World Report - June 25: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

Canada and its European NATO allies agree to a new defence spending target -- 5 per cent of GDP by 20-35.Donald Trump says he's confident the 12-day war between Iran and Israel is over.Israel's ceasefire with Iran holds, but war in Gaza rages on. British Columbia's Health Minister under pressure to fix a pediatric crisis at BC's biggest interior hospital. Wildfires force organizers to shorten the annual Yukon River Quest. 5,000 residents of Flin Flon, Manitoba returning home, after wildfires forced the city to evacuate. 

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to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash Canada World. That's betterHELP.com slash Canada World. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. Canada and its European NATO allies have a new defense spending target 5% of GDP by 2035, but they have also agreed to review that target in 2029.

Prime Minister Mark Carney plagued Coy when reporters asked why that timeline was chosen. Did you pick the 2029 review because Donald Trump will be out of office? Will he be out of office? Oh, I didn't realize that. Okay. Look, it's a natural time to review. We'll have enough information at that point. Carney also says this new spending target reflects the reality of the current global security situation. For details, let's go to the CBC's Murray Brewster. He is at The Hague covering the NATO summit.

Murray, the United States has been pushing NATO allies to boost their spending for decades. Why is it happening now? Well, there are two reasons. The war in Ukraine and Donald Trump. And it depends upon the day which one you want to pick first. The war in Ukraine has really galvanized European members about their security. They feel threatened. And it is one of the big factors that has driven the notion that NATO needs to be stepping up its defense spending commitments. But also at the same time, I mean, you have political pressure from the US administration.

Trump has been very focused and even threatening allies not to protect them should they refuse to increase defense spending. How does Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney plan to meet this new target of 5%? Essentially, Canada is going to be looking at spending approximately $150 billion on defence and ramping up to that every year within the next 10 years. $45-50 billion is for defence infrastructure or infrastructure that is related to the defense of Canada. Much of this we are already doing. How much are we spending on our ports, on our transportation infrastructure? How much are we spending

in order to develop our critical minerals? What do we do to make sure we have a resilient telecommunications system? So the other portion of the 150 billion is what is going to have to be spent directly on the military. So that is roughly 107 billion dollars. That is going to require the current defense budget to be increased. How the government is going to do it, what they're going to spend the money on, it's not clear right now. That is probably going to be part of the defense review that the Prime Minister has ordered and will be forthcoming within the next year or so. Thank you Murray. You're welcome. Murray Brewster reporting from The Hague. Donald Trump says he is confident the 12-day war between

Iran and Israel is over but admits future conflict is still possible. They're both tired, exhausted. They fought very, very hard and very viciously, very violently. And they were both satisfied to go home and get out. And can it start again? I guess someday it can. It could maybe start soon. I think the war ended actually when we hit the various nuclear sites with the planes Speaking to reporters at the end of the NATO summit in the Hague Trump continued to insist Iran's nuclear program was obliterated by last weekend's US attack Intelligence reports leaked to US media suggest the strikes only set Tehran's program back by a few weeks The president calls that fake news.

While it may not be permanent, the ceasefire between Iran and Israel does appear to be holding, but the situation is not so peaceful in Israel's other war in Gaza. CBC correspondent Chris Brown has more from Jerusalem. Israel lifted its restrictions on public gatherings, restarted flights at Ben-Gurion Airport and reopened schools. There have been no obvious breaches of the ceasefire from either Iran or Israel after a wobbly beginning. But Israel remains at war in Gaza against Hamas, where it has suffered some of its heaviest

combat losses in months. The IDF says seven soldiers were killed when their armored personnel carrier was attacked, bringing the total number of soldiers dead since Israel broke a ceasefire in late March to 30. Gaza health authorities say more than 56,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks over the past 20 months with hundreds of thousands of people suffering from malnourishment. Qatar has said it hopes to use this ceasefire with Iran to restart truce talks with Hamas. Outside Hanyounes, a CBC freelance videographer spoke to Bakr Awadah, who said the world has

stopped paying attention to Gaza. The UN human rights agency says over 410 people have been killed by gunshots or shells fired by Israel's military in the last few weeks as they tried to reach one of only a handful of food distribution sites in Gaza. Chris Brown, CBC News, Jerusalem. British Columbia's Health Minister is under pressure to fix a pediatric crisis at the province's biggest interior hospital.

Kelowna General Hospital closed its pediatric ward in May. It said it did not have enough doctors. As Brady Strachan reports, local politicians say it's a sign the health care system is failing. The goal is to reopen it as soon as they can. That's BC Health Minister Josie Osborne speaking about the crisis at Kelowna General Hospital. In late May, the Interior Health Authority shut down the pediatric inpatient ward at KGH for a period of at least six weeks, citing a shortage of pediatricians.

Since the closure, however, multiple health care workers have come forward with a different narrative. We haven't had the right environment to work in. Earlier this month, Dr. Alicia McKenzie-Feder told CBC News she and six other pediatricians left the hospital two years ago because of unmanageable caseloads. And so it's not that there's a shortage of physicians, it's that the system doesn't exist for them to work safely and sustainably. KGH is one of only two tertiary referral hospitals in the region. With the ward closed, some children are being transferred to other hospitals for ongoing care.

We are in the middle of a collapse of our health care system. Gavin Dew is an MLA for the BC Conservative Party in Kelowna. He's calling on the Health Minister to address the crisis through a change at the top of the Health Authority. She is not talking and listening to frontline people here. They do not have confidence in the current leadership of Interior Health. With the closure now into its fifth week, neither the Health Authority nor the minister would say when services will be restored. Officials say one new pediatrician will join KGH this summer with two more coming in the fall. Brady Strachan, CBC News, Kelowna. Wildfires are forcing Yukon to cut its annual canoe and kayak race short. The Yukon River

Quest is one of the longest paddling races in the world. Spokesperson Ava Holland says the decision to shorten the race is difficult, but necessary. It just became clear that it was the right thing to do to not be a drain on resources at pretty tense time in Dawson. It's disappointing, but I think it's the right and the responsible thing to do when Dawson is dealing with multiple evacuation alerts. The race course usually follows an old gold rush route from Whitehorse to Dawson City. It will now finish just shy of the original halfway point. This is the second year in a row wildfires near Dawson have affected the Yukon River quest. About 5,000 residents of Flynn Flawn are getting the green light to

return home. Wildfires forced people in the northern Manitoba City to evacuate about a month ago. As Cameron McIntosh reports, many are anxious to get back. I thought I'm just gonna get something with flames on it to represent kind of the beast that drove us out of there. A flaming monster is tattooed on Kelly Sherman's forearm. We ran out of things to do so I thought we'd go and get tattoos. 29 days ago a wildfire forced he and his family to evacuate from their home in Flynn Flawn. They've been living in a hotel. Today they're able to go home.

Nine o'clock when that opens we're gonna be one of the first ones in line. We want to get home. The fire never did get into Flynn Flawn, but some homes surrounding it and parts of neighboring Dener Beach were lost. The forest surrounding the city is burnt out. Pauline Nabas didn't lose her home, but says the fire is having a psychological impact on the community.

It's going to be different because of the forest fire, of course. Most of Manitoba's 21,000 fire evacuees have either returned to their homes or soon will be. Seven wildfires remain out of control but no longer threaten communities. We lifted the province-wide wildfire state of emergency. Earlier this week, Premier Wab Kanu said the province no longer needs emergency powers to manage the fires. But returning evacuees will still feel their presence. Kristen Hayward is with the Manitoba Wildfire Service.

People can still expect to see smoke and active flames at times. The threat of new fires remains high, with the forecast calling for a hot and dry summer ahead. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Winnipeg. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Winnipeg. That is the latest national and international news from World Report News Anytime, cbcnews.ca. I'm Marcia Young. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.