World Report - September 07: Sunday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: September 7, 2025

Russia launches its largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the start of its full scale invasion of Ukraine.Cuts to underwater cables in the Red Sea are causing internet issues across parts of the Middle East and Asia.Some evacuees in the Northwest Territories being allowed to return home as dozens of wildfires continue to burn.Data from by the Canadian government show student visa permits have dramatically plummeted.Pope Leo canonizes 15-year-old who died of leukemia nearly two decades ago.

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We begin in Ukraine as Russia launches its largest aerial attack there since the start of its full-scale invasion, striking more than three dozen sites across the country. Explosions were heard overnight in Kiev. The city's mayor says a mother and her three-month-old child were killed. in the attack. For the first time, Ukraine's main government building was hit as well. Reporter Anna Cunningham has the latest. A helicopter seemed dropping water on Ukraine's main government building in Kiev. Against the September sunshine and blue skies smoke billows from the top floors.

Overnight sounds now familiar to Ukrainians, air raid sirens, the third of explosions and Ukraine's air defences. It's rare for Russian missiles to strike directly. in Kyiv's city centre, but these overnight attacks appear to have been overwhelming. The city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, claims the government building was hit by a drone. Russia is yet to comment. Explosions were also heard in Ukraine's central city of Kremlinchuk and strikes on President Vladimir Zelensky's hometown of Krivi Rhee.

In the southern city of Odessa, residential buildings were reportedly hit. Such was the scale of these latest attacks at neighboring Poland as a precaution scrambled its own aircraft to defend eastern borders. These strikes, Kelman's Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the idea of the use of foreign troops to secure borders in the event of a peace deal. He says they would be considered legitimate targets. Canada is one of 26 countries willing to provide troops for a so-called reassurance force. As Ukraine puts out the fires from overnight, President Zelensky says real diplomacy could have already begun long ago.

Anna Cunningham, CBC News, London. Cuts to underwater cables in the Red Sea are causing internet issues across parts of the Middle East and Asia. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and India are among the countries dealing with slow speeds and intermittent access. There are concerns that Yemen's Houthi rebels may be behind the attacks in an effort to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza. Yemen's government in exile accused the Houthis of a similar attack last year,

which the group denied. Meanwhile, for the third time in two days, Israel has targeted a high-rise building in Gaza City. This man says he and his family were sleeping when rubbles started falling on them during an earlier strike. He says his daughter died in the attack. Israel says the high-rises host Hamas infrastructure, something Hamas denies. Israel's military is warning residents to get out and head to the south of the Gaza Strip. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says about 100,000 people have left so far, but he says Israel is, quote, deepening the operation in and around Gaza City.

South Korea says it has reached a deal with the U.S. to release workers detained in a massive immigration raid. More than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people detained Thursday at a Hyundai Motor Plant in Georgia. Officials say they were planning to send a charter plane to take the workers home. This raid is likely to complicate the relationship between the United States and South Korea, which has pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the American economy. Dozens of wildfires continue to burn across the Northwest Territories, some evacuees now being allowed to return home, but as Yasmin Renaya reports,

other communities still under threat and preparing to evacuate. It's good to be back home. I missed my house. John Tinkwe is relieved to be back in his community of Wattie after he was forced to flee more than a week ago. Residents returned Saturday to find none of their homes were damaged. We're all okay. My kids are okay. Wati Fire Chief Brian Docombe says firefighters are still on standby, ready to put out any spot fires.

It's just we got to do our due diligence, do our hotspot checks every day. Meanwhile, further west in the territory, another wildfire is threatened. the community of Jean-Marie River, burning about a kilometer away from a major highway. Senior Administrative Officer Tammy Neal says residents would flee to Fort Nelson, British Columbia, if their evacuation alert is upgraded to an order. Feelings in the community are, of course, antsy. People are worried. Yasmilanea, CBC News, Wattie, Northwest Territories. Data from the federal government show student visas have dramatically plummeted.

In the first half of last year, Canada handed out more than 100. 25,000 international study permits. And this year, that number so far has fallen to just over 36,000. Let's bring in Janice McGregor from our Parliamentary Bureau. Janice, the government wanted to cut the number of temporary residents entering on student visas. It's clearly on track to do that, but is the thinking now that these changes may have gone too far? The Immigration Minister's Office says that the steep decline in student visa permits in the first half of this year is a signal that the measures they've, put in place are working. Data on applications shared with CBC News suggests that not only is the

department approving fewer permits, but significantly fewer students are even applying to come to Canada. A series of changes that were implemented by former Minister Mark Miller since late in 2023 intended to ease the pressure on the housing market and social services by making sure that students are coming to Canada for an education, cracking down on the abuse of quick, even online diploma programs, as a fast track to a new life working in Canada. But Gabriel Miller, the president of universities Canada, says there's been too much of a focus on the numbers, how many students are arriving, instead of prioritizing what kinds of students this country needs. There's a smart way to bring down the numbers, and there's a dumb way to bring down the numbers.

And frankly, right now, we've stumbled into doing it a dumb way, and it's going to cost all of us. The head of the organization that advocates for community colleges in Ontario told me their 50% decline in foreign student enrollment has cost public institutions $2.5 billion in that province alone, resulting in entire programs and jobs being eliminated. So, Janice, beyond the financial strains on public colleges and universities that rely on foreign student tuition, is there another potential downside of having dramatically fewer foreign students? Meti Basiri, who came here as an international student himself. 15 years ago, he founded a tech firm that employs over 1,000 people now.

Its online platform connects prospective foreign students with public post-secondary institutions around the world. He says Canada's reputation and its ability to recruit the best and the brightest has now been damaged. Coming here, spending $100,000 for your undergrad and gaining incredible qualified education, a significant investment. We're pushing those people evay. And he's forecasting that the final visa numbers for this year are going to fall well below the numbers that Canada hoped to recruit for its priority programs. Janice McGregor in our parliamentary bureau. Thanks for all this, Janice. You're welcome. And finally, the Catholic Church has a new saint. He was just 15 years old when he died of leukemia nearly two decades ago. Today, in St. Peter's Square, a British-born Italian

was canonized to become the first millennial Catholic saint. Tens of thousands of people attended today's open-air mass. Reporter Megan Williams was there. Presiding over his first canonization ceremony, Pope Leo sings an opening prayer, a huge banner with an image of Carlo Acutis in a red track suit and knapsack hanging behind him on St. Peter's Basilica.

The London-born at Coutis grew up here in Italy, where, at a young age, he built websites to spread the word of the gospel. After his death, his mother led a tireless campaign to get him made saint, with the Vatican approving the two requisite, so-called miracles. In this case, the healing of two people from a rare disease and a brain hemorrhage. Typically, what they're looking for is something that happened that can't really be explained by science. says Vatican expert Josh Mecklewee. But Christopher White of the National Catholic Reporter says becoming a saint calls for more than miracles. And it takes a lot of effort and a lot of resources

to get your case on their desk. And it doesn't happen without friends in high places and often money. Along with Akutis, dubbed by admirers as God's influencer. Pope Leo canonized another young Italian. Pierre Giorgio Frassati, who helped those in need and died of polio in the 1920s. Megan Williams, CBC News, the Vatican. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. If you're enjoying the World Report podcast, and we hope you are, please follow us and tell a friend.

It helps to spread the word. I'm John Northcott. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with us here at CBC News.