World Report - June 11: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Billionaire Elon Musk says he regrets some of his posts about US President Donald Trump. Tradwife debate for grade 9 students in Australia stirs up controversy. New graduates in Canada compete with AI for jobs and suffer high unemployment. Mass arrests at protests against immigration raids, as nightly curfew kicks in for Los Angeles. Right-wing group called Project Ontario calls on Premier Doug Ford to be more conservative. Some Canadians choose to stay and fight fires threatening their properties. 

Ten years ago, I asked my partner Kelsey if she would marry me. I did that, despite the fact that every living member of my family who had ever been married had also gotten divorced. Forever is a Long Time is a five-part series in which I talk to those relatives about why they got divorced and why they got married. You can listen to it now on CBC's Personally. This is a CBC Podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. In Canada, the unemployment rate for new graduates is just over 11%. Outside of the pandemic, that is the highest it has been in a quarter of a century. AI is affecting entry-level jobs, the cost of living crisis has forced older adults to

get a second job, and Donald Trump's tariffs are slowing Canada's economy. Paula Dehatschek has more on the challenges facing new grads. Our class of 2025, that's here for you! Lots of excitement at the University of Calgary Convocation, but also plenty of nerves. Ah, the economy, man, it's hard. Have you tried looking for a job? I have. It's bleak. Basically everybody else I know who's graduated is on a void.

It's tough out there for students coming out of college, university and trade school, and a big change from a few years ago when businesses were scrambling to find workers. It was really high coming out of the pandemic, which probably was never going to last. Brendan Bernard is a senior economist with a hiring website indeed. He says eventually those businesses did find people or they just got used to working short staffed. And then following that the interest rate hikes that the Bank of Canada put into meant to slow that inflation down. That probably also slowed overall economic conditions. Then Donald Trump returned to the White House.

All that back and forth over trade and tariffs putting a damper on the economy. Tim Lang is with Yes, a national organization that helps young people find jobs. When businesses have uncertainty, they sometimes will pause hiring. It's not clear just how long the situation will last, but back at the university, there is still a sense of youthful optimism. Keep trying. Don't give up. It'll happen eventually. Paula Duhaczek, CBC News, Calgary. Demonstrations are spreading across the United States and anger is growing over recent immigration

raids. People in LA's downtown core are waking up after night one of a city-issued curfew. Los Angeles has been the epicenter of protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial immigration policies. Steve Futterman joins me now from Los Angeles. And Steve, what is the latest? Well, the latest is we've gotten through the first night of the curfew and it was a relatively peaceful night as everyone hoped it would be. A few arrests when people would not leave, but for the most part there were no confrontations between authorities and protesters. Now of course what led to this was a lot of when people would not leave, but for the most part, there were no confrontations between authorities and protesters.

Now, of course, what led to this was a lot of activity yesterday. At one point, some of the protesters went on the 101 Highway, then one of the major freeways here in LA, and blocked traffic. The freeway was closed for an hour or so. And then soon after, Karen Bass announced

that the curfew was gonna go into effect. Let's listen to the mayor. I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles. Many businesses have now been affected or vandalized. Now she told us yesterday that on Monday night there were 32 businesses that had looting. So this was an increasing difficult situation. The violence was increasing and she really had her hands tied. They're hoping this will calm the nerves down and that things can get back

to normal now. Well meanwhile Steve, the battle between Gavin Newsom and the US president continues. What can you tell us about that? Well Donald Trump claims that by sending the troops in the National Guard and now the Marines that this was the reason that things have calmed down in LA. Not really the case. And Gavin Newsom yesterday really criticized Trump about bringing in particularly the Marines. We honor their service. We honor their bravery.

But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces, not in LA, not in California, not anywhere. Newsom is warning people around the country that what's happening here in California could happen in other states. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Marcia. Reporter Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. Billionaire Elon Musk says he regrets some of his posts about US President Donald Trump. The two former allies had a very public breakup last week. Insults were hurled on social media. The Tesla CEO called Trump's tax and spending bill a disgusting abomination. And he leveled other unproven allegations against the US President.

But now Musk says some of his posts went too far. He's not said which ones. In Squamish BC many people are nervously watching a nearby wildfire and preparing to evacuate the area if it comes any closer. It's really scary. Like it's just so close to home. Fire in town this early in the season you're worried about what's happening. You got a lot of hot months left and yeah not a lot of rain on the forecast right now. It sparked up and it went fast up the hill. So we're all pretty nervous. Canada's wildfire seasons have been getting worse and as more homes and businesses are

threatened some people are choosing to fight the fires themselves. Aaron Collins has more on that story. This stretch of shore along lower Fishing Lake in Saskatchewan, one worth fighting for. We're still fighting there. It's right at Vangel Beach now. And in late May, that's just what happened. As two wildfires approached the resort community in the Narrow Hills Provincial Park, a group of locals stayed behind digging in to beat back the flames. When things got close to home here, it was all hands on deck to come here and save the

cabin. Travis Crake, one of a handful of men who fought a wall of fire here. Dad and I and then three other cabin owners, Rick, Lenny and Greg. The neighbors working around the clock, pumping water from the lake to keep the fire burning just yards from their cabins at bay. The clean up has now begun. Every cabin here nearly a hundred saved. But Craig says similar firefights are going on across Canada. There's places in northern Ontario, northern Alberta, northern BC all burning right now and you hear of all the other locals that are

sticking around so it's not just us. There's so many people right now that are fighting for their own houses and their own own communities and forests. There are currently more than a hundred wildfires burning out of control across the country. Erin Collins, CBC News, Lower Fishing Lake, Saskatchewan. South African officials say nearly 50 people have died in floods. An extreme cold front brought heavy rain and snow to parts of the eastern Cape. The floodwaters washed out roads and swept away vehicles, including a school bus that got caught in the runoff on Tuesday. Ontario's premier is facing fresh calls to be more conservative.

An anonymous group is pushing for change from progressive conservative leader Doug Ford. As Mike Crawley reports, the drive for a provincial shift comes as Ford rides a wave of popularity. A mandate to do whatever it takes to protect Ontario. Doug Ford on election night, winning his third straight majority, something no leader has accomplished in Ontario since the 1950s. The people have spoken. Now, barely three months after that decisive win,

and just a few weeks after Pierre Poliev's brand of conservatism fell short in the federal election, some party activists are pushing for a rightward shift from Ford. They're called Project Ontario, and describe themselves as a grassroots movement.

Their unsigned manifesto says, quote, when conservatives lose their principles, Ontario loses its way. I don't think it's a big thing. Corey Tenayk has been campaign director for all three of Ford's wins. He's brushing off Project Ontario as no threat to the Premier.

He's the most popular conservative in Canada by a country mile. The notion that that is a problem is, I just think, a testament to how wrong-headed the people involved in that are. Patrice Dutil is a professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. Maybe they'll put some policy meat on their bones, but right now we don't even have bones.

We've got a seat. The group describes Ontario as in decline, calls its economy poor and its taxes punitive. It says it's organizing an assembly of conservatives to push for change. CBC News attempted to contact the people behind the movement but received no response. Mike Crowley, CBC News, Toronto. A debate competition for grade 9 students in South Australia is stirring up controversy, and it hasn't even happened yet. One of the topics the students will debate next week is whether the tradwife movement

is good for women. Tradwife content is very popular online right now. I'm a Bacha fork. It's under five and I'm only 23, so let's talk about it. A man's home is his castle so he should be treated as a king. They just want to be a home with their kids they want to have husbands and they want to take care of their husbands they want to cook and they want to clean and they want to wear dresses. Tradwives have become associated with the anti-feminist movement and the lifestyle is

promoted by self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate. But the debate competition says it did not know about the dark side of the tradwife movement. After some very angry phone calls, it has issued an unusual clarification to parents. It says the term should only be taken as a synonym for stay-at-home parent. That is the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm Marcia Young.