World Report - November 26: Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

Exclusive report: Transit violence rising across Canada — in some cities, by nearly 300% Fire engulfs multiple residential high-rise towers in Hong Kong's northern Tai Po district. Prime Minister Mark Carney about to announce new aid for Canadian steel and lumber industries. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow next week to discuss proposed peace plan for Ukraine. Senior army officers in Guinea-Bissau say they have deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo. Italy’s parliament passes a landmark law on femicide.Future of Newfoundland and Labrador's sea urchin fishery is uncertain, as stock declines.

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. A joint investigation by CBC News and the investigative journalism Foundation has been looking at transit violence. And in eight big Canadian cities, the rate of violence has roughly doubled over. the past decade. Eric Sito is with our visual investigations unit. He has this exclusive report. My blood was everywhere. Derek Dykoff recalls how he was stabbed in a Toronto subway car.

He's getting him. He's stab him up. The video captured by a passenger in 2023. I'm pretty sure I did this close the dying on the subway floor. A joint investigation by CBC News and the investigative journalism foundation using exclusive stats can data shows transit violence more than doubled across much of the country between 2016 and 2024. University of Alberta professor Mertaza Haider, along with researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University,

helped analyze the data. It hasn't gone down to pre-pendemic levels in most cases, with the exception of Vancouver. And there's a greater need for cities and provinces to coordinate and improving safety on transit property and vehicles. Assault in Winnipeg, for example,

went up by almost 300%. Edmonton, 260%. Freedom of information instance. and data from the Toronto Transit Commission or the TTC also showed a similar uptick of violent crimes, including assaults, which are still well above pre-pandemic levels. And the results that you're sharing are quite striking. Brad Bradford is a Toronto City Councilor.

We all, as customers, as Torontoians, see that type of antisocial or criminal behavior on a day-to-day commute. The TTC says by their own metrics, incidents have gone down since 2023. And numbers are higher than pre-pandemic because there's now more reporting. But one of the biggest reasons for this spike,

according to experts, repeat offenders. Eric Cito, CBC News, Toronto. The full investigation is on our CBC News YouTube page. Comments are open and we want to hear from you. A fire is engulfing multiple residential high-rise towers in Hong Kong. Officials say 14 people are dead, including one firefighter and more people may be trapped inside the buildings. Debris is falling off the buildings and smoke is billowing into the air.

Fire crews are still trying to extinguish the fire. The residential housing complex is in Hong Kong's northern Taipo district. It takes up eight city blocks and contains more than 2,000 units. And some of the towers close to the flames have exterior bamboo scaffolding. Prime Minister Mark Carney is about to announce new aid for Canadian steel and lumber industry. The measures are designed to aid workers and business as they deal with damaging U.S. tariffs. Let's bring in Janice McGregor from our Parliamentary Bureau. And Janice, what do we know about what's coming?

Marcia, the Prime Minister actually foreshadowed this announcement and question period yesterday, signaling more help is coming for the sectors that have been hurting in this ongoing tariff war. There are sectors, the auto sector, the steel sector, the lumber sector, the aluminum sector that are under pressure. care we're acting in those sectors. There will be announcements this week to further support. Now, arguably the most sensitive one on his list there is steel. Canadian producers have been saying for months that despite the billions of dollars in financing, the tariff protections that the federal government's put in place so far, they still don't have the help they need. And it's not clear that today's announcement's going to deliver everything they've asked for,

but it is going to slap new tariffs on steel imports from countries that don't have preferential trade agreements in place with Canada. Much of Canada's imported steel, the industry's primary concerns, are centered around what they consider to be cheap, unfairly traded, subsidized steel from primarily China, although some specific imports from Turkey, India could also be targeted. The goal is to make sure that if Canadian mills shift from products that they used to sell to Americans to serving domestic needs, that they aren't then going to be undercut by cheap imports.

The other issue that Canadian mills identified long ago was, Canada's transportation infrastructure, how if you're building something on the West Coast, it may cost so much to ship Ontario steel to you by rail that it's more cost-effective to just import it. Today's announcement is expected to start subsidizing the cost of rail transportation, to remove the price incentives to use offshore steel. A government source also told our colleagues at Reggio Canada that today's news is going to include help for both workers and businesses in other affected sectors like lumber. Thank you, Janice.

You're welcome. The CBC is Janice McGregor in Ottawa. They're going to keep talking. They're talking to Russia now. Steve Whitkoff is going over. They're going to be meeting with President Putin. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One, he says progress is being made on the U.S. proposed peace plan for Ukraine.

U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Whitkoff, is expected to head to Moscow next week to discuss the latest developments. The visit has been confirmed by the Kremlin after Ukraine said it reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement. Trump says the agreement involves land concessions both ways. While the details of the amended agreement have not been released, the original plan called for Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia and limit its military capability. A group of senior army officers in Guinea-Bissau say they have deposed President Amaro Sissoko Mbolo Gunfire has been heard in multiple locations throughout the capital of the West African country, and soldiers say they have also suspended the country's electoral process.

The Electoral Commission was supposed to announce a result of a hotly contested election tomorrow. Italy's Parliament has passed a landmark law on Femmicide. It makes the murder of women based on discrimination a specific crime under the Penal Code. But another bill designed to prevent sexual violence has failed. bailed in the Senate. Megan Williams has the details. The Italian lower house unanimously approved the femicide law. Anyone who kills a woman out of discrimination, hatred or control can now face life imprisonment. The law also covers cases where a woman is murdered for rejecting a relationship.

It aligns with the Istanbul Convention and EU directives, introducing enhanced electronic bracelets and limits on early release for minors convicted of femicide. The law comes two years after the murder of student Julia Chiquotin by her ex-boyfriend. Chequitin's sister called the crime the product of a deeply patriarchal society. In the meantime, the Italian Senate failed to approve an amendment to the sexual violence bill. It would have defined rape as any sex without explicit consent, moving beyond the current law, which focuses on physical coercion or threats. lawyer Theresa Manente says recognizing the context of abuse is fundamental, something Italian judges

often fail to do. The changes to the law were blocked by far-right members of Prime Minister George Maloney's governing coalition. The proposed amendment would define consent as free, conscious, valid for the duration of the act, and revocable at any time. Megan Williams, CBC News, Rome. It has often been referred to as green, gold, but the future of Newfoundland, Labrador's sea urchin fishery is uncertain. One of the province's last remaining urchin plants is now dealing with low-quality stock. As Troy Turner explains, its owners say the solution can be as easy as the stroke of a pen. And this year is probably the worst year we've had of all.

Ethan Blake is a 23-year-old fish harvester who's been working in the sea urchin fishery since he was a teen. He wants to build a future around it. but the quality of urchants in his fishing area is low, and he's not permitted to harvest elsewhere. That's because Department of Fisheries and Oceans rules state he must stay in his own area, even though around most of the island, urchants sit untouched, unharvested on the ocean's floor.

This is making business hard for Jerry Hodder, owner of the province's only urchin plant. In peak season, cargo jets fly three of his shipments a week to Japan. I got lots of urchins right now. In three weeks, I won't. It's all because of the weight of resources is done. Nationally, the urchin fishery is valued at about $6 million. Hader, who's been fighting for changes for more than a decade, says an easy fix is to allow fish harvesters diving for urchants into other bays, even temporarily. That's the goal where is to get people to participate in the fishery, to see the value into it. DFO would not do an interview. In a statement, it said there is no bro.

or significant support for changes to current management measures, including with respect to fishing access. It is open to considering changes to temporary licenses before the 2026 season begins. Jerry Hodder, however, watches changes come to other fisheries overnight and says action needs to be taken now before his plant is forced to close. Troy Turner, CBC News, Stoneville, Newfoundland, and Labrador. That is the latest national and international news from World Report News anytime, cBCnews.ca.ca. I'm Arcia Young.