Your World Tonight - Afghan refugee in ICE detention, Trump levies tariffs on EU and Mexico, Srebrenica: 30 years later, and more.

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

The family of an Afghan refugee is now begging the federal government to let him come to Canada. He is being held in a Texas detention centre facing deportation back to Afghanistan. His family says that would be a death sentence. And: Donald Trump announces both Mexico and the E-U will face steep, 30 per cent tariffs unless they reach a trade with with the U-S by August 1st. Also: Wildfires continue to burn across the country, displacing thousands of people from their homes. Plus: OpenAI comes for Google's crown, Families mourn the victims of the Srebrenica Massacre, and more.

I'm Joshua Jackson, and I'm returning for the Audible original series, Oracle, Season 3, Murder at the Grandview. Six forty-somethings took a boat out a few days ago. One of them was found dead. The hotel, the island, something wasn't right about it. Psychic agent Nate Russo is back on the case, and you know when Nate's killer instincts are required, anything's possible.

This world's gonna eat you alive. Listen to Oracle Season 3, Murder at the Grandview, now on Audible. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Aaron Saltzman. This is Your World Tonight. He is currently facing removal to Afghanistan. It is absolutely not an overstatement to say that it is a matter of life and death.

The family of an Afghan refugee is begging the federal government to help him come to Canada before US authorities send him back to Afghanistan and into the hands of the Taliban. Also on the podcast, Donald Trump takes aim at two of the US's biggest trading partners, announcing steep new tariffs on Europe and Mexico. And If I feel the consequences of something that began and ended before I was born, that means something is not going the right way. Thirty years after the Shrebronitsa massacre, reconciliation still seems far away. For nearly a year, Mohammed Yunusse has sat in an immigration detention centre in Texas,

facing deportation to Afghanistan. His family fears that would be a death sentence and they are pleading with Ottawa to allow him to come to Canada to claim asylum. Ifil Musa has that story for us tonight. He was arrested arbitrarily, detained, tortured and put into forced labor, all because of the work he was doing in support of impoverished women in Afghanistan. And that is why Mohamed Younussey fled in 2024, says his lawyer Aaron Simpson. The 27-year-old travelled with his brother and pregnant sister-in-law to Brazil

on a humanitarian visa to escape Taliban rule. They paid human smugglers thousands of dollars to guide them through ten countries and the Darien Gap, one of the most treacherous migration pathways in the world, connecting Central and South America to get to the US and eventually Canada where they have family ties. But Eunice was separated from his family in Mexico and arrested by ICE agents in the US. His mother says she's heartbroken her son is incarcerated and she cannot sleep, eat or go out.

Shafika Jalali and the rest of Yunusse's family all eventually made the same arduous journey to Canada and they've been accepted as refugees but Eunice's future remains in limbo. He's not doing well says Eunice's mother and his lawyer agrees. He is currently facing removal to Afghanistan. It is absolutely not an overstatement to say that it is a matter of life and death. A US judge has granted Eunice permission to travel to Canada to claim asylum. But Simpson's petition for a temporary resident permit to allow that to happen was rejected by the federal government in June.

Mohammed is one of those people who needs our protection. And with everything happening in the U.S., this is a time to say who we are and to do the right thing. Francesca Aloti-Ross is the executive director at Romero House, a refugee settlement centre in Toronto. We know that ICE in the U.S. is very willing to release him to Canada and unfortunately the government has denied those applications. He's been imprisoned and tortured and forced to do forced labor before.

I think it's not unreasonable to fear for his life. Canada's Immigration Ministry says it cannot comment on Unisey's case due to privacy legislation, but his family is hoping the federal government will intervene. Idole Moussa, CBC News, Toronto. CBC News, Toronto. Still ahead, Hong Kong was once considered the jewel of Asia's tourism industry. But it appears to have lost its sparkle. While countries like Japan, Korea and Vietnam have seen tourism rebound past pre-pandemic levels, Hong Kong is struggling to attract travelers. You'll hear some of the reasons why later in the show.

More vital U.S. trade partners are being threatened with tariffs on their exports. U.S. President Donald Trump announced Saturday he will levy 30 percent tariffs on the European Union and Mexico unless they reach a trade deal by August 1st. That has their leaders once again talking tough while also calling for unity and constructive dialogue with Washington. Chris Glover reports. After boarding a helicopter to New Jersey to golf, Donald Trump is laying low this weekend,

even as his letter writing campaign warning country after country of what U.S. tariffs they will face is high on the minds of lawmakers around the world and in his own country. Well, he is weaponizing the American economy. Democrat Brad Schneider is furious with Trump's latest threat of 30 percent tariffs and a letter posted online to the European Union, the U.S.''s largest trading partner, and Mexico, one of its closest allies. Tariffs should be used when you're punishing bad actors, protecting specific national interests, but the president is using tariffs in this on-again, off-again, unpredictable, quite literally unhelpful way that is only driving more uncertainty.

More than 20 countries now with letters with what Trump is planning for them if they're unable to strike trade deals with the U.S. by August 1. Salió una carta firmada por el Presidente Trump. Mexico's President Claudia Scheinbaum blasted Trump's letter, calling it unfair, while European Commission President Ursa Lavander-Lyon quickly put out a statement saying

proportionate countermeasures are being worked on. So our line has to be very clear. We will be firm. Speaking in France this week, she called Trump's attempt to recalibrate global trade unprecedented and she's ready to fight back. We defend our interests. We continue the work in good faith and we get ready for all scenarios. What it shows is that Donald Trump thinks he can maybe get a deal by threatening to escalate but I have to think, I think it will backfire.

In Belgium, foreign trade expert Jacob van Kerkgaard says Trump is signaling negotiations thus far have meant nothing and Europe is responding resolutely. But it stood ready to obviously quote-unquote defend the EU interests, which means potentially without a deal of retaliation. So absolutely we're lining up, arming, you know, putting a bullet in the gun. It's time we move on.

Venture capitalist Arlene Dickinson says Canada must look to other markets as Trump has proven an unreliable trading partner Threatening Canada this week with a higher 35 percent tariff on non free trade compliant goods All we can do right now is continue to focus on what we can control meeting with counterparts in Asia Canada's foreign affairs minister Anita on and continues to be on the hunt for new trading partners like most countries on and continues to be on the hunt for new trading partners, like most countries attempting to pivot away from the United States in the era of Trump. Chris Glover, CBC News, Washington.

In this country, the business world is still trying to digest the latest threats from the White House. And Isidari has more on that for us tonight. As trading wrapped up, Canadian markets didn't seem to react too starkly following Trump's latest tariff threat. But that's after a little more clarity, including that many goods might remain exempt from these newly increased tariffs. The Toronto Stock Exchange did nudge downward by less than one-third of a percentage point, but a market that isn't plunging doesn't mean market investors are happy.

Take Elmer Kim, an investment expert and president of Euclid Inc. in Toronto. Well, where do I start? Like, you know, this soap opera has been going on for all of 2025. It has to ultimately come to an end because science and gravity does apply. Tariffs are fundamentally bad. Tariff levels might be changing, but what tariffs do has not. Trump's tariffs make Canadian products more expensive for Americans. So business groups and representatives say their concerns haven't changed. They still don't have confidence that their costs today will be their costs tomorrow. Candice Lange is with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Saskatoon.

We have businesses that are looking at the remainder of this year, not sure what behavior of consumers will look like and seeing concerns in their customer base and worrying about spend and impact. And so that uncertainty is just causing an absolute chill, if not freeze over the business community. Ultimately, what it means for our clients, for Canadian businesses, for US businesses, it means additional scenario planning and trying to game out what might happen.

William Pellerin is an international trade lawyer in Ottawa. And then, you know, exchanges with customers and breaking out contracts and renegotiating contracts and trying to push the liability for tariffs onto other parties. So it's very difficult and every day brings new uncertainty. Functionally, the newest developments in the U.S. trade war with Canada are just reinforcing and repeating the concerns businesses had far before the latest letter from Trump. They don't know what's coming and they cannot guess. Anish Hidari, CBC News, Calgary.

Wildfires are displacing more people from their homes in the prairies. In Manitoba, as more than 13,000 people escape the flames in the north, the smoke from those fires is blanketing the rest of the province. Sarah Reed reports. Above Garden Hill First Nation, fire crews work to fight the flames from the air. A wildfire sparked an evacuation order for the Northern Manitoba community on Thursday morning. Now the Canadian Air Force has been brought in to fly more than 4,000 people out of the remote area. Craig Munro is the vice chief of Garden Hill First Nation and says so far 1,800 people have been relocated to Winnipeg with a plan to move another thousand

people on Saturday. It's sad because we're being displaced from our homes and we're being moved to the city so we do not want to be here but we have to do what we have to do. And Garden Hill resident Charles Knott says the journey from the remote community is a long one that can take several days. Once they leave from their home they have to go to the school gymnasium in Garden Hill and they have to stay there maybe overnight, two nights to wait. And then they have to go across to the island. And some of them get stranded on the island too because the planes don't fly in the evenings.

They have to spend the night on the island at the airport. Not and his wife have been in Winnipeg for the last two weeks for medical appointments, not knowing that instead of heading back home, he instead would be making his way to an evacuation centre in the city, knowing full well that his house may not be there when he returns. By the looks of it, it's not safe. Like we are cornered. The fire is behind our home. It's like it's cornered already, you know, if the wind blows from the north, it'll go straight to our community. While the fires aren't a threat in Winnipeg, the heavy smoke is serving as a constant reminder of the province's already record fire season.

And experts say it's creating dangerously poor air quality. Chris Pascoe is a professor at the University of Manitoba and says being outside all day is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes. Yeah, there's a fair amount of evidence that when we have events like this in the time anywhere between a day to a week after such events that hospitalizations for heart attacks and strokes

and worsening of lung disease rise with air pollution like this. So it's not something to be taken lightly. And when it's at the level that it's at you want to take that seriously. Despite those warnings hundreds have flocked to Winnipeg's folk festival. Organizers there say they're leaving it up to ticket holders to decide what's safest for themselves. Across the prairies it's not just Manitoba that's facing threats from wildfires. In Saskatchewan 58 wildfires are actively burning across the province which have sparked evacuations in five communities.

Currently crews are working to contain at least five out-of-control fires that the province says are large and pose a threat to residential areas. Sarah Reid, CBC News, Edmonton. In northwestern Ontario, wildfires are forcing members of two First Nations to the Greater Toronto area. At least 50 fires are burning in that region. As Michelle Song tells us, community members wonder when they'll be able to return home. At an airport in Thunder Bay, Ontario, community members from North Spirit

Lake First Nation released a sigh of relief escaping the wildfires burning in their region. But they still anxiously await next steps as some will be heading to the Greater Toronto area. Homer Mikus is a councillor in the community. He is one of more than 200 members set to evacuate. It's the people will be safe and somewhat better atmosphere. More than 50 fires are burning across northwestern Ontario and some still not under control. Mikus and his family are waiting for details on where they will find refuge. It's always difficult when they travel from home. Being in the, like, staying in a hotel with family members. It's always difficult and it's going to be crowded and stuff.

We wanted everybody out of there. Philip Campbell is the head counselor of North Spirit Lake. He worries about those left behind still waiting for flights to leave the community. It's like windy from there. The fire will go to North Spirit pretty fast, and that's dangerous, I think so. And just south of North Spirit, Pekangikum First Nation is also evacuating more than 2,000 people,

says Ontario Provincial Police. It is one of the largest remote First Nations in the region and currently under an air quality warning. Those evacuees are also set to land in the GTA this weekend. Ben Curtis is with the OPP. Now they are compiling lists in collaboration with our provincial liaison team that's on ground and that's really to focus on the level one and level two evacuations which is currently being recommended.

Curtis says those lists will focus on the most vulnerable like people who may be immobile or have specific medical needs. And just last week, evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation, also in northwestern Ontario, started heading back home after wildfires ravaged their community last month. Destiny Ray was one of those evacuees. She spoke to CBC News in June. I remember thinking, I hope when I come back, I want everything to be where it is. A hope members of North Spirit Lake and Pekinjeukum First Nations now also share as they still

wait to learn when they can return home. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. If you use the internet, chances are you're using Gmail to check your messages, writing memos on Google Docs and browsing the web with Google Chrome. Google has been so successful, its name is almost synonymous with the internet itself. But a new challenger is coming for the king. The Reuters news agency reported this week that OpenAI, the maker of chat GPT, will soon release its own AI-powered web browser in a bid to take on Google's market dominance. For his thoughts on the changing shape of the business of the internet,

we're joined by tech analyst, Karmie Levy. So Karmie, why would OpenAI want to get into the web browser business? It all comes down to one word, Aaron, and that is control. Whoever controls the online or digital experience for the end user ultimately stands to make the most money. And so when you're browsing, data is collected from that activity. And right now, OpenAI, their primary product, ChatGPT, is really little more than a website. It's an app. And so when you're using OpenAI in someone else's browser, it could be Google Chrome, it could be Apple Safari, it could be Microsoft Edge. It's those companies that are collecting all of the data and controlling that data,

using that data to serve up ads and collect revenue from that. OpenAI doesn't make a penny from that. And so if OpenAI gets everyone else to use its browser, it makes the rules and ultimately it controls the revenue that comes in from that. Okay, well something like two-thirds of all internet users use Google Chrome. Could an open AI browser actually be a Google killer? I mean, right now, it's kind of hard to see that because you know, Chrome's got like you said, two thirds market share, 3 billion people use it. The next closest browser Safari barely has 16% market share. So it's clear that Chrome is the 800 pound gorilla in the browser space. And so, you know, it's right now it feels laughable. But here's the thing with technology, everything has its time, generations have limits on them. And eventually, technology evolves and what is dominant today will not be tomorrow. So I think it's safe to say that

after 17 years, Google Chrome's time is probably almost up. And as new technologies, particularly those driven by artificial intelligence, change the way, reshape that we use the digital space, I think it's reasonable to say that Google Chrome carries a lot of baggage and may not be as agile as they need to be in order to create some kind of revolutionary new experiences online. Enter OpenAI, they don't have that legacy. They're probably in a bit better position to create something that leapfrogs Chrome and gives us a new way to experience the internet. Now, according to sources, as the name suggests, this is an AI-powered browser.

We don't know the specifics yet, but how might this be different from how people are used to using the web? If you look at the way we browse today, it's an incredibly manual process. And so you either click on a link or you type in an address and then you visit a website. Whereas OpenAI, OpenAI is not a browser company, they're an AI company and they're pushing an agenda where AI now is what they call agentic. It does things for you. You will have an AI agent that instead of you manually crawling the Internet looking for different sites and piecing things together,

it will actually go off and do all that work automatically for you. So a browser that incorporates that kind of technology, that kind of thinking, will be a very different user experience than what we're used to. But if users are no longer clicking on links that means they aren't also being served ads. So what could that mean for the future of the digital economy? Well this is why Google when chat GPT was released in late 2022 essentially slammed on the brakes. They called it a code red, stopped work on every project they had in progress.

Google's very future is directly threatened by the rise of AI because the business that it is in, which is essentially search, and then serving up ads against search and making money off of that, that entire model goes away in a world where AI creates the answer for you. Google, it's a $300 billion advertising business that it is at risk of losing if it doesn't pivot properly.

So in other words, the ad-based internet is ending. The AI-based internet is starting. Let's remember when the web first came along, uh, you know, Google's business model was nowhere to be seen in one generation. Look what they've created. I think we're at the beginning of another one, uh, and it's a chapter that is still yet to be written.

Fascinating. All right, Carmi Levy. Thank you. Appreciate being here. Thanks, Aaron. In the occupied West Bank, dozens of Palestinian men carry the body of a man found dead beneath a tree. Israeli settlers killed two Palestinian men Friday night north of Ramallah. One of them, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was beaten to death. The second, a 23-year-old, was shot in the chest.

The Israeli military says it is investigating the incident. 30 years ago, Bosnian Serb forces systematically murdered around 8,000 people. The victims were mostly Bosniak Muslim men and boys. The Srebrenica massacre, as it came to be known, was Europe's largest mass killing since the Holocaust. As Guy Delaunay reports from Srebrenica, the horrors of the past are still causing tensions today. It's a solemn moment here at Potachari Cemetery.

The funerals of seven victims of the genocide at Srebrenica are being held. Their remains have only been identified over the past year and that means their families can finally lay them to rest. Many other Srebrenica residents recognise that feeling. It has deep meaning to me and my family and all the survivors. Mirela Osmanovic was born two years after the Srebrenica massacre. Both her older brothers were murdered, and it was years before their bodies were identified and buried.

Now she lives in Srebrenica and works at the memorial centre, but she worries that reconciliation seems as far away as ever. If I feel the consequences of something that began and ended before I was born, that means something is not going the right way. that means something is not going the right way. The commemorations at Srebrenica are largely a Bosniak affair because the divisions in the country remain as deep as ever. The Dayton peace agreement which ended the war split Bosnia in two. There's the majority Serb Republic of Sarpska

and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is mostly home to Bosniaks and Croats, and ethno-nationalist politicians rarely miss a chance to wind up tensions. In this country, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs were all killed, and there were crimes committed on all three sides. Stasa Košarac is a government minister and a leading member of the Bosnian Serb SNSD party.

Bosniaks insist on only talking about Bosniak victims. The crime was committed in Srebrenica. No Serbs deny that. But we have a right to point out the crimes committed against Serbs in and around Srebrenica. They may not deny there's been a crime, but many Bosnian Serb leaders deny that crime was genocide. That's despite multiple verdicts at the International Tribunal in The Hague. Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic and political leader Rada Van Karadžić are both serving life sentences for orchestrating genocide at Srebrenica. It's really difficult to understand. Denial is baffling for the man who prosecuted them,

Serge Bramertz. Is it because people have no real economic or societal project in the region and are trying to continue winning elections by speaking more about the differences to others than about what they have in common with other communities. Now, 30 years on, many wonder what hope there is for reconciliation in Bosnia. Velma Šarić founded the Post-Conflict Research Center. She trains young people to cut through ethno-nationalist rhetoric and she says they're the best chance the country has got to move beyond the scars of the past. I do believe that in Republica Srpskawe we will see opposition coming and opposition being like more brave to step out from these nationalistic ideas. That's all we needed as Bosnian Serb

leaders continue to push secessionist laws. That's not the reminder of the 1990s that people in Srebrenica want or need. Guy Delaunay, CBC News, Srebrenica. Around the world, the tourism industry has largely rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic, but not in Hong Kong. Rebecca Bundon explains why Western travellers are staying away. And now, buy one get one free.

Taos at the waterfront are desperately trying to sell yacht trips to take in Hong Kong's iconic Victoria Harbour skyline. But these days, they have fewer Western tourists to target. Souvenir shop owner Kevin Lim nearby has also noticed the decline. China and Hong Kong, the situation, actually it's obvious because of China. He believes Beijing's tightening grip is putting off some North American and European tourists from travelling to Hong Kong. Following massive anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, China introduced a controversial

national security law. This criminalised a wider range of dissenting acts and reduced the city's autonomy. It was enough to make Canadians Lindsay Merry and Calvin C from Vancouver hesitant about travelling to the city, although they still made the trip. I think it's definitely been front of mind when we were first thinking of coming to Hong Kong. Her partner Calvin was born in Hong Kong. Just knowing the kind of political situation between Hong Kong and China and kind of what

appears to be China kind of overstepping, I'm kind of nervous about that kind of overreach. Countries including Canada and the US have issued advisories warning travellers of the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws. Official data shows that in 2018 almost 400,000 Canadians visited Hong Kong, while last year there were some 320,000 visitors from Canada. There were about 884,000 tourists from the US last year, compared to more than 1.3 million in 2018. Hong Kong reopened after the pandemic with a pretty unique set of circumstances. It had entered COVID under something of a cloud.

2019 had those long street protests, violent street protests, which really impacted international demand for travel. Gary Bowerman heads a travel and tourism consulting firm called Chek in Asia. He says that things seem to be picking up a bit this year, but Hong Kong now faces a lot more competition. Hong Kong really stood out in the 2000s as presenting itself as Asia's world city, but cities and destinations around Asia Pacific have changed. They've internationalised at a rate probably much faster than Hong Kong,

so they have very, very similar international cachet now. Compounding the issue, China's economic situation means that visitors from the mainland are spending less in Hong Kong. The city's tourism authorities are trying to attract more people from South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East to make up for the losses. But against the current political backdrop, it's proving hard for the city to restore

the charm it once had. Rebecca Bundon for CBC News, Hong Kong. Before we leave you tonight... Fans of Electric Light Orchestra may be feeling a bit down today. The final show of the British band's farewell over and out tour set for tomorrow in London's Hyde Park has been cancelled. A spokesperson says frontman Jeff Lynn is suffering from a systemic infection. If we have seen the last of Lynn performing live, it would be the end of a remarkable run.

Founded way back in 1970, ELO had 27 top 40 hits in the UK, 15 top 20 hits in the US over the years. Don't bring me down, Mr. Blue Sky, Evil Woman, still fixtures on some radio stations today. Now that's some strange magic. And that is this edition of Your World Tonight. I'm Aaron Saltzman. Thanks for listening. Strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, strange magic, For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.