World Report - November 20: Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

Carney Government seeks to retroactively change law, to potentially avoid paying veterans for federal error, lawyers say. United States and Russia reportedly draw up peace plan for Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory, halve its military. US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee denounces recent settler violence as terrorism. The clock is ticking down on the 30-day deadline for the U.S. Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. 27 pieces of Hudson's Bay Company art sell for well above estimated prices, in white glove auction. Frida Kahlo's self-portrait 'El sueño (La cama)' could become the most expensive work by a female artist ever auctioned. 

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. Lawyers representing veterans say an amendment in a new federal bill covers up a decades-long mistake. That mistake led to veterans overpaying for long-term care. and this amendment could help the government avoid responsibility. The CBC's Kate McKenna has this exclusive story.

It's about miscalculating long-term care contributions. Lawyer Malcolm Ruby says the federal government is trying to dodge responsibility for an expensive mistake. Instead of owning up to their error, they're trying to change the rules after the fact. He is co-counsel in a proposed class action, alleging veterans overpaid for long-term care for decades. veterans' long-term care is subsidized. The law says they're only expected to pay an amount equivalent to the cost of room and board in the least expensive province or territory. But Ruby says Ottawa made a mistake.

The government excluded the territories which cost less. That resulted in overcharges and they were fairly significant overcharges for individual veterans. A CBC News investigation first revealed this discrepancy. At the time, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government was looking into it. The Minister of Veterans Affairs has asked her officials to investigate this matter. A year later, buried in a 600-page bill, the Kearney government proposed an amendment to exclude territories from the calculation retroactively. Ruby says this could eliminate the federal obligation to reimburse veterans who overpaid.

Retroactively changing legislation is like a thermonuclear weapon that the government has in litigation, that no other litigant has. François-Philippe Champagne dismissed a question on why the government is doing this, but says the budget includes additional money to help veterans. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. There are multiple reports the United States and Russia have quietly drawn up a plan for peace in Ukraine, but the EU's foreign policy chief, Kayakales, says the deal is nowhere near done. What we as Europeans have always supported is a long-lasting and just peace,

and we welcome any efforts to achieve that. Of course, for any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board. The Financial Times and Reuters News Agency have seen a draft plan. It would require Ukraine to surrender territory and cut the size of its military in half. In the past, Ukrainian president, Volodemir Zelensky, has called those conditions non-starters. It is not yet clear if U.S. President Donald Trump, Trump backs this plan. Some of Israel's key allies are condemning the wave of settler violence in the occupied

West Bank. U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, calls the most recent attacks terrorism. But as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urges security forces to crack down, many Palestinians say they're holding out little hope. Tom Perry has the story. Mohammed Zabadi stands in front of a pair of delivery trucks burned and blackened down to their metal frames. The vehicles belong to a newly opened dairy where Zabadi works in Baitlid in the occupied West Bank. Last week, the trucks were

set alight by a mob of masked Israeli settlers. Zabadi says he heard noise and saw workers running. He immediately closed the doors and made sure everyone was inside. The dairy is back up and running, but Zabadi worries the attackers could return. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the recent spate of settler violence and urged authorities to pursue the perpetrators, but to many Palestinians in the West Bank, that's just talk. The town of Sindhul, north of Ramallah, sits behind a high barbed wire fence, put in place Israeli security forces, say, to protect a nearby highway.

People in the town say it's cut them off from their fields and hasn't protected them from harassment and attacks from nearby settlements. Singil's mayor, Motas Tafsha, doesn't put much stock in the Israeli Prime Minister's calls for a crackdown. No, that's not true. Benjamin Netanyahu, with his team, they protect them. Netanyahu's coalition government includes far-right parties that are staunch backers of the settler movement, and despite the Prime Minister's tough words. Human rights groups and the United Nations say, Israeli security forces have, until now, turned a blind eye to settler violence or actively supported it.

Tom Perry, CBC News, Cigil, and the Occupied West Bank. The clock is now ticking on the 30-day deadline for the U.S. Justice Department to release the Epstein files. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the order forcing their release last night. Willie Lowry is following the story from Washington, and Willie, the bill was passed with overwhelming support for transparency, but some lawmakers and advocates are already pointing to a loophole. Tell us more about this escape clause the DOJ could use to keep sensitive file secret. So with President Donald Trump's signature, the 30-day countdown officially started,

meaning in a month's time, the Justice Department will have to release the documents it possesses on Jeffrey Epstein. But the anticipated deluge of information may not be as robust as some had hoped. The bill allows for the Justice Department to withhold information that pertains to ongoing investigations. Also under the bill, the Trump administration is allowed to withhold information that could identify victims as well as images that involve child sexual abuse. The timing here is critical. Trump has ordered an investigation into three prominent Democrats. Just as this bill was about to pass, how do critics connect the timing of those new investigations to the White House's ability to redact material? So just a few days ago, Trump ordered Attorney General

Pam Bondi, to open investigations into several high-profile Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Trump also singled out billionaire donor Reid Hoffman. Now, these investigations could give the Justice Department cause for withholding some of the documents. Republican Representative Thomas Massey, who helped shepherd the bill through Congress, says he's not too concerned. There is an exception for ongoing investigations, but you can't have two or three ongoing investigations and claim that you're not going to release any of the Epstein files. Epstein's victims are also calling for a full release of the documents.

Thank you, Willie. My pleasure. The CBC's Willie Lowry reporting from Washington. The Hudson's Bay Company may have shut its doors forever, but there are a lot of people who still want to own a piece of its history. Last night, HBC auctioned off some of its most valuable paintings. and the bidders collectively spent $5.9 million. The CBC's Michelle Song takes us through the highlights.

Selling now at Heffels, the Churchill, $1.3 million. And congratulations to your bidder, Marie Helen. The oil painting of the city of Marrakesh by Winston Churchill topped the bidding at an auction for some of the Hudson's Bay Company's most valuable artwork. All 27 paintings sold above their estimated prices. Robert Heffel is the Vice President. of the Heffel Auction House. But that was pretty amazing. It was electric.

It was definitely electric. Every piece did so extraordinarily wear. A white glove sale is very rare in the auction world. White glove sale means everything sold. The paintings are just a small fraction of the thousands of artifacts owned by the Hudson's Bay. The now dissolved company started selling these pieces to help pay off its nearly $1 billion debt. But one high-profile item is awaiting a court's decision on Friday. The Royal Charter is the document that founded the Hudson's Bay. company in 1670, allowing HBC the power to act as both a business and a colonial government.

Cody Groch is a history professor at Western University. So this one document granted by the king at the time to a private corporation essentially said indigenous sovereignty or indigenous rights to the land don't exist and instead we're going to give them to a business. Two Canadian billionaire families are proposing a joint bid of $18 million for the document and they say they will donate it to multiple Canadian. museums and put in place a national consultation process, including indigenous communities. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto.

And later today in New York, a painting by the late Mexican artist, Frida Callow, could break auction records. The self-portrait, El Sweeno, and La Cama, goes under the hammer at Sotheby's. Here is how Anna Destasi, the head of Latin American art at the auction house, describes the work. Here, death is no longer tragic. It's tender, not an ending, but an enduring presence. Frida Kahlo redefines surrealism. In her hands, even death becomes part of living.

The 1940 painting features Callow sleeping in a bed with a skeleton reclining on a canopy above her. Sotheby's estimates it is worth as much as $60 million U.S. That's about $84 million Canadian. If this callow goes for that much, it would make. get the most expensive work by female artists ever auctioned. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report News Anytime, CBCNews.ca. I'm Marcia Young.