World Report - March 17 Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney on a whistle-stop tour of Europe, shoring up support from Canada's allies. US President Donald Trump defends his use of a centuries-old law to deport more than 130 Venezuelans to El Salvador.The Hudson's Bay Company in court today, applying to liquidate all 80 of its stores. 

In Scarborough, there's this fire behind our eyes. A passion in our bellies. It's in the hearts of our neighbors. The eyes of our nurses. And the hands of our doctors. It's what makes Scarborough, Scarborough. In our hospitals, we do more than anyone thought possible. We've less than anyone could imagine.

But it's time to imagine what we can do with more. Join Scarborough Health Network and together, we can turn grit into greatness. Do meet at lovescarborough.ca. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning, I'm Marcia Young. Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Paris

on his first official visit abroad. Canada is strong. Together we will be even stronger. Carney met with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier. Now he is back on the plane to London. It is a busy day aimed at shoring up relationships with some of Canada's allies. At a time when Ottawa's relationship with the United States is deteriorating, the CBC's Catherine Cullen is covering the trip and Catherine, we heard earlier from the two leaders, what did they have to say? It was a mix of warm words and warnings about economic and geopolitical crises. At a time when Canada is looking for

support from its allies, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of Canadians who fought on the beaches of Normandy and Canada's recent support of Ukraine. He talked about the problems caused by tariffs, including creating inflation, but he did not make an explicit overt call for the U.S. president to back off on his attacks on Canadian sovereignty. Prime Minister Mark Carney made it clear he is on a mission to move closer to allies in terms of trade and security. I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined like you to maintain the most positive

possible relations with the United States. Earlier today, Carney visited the restored Notre Dame Cathedral, which was severely damaged by fire. Carney says it is a reminder that in a crisis, you must act. What is next for the new Prime Minister? Marcia Hayes headed to London where he'll have an audience with the King, then on to a meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Carney has suggested he isn't looking for allies to offer assurances that Canada will never become America's 51st state.

But one senior official says on this trip, Carney is trying to, quote, double down on relationships with Canada's other allies. Thanks, Catherine. Thank you. The CBC's Catherine Cullen reporting from Paris. U.S. President Donald Trump says he will speak with Vladimir Putin tomorrow about ending the war in Ukraine. The Russian president says he supports the idea of a ceasefire but has raised several

conditions. As Briar Stewart reports, many in the West see those conditions as delay tactics to drag out the talks. We're doing pretty well, I think, with Russia. As U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to journalists aboard Air Force One, he said that he will be speaking with Vladimir Putin Tuesday, after a lot of work was done over the weekend to try and secure ceasefire in Ukraine. We'll be talking about land, we'll be talking about power plants, dividing up certain assets.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called the discussions around territories complicated, saying that Ukraine will never recognize its occupied land as Russian. Last week Putin said he agreed to the idea of a ceasefire but then spoke at length outlining what he saw as obstacles like would the 30-day truce give Ukraine a chance to mobilize more troops and secure additional weapons. Those conditions that they have presented, it shows that they don't really want peace actually because... EU foreign policy chief Kaya Kalas says that's clear because Putin's conditions include his

ultimate goals for his invasion of Ukraine. European countries along with the UK are meeting to discuss what happens if there is a ceasefire and who will monitor it. While France and Britain have committed to putting peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly said that it will not support that. Briar Stewart, CBC News, London. Trump is defending his use of a centuries-old law to deport more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador.

Trump claims they are violent criminals, but has not offered any evidence of that. And he's invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. It's a wartime power allowing non-citizens to be deported without legal recourse. Last night on Air Force One, Trump told reporters his action is justified. And these are criminals, many, many criminals, murderers, drug dealers at the highest level,

drug lords, people from mental institutions. That's an invasion. They invaded our country. In that sense, this is war. In many respects, it's more dangerous than war because, you know, in war they have uniforms. You know who you're shooting at. You know who you're going after. On Saturday, a judge ordered the deportation stopped, but the White House said that order carried no legal authority. Weather forecasters in the United States are warning of dangerous winds from Florida to New Jersey and heavy rain across New York and New England, but the violent weather that killed at least 39 people this weekend is starting to ease. Steve Futterman has more. The worst of the

violent and deadly storms is over. In states like Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, and Oklahoma, they are assessing the damage and retelling stories of how they survived. We jumped up and ran to the bathroom. This woman in Alabama is just happy to be alive. I knew it was bad when I heard this big kind of explosion. And there was that large tree that came down right across where we were at.

This young woman spent hours trying to find her grandmother. We searched for her all night. We found her at 4 a.m. this morning. Not every story has had a happy ending. Dozens have died. This man in Missouri lost a friend. She lost her life protecting her mother and then two other people further down on the same property. They lost their lives in some places.

Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out. You can't even tell that there was a house there. There's no structure of the house in Oklahoma and Texas. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed by fires, whipped up by the strong winds. We moved here when I was 21 and I'm 68 now. Seven kids here, 20 grandkids. Federal personnel have been sent to many of the hardest hit areas, some of them from federal agencies which have had their workforce significantly cut by Donald Trump.

Steve Futterman for CBC News, Los Angeles. The end of the Hudson's Bay Company is happening quickly. The historic Canadian retailer is in court today applying to liquidate all 80 of its stores. Lisa Shing has more. It's an institution Canadians across the country say they'll miss. This was one of the last of the department stores that reflected a Canadian identity. That's too bad because I grew up with Hudson's Bay so it's pretty sad. A week ago Hudson's Bay Company applied for creditor protection hoping to keep the business afloat in some capacity.

Then a dramatic development. It will start liquidating its entire business as soon as this week, putting more than 9,000 jobs at risk with no guarantee of severance or pension. Toronto lawyer Andrew Hatnay represents some employees. For the company to announce a potential liquidation so fast after filing before the court is unusually quick and very troubling. In its court application, Hudson's Bay said it was struggling because of the drop in store traffic post-pandemic, people spending less, and Canada-U.S. trade tensions. The filings show the company had just $3 million in the bank

at the start of this year, and owes nearly a billion dollars to creditors, including to landlords and brands like Ralph Lauren and Estee Lauder. In a statement the company said it made the decision after exhaustive efforts to secure sufficient financing to pursue a restructuring. Ken Wong is a marketing professor at Queens University. It has become a nostalgia brand and nostalgia unfortunately is a luxury that really most people won't afford. Pending court approval, the retailer plans to liquidate its inventory and close-up shop by June 15.

Lisa Sheng, CBC News, Toronto. The only Gaelic athletic club in the Maritimes is trying to start a regional league for traditional Irish sports. The Halifax Gael's competing Gaelic football in Hurling. But right now, the club has to travel out of province to compete with other teams. Gareth Hampshire has more on the push to change that. Eugene McCabe, originally from County Cavern, Ireland, is one of the Gaelic football players, punching, kicking and catching the ball in a Halifax Gales practice. You learn this from when you were kids.

It's like hockey here. You grow up with that starting from under fours all the way up to senior level. The game that requires skills used in soccer, rugby and basketball provides a chance for players who've left their home country to celebrate Irish culture, along with hurling the other game the club plays which is played with a stick and ball, a bit like lacrosse. The club has grown to about 30 members, but is looking for more competition. Recruitment officer Jen Skinner says they mostly practice against each other with the closest other team in Quebec.

We don't get a lot of chance to play games. We train throughout the year, but we don't have a lot of times to compete. There's only a couple tournaments a year year and we have to travel for those. For a small league of four teams another ten players will be needed. That's what the club's working on while preparing to travel to Montreal for a tournament where it will compete in games in May. Gareth Hampshire CBC News, Halifax.

And 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.