World Report - November 17: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

Rogers customers blame lack of competition and customer protections in Canada for long customer service wait times. Prime Minister Mark Carney's minority government faces crucial confidence vote on budget. Inflation fell to 2.2% per cent last month, from 2.4% in the month of September. President Donald Trump now encouraging Republicans to vote in favour of releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. Voters in Ecuador reject proposal to enable the United States to send troops into their country. Dozens of Indian pilgrims presumed dead in bush crash near Medina, Saudi Arabia. Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina convicted of crimes against humanity, sentenced to death. 

Hello there, it's me, Gavin Crawford, host of the long-running podcast, Because News, a weekly show where I quiz three funny friends about the most recent headlines. This week, we've got girl historian Carly Thorne, comedian Chris Siddiqui, and Jeopardy Legend, as well as host of CBC's bookends, Mattaya Roach. We'll find out the latest in brain science, investigate a Christmas crime, and why not grab a shot of sourpuss? If you're experiencing shorter days' invisible fatigue, you're either in the winter doldrums, or maybe you're the American president.

In either case, come hang out with us by following Because News, anywhere you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. Rogers' customers across Canada are complaining about long waits for customer service. Some say they have been left on hold for hours. Others have been disconnected. And many blame a lack of.

of competition and customer protections. The CBC's Erica Johnson has more on this Go Public investigation. Please continue to hold and we will be with you shortly. When Aneal said Hove, Winnipeg tried canceling his Rogers internet online, the link was broken. Then a chatbot told him he had to call to cancel. So began hours and hours of trying to reach a human who could help. How many days am I expected to call someone just to cancel a simple internet service? On social media, Rogers customers complain of lengthy weights getting the runaround disconnected. Former call center agents who handled Rogers customers worry it could get worse. They were part of recent layoffs at a call center contracted by Rogers.

Hundreds lost their jobs after the employees had helped train an AI system that listened in, offered prompts. Rogers won't say if their jobs were moved elsewhere or are just gone, claiming only that AI will enhance customer service by making agents more efficient. And they sort of move in a pack. Keldin Bester is executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. He says unhappy customers are the result of a lack of competition for Rogers, Bell, and Tellis. I think it's a symptom of how these industries see their customers, not as someone to win over and to keep in terms of loyalty,

but to see how much they can squeeze out of them. He points to other countries that are introducing better customer protections, like the ability in Germany to cancel a service with two clicks. Meantime, Anil Sadhao was finally able to cancel his internet. It took him about seven hours to tell Rogers goodbye. Erica Johnson, CBC News, Vancouver. The Minority Carney government faces a crucial vote on its budget today in the House of Commons. At this point, it is not clear if it will pass.

For that to happen, opposition MPs will need. need to either abstain from voting or side with the Liberals. Budget bills are considered confidence votes. If the bill does not pass, it could trigger a snap election. The Liberals say if it comes to that, they're ready. Inflation fell to 2.2% last month. That is down. 0.2% from the month of September.

Statistics Canada is out with its latest consumer price index today. CBC senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong has the latest. This deceleration in price growth is pretty close to what economists had been expecting for the month of October. The two main drivers here were gasoline prices and grocery costs. Now, gasoline was actually down, down 9.4% year over year in October. In groceries, food prices were still up, but they were up by less than we've grown accustomed to. Food purchased in stores was up 4% in September. last month that had slowed all the way down to 3.4%.

And if you actually look at groceries month over month instead of year over year, grocery prices actually fell 0.6% in October. That's the largest decline we've seen since September of 2020. Now, these numbers are, as I say, close to expectations, but economists were predicting that inflation would cool even more than it did. And you can bet the Bank of Canada is watching this closely and is likely to see evidence in these numbers that it doesn't need to cut interest rates any further just yet. Peter Armstrong, CBC News, Toronto.

U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be doing an about face on the Jeffrey Epstein files. Late last night on social media, Trump called on Republicans to vote for the release of all the late sex offenders files. The CBC's Willie Lowry joins me now from Washington. Willie, what is the latest? So President Donald Trump's comments come after a week. of mounting pressure from all sides to release the Epstein files. Up until now, we've seen Trump's reaction evolve from silence to anger. Well, I don't want to talk about it because fake news.

And finally, to this late-night diatribe on social media. In his post, he said, quote, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide. Just hours before his about face, he told reporters the push to release the documents, was a Democrat hoax. So they're using Jeffrey Epstein as a deflection from the tremendous success that we're having as a party. Trump went on to point fingers at several well-known Democrats and said some Republicans

were being used and were falling into the Epstein trap. Last week, he even asked the Justice Department to look into Epstein's ties with some top Democrats. Willie, what happens next? So we expect the House to hold a vote on whether to release. the files sometime this week. If it passes, it will then be up to the Senate to vote on it and then Donald Trump to sign off on it. Epstein has become a divisive issue within the Republican Party. Trump has lashed out at several high-profile Republicans for calling for the

release of the files, including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Green. Trump referred to her as Marjorie Trader Green while speaking to reporters over the weekend, but now that he too is calling for the release of the files, perhaps a sign that he's looking to turn the page. Thank you, Willie. My pleasure. The CBC's Willie Lowry in Washington. Voters in Ecuador have rejected a proposal that would allow U.S. troops in their country. Drug violence in Ecuador has spiked in recent years, and boosting U.S. military bases was

pitched to voters as a way to weaken gangs. But it was rejected in a referendum yesterday. Manuel Rueda has more. The results are a major defeat for Ecuadorian President Daniel Novoa, a staunch U.S. ally who has taken an iron-fisted approach to crime. Novoa has argued that closer cooperation with the United States is necessary to weaken drug guns that are exporting cocaine from Ecuador's ports and attacking civilians as they fight for territory.

International cooperation is the only way to defeat transnational criminal groups, Novoa said as voting got underway on Sunday. But six out of ten voters rejected the president's proposal to allow foreign military bases in Ecuador. Martin Pallaris and Ecuadorian political analysts said that the government erred by presenting this proposal along with an effort to change Ecuador's constitution. I am not sure people doesn't want a military base.

The problem is people noticed that this was a blow for imposing an authority. government. Ecuador's president had also proposed rewrite in the nation's constitution to give the government more tools to fight crime. But voters struck down the move, with critics of Noboa arguing that a new constitution might decrease judicial oversight. Indigenous leaders also said that a new constitution could diminish rights for their communities, as Ecuador's government attempts to increase oil production in the Amazon region. Malolreda for CBC News, Bogota. say 45 people have been killed in a bus crash in Saudi Arabia. The bus was bringing Indian

pilgrims to the Holy City of Medina from Mecca. It collided with a diesel tanker on the highway. Indian officials say they are coordinating resource efforts and rescue efforts with Saudi authorities. Bangladesh's deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death. She was convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity. A tribunal found her responsible for hundreds of killings by security forces during student-led protests in 2024. Our South Asia correspondent Salima Shivji has more. A line of police officers in full protective gear stand by the courthouse in Dhaka. With student protesters getting louder poised with a bulldozer near the former family home of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh's capital tense as the verdict against Hasina is read out. against humanity. The authoritarian leader who ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for 15 years accused of personally ordering a violent crackdown on student-led demonstrations last year that the United Nations estimates killed up to 1,400 people, mostly from gunfire by security forces. Hasina has consistently denied the allegations, calling the court proceedings a politically motivated farce.

So you know all the heinous crimes that she has committed? We want the justice. We want Hasina's... That's sentenced and that's it. The demand for many of the protesters realized. This sentence of death. Hesina's former interior minister also sentenced to death. But this verdict, in absentia, will likely plunge the country into more uncertainty

ahead of planned elections in February. The days leading up to the verdict were marred by bomb explosions and torched vehicles. Hesina is living in exile in India, where she fled after the student protests toppled her government in 2025. and New Delhi has so far refused DACA's requests to extradite her. Salima Shivjee, CBC News, Mumbai. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report News anytime. CBCNews.ca.

I'm Marcia Young.