World Report - September 25: Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmood Abbas disavows Hamas during his United Nations address.Prime Minister Mark Carney departs on his latest international trip today, this time to the United Kingdom.Residents of Churchill, Manitoba waiting for news on national-building project that would expand and upgrade their 100-year-old port.The federal government is expected to announce new measures to help Canada Post deal with chronic financial shortfalls.Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to five years after being found guilty of conspiracy connected to late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.Some Quebeckers pushing back on the provincial government eliminating the use of gender neutral language in official government communications.

Too many students are packed into overcrowded classrooms in Ontario schools, and it's hurting their ability to learn. But instead of helping our kids, the Ford government is playing politics, taking over school boards and silencing local voices. It shouldn't be this way. Tell the Ford government to get serious about tackling overcrowded classrooms because smaller classes would make a big difference for our kids. Go to Building Better Schools.ca.

A message from the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm John Northcott. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is addressing the UN General Assembly at this hour. And his main message so far is that his government disavows the October 7th attacks and that Hamas should have no role in governing Gaza.

Abbas spoke via video link due to the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration denying him and his delegation visas. The leader renewed calls for an independent Palestinian state. This comes three days after several Western nations, including Canada, did just that. Abbas says Israeli actions are threatening the option of the two-party solution, pointing to recently approved settlements that would divide the West Bank. On the heels of his address to the UN, Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading off to his next international trip today to the UK. Carney is aiming to attract investment and strengthen ties that he argues are key to securing Canada's future. But there is a project that could soon get the green light here at home that would also diversify trade with Europe.

Northern Manitoba's Port of Churchill is the only deepwater Arctic port in North America that is also accessible by rail. The proposal would upgrade the 100-year-old port. People say there they'd love to see more jobs, but there is concern the expansion could jeopardize their unique way of life. Karen Pauls has more. If you look to the left of that red boy. Erin Green stands on the beach and points at Baluga whales in the Churchill River. There. There's two right there.

She owns Sup North, a paddleboard tour company. It's an incredibly special place for them. It is their safety. and we're putting that sense of safety in jeopardy. Climate change means new shipping lanes to Europe and beyond are emerging in the Arctic. It's why the Port of Churchill, Canada's only deep-water Arctic port connected by railway, is being considered

as one of the Prime Minister's nation-building projects. Rebecca Chartrand is the Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and MP for the Churchill-Quaite-Nuk-Aski riding. I think there is absolutely great, potential for Churchill to be announced before the Grey Cup. Green understands the need for economic development, but worries the sound from construction and more commercial shipping will harm the whales. Their world being destroyed by sound and a lot more activity.

Officials are trying to calm those fears. I think that balance is critical. Chris Avery heads the Arctic Gateway Group, a partnership of 29 First Nations and 12 communities in Manitoba and Nunavut, which own the port and the railway. The Port of Churchill has been here for almost 100 years. There was much more volume through the port than there is today, and that co-existed very well with the environment as well. A delicate balance between the environment and economic development. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Churchill, Manitoba.

We'll hear more today about the future of Canada Post. The Minister responsible Joel like bound is expected to announce new measures to address the financial challenges faced by the Crown Corporation. This comes as Canada Post remains at the bargaining table with the union representing its workers. Let's bring in Janice McGregor from our parliamentary bureau. Janice, why is the minister stepping up now? John, Canada Post is facing an existential crisis, or at least that was the conclusion

reached by veteran mediator William Kaplan. After a strike and a lockout left Canadians without postal services in the run-up to the critical holiday delivery season last year, the Labor Minister appointed Kaplan to lead a commission of industrial inquiry to examine the Crown Corporation's future and figure out why the two sides were so far apart in collective bargaining. His report concluded that Canada Post is effectively insolvent, bankrupt, with no immediate prospects for improvement. Canadians send fewer and fewer letters, competition from unregulated, sometimes non-unionized, even gig worker parcel delivery services, is surging. Meanwhile, government directives don't allow the post office to cut costs by closing

rural offices or switching more neighborhoods over to community mailboxes, for example. Last January, the government floated Canada Post with a billion-dollar lifeline loan to keep things going in the short term. But they still haven't concluded a new collective agreement with postal workers. The federal government's under huge financial pressures leading up to what we expect will be a fall budget full of austerity measures. Something's got to give in this new plan today. Well, Janice, how could this impact ongoing collective bargaining? Well, the Postal Workers Union has already been out saying that today's announcement caught them by surprise they were expecting to receive a new offer at the table from Canada Post tomorrow. After their

members voted to reject the management's previous offer over 50 days ago, in return for wage increases, the latest offer from the union side was willing to allow for the hiring of parties. time weekend delivery workers, but unionized workers are currently refusing to deliver lucrative flyer mail in an attempt to apply pressure to the talks. So far, Cup W has been unwilling to accept what Canada Post says it needs to do to overhaul its business. Janice McGregor in Ottawa. Thanks, Janice. You're welcome. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is going to prison, even as he vows to appeal his conviction. This morning, Sarkozy was sentenced to five years after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy.

Sarkozy addressing reporters last hour following the verdict, he maintains his innocence, saying that he will, quote, sleep in prison but with head held high. The former leader was accused of receiving millions of euros in financing from late Libyan dictator Mormar Gaddafi, leading up to Sarkozy's successful 2007 presidential bid. Quebec is eliminating the use of gender-neutral language in official government communications, saying it is a question of upholding proper French grammar.

Words are gendered in French, and some people have adopted the use of yell, which means they to represent their non-binary status. Sarah Levitt has more. I don't want to exclude anybody. Quebec's Minister for the French language, Jean-François-Roberge, says a change in how the government communicates is not a question of discrimination, but to maintain proper French. In the language, certain words like nouns are gendered, le, masculine or la, feminine.

In the past decade or so, some non-binary people have adopted the word EL as an identifier instead of Elle for her or ill for him. But Robert says government communication needs to be streamlined and writing gender-neutral French is no easy task. Every word has a gender, the table in English, in French is la table. Table is feminine. But some say comparing a table to a person's gender identity

is not only disrespectful but dangerous. Victoria Legault is the executive director of an organization that helps trans people in Quebec. He's sending the message that these people that use the pronouns yell are just not valid or are not free to exist. The government says it's not excluding the possibility of extending the same language rules to schools.

But it does say individuals can still get the designation of X on their government IDs like drivers, licenses, and health carts. Sarah Levitt's CBC News, Montreal. And finally, cancer cases and deaths are expected to balloon around the world by the year 2050 with a potentially huge impact on patient care. Jennifer Yun reports. I think we're already feeling a bit of strain. Cancer specialist Dr. Keith Stewart has started to wonder, do we have enough chairs for people to come in to receive their chemotherapy. Do we have enough beds for those receiving treatments like CAR-T cell therapy? We see in all of those areas right now that we're sort of brushing up against

our full capacity. That strain may be getting worse in coming years. According to a new study published in the Lancet Medical Journal by 2050, cancer rates and deaths are expected to balloon by the millions around the world. And while Canada is doing well compared to other countries, an Asian population will mean more people getting diagnosed with cancer and more people dying with cancer across Canada. Ali Mogad is one of the co-authors of the study. There'll be more people who will have cancer in Canada, not because cancer is increasing in Canada,

simply because people in Canada are living longer. Stewart, the director of Toronto's Princess Margaret Cancer Program, says authorities should start preparing now and take a multi-pronged approach. I mean, we need to do better with our efficiency, our scheduling, or we need to be a bit better at delivering care at home, getting people out of the hostel and doing that efficiently. Preparations like that, and amped up screening and prevention

could mean fewer Canadians die, preventable cancer deaths, Stuart says. Jennifer Yun, CBC News, Toronto. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm John Northcott. This is CBC News. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.ca.ca.com.