Your World Tonight - A surge in deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

A Russian glide bomb kills 30 people in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow increasingly targets civilians and civilian infrastructure.Also: Ottawa unveils a $2 billion rebate program available to hundreds of thousands of Canadian households to install heat pumps in an effort to save them money and lower emissions.And: The city of Montreal unveils its plans to protect vulnerable people from the cold this winter.Plus: Polls suggest a Democratic surge ahead of U.S. midterm elections, continuing opposition to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s signature economic legislation, Canadian students’ math skills are sliding, and what happens when a giant AI data centre comes to town?

I've been staring at my offer letter for three days. The salary is exciting, but trying to understand terms like group matching and flexible spending, it feels like reading another language. Congrats on the job. That's huge. But yeah, entering a new workplace comes with a big learning curve. I just want to make sure I'm setting myself up right from day one. It feels like there's so much to figure out about how all of this works. We all feel a bit out of our depth when starting out.

When I made my last jump, I was totally trying to make sense of my new paycheck and my real-life expenses. Glad, it's not just me. It helps to know that everyone goes through this phase. For sure. Honestly, just bringing it up in the first place is half the battle. Landing the job is just the start of the journey. Want to hear how others are navigating the early careers? Check out Count Us In.

A web series where host Michelle Spina sits down with members of Gen Z to share real perspectives and experiences on money, and what comes next. Paid content with Desjardin. Now streaming on CBC Gem. This is a CBC podcast. He wants to escalations as much as possible. That's why we need to work altogether. Russia is taking aim at Ukraine civilians in a new brutal assault.

The Ukrainian president is pleading for more help, specifically signaling out the U.S. amid reports the Trump administration is trying to strike an energy deal with Moscow. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Salima Shivji, also on the program. I just like the technology. I like that we won't need to use our natural gas as much. Lowering heat costs and emissions, the federal government announces a multi-billion dollar program to help certain households install heat pumps. In just two days, more than 70 people have been killed in a wave of devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine

that shows no sign of slowing down. The escalation is frustrated. President Volodymyr Zelensky. He says the U.S. isn't doing enough to stop the bloodshed. And as Chris Brown reports, Zelensky is also questioning why Washington is pursuing closer economic ties with Russia. Firefighters in Krematores sprayed down the gory aftermath of Russia's latest despicable attack on civilians. Two blackened buses smoldered after being hit by a glide bomb.

30 people were killed and 18 injured. Charred bodies and body parts were scattered over a wide area. The goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin is to make Ukraine's cities unlivable, and he's largely succeeded in eastern centers like Kramatorsk that often come under attack every hour. Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky was with Britain's Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, at the site of another Russian massacre in the Chernihiv region yesterday, where 20 people were killed, including several children.

Putin once said that he was going to win on the battlefield. He's trying to win by terrorizing civilians. I do not believe he will succeed. In his remarks, Zelensky criticized the Trump administration for not doing enough to help. I mean, he wants to escalation as much as possible. That's why we need to work altogether. Europeans can't push him.

I mean, but they can help us, and this will push him to negotiations. But Americans can do more. I think President Trump can do more. Media reports suggest Trump's team is trying to cut energy deals with Putin and has restricted Ukraine's access to the Starlink communication system which can help target Russian missile launchers. Thank you very much, Vladimir.

Next time in Moscow. Trump has proclaimed many times he thinks Putin wants peace, only to have talks go nowhere. Even so, Ukrainian negotiators plan to meet with U.S. officials again. Marco Rubio, the top U.S. diplomat, did not address Zelensky's criticisms. Instead, he referred to the current situation as a dangerous stalemate. One side or the other or both escalate what they are doing in order to try to break the other side and break the stalemate. And that's very dangerous.

Putin's position is that this is a war of self-defense that NATO started, a claim that's patently false. Ukrainians know agreeing to Putin's demands for more territory and demilitarization, would effectively mean the end of their country, which is why after four and a half years, this war shows no sign of ending. Chris Brown, CBC News, London. In the United States, poll after poll is pointing to growing support for the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.

Donald Trump's popularity is hitting new lows and his policies appear to be turning voters away from the Republican ticket. As Katie Nicholson reports, some GOP candidates are now trying to distance themselves from the president and his ideas. Is there anything like a Trump rally? Is there anything like? It used to be U.S. President Donald Trump could count on taxes for mammoth devoted crowds. But last night, his rally for Republican candidates interrupted by protester. These are paid protesters. They're paid by enemies of our nation.

After protester, after protester. Each escorted out by security. He's going back home to mom right now. He's going to get the hell bowed out. Because what he doesn't know is that his mom voted for Trump. Those protesters could be the tip of the iceberg. Trump is now the most unpopular president since Herbert Hoover, according to one analyst. And polling suggests his policies and decisions fare no better. Voters turned off by tariffs and the war in Iran.

Democrats are widely expected to win control of the House, but the Senate could also be slipping from the GOP's grasp. A recent New York Times Sienna poll showing Democratic contenders ahead in Texas, Ohio, and Alaska, and a surprisingly tight race shaping up in Iowa and even in deep red Kansas. In Maine, Senator Susan Collins tried to distance herself from Trump during Tuesday's debate. I'm not exactly his favorite senator. As her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, repeatedly tied her to the president. What we're seeing right now with affordability issues is, you know, because of Senator Collins not being willing to stand up to Donald Trump, voting with him 96% of the time.

And then there was Mike Rogers big flip-flop in Michigan. This was the Trump-aligned Senate candidate in August on Fox and Friends. The Canadians have not been good partners on this. But as Trump's trade war with Canada has proved disastrous with voters in several states, Rogers is now practically embracing the Maple Leaf in a new ad. Drinking a labat and watching the Red Wings, man, it just doesn't get any more Michigan than that. And here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now. Democrats have largely remained pretty steadily ahead.

Republicans would like to close that gap. There's still time to do so. And Republican strategist Mark Bedner says the GOP has a major advantage. The RNC has more than $100 million more in its war chest than the DNC. The fact that the money is there and we're leading and spending in several of the swing states here, that's actually a great sign that helps us potentially hold on to a lot of these seats here. And Donald Trump also has his own $400 million campaign coffer, which he could pry open to help his party's fortunes.

Though time for a big spend is drawing short as November 3rd looms. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. Coming right up, the federal push to install more heat pumps. The government announces its plan to spend big to get more people to make the switch. Plus, Canadian students get a failing grade on their math skills. And later, we'll have this story. What happens when Google comes to town? A rural village in southern India is finding out, with a new AI data center going up next door.

Our land is gone, he says, and that was. our livelihood. Problem or progress for a country striving to get a slice of the AI boom. This is huge economic value. I'm Susan Ormiston in Dyshika Patnam, India with that story coming up. Former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife are facing new criminal charges. US prosecutors say Maduro oversaw a repression machine, torturing his political opponents, including American citizens, all in an effort to maintain his grip on power. Maduro and Celia Flores have been in a U.S. prison since January after being captured in an American military raid. Jamie MacDonald is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The indictment charges that Maduro, Flores, and other Venezuelan leaders tried to silence political opposition through murder and threats to murder victims' families, electric shock, asphyxiation, starvation, starvation, so-called punishment cells, beatings, and rape. It alleges conduct that is truly unthinkable. Maduro and Flores had already been facing drug trafficking charges, accused of working with cartels to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. If convicted, both face a minimum of 50 years in prison.

The federal government is launching a $2 billion rebate program to encourage hundreds of thousands of homeowners to install heat pumps. The new program is set to come online next year. The government says it will help cut heating costs and reduce overall building emissions across the country. Karen Pauls has the details. David Schnair is getting ready to move into his new house in Medicine Hat. Let's go get another one.

He had a heat pump installed a few weeks ago. I just like the technology. I like that we won't need to use our natural gas as much. Schneier has applied for city and provincial grants. It's unclear if he'll be eligible for this new federal rebate, but says it's a good idea regardless. It helps with the cost of changing over, and it also promotes it. Households below their province's median income can get up to $10,000 back.

Others can receive $2,000. Heating is one of the biggest bills that Canadians pay in the winter. Prime Minister Mark Carney says the new rebates will be available quickly, with approvals within 24 hours and will save Canadians money. They're at the mercy of the global markets. Right now, those markets, because the wars around the world, are hitting families hard. Ottawa is also helping apartment building owners retrofit more than 280,000 units over the next eight years.

The two programs are meant to reduce Canada's emissions by the equivalent of taking nearly 8.5 million cars off the roads for one year. But the challenge is scale. We really need to scale up. accelerate our efforts. Ross Lyndon Fraser is with the 440 megatons project at the Canadian Climate Institute in Ottawa. The goal is to electrify so that people still turn up the heat, but they're not turning up emissions at the same time. We're looking at retrofitting up to a million homes. That's great. But it's about 1% of the country's households. So more efforts going to be needed. The program doesn't come online until 2027, partly officials say, to give installers time

to stock up. At White Ridge heating and air conditioning in Winnipeg, owner Taylor Adolf says they're already busy. There's already a low-income program in Manitoba. So like people can already apply and I think if they fit the income range for the province, they can already get a free heat bump. He says the new federal program may be more useful in eastern Canada where more people heat with oil. Most Manitoba has already converted. Conservative leader Pierre Pahliev says the Programs will cost Canadians by taking $2 billion out of their pockets. He argues individuals, not government, should decide whether to invest in heat pumps. The NDP points out it's inconsistent for the Liberals to be concerned about emissions

when the Carney government is pushing pipelines. Karen Paul's CBC News, Winnipeg. Mark Carney's announcement on energy savings comes on the same day as a House vote on his key economic legislation. The bill to speed up major projects did pass its first vote this afternoon in Parliament, despite environmental concerns. Even several of Carney's own MPs have broken ranks to raise their objections. David Thurton has more from Ottawa. All those in favor of the motion will please rise.

Mr. McKinn gets no. One by one in the House of Commons today, liberals voted for Bill C-39, the Bill in Canada Strong Act. It would seem the government benches are in lock steps supporting Prime Minister Mark Carney's bid to build projects faster and modernize the federal labor code. But some liberals are uneasy with it. And given the powers that are in this bill are going to be permanent, it is important that where new flexibility or discretion is created,

that Parliament instills clear and transparent processes. In a rare move, BC Liberal MP Patrick Weiler stood in the chamber this week, voicing his concerns. Seemingly walking a tight rope, Wiler said he supports the need for faster decisions on minds and renewable energy projects, but he said the compressed one-year timeline may prevent indigenous communities and NGOs from giving meaningful input. Because large proponents can have teams of consultants, scientists, engineers, and lawyers, while smaller communities, local organizations, and First Nations may not have that same

capacity. The bill gives a lot of discretion to ministers, like the ability to consider the cost of protecting sensitive ecosystems. Because the economic feasibility should help determine how an environmental obligation is achieved, it should not become a substitute for achieving the environmental outcome. O'Wiler isn't the only liberal who feels this way, seemingly earning support from another BC liberal, Will Grease. I think Patrick and I are on the same page.

We think that it's moving the country in the right direction, but there's areas for improvement, and we're looking forward to seeing a go-to committee. Both MPs voted for the bill to progress to the next stage, and Carney did not address their concerns. Instead, focusing on his announcement to help retrofit a million homes with heat pumps. Yes, it's true that Canada's strong starts in a warm home. These announcements are window dressing, and they're designed to assuage the concerns of Canadians. NDP leader of E Lewis says whether it's the heat pump announcement today or last week's Ocean's press conference,

Carney is trying to distract from legislation like C-39. There's no comparison between the announcements, the token announcements, to protect oceans and nature compared to the sheer scale. of this permanent legislation that alters the legal landscape and the protections for Canadian workers and for the natural landscape and for indigenous rights forever. New Democrats are calling for the Bill in Canada's Strong Act to be completely scrapped. That's unlikely as the bill moves to the next steps of the legislative process, with the liberal majority all but guaranteeing it will pass.

David Thornton, CBC News, Ottawa. Cold Lake First Nations has gone to court to challenge Ottawa's decision to designate the Pacific Link pipeline as a project of national interest. Prime Minister Carney announced last week the pipeline from Alberta to BC would be fast-tracked. The goal, finish all reviews and consultations in time for construction to begin next September. Chief Kelsey Jacko says his communities, several First Nations in Alberta, weren't consulted. He has applied to the federal court for a review of Ottawa's decision. With cold weather just around the corner, Quebec is promising to take action to protect its most vulnerable residents.

Last winter, a number of homeless people died on the streets of the province, and two people have died this week. Quebec's new premier designate is now pledging to make the issue a top priority. Alexander Silberman reports. At a homeless tent encampment in Montreal North, charred belongings lie on blackened soil. A shopping cart, clothing, and a pink bouquet of flowers. The remnants of a deadly fire early Wednesday morning. A woman in her 50s died after her tent caught fire, according to police.

I'm very shocked because I know that woman. She was a kind one. Stephanie LeClaire lives in a tent at the encampment. She says the government needs to do more to help people like herself get into housing and prevent similar deaths in the future. Lowered the price of money. Lower the price of rents and help people on the streets, she says. Quebec officials are promising to take action amid a rise of homelessness.

In September, a baby was found in a tent at a Montreal encampment and taken into the care of social services. In this week, two Quebecers experiencing homelessness died on the street. The woman in Montreal North and a 59-year-old man found dead in an alley in Granby. My hope is that no one should. be born or die in the street. Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez-Ferada, announcing an action plan for the city as winter approaches.

We will work with the new government to put this planning to action, keep people safe this winter. Premier-elect Paul St. Pierre Plamondon says the plight of people experiencing homelessness will be one of his top priorities. Last year, the provincial government estimated more than 12,000 people were living on the street. We've laid the groundwork for collaboration with the federal government, he says. Our goal is to reduce homelessness by 50% over the next four years. The newly elected Partsiquequeque government is promising $1 billion for emergency housing and social programs.

It also plans to organize a summit on the issue and offer emergency funding within the first 100 days in office. But outreach workers like Andrew Morocco say there are fixed. the government could act on now. He runs St. Michael's Mission, a center that offers warm meals and resources in downtown Montreal. This funding and the strategy, it needs to be medium to long term.

More funding for mental health and addictions treatment and transitional housing. Long-term solutions for a deepening crisis. Alexander Silverman, CBC News, Montreal. When it comes to math skills, Canadian students literally aren't making the grade. New data shows that over the past 20 years, Canadian test results have gotten steadily and substantially worse.

And experts say sustained action is needed to get students back on track. Deanna Suminac Johnson tells us more. All right, he broke the 11 into a 10-1. Helping kids better understand math is a problem. Canada's educators are eager to solve. In this grade 3 classroom, in Orangeville, Ontario, some 60 kilometers northwest of Toronto,

teacher Kendra Corbett is employing everything from using small plastic cubes that help kids visualize numbers to breaking them up into small groups. It's all in an effort to help kids grasp early key concepts. It's not meant to be a scary, scary subject. Several indicators show when it comes to math, the struggle is real. On recent international PISA tests, Canadian math scores declined considerably between 2006 and 2025, the equivalent of falling back by two grade levels. Ontario standardized tests tell a similar story.

Last school year, just over a half of grade 6 and grade 9 students met the provincial standard. And yet, this lag hasn't gotten nearly the kind of attention as, say, declining rates in literacy, something mathematician John Mighton says we should be paying attention to. Maiton also founded Jump Math Charity. that's a real, I think, threat to our country, to our economy, even to our political system. How can you think your way through problems that involve risk or probabilities or science if you can't do the simplest math? The best way to teach math is a long-running debate.

Memorization-based learning, some might remember from your childhoods or the more recently favored inquiry-based approach where kids figure out patterns and explain their thinking. Western University professor of psychology, and education, Daniel Ansari, says the answer may be a combination of the two. So it's finding that sort of balance between explicit instruction and letting children discover things working by themselves. So I think there's a careful rethinking needed about that balance, how that is developmentally appropriate. At Upper Grand District School Board,

their standardized math scores have gone above provincial average by focusing on things like early screening and working in small groups where a teacher can troubleshoot problems quickly. So a little group might be doing that. A little group might be doing a worksheet that it was a follow-up to a lesson. Another group might be on our online platform for individualized math practice. As teachers and researchers work to crack the code of helping kids learn math. Deanna Sumenac Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. Families celebrate as the USS Abraham Lincoln returns to dock in San Diego after a record long deployment of 265 uninterrupted days at sea.

The ship was deployed to support the war in Iran, but the aircraft carrier became notorious for reportedly poor conditions on board during its extended voyage. That included supply shortages, mail delays, and plumbing malfunctions. Family members said several crew members tried. to jump overboard after months at sea. Finland has ordered a temporary work stoppage on Google's two AI data centers under construction there, questioning the environmental impact.

But in other countries, projects are going ahead despite similar concerns. In southern India, Susan Ormiston went to find out what happens when Google becomes your new neighbor. Under the shade of a tree, farmers chew over big news. Google is moving in. Earth-movers already clearing hundreds of acres of fertile land on Star Hill next to their village. Bali Narasinka Rao owned one acre. He'll get 17 lakhs, he says, about $25,000 Canadian.

Many elders have told us that other countries didn't want this data center, he says. Our land is gone, and that land was our livelihood. This is Google Cloud India AI Hub. Google is building a one-gigawatt AI data hub in southern India, its largest outside the U.S., spending $15 billion. This is huge economic value. The Andhra Pradesh state government promises tens of thousands of indirect jobs and hundreds of permanent ones, says MP Sri Paret Matakumili.

We would like the data center to be an attraction to fintech companies, to banks, to AI startups. So this is an ecosystem play. It is not a singular play. But young men who approached us in their village don't see the opportunity. It is useful for only storage or cooling of the systems so that I can't believe that we can get any employment

based on here. We are completely unhappy, unhappy with the data center man. At the beachfront in nearby Vizag, several dozen people are campaigning to stop it. This data center boom for us doesn't look more than like a real estate project. Activist Dijsha Vangura says Google picked Southern India because of weak environmental laws and ready concessions on land and water and electricity tariffs. The central government has categorized data centers as essential infrastructures.

In a country where schools are in a bad shape, where hospitals are not available, fix the bottom foundation first. In an email to CBC News, Google said it will use. an advanced air cooling system in place of water cooling, and the noise will be buffered to below 55 decibels about the volume of a dishwasher, it says. We won't know whether it's beneficial or harmful till the data center is complete, says another farmer, in the village under the tree.

Susan Ormiston, CBC News, Vichikapatnam, India. And finally. Friday 4.20 a.m. swimming. As he approaches the water's edge through soaked grasses. Anne Carson there reading her poetry for the song Friday 4.20 a.m. swimming. A collaboration with Toronto-based band Rio Stannix. The Canadian poet and essayist is now a Nobel laureate,

winning the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Academy called her bold and inventive work, modern but in playful dialogue with the classics. Her writing is known to move easily between genres, blurring lines, and she's prolific, with more than 20 books to her name and even that indie rock album collaboration. Rios Static's singer-gatarrist Dave Bedini now, with his reaction to the news, Carson has a Nobel Prize. Anyone who's part of the Canadian creative community

sees this as a victory for art that pushes boundaries, art that has a singular voice, art that is unrelenting, art that carves its own path, which is something that she certainly has done throughout her career. Carson has already won plenty of awards, two Griffin Poetry Prizes, a Governor General's Literary Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Elizabeth Harvey is writing a book on Carson. She says a Nobel Prize really puts the poet on the map. The first thing it does is to send people back to read and look at something that they may have dismissed,

not had time for, feel is too intimidating, and it opens a door. So she becomes a household name. The Swedish Academy says it was able to reach the 76-year-old today to tell her about the award. Carson was apparently surprised. She's in Iceland where she told the Academy she was listening to the wind. In this spoken word track, also on the Rio Static's album, she's thinking of the moon. Over the unmoving black body of the lake, the moon dreams its gold dream of life. As if it were alone in the world, then what dreamer is not?

Thanks for dreaming with us. This has been your will tonight for Thursday, October 8th. I'm Salima Shivji. Have a good name. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.