World Report - May 27: Tuesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

King Charles delivers throne speech, starting new session of Canadian Parliament. Yukon, B.C. agree to work together on electrical grid connection. The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation releases photos to prove it has begun distributing food to Palestinians. Russia's defence ministry says its troops have taken control of more territory in eastern Ukraine. Sexual assault trial for five former World Junior players continues, after judge rules key piece of evidence inadmissible. Venture capital money for Canadian startups could dry up with U.S. tariffs. Blue Danube by Austrian composer Johann Strauss to be beamed into outer space. 

World Ocean Day is upon us, but can we really talk about two-thirds of the Earth's surface in just one day? Absolutely not. I'm Ian Urbina, back with an all-new season of The Outlaw Ocean. My podcast delves into the impossibly vast and shockingly lawless world of the open seas. Find and follow an all new season of the outlaw ocean wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Angie Seff. Ottawa is awash in the symbols of this country. Maple leaves, Mounties in red surge on horseback,

the streets lined with people hoping for a glimpse of King Charles. Monarchy, out! Canadians may have mixed feelings about the monarchy, but today it's all about highlighting what makes us different from our American neighbours and sending a clear message to US President Donald Trump. Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear

and ones which the government is determined to protect. As he opened a new session of parliament this morning, King Charles offered these personal reflections before he delivered the throne speech. I've always had the greatest admiration for Canada's unique identity, which is recognized across the world for bravery and sacrifice in defense of national values and for the diversity and kindness of Canadians. The King is in Canada at the request of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the throne speech outlines the priorities for Carney's government, which include increasing free trade between

Canadian provinces. It's something British Columbia and Yukon are getting a head start on. They signed an agreement last week to work on connecting their electricity grids. Amelia John reports. BC Premier David Eby and Yukon Premier Ronge Palais signed the memorandum of understanding for the Yukon BC Grid Connect, calling it a generational investment and a way to boost clean energy supply. Yukon's grid is isolated and sometimes relies on diesel, while BC often has a surplus of hydroelectricity which it sells. Barry Penner is a former BC environment minister and now head of the Energy Futures Institute. The idea has been bouncing around for at least two decades, maybe more. You have to ask

yourself why has it not come to fruition and that's because it faces daunting challenges, a combination of distance and cost. Mark Zacharias is an advisor with Clean Energy Canada and says the agreement is timely as the federal government looks to invest in energy initiatives. And if the U.S. is no longer going to be a reliable customer or a reliable supplier, it does make sense to connect provinces and territories a lot more in terms of the grid. Penner says it could cost well over a billion dollars to connect the BC and Yukon grids, while Zacharias estimates it could take 10 to 15 years to complete.

The two premiers say they'll seek federal support and work with First Nations who may be impacted. Amelia John, CBC News, Vancouver. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it has begun distributing food to Palestinians and it has released photographs to prove operations in Gaza are underway. This aid operation, however, is controversial. It's been endorsed by Israel, which says it is trying to keep humanitarian supplies away from Hamas, but it's been criticized by the United Nations and other aid groups. They accuse Israel of trying to use food as a weapon

when Gaza is at risk of famine. Russia's defense ministry says its troops have taken control of more territory in eastern Ukraine. And at the same time, it is accusing Ukraine of trying to derail peace talks. Here's Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakrova. We're recording destructive statements from Zelensky. She says Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been issuing destructive statements that blame Russia for prolonging the war.

Zakharova says Russia is actually working to draft terms for a peace accord between the two countries. While the lawyers watching the trial of the five former World's junior hockey players say the Crown's job has gotten just gotten a bit harder. The judges in the sexual assault trial has ruled a key piece of evidence inadmissible. The five former team members have all been charged with sexual assault following a Hockey Canada gala in 2018. They've all pleaded not guilty.

CBC's Karen Pauls is covering the trial. And Howden down and hurt. Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden was knocked unconscious and had to be carried out on a stretcher during a game in March 2022. That is a scary hit. Whether or not that contributed to Howden's memory loss, as lawyers suggested Monday in court, he's been unable to provide details the Crown was counting on, which is why she's tried so hard, in vain, to get a text message out and wrote about Dylan Dubay

slapping the buttocks of the complainant admitted into evidence. The Crown has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Dubay was in fact the person who allegedly slapped EM without consent. Lisa Kelly is an associate professor at Queen's University Faculty of Law where she teaches criminal law and evidence. And if the Crown cannot satisfy the finder of fact, in this case the trial judge, the rightful legal outcome should be an acquittal. Former senior Crown attorney Michael Corristeen agrees. Howden's memory gaps and the exclusion of the texts weakens the case against Dubé.

This evidence had the ability to corroborate a very damaging portion of the complainant's evidence. It certainly decreases the likelihood that Mr. Dubé would be found guilty. Kelly says this trial is a reminder about why it's so important for criminal cases to be tried in a timely fashion before the evidence deteriorates. Karen Pauls, CBC News, London, Ontario. Despite a rebound last year in venture capital for Canadian startups, investors appear to be growing more cautious. Nearly $8 billion was poured into Canadian startups, but the ongoing

trade war with the U.S. has led to much of that funding drying up. And as Philippe Dumautiery reports, this could have some long-term consequences. And for that reason, I'm up. Popularized by shows like CBC's Dragon's Den, venture capital is now harder to come by, especially for early-stage Canadian startups. We see that the investors don't like uncertainties. Geneviève Boutier leads the investment branch of the Business Development Bank of Canada. A new BDC report shows one-third of the country's venture capital comes from American investors,

who might choose to move their dollars to the U.S. So if Canadian investors don't step in, we are at risk of losing our champions. The biggest impact of the tariffs is the uncertainty. Kim Furlong is the CEO of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Her organization's data show less than $1.3 billion have been invested in the first three months of 2025, spread out over far fewer deals than in previous years. What I would love is to see more, for example, of Canadian pension plans with the ability to write these larger checks come in in the later so that the value at the time of exit

goes back to Canadian pensioners and stays in Canada and creates more wealth at home versus leaving the country. But successful exits have been down in the past few years with no Canadian companies going public in 2024 and only one the year before. Philippe de Montigny, CBC News, Toronto. Well how's this for a serenade in outer space? Blue Danube 8 Waltz by Austrian composer Johann Strauss. He was born June 3rd, 200 years ago. And to mark that anniversary, the European Space Agency will beam this version of the waltz into the cosmos. Within 23 hours, the signals will be heard as far away as NASA's

Voyager 1. It's the world's most distant spacecraft, 15 billion miles away from Earth. And that's the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm Angie Seth. This is CBC News.