused on attacking the fires from the air with water and retardant and by last night They saw some progress the largest of the fires the palisades fire is now six percent contained

Law enforcement officials are now dealing with another problem ar Arson. There have been arrests. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna. Our first choice isn't to do enforcement, but if people choose to commit crimes, they're going to be held accountable. In the late afternoon, another fire broke out near the San Fernando Valley. Officials believe that may have been the result of arson.

A man has been arrested. Meanwhile, for the thousands without homes, they prepare to deal with the rest of their lives. Mainly it's just the indignity of not having your place, your home, you know, places to go. I lived here because it's a simple, nice town and it's gone. Today the forecast calls for the winds to increase but only slightly. Steve Utterman for CBC News, Pacific Palisades, California. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is now sworn into his third term in office, but he's

widely accused of stealing the most recent election, and that has led to more anti-government protests across the country. Manuel Rueda has the latest. Rueda! Rueda! Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado had been in hiding for the past four months. She resurfaced on Thursday and led a protest against Maduro's government. They're entering a new stage in our struggle, she said. The government has its days numbered. Hundreds of people were arrested in Venezuela in August in protests that followed Maduro's

re-election. This week at least 16 politicians and human rights advocates have been arrested in Venezuela, according to the United Nations, in what appears to be an effort to scare the population from joining new protests against Maduro's government. Machado said she was detained as well for about an hour before being released. Venezuela's powerful interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, accused her of faking her own arrest. They didn't have so many people in the protests, he said, so they made up something to agitate

their supporters. Few countries are expected to send representatives to Maduro's swearing-in ceremony today. The United States and Canada have officially recognized the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of July's election. Gonzalez is currently in exile. On Thursday he said he would soon return to Venezuela to exercise his presidential duties. But it's not clear how that will happen. Venezuela's military is still firmly behind Maduro.

Manuel Rueda, CBC News, Bogota. And finally, Sudan's deadly civil war is approaching its third year with tens of thousands killed and millions of others displaced. Many Canadians with family in the African nation are trying to bring their loved ones here. But unlike past federal programs that have helped hundreds of thousands of Afghans, Syrians and Ukrainians to flee war, a comparative few Sudanese have made it to Canada. David Common has more.

We have applicants that died, died because lack of medication, died because they were killed. Immigration consultant Nagwa Al-Mamoun describes the horror of Sudan's civil war. 150,000 killed, more displaced from their homes by conflict than any other on record, and leading Canada to offer safe haven. I thank Canada for this initiative, but unfortunately we expected more. Compared to other wars, 300,000 Ukrainians were admitted to Canada after Russia's invasion. From Afghanistan, 40,000. From Syria, 25,000.

But after nearly a year from Sudan, Canada has approved just 340 Sudanese. And only 55 have actually made it. Ishmael Adam put money down as required by the feds to support his family's escape from Sudan. The Bay Street tech worker can't understand why it's taking so long. If this is humanitarian and compassionate basis then do what you did for other nations. Get them here. McGill University's head of African Studies, Khalid Madani, is willing to say out loud what others in the community whisper.

It's very problematic and it's racist. We have to be clear about the minuscule amount of Sudanese who have benefited from this program. The federal government says it is committed to the non-discriminatory application of immigration procedures but did not say whether and if more Sudanese will come to Canada. David Common, CBC News, Mississauga, Ontario. And you can read more about this continuing CBC News series at cbcnews.ca slash welcome to Canada. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm John Northcott. This is CBC News.