World Report - September 16: Tuesday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

CBC News confirms Chrystia Freeland will be leaving role as Transport Minister to serve in envoy role for Ukraine. European Commission says it will adopt new sanctions against Israel, after UN concludes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says ground offensive to eliminate Hamas from Gaza City has entered main phase. Statistics Canada says inflation rose to 1.9 per cent in August, up from 1 point 7 per cent in July, year over year. Food Banks Canada gives country a failing grade on food insecurity and unemployment on its annual Poverty Report Card. Suspect in shooting death of Charlie Kirk to make his first court appearance today. New York judge dismisses 2 terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Canadian job creation a key factor as Canadian government weighs proposals for $20B submarine contract. Hollywood actor Robert Redford dies at age 89. 

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This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. CBC News has confirmed transport minister Christia Freeland is leaving cabinet. Sources say she will be moving on to an envoy role related to Ukraine. Defense Minister David McGinty says it is important for Canada to continue showing leadership in the region. The threat landscape in the Ukrainian theater war is serious, that the Russians are not pulling back. The president there is not trustworthy in terms of his comments. You can't take much of what he's saying at face value, and therefore we have to be on guard.

Freeland has Ukrainian heritage and speaks the language fluently. She visited Kiev this past weekend with former Prime Minister Jean-Khietjean. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry says Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. And it says it was incited by top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A spokesperson for the European Commission says it will adopt new sanctions against Israel tomorrow. But Israel is rejecting the UN conclusion, calling it libelous. And this morning, the Israeli military says it is now pushing toward the center of Gaza City. Sasha Petrusik reports.

Bombardment of Gaza City ramped up yet again overnight. Its towers exploding and collapsing as Israel launched its anticipated ground assault. It considers this Hamas' last remaining stronghold, declaring Gaza is burning. But Gaza City is also the most populous in the strip, with about six. 600,000 Palestinian civilians still at risk, plus up to 20 living Israeli hostages believed to be in the area. Genocide is occurring. Attacks on civilians, forced displacements, and the denial of aid

is at the heart of a new UN-commissioned report, says Chairwoman Navi Pillay, which blames top officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He told Palestinians in Gaza to leave now, because we will operate forcefully everywhere, making no distinction between combatants and civilians. Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva calls the report fake. The report relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others.

But even U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, leaving Israel for Qatar, agrees there is a crisis and very little time for a negotiated solution. We don't have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks, so it's a key moment. A moment when Israel's attack on Gaza is only intensifying. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Jerusalem. The annual inflation rate was up in the month of August. Statistics Canada says inflation rose to 1.9% last month.

That is up from 1.7% in July year over year. It is mainly being attributed to a weaker decline in gas prices. The CBC's Jenna Benchitrit has more. Economists expected the inflation rate to go up in August. It was mostly driven there by higher gas prices. Lower prices at the pump had brought the rate further down in July. This latest data will be the final piece before the Bank of Canada's next interest rate decision tomorrow.

Experts are betting that the central bank will cut rates for the first time since March. And higher inflation probably won't stop them. Big picture. Canada is facing weakened growth and higher unemployment. A Bank of Canada cut would help stimulate the economy. But economist Doug Porter hesitates to say we're in a recession. It's just not broad-based enough weakness. It's fairly concentrated in the sectors that are really being affected by the trade war.

And the rest of the economy, you know, there are some pockets of strength. Tomorrow, the Bank of Canada decides whether those conditions are right for a cut. Jenna Benchit, CBC News, Toronto. Poverty levels in Canada. Canada are not improving. The new report from Food Bank's Canada surveyed 10,000 people. The charity is giving the country failing grades on housing affordability, access to health care and government supports.

Neil Hetherington is the CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto. He says, Ottawa needs to do more. I want to support them in the building of affordable housing. And so that sort of checkmark on that. I do want to see in this budget additions to the Canada Disability Benefit. We want to make sure that everybody who is receiving a disability income is at the very least at the poverty line. According to the Food Bank's Canada report, households earning $75,000 or less are spending at least 90% of their income on essentials. That includes housing, transportation, groceries, internet, and utilities.

The suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk is expected to make his first court appearance today. The 22-year-old is accused of killing the conservative activist last week during a rally at Utah Valley University. He is facing several charges, including capital murder. The CBC's Aeneas Hedari joins me now from Washington. And Anise, what are we expecting today? Authorities are going to formally charge 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. And so with that, we could find out not just what the exact charges are against him

for allegedly killing Charlie Kirk. We may also find out whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. Now, it is unclear what, if any, evidence we'll get to hear about directly. It might be none. But authorities have been talking about what they've got with national media pretty extensively. FBI director Cash Patel has told Fox News about evidence ranging from DNA to digital. I will say what was found in terms of information, a text message exchange, where the suspect specifically stated that he had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk

and he was going to do that. And when he was asked why, he said some hatred cannot be negotiated with. The Washington Post also reporting that Tyler Robinson posted on Discord, which is an online chat room service, quote, it was me. While the New York Times has been reporting that he was joking and that a, quote, doppelganger did it. So as the court process slowly gets underway, evidence about a possible confession and motive may become more clear. We may also see the FBI director Patel take some intense questions from Congress today as well. He's scheduled to appear before committees. And while it's about his general leadership of the FBI,

he might face some pushback from senators today on how public he's been about this Charlie Kirk investigation. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. The CBC's Ennis Hadari in Washington. A New York judge has dismissed two terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione. The 27-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of killing United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. He appeared in court today for the first time since February.

The judge says Thompson's murder was no ordinary street crime, but New York law does not consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology. Mangione still faces second-degree murder charges. Canada is about to spend $20 billion on use submarines. In two countries are in the running for the contract, Germany and South Korea. As Daniel LeBlanc reports, the government's final decision might come down to which company will do more to create jobs in Canada?

They meet the military requirements and now they're going to compete to see who can deliver the best economic outcomes for Canada. Stephen Fuhr is a former CF-18 pilot and now Ottawa's point man on military procurement. The Carney government is deciding whether to buy a dozen new submarines from either Germany or South Korea. And Fuhr says a key factor is which bid offers the biggest economic windfall for Canada, especially as the economy is reeling from tariffs on steel and aluminum. Given the situation that we're in and the money that we're going to spend,

this is very, very important that we make sure that we stimulate our economy when we spend this an enormous amount of money in defense. Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to boost spending on the Canadian Armed Forces by $9 billion this year. The looming bonanza has sparked a lobbying frenzy in Ottawa as dozens of companies fight to get a piece of the action. But to get money out the door, Ottawa needs to speed up. and centralize its military procurement process.

That's according to Gaelle Rivar Pichet, a military expert at the Conference of Defense Associations. We need a procurement process that is more agile. We can no longer afford to have a risk zero if you want procurement strategy. Fear said the government will announce a new defense industrial policy by the end of the year, adding a priority is ensuring that Canada is less reliant on its American neighbor.

Daniel LeBlanc, CBC News, Arrois. Robert Redford has died. For years, he was a leading man in Hollywood with key roles in the candidate, all the president's men out of Africa, and of course, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Dynamite's ready, Butch. Well, that ought to do it. Think he's enough dynamite there, Bush. He went on to become a director, winning an Oscar in 1980 for ordinary people. Redford then founded the Sundance Institute, which, now organizes the annual Sundance Film Festival. His publicist says he died today at his home in

Utah surrounded by people he loved. Robert Redford was 89. That is World Report. I'm Marcia Young.