World Report - March 19: Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Middle East energy war looms as Trump issues ultimatum and oil prices test $114.Viktor Orbán blocks 90-billion-euro Ukraine loan at EU summit over ongoing oil pipeline feud.At least 16 dead in Karachi as heavy thunderstorms and high winds trigger wall collapses.Pierre Poilievre hits New York for final tour stop as Joe Rogan interview set for release.Colt Canada wins $307M contract to replace the Canadian military's aging rifle fleet.The Supreme Court hearing Facebook appeal that could change the laws around privacy and consent.New Brunswick teen upset over losing access to her psychiatrist due to inactivity.Canada hits record low of 25th in World Happiness Report as youth well-being plunges.

No matter how strong wild ocean gusts blow, in Halifax, our spirits are built to bend but never break. So when you find yourself feeling weathered, just look to the sails as they harness the breeze. Let them teach you to catch a second wind and sit back as it propels you to unexpected places. Better yet, use all that pressure to play with possibility and keep going until you start to come apart at the seams. Discover Halifax. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm John Northcott.

Energy markets are reacting to a major escalation in the Middle East as Iran ramps up strikes against its neighbors. Brent Crude has spiked to $114 a barrel following drone and missile attacks on key refineries and ports in Kuwait and Qatar. Tehran says it is retaliating for an Israeli bombing of a gas field, but the fallout is spreading. Christa Glamantzing reports. The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Sod's condemnation of strikes on Persian Gulf nations didn't stop there. The foreign minister reserved the right for Saudi Arabia to take military action. Iran is intensifying attacks on neighboring countries after Israel struck the South Pars gas field, a site it shares with Qatar. On his true social site, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote that neither he nor Qatar knew about the bombing ahead of time. He said Israel would not strike there again and told Iran to stand down.

It has not. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's oil port and refinery complex south of the capital was hit by a drone. The fire contained, according to local media. Qatar Energy says the Raslafans site has now suffered extensive damage after back-to-back waves of hits by Iran. Arab and Muslim leaders are calling for the

hostilities to end, saying they are not participants in the war. As they gathered for urgent talks in Riyadh Wednesday, strikes were launched, the Saudi Foreign Minister. If Iran doesn't stop, that is the mood also I heard in this room earlier. I think there will be almost nothing that can reestablish that trust. Fragments of an Iranian missile also killed three Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank overnight in a town near Hebron. Most in the occupied territories don't have shelters and rely on sirens from nearby Israeli communities.

Crystal Ghamancing, CBC News, Jerusalem. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban is vowing to block a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine at today's EU summit in Brussels. Orban is accusing Kiv of deliberately cutting off oil supplies to Hungary after a Soviet-era pipeline was damaged in January. To get the oil is existential for the Hungary. Without getting that oil, all the households in Hungary and companies will go to bankruptcy. So, you know, it's not a joke. It's not a political game. Zelensky should understand it that this is not a game.

While EU leaders initially agreed to the massive funding package in December, Orban is now using his veto as leverage just weeks before a national election. Kiev warns it will run out of money to fund its defense within a month if the stalemate isn't broken. To Pakistan now. At least 16 people are dead after severe thunderstorm lashed Karachi overnight. Most of the victims were killed when a wall they were using for shelter collapsed during the height of the storm. Dozens of others were taken to hospital with storm-related injuries. Forecasters say the heavy rain and strong winds will continue to affect the region as the system moves west.

Conservative leader Pierre Polyev is in New York today in the final stop of a week-long U.S. tour focused on trade and energy. Pauliyev is scheduled to speak to the Foreign Policy Association this afternoon to outline his vision for Canada-U.S. relations, specifically, his push for a new tariff-free auto pact. The trip also included a high-profile sit-down in Texas with podcaster Joe Rogan, an interview set to be released in full later today. Pauliyev says he sought out the massive platform to build American grassroots support for Canadian interests in trade negotiations. I wanted to maximize Canadian leverage going in, and one of the biggest leverage points we have to fight for tariff-free trade, to fight for our auto, steel, aluminum, and lumber workers

is the goodwill of the American people. So I use the podcast to argue in favor of removing those tariffs, not just because it's great for Canadian workers, but also because it'll make life more affordable for American consumers. Pauliab's tour included meetings with industry leaders, and officials in Detroit, Houston and Austin, he's expected to return to Ottawa tonight. The county government is awarding a major defense contract to a business based in Kitchener, Ontario. Colt Canada will provide the Canadian Armed Forces with more than 65,000 new assault rifles to replace the military's aging ones.

Defense Minister David McGinty says the forces must be better equipped to face a more complex global security environment. This is not a return. to the old world. It's something fundamentally different. And in the face of that reality, we've got to do more to ensure that the calf have the equipment and the capabilities they need to meet these challenges head on. Canada's got to be ready to defend its vast and resource-rich territory. And we must remain a reliable and capable partner standing with our NATO allies, yes, and with our American neighbors, and stepping up when it matters most. Today's announcement is part of the federal government's new defense industrial strategy,

which prioritizes domestic manufacturing for military procurement. The $307 million deal will see the first 30,000 rifles delivered over the next three years with an option to purchase another $35,000 in the future. The Supreme Court of Canada will hear a case today that could redefine the rules around digital privacy and consent. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is appealing a lower court ruling, that found it violated federal law by failing to properly inform users about risks to their data. As Olivia Stefanovic reports, the outcome could have massive implications for any company handling your personal information.

I think this has broad implications well even beyond the technology space. Privacy law expert David Fraser says any company that asks Canadians for their consent will want to watch the Supreme Court of Canada today closely. The top court is hearing an appeal from Facebook. known as MEDA, over a ruling that concluded the social media company broke the federal privacy law for failing to adequately inform users of risks to their data. Fraser says the case could redefine how consent is meaningfully obtained and what responsibility companies have to safeguard personal information, especially from third parties. This has implications, for example, for the app store.

What responsibility does Apple have to supervise every one of the thousands if not millions of apps on its platform. The case stems from a major data privacy scandal in the 2010s, in which the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested personal data from tens of millions of Facebook users without their consent. It is crazy that a case that's more than a decade in the making that's been addressed by so many other countries still lingers in Canada with yet more legal appeals. Michael Geist is a University of Office.

Ottawa law professor. He hopes the case will prompt legal changes. We need certainty in Canadian privacy law. We need penalties. Geist says the federal government doesn't need to wait for a decision from the high court to act. After all, a ruling could be several more months away. Olivia Estefanovich, CBC News, Ottawa. A Fredericton teenager says she is being effectively let go by the mental health system just because she's doing well. She says the Regional Health Authority closed her file because she hadn't needed an appointment in months. As Alison McCormick reports, the move comes as New Brunswick struggles with a massive shortage of psychiatrists.

With disorders like mine, my mental health may be fine one day and fluctuate greatly the next. Avery Jardine lives with borderline personality disorder, a condition she's been managing for years. At times, she relies heavily on her psychiatrist through horizon health. but after not needing an appointment for months, she says she was told her file would be closed. They told us there's too many people who need help, and they can't keep holding on to people who might need help. The Horizon Health Network declined an interview,

but it says access to psychiatry in Fredericton has actually improved this year with the addition of five new psychiatrists. Still, there are more than 33 vacancies for provincial psychiatrists in New Brunswick. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, The province has half the number of psychiatrists per 100,000 people compared to the Canadian average. It was disheartening to see that she was let go.

Deidre Jardine is Avery's mother. She says she fought hard to get her daughter access to that support and worries what they'll do the next time she needs help. The hopelessness of feeling that if she does need the help, what do we have to go through to get the help again? Jardine says she has insurance that covers private psychiatric care, but with a cap of $500, that would be gone in just three appointments. Alison McCormick, CBC News, Fredericton.

And finally, Canada drops to 25th place in the latest World Happiness Report, marking its lowest ranking ever. The 26th report warns of a dramatic decline in well-being amongst young Canadians, particularly teenage girls. Researchers point to heavy social media use and algorithmic feeds as a key factor in the slide. Finland remains the world's happiest country for the ninth year in a row. That is the latest national and international news from World Report.

I'm John Northcott. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca.com.