World Report - May 11: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Two more people, a French and US national, who were on board MV Hondius have confirmed cases of hantavirus. 4 Canadians from cruise ship at centre of hantavirus outbreak are back in Canada and isolating. WestJet accused of switching up aircraft to deny passengers compensation for flight delays.  Man accused of trying to assassinate US President Donald Trump pleads not guilty to all charges. Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer refusing to step down after Labour party suffers severe losses in municipal elections. Farmers confront rising cost of fertilizer and fuel as spring seeding underway. Canada's first tick research facility opens at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. 

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No, not today. Looks like people are starting to know Beneva pretty well. You're stronger with the right partner, Beneva. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Martina Fitzgerald. The number of hantavirus infections is climbing. Many of the passengers who may have been exposed to the virus

on board the Dutch cruise ship have returned home. But among them, there are reports of at least two new confirmed cases. The CBC's Breyer-Stewart is in Tenerife where the ship is anchored. Breyer, what can you tell us about these new infections? One is a French passenger. Her symptoms started to appear on the repatriation flight yesterday. Officials do say that her condition is now deteriorating. There is also an American passenger.

He had what health officials described as a mild positive test. But in addition to that, there's also another American passenger who hasn't tested positive, but he has mild symptoms. And all of the passengers, of course, and crew that were on that boat are going to have to go through a period of quarantine. And the World Health Organization is recommending 42 days from the last known exposure. And that would mean 42 days from yesterday because that's when the passengers were all last together. And Breyer, what are health officials in Tenerife doing now?

They're working on kind of the final stages of this operation. So the ship is still a few hundred meters offshore. It was refueled. It's being restocked now. And then later today, you're going to see those last passengers and members, some members of the crew be evacuated from the boat. The captain of the boat, Jan Dabergowski, he put out a pretty heartfelt video message,

just kind of praising the passengers and the crew for their unity and their courage through all of this. Here's some of his message. We've all been a part of this voice, and I wish nothing more to everybody, guests and crew like to be able to go home safely and in good health. And as a reminder,

three people have died of this virus, the German national who died earlier this month, her body is still on the vessel, and it will be taken back to the Netherlands as well. Breyer, thanks for this. You're welcome. That is the CBC's Breyer-Stewart in Tenerife. The four Canadians who were on board the ship are now back in Canada and isolating for three weeks in British Columbia. Provincial health officials say no one is showing signs of infection. Their quarantine period could be extended if they develop symptoms. Westjet passengers are accusing the airline of making itinerary changes only to avoid compensating travelers for flight delays. CBC's Go Public Team has found dozens of examples where WestJet canceled flights for what it said were maintenance and safety reasons.

But as Erica Johnson reports, the flight records tell a different story. I feel like to and cheated it. Brad Vanderwilk was in Los Campbell's Mexico in March when he got an email from West Jet canceling his flight home to Edmonie. the next day. He filed for compensation, but WestJet denied it, claiming the cancellation was due to unplanned maintenance required for safety. Under the rules, airlines don't have to pay if there's an unexpected safety issue. But flight records go public reviewed show WestJet swapped in a plane that had been grounded for two days. Then, in the same minute, canceled VanderWilk's flight. So on paper, the flight was canceled for safety reasons. They're sneaky.

They're just trying to do what they can to not pay anybody anything. Since our recent story on WestJet swapping planes, GoPublic has uncovered 34 more cases where the airline denied compensation after swapping in planes needing maintenance and then quickly canceling the flights. Passengers we talked to say they were ripped off. That's unethical?

They're lying to her face. I just felt completely blindsided. Air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukach says the pattern is profoundly troubling. It is called fraud. This is white-collar crime. WestJet says it sometimes reassigns aircraft to minimize the overall impact of unavoidable disruptions, but wouldn't address why it's swapping planes or why passengers aren't compensated.

Canada's airline regulator has confirmed it's now investigating. Erica Johnson, CBC News, Vancouver. The man accused of trying to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. A gunman ran through the blockade during the White House correspondence dinner in Washington late last month. Cole Allen is facing several charges,

including the attempted assassination of the president. British Prime Minister Kirstarmer is refusing to step down, but the calls to resign are growing, including from within his own Labor Party, as it faces growing criticism around the cost of living. As the CBC's Crystal Gamansing reports, Local elections last week dealt the party a devastating blow. We're battling reform and the Greens.

At a deeper level, we're battling the despair on which they pray. Labor Party leader Kier Stommer telling his doubters and supporters the Labor Party must stick together for Britain's sake, but acknowledges the party has had issues. I take responsibility for navigating us through a world that is more dangerous than at any time in my life. And I take responsibility. for not walking away. Dozens of MPs were calling for Starmer

to set a timeline for a party leadership contest after last week's local elections. Labor lost nearly 1,500 council seats, not to mention political control in Wales, something it had maintained for 100 years. Nivendu Mishra is one of those MPs. People feel that the mistakes that we've made in the past few months, they're not able to overlook them anymore.

MP Catherine West, is threatening to launch a challenge of her party leader. ADMPs would need to support West in order to trigger a leadership contest. I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people frustrated with me. Stommer says Brexit made people poor. To improve the economy, he'll move the UK closer to Europe. It's unclear if that, along with calling out threats on the right and the left, will be enough

to end the threats from his own bench. Crystal Gamanscing, CBC News, London. Across Canada, spring seating is in full swing. This year, farmers are paying even more to get crops in the ground with higher prices for fuel and fertilizer. But the bigger concern may be what's ahead. Einisidu has that story. Spring seeding is underway at the Newman Family Farm,

a short drive south of Calgary. Tractors are rolling through the field. fields planting wheat, barley, peas, and canola over 1,600 hectares. This year we're just kind of holding tight. Farmers like Leroy Newman facing rising diesel and fertilizer costs. We're probably not buying as much machinery this year because of that. The conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt global energy and fertilizer markets. Farm Credit Canada chief economist Craig Johnston says the plant crops for a few million

hectares could still change this year and likely next. is going to affect not just fertilizer prices right now, but also I think the conversation's heading towards is this becoming a 2027 problem as well. Most producers buy fertilizer months in advance. Many in the industry say farmers may move away from fertilizer heavy crops like canola or corn and plant more peas or lentils instead.

Seed grower Greg Stam says he's already having to speculate. We're really guessing a year out ahead of the market on what we need to grow to sell to our customers. and so we're doing a lot of guessing. Economists say farmers can't simply charge more for their crops because grain prices are set on global markets. But consumers may still notice higher grocery prices as transportation costs ripple through the food supply chain

in the weeks and months ahead. INASEDU, CBC News, Calgary. Canada's first tick research facility is now open at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Ticks spread the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Over the last decade, cases of Lyme have increased more than tenfold. As Tom Murphy reports, scientists are researching ways to prevent the spread of diseases. This is the first kind of facility in Canada.

It's called the Canadian Tech Research and Innovation Center, or Citric. Nicoleta Ferione is in charge of the pioneering research here. People are very alarmed and very scared. We don't have a vaccine for Lyme yet, although we know very well that ticks carry multiple pathogens. So a vaccine for Lyme won't be the best solution for protecting us from this. The black-legged tick or deer tick carries the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. But there are other varieties in the U.S. expected to soon establish themselves here in Canada. The lone star tick can cause a meat allergy in humans.

And the Asian Longhorn tick can cause anemia in cattle, killing them. They're coming whether we want them or not. Tim Murch is a beef farmer in Poplar Grove, Nova Scotia, who is keeping a close eye on his cattle for signs of sickness. It'll be a couple thousand dollars right off the top, depending on the age of it. Is it a bred cow? Then you're losing two animals. It could be expensive in a hurry.

Scientists say the research will be critical to understand ticks and to help develop products to combat them, including a lawn spray they hope to bring to market soon. Tom Murphy, CBC News, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. And that's it for World Report. I'm Martino Fitzgerald. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.