World Report - September 1: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

6.0 magnitued earthquak in Afghanistan kills more than 800 people. International Association of Genocide Scholars says legal criteria met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.  Irish band Kneecap cancels US shows, keeps Canadian tour dates, ahead of Mo Chara's terrorism trial date. All emergency personnel ordered to evacuate Fort Providence, NWT immediately, as fire comes within 1 km of community. Habitat for Humanity seeks out wealthier families who can shoulder burden of southern Ontario's expensive mortgages. Canadian unions say Labour Day is a time to demand a fairer future. 

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This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. The Taliban in Afghanistan says more than 800 people have been killed in a 6.0 magnitude earthquake. More than 2,500 others are hurt. The epicenter was in a remote mountainous area, making the emergency response difficult. Anna Cunningham has more. Rescue efforts are slow and difficult.

Surrounded by the rubble of collapsed buildings, one person is carried down on a stretcher towards a waiting helicopter. For this young boy, the loss and destruction from this earthquake is too much. It's struck shortly before midnight local time, the epicentre in Kunar province. It's remote at the best of times. the mountainous roads often just dirt tracks. Children and elders are trapped under the rubble, says one man. We need urgent help, he says.

95% of our village has been destroyed, says another man. Rescue helicopters have been landing at Jalalabad. Local residents seen helping Taliban soldiers to carry the wounded to ambulances. Communication in the region is limited. after shocks and landslides from recent flash floods hampering efforts to reach those trapped. This is an underdeveloped area with no protection from the power of a shallow earthquake. The Taliban-run government is appealing for aid from international organisations.

The issues with access will also make it difficult to assess the numbers of injured and dead. The Taliban warns the numbers are expected to rise. Anna Cunningham, CBC News, London. The International Association of Genocide Scholars says Israel's actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide. The group is made up of 500 scholars from around the world, including a number of Holocaust experts. Hamas welcomed the group's resolution. Israel has yet to comment. Lauren Kamato, reports from Amsterdam.

86% of the International Association of Genocide Scholars agreed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. They called on Israel to immediately stop all internationally criminal acts, including intentionally targeting civilians, starvation, the denial of humanitarian aid, water, and fuel, and the forced displacement of Gazins. Such acts, says the association, meet the legal criteria of the 1948 genocide convention, which defines genocide as the intentional destruction in whole or in part of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. I mean, if this is not a genocide, then I don't know what genocide is. Netherlands-based genocide scholar Eva Vukasic is a former member of the association. She says with so many basic rights now out of reach, from education and food to arable lands and housing, Gossens are being intentionally wiped out. So even beyond the killings, at the end of the day, it's making life unlivable.

There's no life there possible now. Vukesich says it's important to set the historical record straight for the future, and that even if governments like the U.S. won't listen, others like the Dutch, may take action. Today in the Netherlands, hundreds of people bang pans and walked off work briefly, urging their government to stop supporting Israel.

Lauren Kamato for CBC News, Amsterdam. A rapper from the Irish band Kneecap will appear in a British court later this month on terrorism charges. The hearing has forced the group to cancel U.S. concert dates, but it is still planning to perform in Canada. Julia Chapman has more from London.

Neckap isn't afraid of being provocative. The band often leads pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli chants at its concerts. Kiliin Faith Kelly is an Irish music journalist. Neckap are provocateurs. What they do is to knowingly provoke controversy. But British authorities think they've done more than that, and one member is now facing terrorism charges. Liam O'Hanna, known by his stage name Mohara,

is accused of waving a Hezbollah flag at a London performance in April. He denies this and says the charges are politically motivated. We know that the story is more than just about me. It's more than Neacap. This is a story by Paul Stang. And us is a distraction from the real story. After Ohana was charged, Neacap played the high-profile Glastonbury Festival. British Prime Minister Kier-Starmer says he didn't think that was appropriate.

Fans of Neacap have gathered outside courtrooms where O'Hanna has appeared. Kiliin Faith Kelly says support for the group is growing. As much as they've earned themselves many enemies over the last year, so they've probably earned a lot of new fans as well. Neckap cancelled its sold-out US tour. The band says it's too close to Ohana's next hearing, but it's still planning to travel to Canada in mid-October, with two gigs in Toronto and two in Vancouver fully sold out.

Julia Chapman, CBC News, London. The wildfire threatening Fort Providence, Northwest Territories is now just one kilometer away from the hamlet. The 700-person community had already been ordered to evacuate. Now all emergency personnel are being told to leave immediately. The CBC's Juanita Taylor is in Hay River talking to evacuees. I mean, that smoke was getting thick, so it's kind of scary. Evacuees looking somewhat traumatized after a two-hour bus ride from Fort Providence,

bringing them to Hay River. Some 700 people who had to flee from an encroaching wildfire, 89,000 hectares in size, bigger than Toronto. It's really red, big red. Frida Lassage says she's never seen anything like it. Those who made it to the evacuation center uncertain of what will come next. Mike Westwick is the territory's fire information officer. Communities coming together to keep each other safe.

It's a community coming in in this case who has been directly impacted by fire, so they know what this is like. We can't thank them enough for adding to the effort there. Westwick is referring to the three evacuations the town of Hay River has gone through since 2022 due to flood and fire. Glenn Smith is the town's senior administrative officer.

We've went through many evacuations and I've seen communities step up, whether it's in the Northwest Territories or in the south, it puts a lot of stresses on communities, but we're in good shape. We're in good shape to host. While residents have been told to get out, there are still people there protecting the hamlet

by putting up sprinklers and water cannons, soaking the edge as best they can, trying to win the battle against Mother Nature. Oneida Taylor, CBC News, Hay River, Northwest Territories. Habitat for Humanity aims to make home ownership affordable for more Canadians. But Southern Ontario is so expensive, the nonprofit now has to work with wealthier families who can shoulder the burden of a mortgage. Kate McGilveray reports.

It has been an absolute blessing. Single parent Jody Delaney moved into her Habitat for Humanity Home in London, Ontario in 2019. Like with all habitat homes, she didn't need a down payment, pays a mortgage geared to her income. Having affordable housing that is also creating equity for our future is life-changing. But Delaney knows that another version of her, applying for the same program today with her bookkeeper's salary, might not make the cut. Across southern Ontario, habitat locations have had to shift up their applicant income range. In some places like the Greater Toronto area and Windsor, the nonprofit is looking for households earning around six figures and as much as $135,000 a year. The benefit of having those higher incomes actually comes into play

when it allows people to be successful in owning their homes. Karen Covielo is the Senior Vice President for Habitat for Humanity Canada. She says her organization has always focused on getting people on the edge of being priced out into home ownership and that there are other programs meant to serve lower income earners. It's kind of incredible, but that's what it's come to, at least in this region. Karen Chappell is director at the University of Toronto School of Cities. She says Habitat is doing what it has to to keep its model going.

Most of the housing affordability programs are not really yet targeting the middle class. The organization says it is still prioritizing, applicants living in overcrowded, overpriced, and poorly maintained homes. Kate McGilvery, CBC News, Toronto. This is a Union Town,

a Union Town, haul down the line. This is a Union Town, a Union Town, haul down the line. It is Labor Day in Canada. This year's theme is Canada for workers, made here, paid here. Unions and workers groups are holding parades and barbecues across the country. They say today is the day to celebrate the labor movement's history and to demand a fairer future.

Today's marches will include demands for affordable housing, fair wages, dignity at work, and services that put people first. That is the latest at anytime at CBCnews.A. I'm Rcia Young. We'll give up hell every time. This is a union town. A union town. A union town. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca.com. podcasts.