World Report - March 27: Friday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Thousands of Iranians flee to Turkey as war and blackouts hide the crisis at home.Israel hits Tehran with new strikes as Trump extends his "energy ultimatum" by ten days.Secretary of State Marco Rubio facing pressure to explain US plan for Iran war as he meets G-7 foreign ministers in France.Former rapper Balendra Shah sworn in as Nepal's youngest-ever prime minister.Liberal MP Michael Ma faces backlash for appearing to downplay forced labour in China. Ottawa warned of WestJet safety risks weeks before viral legroom video.Parks Canada bans boats in Banff and Jasper to fight deadly fish parasite.

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This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm John Northcon. As the war in the Middle East enters its fifth week, a massive humanitarian crisis is unfolding behind a months-long wall of silence. Iran has been largely cut off from the global internet since January, but at the Turkish border, a different story is finally emerging. Thousands of people are arriving with rare first-hand accounts of a nation gripped by fear

and a tightening government crackdown. Breyer Stewart has the story. A train pulls into the railway station in Von Turkey after a 24-hour ride from Tehran. More than 250 people get off, wheeling suitcases and some push strollers. The governments don't like people to talk about. the situation. That's the voice of a 36-year-old that we spoke with. Like many other Iranians, he asked for his name not to be used

and for the tone of his voice to be altered, fearing that he could be punished for saying anything deemed critical to the regime. The situation in Iran is every day going worse. What do you think? How do you think this is all going to end? It was a 50-50. Some people think about the negotiation is a positive thing, but others that we see in the streets at night. They believe to continuing the war.

Iranian state media is broadcasting nightly rallies of government supporters. A 27-year-old who's in Iran and recently moved outside of the capital because of the strikes, said residents often get text messages from the authorities giving them their version of events. He says some, like his parents, just want the war to stop. While others are still hopeful, it could lead to the fall. of the regime. Human rights activists have reported mass arrests across the country with many people accused of espionage and supporting opposition groups. In a recently submitted report, a UN special reporter said that Iranians are caught between a war and a government with a long record of

gross human rights violations. Breyer Stewart, CBC News, von Turkey. Meanwhile, in the Iranian capital, Israel has launched a fresh wave of strikes on the heart of Tehran this morning. as its defense minister warns, the air war will only escalate. The new attacks come despite President Donald Trump, extending a 10-day grace period for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While Trump claims back-channel talks are going, quote, very well, the situation on the ground tells a different story. Missiles have targeted Gulf neighbors,

and oil prices have surged 45% since the war began. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in France today, where he's expected to face a difficult audience at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers. The summit, southwest of Paris, comes as America's war with Iran has left Washington's closest allies deeply uneasy. The CBC's Willie Lowry reports. America's war with Iran is likely to dominate conversation at the G7 foreign ministers meeting today, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is ready to defend it. I think there was a couple of the leaders in Europe who said that this was not Europe's war.

Well, Ukraine is not America's war. We've contributed more to that fight than any other country in the world. So it'll be something to examine the president don't have to take into account down the road. While the war continues to rage, Rubio said talks with Iran through intermediaries, we're making progress. But he said the U.S. remains frustrated by how few allies have offered support in keeping the Strait of Hormuz opened. It's not help for us. Like I said, very little of our energy comes through the Straits of Hormuz.

It's the world that has a great interest in that. So they should step up and deal with it. President Donald Trump gave Iran a 10-day extension to an ultimatum he issued earlier in the week to open the Strait of Hormuz or the U.S. would obliterate the country's power stations. That deadline still looms. Willie Lowry, CBC News, Cernay-Laville. I, Balindra Shah. Lender Shah is sworn in as the country's youngest ever prime minister. The 35-year-old structural engineer and former rapper took the oath of office in Kathmandu today.

The ceremony was timed for exactly 1234 p.m. An auspicious moment, according to Hindu astrological calculations. Shaw's party secured a landslide victory in the March 5th elections, winning nearly two-thirds of the seats in the lower house. A liberal MP is apologizing today after being accused of downplaying the use of force. labor in China. Michael Ma says he made a mistake during a House of Commons committee meeting where he questioned a witness about whether she had personally seen evidence of human rights abuses in Chinese EV factories. The CBCC's Olivia Stefanovic has the story. Do you believe there is

forced labor in China? I believe there are forced laborers all over the world. What about China specifically? Well, all over the world. Liberal MP Michael Ma, refusing to call out China by name after facing criticism for downplaying reports of forced labor in the country. It happened during the House of Commons Industry Committee meeting on Chinese electric vehicles. You claim about forced labor in San Juan. Have you witnessed this yourself? Ma was questioning Margaret McQuag-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa. Nobody can go to China and see forced labor. Ma's office said he was asking short questions to wrap.

up and move past McQuag Johnston, whom they called an anti-China EV witness, preferring to question an upcoming pro-China EV witness. It was a stupid question on his part. Hours later, Ma released a statement saying his questions inadvertently came across as dismissive of forced labor, regrets the mistake, and apologizes. Ma recently crossed the floor from the conservatives to the liberals and return from a trip to Beijing with the Prime Minister, a visit criticized by his former party. Because they've not been clear about whether or not human rights were raised with their Chinese counterparts. Michael Chong is the conservative foreign affairs critic. The Prime Minister needs to clarify. In his statement, Ma says he condemns forced labor in all its forms.

Olivia Estefanovich, CBC News, Ottawa. New documents show the federal government was warned about a potential hazard on West Jet flights weeks before a viral video forced the airline to change its seating. Julia Wong reports. It was not safe for him to be sitting in that seat. Lindsay Noble and her six-foot three-inch tall husband threw WestJet in January from Cancun to Regina, a five-and-a-half-hour flight. There's no way that he could actually get into the brace position.

Last fall, WestJet took away some leg room to add an extra row of seats, a move the airline later reversed. Now, Transport Canada documents reveal about a month before Noble's trip, a flight attendant had warned the department about the planes, saying a tall passenger became physically trapped in a seat, describing it as an imminent safety risk and calling for a prompt review. The department later responded, it had followed up with the airline and was satisfied it was assessing the hazard. I'm disappointed. I can't believe that you ignored something that involves passengers' safety. University of Calgary administrative law professor Kamal Zadie says that response is common.

They might have reviewed the complaint, but there's not much in their eyes and their estimate on expertise that they have, that they should move ahead with this. Transport Canada would only say, when an investigation is done, the department determines whether the operator has violated regulations and will take action if needed. WestJet says it has converted three of the 21 planes with densified seating back to their original layout. Julia Wong, CBC News, Edmonton. And finally, Parks Canada is banning most watercraft in Banff and Jasper to stop a deadly fish parasite. The new rules prohibit personal boats in 80% of local waterways following a discovery in Lake Louise.

Maggie Kirk reports. I think Canadians have a fundamental right and wish to paddle on our waterways. Mike Hallroyd with the Alberta White Water Association says the new policy doesn't make sense. Over 80% of waterways in Banff and Jasper are now closed to boats and fishing with waiters. Violators could be fined up to $25,000. The ban follows the discovery of whirling disease in Lake Louise, a parasite that can kill 90% of young fish. Jasper Park's resource conservation manager Christopher Walden'sberger says the risk is national.

We're the headwaters of all the major watersheds in the country. So anything that's introduced here could have wide-ranging downstream impacts. Matthew Bruce, President of Packraft Canada agrees the threat is serious, but he wishes more paddlers were consulted. How do we find a way to deal with conservation as well as promote the recreation that helps people want to be stewards? Critics also say Parks Canada was lax on enforcement when it came to gear inspections and public education, which could have helped prevent the ban.

The restricted areas could change as more information. becomes available. Maggie Kirk, CBC News, Jasper, Alberta. And 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.