World Report - May 14: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney holds his first cabinet meeting since the federal election. Industry Minister Melanie Joly says she plans to speak of the head of Honda by the end of day. US President Donald Trump meets Syria's transformational president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia. Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan indicted in federal court for allegedly helping an undocumented person evade immigration officials. Vancouver-based immigration consulting company investigated by Canada Border Services Agency for duping Filipinos out of tens of thousands of dollars. The International Energy Agency says electric vehicles are becoming cheaper and easier to charge, despite threats of tariffs. French study finds men produce more climate-changing emissions than women.

Okay, so I'm Tom Power. I host the award-winning interview show Cue, and it's not just about art. It's also a podcast that delves into conversations with artists as to why we create at all. Like you'll hear boy genius member Lucy Dacus open up about why she's dead dissatisfied with the way we talk about love. You'll hear Cate Blanchett describe what it's like to forget the sound of your own voice. And you'll hear how Coleman Domingo actually honed his acting skills in the circus. Listen to Q with me, Tom Power, wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Arsia Young. Ministers in the new Liberal cabinet are rolling up their

sleeves and getting to work. To all people that are in the auto sector, my goal is to make sure that I'll be there for you, fighting for you. Industry Minister Melanie Jo Lee says she plans to talk to the head of Honda by the end of the day. The company is postponing its investment in an electric vehicle supply chain in Canada. New U.S. tariffs have caused Honda's profits this year to take a dive. And Prime Minister Mark Carney says this is a hinge moment for the country. He's holding his first cabinet meeting of this parliament right now.

Janice McGregor is our senior parliamentary reporter. And Janice, what does Carney's new cabinet tell us about his approach to this moment? Marcia, perhaps one of the biggest headlines yesterday was the prime minister's decision to swap his foreign minister. Melanie Jolie insisted yesterday the decision to no longer serve as the government's top diplomat was hers. I asked for this position. I wanted to have a big economic portfolio again and at the same time be able to be more in Canada.

Jolies said she was moving from the diplomatic front of the trade war to the economic front. Perhaps trying to set the tone for the action he expects, Mark Carney has chosen to revert the title of her portfolio back to calling her an industry minister, but it's not clear yet exactly what she intends to do differently from her predecessors. Then on the other side of this trade, we have Anita on it. She confessed at one point to being a bit of a homebody. Globetrotting now lies ahead to build a Rolodex of relationships she can leverage. Under crisis circumstances, Carney may also see himself as Canada's top diplomat.

He told reporters yesterday, for example, that the person in charge of Canada's critical relationship with the White House is him. We're also seeing some signs from the conservatives. They are planning to do things differently, too. That's right. Pierre Pellet had signaled previously that the opposition could cooperate to help defend Canada's sovereignty in the wake of Washington's threats, for example, but yesterday Ontario Conservative Kyle Seback appeared to go farther than that. So if they're looking at ways to approve pipelines or permitting process for mines a lot faster,

I think those are things we could absolutely support. If they finally decided that they wanted to do something about the revolving door of crime, we would look to support that. If the opposition moves on from the dysfunctional filibustering that dominated last fall to a strategy of negotiating specific votes to shape and influence policy, that may be a hopeful signal for the next parliament. Thank you, Janice. You're welcome. The CBC's Janice McGregor in Ottawa. I am also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start.

Sanctions were really crippling, very powerful. U.S. President Donald Trump addressing the U.S. Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh today. Moments earlier he sat down with Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharah. The White House says the two leaders discussed tackling terrorism as well as future economic investments. The CBC's Chris Brown is following Trump's trip through the Middle East. In Syria's capital, Damascus, there were celebrations after Donald Trump announced an end to U.S. economic sanctions on the country, the most severe of which had been in place for 14 years.

They were imposed in the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad, but allies of the insurgent leader who recently pushed him out, Ahmed al-Sharah, urged the US to give Syria a chance to rebuild its crushed economy and stabilize the country at a fragile moment. Until today it had been more than 25 years since Syrian and US presidents had met face to face, but Saudi officials released silent video of Trump shaking hands with Shara and then sitting next to him and speaking through an interpreter. Later Trump addressed the leaders of Gulf nations at a summit. We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria's new government as you know.

We will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria which I think really is going to be a good thing. The U.S. president has now said goodbye to his Saudi hosts. It was an honor to spend a couple of days with you and... He's moving on to Qatar where this portion of the trip has already been overshadowed by word the Qataris intend to give Trump a $400 million 747 aircraft as a gift. Democrats in Congress say the plane would amount to a bribe from a foreign country, and even some far-right Republicans have said they're uncomfortable. Chris Brown, CBC News, Enriod. A U.S. judge has been indicted in federal court for allegedly helping an undocumented person evade immigration officials.

Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan is charged with obstruction and concealing an individual from arrest. Officials say she helped lead a defendant out of her courtroom through a jury door. That was after she allegedly confronted two plainclothes agents and asked them to leave. The person was later arrested outside the court. Dugan's lawyer says she maintains her innocence. A Vancouver-based immigration consulting company is accused of duping Filipinos out of tens of thousands of dollars.

And CBC News has learned it is being investigated by the Canada Border Services Agency. Dozens of lawsuits and labour complaints have been filed against Promise Land Consultancy. Lindsay Duncombe has the story. Michael found Promise Land Consultancy on Facebook in late 2023. He's from the Philippines. We aren't using his real name because he fears repercussions. Michael paid more than six thousand dollars on the promise of a new job and a better life in Canada. He came on a tourist visa but when he got to Vancouver, the only job available was working

for the promised land itself recruiting others. Under like look for other candidates who might be interested to come here in Canada. Under almost all circumstances, it is illegal for anyone on a tourist visa to work in Canada. After a week I found out that they have hired tourists. Immigration consultant Rosanna Salita was hired by Promise Land in 2024, but she only lasted a month. You can tell that the visitors were so shocked. They've been duped. Before she left, Salida downloaded a trove of internal documents demonstrating the scale

of the company's activities. CBC News added up the fees from invoices sent by Promise Land for a seven-month period. From August 2023 to May 2024, the company received at least $500,000. The Promised Land consultancy is facing 15 labour complaints and 11 lawsuits. CBC News has learned the Canada Border Services Agency is investigating the company. The agency would not confirm that investigation, but in a statement said it was aware of complaints. We tried repeatedly to reach promised land. No one got back to us. Lindsay Duncombe, CBC News, Vancouver.

Electric vehicle sales are on the rise. A new report from the International Energy Agency shows EV sales are on track to make up over a quarter of vehicle sales worldwide. It also says EVs are becoming cheaper despite tariff threats to the industry. And Ayat Singh has more on that story. We're not going back. No matter what some people might say or think. Daniel Breton is the president of Electric Mobility Canada, an association representing the EV industry and is encouraged by the latest numbers on battery-powered cars around the world. One in four cars sold worldwide being electric or plug-in hybrid, I think it says it all.

And in some countries, it's even more. In China, a huge market, 11 million EVs were sold, half of all new cars. According to the latest global EV outlook from the International Energy Agency, that's in part because EVs in China are the same price or even cheaper than gasoline cars. So at one point just from an economic standpoint, not even considering climate change, it won't make any economic sense to buy a gas car. But while the report said Asia and Latin America are leading on adopting EVs, North America is lagging behind. EV manufacturing went down in the US and

Canada's nascent EV sector remains pretty small. Gal Raz is a professor at Ivy Business School in London, Ontario. Canada is kind of in the middle and we'll have to decide where are we going? Are we kind of joining the rest of the world, joining Europe, joining Asia, other kind of countries or are we staying kind of you know with the US side of the way? The report said EV sales are projected to continue growing, driven by falling prices, rules to cut carbon emissions from transportation, and incentives for buying electric.

Inayat Singh, CBC News, Toronto. Speaking of vehicle emissions, have you heard of the emissions gender gap? It's something they have been researching in France. A study of 15,000 people there found men emit 18% more planet heating pollution than women. The researchers say the bulk of it can be explained by men driving more and eating more red meat. But the study also found when it comes to flying, men and women are equally bad polluters. That is the latest national and international news from World Report for News Anytime, cbcnews.ca.

And if you like the World Report podcast, please follow us and tell a friend. It helps spread the word. I'm Marcia Young. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.