World Report - January 2: Friday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Switzerland mourns 40 lives lost in a deadly New Year's Eve fire in Crans-Montana, with over 100 injured.Deadly protests spread across Iran as demonstrators call for regime change.New SNAP rules restrict sugary drinks and junk food, sparking debate over health versus personal choice.New Ontario regulations on archeological protections seen as speeding up development but putting history at risk.Increased avalanche danger has officials warning skiers to stay out of back country areas of the Rockies.Wage gap hits a record in Canada, with top CEOs earning 248 times more than the average worker.

All right, what are we talking about? A new year means a fresh start. Okay, make a list for the year and take charge of your life in 2026. Look, I'm not talking about your to-do list. I'm talking about your watch list. Cross off Family Feud Canada, St. Pierre, and this hour has 22 minutes. There's no excuses. Dream big people. Enjoy all your favorite shows on CBC TV or stream anytime on CBC Gem. Mike drop. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Martina Fitzgerald. Swiss officials are providing new details on the deadly New Year's Eve fire in an alpine ski resort town. They've updated investigators' findings this morning. World Report co-host John Northcott joins us with the latest. John, what did they have to say about the number of victims?

Martina, for the first time, we're getting a true sense of the breadth of countries affected by the tragedy. Officials say there are 40 dead and 119 injured, many of them critically, in hospitals with severe burns across Switzerland and even around Europe, as the number of injured have outpaced the ability of Swiss hospitals to deal with them. 71 of the victims are from Switzerland, but there are many from France, Italy, as well as Serbia, Bosnia, Poland, and Luxembourg, with a number of still unidentified Swiss officials say they are in touch with the Philippines, Romania, Turkey, as they turn to home country resources to try to make positive identifications. Those identifications officials here say are key. They want to be able to give closure to grieving relatives and reassurance to anxious relatives

as this process moves forward. And, John, in the update, were the officials able to say anything about the cause of this fire? And, Martina, we're getting some greater clarity as to the cause of the fire. The officials saying what eyewitnesses have been saying really from the very beginning, that large lit sparklers in champagne bottles, or kind of a feature of the club, they were being carried through the club, which they often did. But in this occasion, they say they got too close to the ceiling, and they set off that fire that then spread rapidly.

The number of people in the club, there was an emergency exit, but at the same time they say in the smoke, in the panic, it's very likely people couldn't even make their way there. A narrow staircase was what most people tried to use, to leave and that proved deadly for so many. There's so much left to do. There's the battle by medical personnel in multiple countries to save the injured.

There's the ongoing painstaking process of identifying the dead and also an intense police investigation to determine if anyone will be held criminally responsible for this night club fire that has taken so many lives. World Report co-host John Northcott reporting from London. Thank you, John.

Thanks, Martina. There is unrest across multiple cities in Iran with protesters taking to the streets. Some are calling for the overthrow of the government. Authorities are responding with force, with people killed and injured. Dominic Volaitis has the latest. Another night of protests in Iran. Footage posted by BBC Persian shows people in Iraq taking to the streets shouting death to hominy. In Barbole, protesters openly call for the overthrow of the regime

and the reinstatement of the Iranian royal family. And footage verified by BBC Persian shows the authorities opening fire on a passing car in Mavdashed. The driver and his family appear to escape unharmed. Others, though, haven't been so lucky. Iranian media and rights groups say several people have now been killed in the unrest. Dozens more have been injured, many have been arrested. The protests sparked by worsening economic conditions erupted on Sunday. They're the biggest to hit Iran in three years, with violence reported in several cities.

And with no sign of the unrest abating, U.S. President Donald Trump has, vowed to intervene if Iran uses lethal force against peaceful protesters. We are locked and loaded and ready to go, he said in a truth social post. His comments condemned by Iran, which this morning warned that US interference in the protests would lead to chaos across the region. Dominic Volitus for CBC News, Bristol, England. In the United States, new rules are changing what Americans can be. with government food benefits.

At least 18 states will no longer allow SNAP recipients to use their benefits to purchase things like soft drinks, candy, and heavily processed foods. Supporters say it's about health. Critics say it limits choice. Karen Pauls has more from Washington. Nearly one and a half million people using food stamps in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia

are already seeing these changes at the grocery store. Mitch Rube is responsible for the SNAP program in Indiana. It's called the supplemental nutritional assistance program. Sugary drinks and candy are not nutritional. I used to buy candy all the time. This South Carolina mother used SNAP to feed her seven children. She says the restrictions taking place there in August are long overdue. We'd run out of food sometimes just buying a lot of junk food. This is part of a push by Health Secretary Roy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove unhealthy food from the $100 billion federal program that serves 42 million Americans. His goal is to reduce chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes

linked to sweetened drinks and processed foods. Research is mixed on whether restricting SNAP purchases will actually improve diet quality and health, but Republican South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster says there's also an economic argument. If you're a robot with your money, you can go right ahead. But when it comes to the taxpayers, there's certain things that they don't need to be paying for. Meanwhile, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to extend a deadline defining who is eligible for SNAP after a group of Democratic-led states challenged new immigration-related restrictions. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Washington. A move by the Ontario government has archaeologists and First Nations worried.

Ministers can now override archaeological protections with the stroke of a pen. Developers say it makes approvals more predictable. But as Colin Butler reports, critics warn it could erase the past. They're essentially rewriting our history. Tobermori-based archaeologist Scarlet Genesis says no good can come of this. I think it's bad when government tries to control our heritage. But control is exactly what the province quietly gave itself with Bill 5. elected officials can now grant exemptions for projects they call priorities.

The Ontario Home Builders Association wouldn't go on air, but told CBC in an email, the law promises faster approvals while still responsibly protecting heritage. Indigenous rights lawyer Aaron Detler says there's nothing responsible about it. It doesn't matter if it's the most sacred site known to any particular First Nation because the priority has been given to developers. Skipping assessments could also halt projects when burials or artifacts are found. Lisa Sonnenberg is the president of the Ontario Archaeological Society.

Everything has to stop. And I can probably guarantee that that project will, you know, you end up having to cancel a project or having to do major redesign. It could also spark disputes like the 2006 clash at Caledonia. Experts warn of political favoritism at the cost of 13,000. 18,000 years of history, especially when decisions about the past are being made in the present by politicians. Colin Butler, CBC News, London, Ontario. A deadly avalanche in northeastern British Columbia is raising fresh warnings for those venturing into the back country.

With more snow on the way and winter recreation ramping up, Avalanche Canada is sharing safety advice. Giovanni Joshi reports. Avalanche Canada says the slide near Tumblr Ridge was triggered from the... the base of the slope. Three snowmobilers were riding the bull moose area. One person from the group was caught and buried in the avalanche. Avalanche Canada forecaster Martina Halleck said earlier this week, the north rocky saw stormy and windy conditions. We have a persistent week layer that formed in mid-December and now there's quite a bit of snow that's built up on top of that that raincrest. With all of the new snow, the wind, some of the warming, in some areas that

persistent weeklayer has been getting overloaded. She's also warning those venturing into avalanche terrain to check the most up-to-date bulletins for region-specific conditions. We have a storm that's set to impact the coast kind of Friday night in through Saturday and track across the province. That's going to mainly affect the southern half of the province, but the northern half has been quite stormy lately. So we will see some elevated hazard.

in those areas as well. Almost 80% of all Canadian avalanche fatalities over the past 10 years have been in B.C. Shavani Joshi, CBC News, Vancouver. And finally, the gap in wages between Canadian workers and top CEOs has hit a new record. In 2024, the Canadian Center

for Policy Alternative says the 100 highest-paid executives earned an average of $16.2 million. That is 248 times more. than the average worker. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.