World Report - July 04: Friday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: July 4, 2025

Canadian Army investigating members alleged to be part of a private Facebook group called the Blue Hackle Mafia. Dozens of Palestinian students in Gaza waiting on Ottawa to approve visas for graduate studies in Canada. US president Donald Trump expects Hamas to respond within 24 hours to latest Gaza ceasefire proposal. The UFC confirms it is in talks to hold event at the White House. The UFC confirms it is in talks to hold event at the White House.Doctors say they are seeing more e-scooter related injuries in children than same time last year.Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Cowtown today for the kick off of the Calgary Stampede. 

I'm Joshua Jackson, and I'm returning for the Audible original series, Oracle, Season 3, Murder at the Grandview. Six forty-somethings took a boat out a few days ago. One of them was found dead. The hotel, the island, something wasn't right about it. Psychic agent Nate Russo is back on the case, and you know when Nate's killer instincts are required, anything's possible.

This world's gonna eat you alive. Listen to Oracle Season 3, Murder at the Grandview, now on Audible. This is a CBC Podcast. This is World Report. Good morning, I'm John Northcott. The Canadian Army is investigating members who may have participated in a private Facebook

group called the Blue Hackle Mafia. According to a statement from Lieutenant General Mike Wright, the group featured comments and images that were racist, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic. The Army commander says he is disgusted by some of the posts in this group and he ordered serving members to immediately cease their participation. A disciplinary investigation will determine if a serious offence has been committed. A group of Canadian professors is urging Ottawa to approve visas for about 70 Palestinian graduate students.

They're waiting in Gaza for approval to come here. Two have already died in the war there. Immigration officials say the ongoing violence is keeping them from processing the students. Rafi Boudjikanian has more. Like so many other students, I become trapped with my dreams. A scholarship for a master's at the University of Regina awaits 26-year-old Mira if she can get out of Gaza alive. Every day there's people who we closely know are being killed.

CBC News has agreed not to use her full name out of concern for her safety. Mira could move to Canada if the Federal Immigration Department approved her visa, but Ottawa says it can't do that while she's waiting in Gaza, where there are no Canadian officials to conduct fingerprint and photo identification tests. She's been waiting since last year. In December two of her acquaintances, twin sisters who were approved to study at the University of Waterloo were killed in an Israeli airstrike that university says. They were very excellent girls who were always like asking to know about opportunities in Canada.

I mean it's life or death for many of them. Aaron Schaeffer is a forensic science professor at Trent University in Peterborough, part of a group of university teachers trying to help dozens of students in Mira's predicament. He says other countries like France have been able to get students directly out of Gaza. And he says about a third among those trying to come here have managed to leave the war zone and head to Egypt or Jordan where they're still stranded. So they could be in their lab tomorrow at UBC or U of T.

The government says each application is different and may take more time if it needs to wait for more information. Rafi Boudjikanj, Yoncvc News, Ottawa. Also in Gaza, Palestinians gather outside a hospital in Hanyounes to claim the bodies of loved ones. At least 15 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the territory today. Another 20 have died in shootings while waiting for aid. The UN's Human Rights Office says it's now recorded more than 600 killings as Palestinians try to reach aid at distribution points.

The United States and Israel, meanwhile, are awaiting a response from Hamas to a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. President Donald Trump is urging the group to accept the deal, warning it's the best they'll get. Tom Perry reports. the deal, warning it's the best they'll get. Tom Perry reports. Stepping off Air Force One, U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects a response from Hamas to the latest ceasefire proposal soon. We'll see what happens. We're going to know over the next 24 hours. Trump is urging Hamas to accept the deal, warning in a social media post this week if

they don't, things will only get worse. Though in Gaza, conditions for civilians have for a long time now been appalling. Stefan De Jaric is a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General. The Secretary General is appalled by the deepening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Multiple attacks in recent days, hitting sites, hosting displaced people, and people trying to access food have killed and injured scores of Palestinians the Secretary General condemns the loss of civilian life. Israeli media reports under the new ceasefire proposal Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 deceased in stages over the 60-day truce period there would also be

talks on a permanent end to the war, which for now still rages on. Tom Perry, CBC News, Tel Aviv. It is Independence Day in the United States today. The U.S. President Donald Trump will be celebrating by signing his signature tax and spending bill into law. He kicked off the celebrations in Idaho last night. What he says will be a year-long event leading up to next year's 250th anniversary. Trump revealed some plans, including... We're going to have a UFC fight. We're going to have a UFC fight. Think of this on the grounds of the White House. Championship fight. Full fight. Like 20, 25,000 people people and we're going to do that as part of 250

also. The UFC confirms that it is in talks with the White House for an event. This year's Independence Day celebrations come as Trump insists his country should annex Canada. CBC's Thomas Dagla traveled to one border city and found Americans pushing back on their president's rhetoric and hoping Canadian tourists will soon return. Usually there's oodles and oodles of folks coming. Ask around Buffalo New York and many locals say they understand why Canadians right now aren't so keen to come for a visit. It's really insulting that our president even suggests that you would be a state. The city on the shores of Lake Erie was once a prime shopping destination for Ontarians. Now, the latest U.S. data shows a 24% drop year over year in travelers crossing into

this part of western New York. Local officials are reviving a campaign called Buffalo Loves Canada in hopes of luring visitors back across the border. Patrick Koehler speaks for the regional tourism office. It is definitely an important economic factor for our community. Local officials are even paying for a highway billboard ad in Toronto, reminding everyone of a long-time friendship that has seen better days. Thomas Daigle, CBC News, Buffalo, New York. Montreal Children's Hospital is calling for stricter rules for electric scooters.

Doctors say they're seeing four times more injuries involving kids and e-scooters compared to the same period last year. Kobena Oduro reports. Michaela Germani is cruising down St. Denise Street on the e-scooter she bought recently. She says she never rides without a helmet, but says she rarely sees kids wearing them. If you just wear a helmet, it'll save you. It's just really sad that the injuries are even happening in the first place. The Montreal Children's Hospital says about half of the e-scooter injuries they see are

because children aren't wearing helmets. Dr. Debbie Friedman is the director of the trauma center. Many of the parents will say to us that they actually left the house with the helmet and then the kid will tell you that they put the helmet on the handlebar and weren't actually wearing it because it's not so cool. Friedman says they have seen close to 30 e-scooter injuries already compared to seven from the same time period last year and 50% of those riders are under the legal age of 14. I'm also very concerned about the road conditions that we have currently with all the construction

and detours and everything that's going on. These are not conducive to safety. The hospital is calling on the province to bump up the age requirement for e-scooters to 16, as it is in other provinces, and for the rules already in place to be more strictly enforced. Cubino Duro, CBC News, Montreal. Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Cow Town today to kick off the Calgary Stampede. The annual rodeo and agricultural exhibition calls itself the greatest outdoor show on

earth and as Aaron Collins reports, each year it gives Calgary's economy a big boost. We like to stampede. We've been to many parades. It's parade day in Calgary, the official start of the city's annual celebration of cowboy culture. Just the atmosphere, right? And the pancakes. Stampede. And the sausage.

And the syrup. Yeah. And the coffee. And free coffee, yeah. Nearly one and a half million people attended the event last year, a record. Joel Cowley is the Stampede's CEO. Lines are incredible and the spirit is incredible and this is a celebration that really celebrates Calgary. A festival that now transcends its rodeo routes with concerts and round-the-clock parties.

The extreme rides and the midway food. I love the vibe. Calgary Stumpet is the best. And it draws visitors from far and wide. I'm super excited. We don't have anything as big as this in Utah, so it's a new experience. Calgary's Mayor Jody Gondek says her city cashes in on all those guests. 280 million plus dollars stay in the city over the 10 days of Stampede. That is an economic generation machine. Calgary's Stampede wraps up on Sunday, July 13th.

Aaron Collins, CBC News, Calgary. And who better to lead that celebration of cowboy culture than this woman? Shania Twain, this year's parade marshal. She'll also be performing at the Saddle Dome tomorrow night. The sky didn't feel like thunder, baby. But who's been, how have you been, under my love? A hundred million LPs sold. What a talent. That is the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm John Northcott. This is CBC News.

I know I'm not the only girl you run to. This is CBC News.