Your World Tonight - Artemis II launch day, fog of war in Mideast, wildfire season begins, and more

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

Jeremy Hansen is set to be the first Canadian to leave the Earth’s orbit. He’s on Artemis II, which is readying for a mission to circle the moon. The journey will take ten days.Also: Trump says there is a ceasefire around the corner, Tehran says there isn’t. The war against Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel is in its fifth week, and there’s no way to know when – or how – it will end.And: There may be snow in some parts of Canada, but wildfire season has already started. High risk communities are on alert across the country and early preparations have begun for what could be a bad fire season.Plus: HIV drug access, social media access for kids, cherry blossoms, and more.

This week on two blocks from the White House. We're talking about our recent travels and what we've learned from them. I just got back from the Middle East after covering the Iran War. And I took what felt like the shortest trip to France ever, accompanying Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting on Friday. And I'm in Florida this week for the Artemis II Space Lunch. Join me, Katie Simpson and my fellow Washington correspondents, Paul Hunter and Willie Lowry every week on two blocks from the White House.

This is a CBC podcast. Canada, I am thinking of you. I am hoping that all of you see your greatness reflected in this journey around the moon. It is a moon shot for a new generation, launching into lunar orbit, four astronauts who weren't even born the last time humans landed on the moon. With a Canadian on board and the world watching, Artemis 2 is ready for liftoff. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Skandaris.

It's Wednesday, April 1st, coming up on 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. We're finishing the job, and I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer, but we want to knock out every single thing they have. Now, it's possible that we'll make a deal before that. From the cutting edge of exploration to a conflict that could be reaching a tipping point, the U.S. president is holding a prime time address about the war with Iran, and the countdown is only. for Donald Trump's next move.

In just over an hour, we will know for sure if all systems are really a go. Canada's Jeremy Hanson and his Artemis crewmates are going through the final preparations before blast off. The mission to the moon's orbit is a major step toward the goal of getting humans back to its surface. Paul Hunter is in Florida. He has our top story. All smiles waving as they walked filled with a deep sense of history, the four astronauts, three Americans and Canada's Jeremy Hansen, made their way to the rocket that will now take them to the moon and back. It's 12.30 a.m. It's the day of launch, so it's time to go to bed.

Before that walkout, and before he went to bed very early this morning, Jeremy Hansen posted this on Instagram. By Canada, I am thinking of you, and I am hoping that all of you see your greatness, reflected in this journey around the moon, I'm just so proud of all of you. If the weather holds, if there are no technical hiccups, if the countdown clock ticks down to zero, Hansen and the others will begin their journey. Ten days in a million-kilometer slingshot around the moon and home.

Hansen will be the first Canadian ever to leave Earth's orbit. One of those who will be with him is U.S. astronaut Christina Cook. She frames the mission this way. And it is our strong hope that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination. This is also the first time humans have ever flown on this type of rocket. And it's a test flight, to be blunt, on whether the trip itself is survivable. Think of it. Together, they'll go farther from Earth than anyone has ever been. Later, Artemis missions will put astronauts on the surface of the moon and build a permanent moon base.

the eventual target is getting humans to Mars. But for now, this mission ticks ever closer. I would say a lot of Canadian pride going on right now. Alberta's Josh Kutrick, like Hansen, a longtime astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency, is himself in line for a stint aboard the International Space Station, and he's here at the Kennedy Space Center to support his friend, Hansen. He told us, as Hansen made his way into the rocket this afternoon,

consider this. If you go and you stand on that gangplank on the way into the rocket, it's 100 meters in the air, and below you, you see the entire coast of Florida, but you also see the most powerful human transportation system that has ever existed. And you have to think about what that feels like to climb in, put all the seatbelts on, and then have everybody else leave until it's just the four of you that crew atop this amazing machine. Of course there'll be some nerves.

Nerves, national pride, extreme anticipation and excitement. That countdown clock now on the approach to lift off, and so too, Jeremy Hanson. Paul Hunter, CBC News, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. U.S. President Donald Trump is delivering a primetime address tonight on the war in the Middle East. It's been another day of contradictory statements from Washington and Iran, with Trump once again chastising his allies and threatened. threatening to pull the U.S. out of NATO. And as Sasha Petrissik tells us, the war isn't slowing down.

Seemingly hardline signals from Iran today. Video of kamikaze drones released by Iranian State TV, showing them taking off from Iran and targeting U.S. bases in the Mideast, said Iran. Also on state TV, an elaborate funeral procession for Revolutionary Guards. and defiant interviews with Iranians. Insisting there can be no sign of negotiation or weakness. That was echoed by Iran's foreign minister Abbas Arachchi. We don't accept deadlines and we don't trust negotiating with the Americans, he said.

As usual this week, U.S. President Donald Trump had a different. version of the Iranian position, telling several news outlets and posting online that Iran was asking for a ceasefire. Only if the key straight of Hormuz is reopened to oil tankers, he replied. Trump has previously hinted at a timetable for an end to the war. I would say that within two weeks, maybe, two weeks, maybe three. A vague sign that it's almost over. He also had a message for NATO men. saying he was absolutely considering pulling the U.S. out of the military alliance because they hadn't been friends when the U.S. needed them to force open the strait, he said.

French deputy defense minister Alice Rufo said NATO's not meant to operate in the Strait of Hormuz on a mission which would violate international law. But the spotlight is on Trump's words. tonight. He says the war could wrap up since the U.S. achieved goals like regime change, even though Trump says the U.S. is negotiating with the same president Iran had at the start, Massoud Peschekian. In his own letter to the American people, Pazashkian says his country bears no enmity toward ordinary Americans and that portraying Iran as a threat is not consistent with reality. Sasha Petrosic, CBC News, Jerusalem. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is headed to the UK.

She will join multi-nation talks on finding diplomatic options to reopen the Strait of Hormuz trade corridor. The meeting was called by the UK government today. Anand says Canada will not hesitate to help secure the strait, but only if there is a ceasefire. The liberal government has not yet decided on specific measures. Jews around the world are celebrating Passover tonight and into next week. But a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Canada has many here scared. As Michelle Song tells us, police in some cities are stepping up security measures at synagogues and other Jewish community hubs to help people feel safer.

More prevention, more enforcement. Adam Samoji lives near a Toronto synagogue where there was a shooting, one of three synagogues attacked across the group. greater Toronto area last month. He says he still doesn't feel safe. Well, my children, every time we drop them off, you know, regular people see glass windows. They don't get scared. We put her in front of a glass window. We get scared. But he's not the only one in the Jewish community who's scared, especially now amid Passover celebrations, several police forces are trying to address those concerns. In York region, just north of Toronto, police are in places where the community congregates.

James Dixon is a media officer with the force. It's about getting our officers out with the community to make sure that they know they're there. Dixon says since the October 7th attacks in Israel by Hamas in 2023, tackling anti-Semitism has been a priority. According to Statistics Canada's last report, 70% of police reported hate crimes targeting religion were against Jewish Canadians. Our holidays are now marked with an asterisk concerns over security. Richard Roberts,

is with B'nai Brith, Canada. He says although he's grateful for the work of police forces, heightened security doesn't address the root issue. These are band-aid fixes to a problem. These are responses to the elevated threat against our community. As a society, we need to get at the root causes of the hate and fight the hate. The federal government committed an additional $10 million for schools, daycares, camps, and synagogues to help bolster security after the recent wave of hate-motivated violence.

think the heightened security will bring even more individuals back to the synagogue. Winnipeg Rabbi Carney Shalom Rose says he's received support from both the federal and provincial government after his synagogue was vandalized with hate speech. But he says there was a silver lining to come out of that experience, where Canadians from all walks of life came out in support. Everybody stopped by, sent us notes. They sent donations to help us pay for. for the defacing, to removal of the defacing, the spray paint that was used.

It was just an amazing outcry of support, love, concern. Rabbi Rose hopes that this holiday celebrating freedom and family will also inspire a sense of commonality, bringing all people together. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. Coming right up, planning for wildfire season. In parts of North America, fires are already burning, and Canadian communities are focused on protecting themselves. Also, more calls for Canada to follow Australia's lead

and ban kids from social media. And in British Columbia, how social media users looking for likes are hurting a springtime attraction. I'm Caroline Bargut in Vancouver. Every spring, thousands of people flock to parks around British Columbia to take in the cherry blossom trees. Among them, those vying to take the perfect picture to post on social media. start shaking tree branches or pulling them down.

That is causing harm to the trees and experts wanted to stop. That story later on Your World Tonight. There may still be snow on the ground in some parts of Canada, but wildfire season has already started. From now until September, higher risk communities will be on alert across the country. Erin Collins has more on the outlook and the early preparations. Firefighters scramble up a hill near Fort Carson

Colorado. Summer weather has come early, bringing with it tinder dry conditions perfect for wildfires. This looks like June, so it's really scary. A historic lack of snow has left much of the Western U.S. parched. And just like in the U.S., conditions are already dry and warm in B.C.'s interior this spring. To me, it's a litmus test. Over 8% of our forest has burned in the last three years. Mike Flanagan is with the Institute for Wildfire Science at Thompson, River. University in Kamloops. Flanagan says 2023 was the worst wildfire season on record in Canada, but he says the last three seasons have all been bad, a potentially troubling trend. If 2026 is another active year, my narrative's going to change and say expect fires almost every year.

A potential new normal right across Canada. That reality top of mind in Newfoundland too. This forum focused on wildfire preparedness. We've done a big investment in our fire department. Darren Bent is the mayor of Conception Bay, his community hit hard by wildfires last year. We're not immune to wildfires. They are here and they could be back again. We can't predict from one year to the next. Alberta knows that reality all too well, but record snowfall in many areas could help mitigate the risk this year.

This is just the kind of conditions we like to see for the beginning of wildfire season. Still with the 10th anniversary of the Fort McMurray Fire a month away, Alberta wildfires Christy Tucker says crews are preparing for a busy season. Planning to fight fires from the air on the ground and even at night. New ways of fighting fire for us here in Alberta, and that includes our successful night vision helicopter program. The federal government is preparing for that reality too, investing hundreds of millions of dollars to help provinces buy more water bombers

and revamping the country's wildland fire information system. Still, back in Kamloops, Mike Flanagan would like to see Ottawa do more. We need a federal emergency management agency to handle floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes. Flanagan says that push for a federal agency is more pressing as climate change ramps up the impact of those natural disasters. Erin Collins, CBC News, Calgary. Ottawa says gun owners in Canada have declared more than 67,000 assault-style firearms. Yesterday was the deadline for people to declare ban firearms and get compensation.

The government set aside enough money for 136,000 guns to be collected and destroyed. Provinces and police forces have pushed back against the ban and the compensation program. Many police services have refused to collect them, and several provinces said they wouldn't cooperate at all. Momentum is growing for the federal government to consider a social media ban for kids. Recent Canadian polling shows support for the idea, which was pioneered by Australia. But as Deanna Sumanak Johnson reports, some are warning, a ban is too simple a solution for a complex problem. It is time for us to have a conversation about social media, in particular social media use in our youth.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe weighing in on a debate that grows ever louder in Canada. Moe says he wants to survey the opinions of Saskatchewanites about what they would like to see. And I'll write ban for students and kids 16 years and under, or should there be a parental consent portion? Among 4,05 Canadians surveyed by Angus Reid in March, 75% said they support or strongly support a full board. ban on social media use by kids under 16. British Columbia's Attorney General Nikki Sharma was in Ottawa last week advocating for age restrictions or other legislative measures. We want to prevent the

harm. You want to stop it from happening. A kid that's committed suicide, a kid that's addicted, a kid that's a lifelong thing, right, for the families and for the person that's suffering. As Canada's weighing its options, other countries' experiences are mixed. In Australia, the first country in the world to ban under 16s from social media, the government online safety watchdog has observed too many kids are slipping through the cracks in the ban. Social media platforms are choosing to do the absolute bare minimum because they want these laws to fail. Matt Hatfield from Canadian Digital Rights Organization, open media, says people in this country should be paying attention. It isn't as simple as people think it is. It isn't necessarily as impactful as people

hope it will be, as Australia is finding. And there's better ways of getting at these problems. Andrea Cresanto, a Toronto parent who is with advocacy group Children First Canada, agrees. She'd want to see a wholesale strategy from Canada's government that demands mitigation of harm from social media companies while also helping families and kids. We all agreed that social media is an addiction, right? And what we're saying is, hey, kids, we need you to leave those sites

go cold turkey, and everything is going to be fine. When has that ever worked out in the history of humans? But the international momentum for bans is growing. Francis Senate just approved the under 15 ban on social media. The lawmakers are still debating the details, including how to implement it. Deanna Suminac Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. Two more charges have been dropped from the Frank Stronach sexual assault trial. The judge says she could not convict the Canadian business.

businessman on charges of rape and indecent assault connected to one complainant. She says the evidence from that complainant is unreliable and fatally flawed. There are still five charges linked to three women. Closing submissions are underway. There is a showdown tonight over a new HIV shot billed as a breakthrough to prevent the virus. A global charity is trying to buy doses and claiming the drug maker is limiting supply on purpose. CBC health reporter Christine Birak digs into what's happening. On a tall patch of grass in Kenya, workers with MSF or Doctors Without Borders

set up a tent to see vulnerable patients. So in Mombasa, we have a lot of young populations that are excluded from health care. More than half the world's HIV cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. Now Doctors Without Borders says an American drug maker is putting profits over people by restricting the sale of a breakthrough HIV prevention drug. They're producing Lennacapavir, which is almost 100% effective in preventing HIV with two injections required per year. Dr. Tom Elman leads Doctors Without Borders in Southern Africa.

We want them to sell it to us, and they have refused. He says the news of Stephen Lewis's death hit close to home. Lewis helped awaken the world and generations of Canadians to the devastating HIV-AIDS crisis in Africa. I have no doubt at all that he would be fighting just as he always did against the policies that are currently denying access to the most vulnerable. The aid group currently relies on a limited supply of the HIV prevention drug through the Global Fund, an international organization that collects money from governments and donors to fight HIV AIDS and other diseases. It has enough doses to treat 2 million people over three years in low and middle income countries. In a statement to CBC, the drug company, Gilead Sciences, says,

it's committed to sustainable access to Lena Capavere in high incidence resource limited countries. While some experts argue more doses are needed, they don't think Doctors Without Borders should be buying them. The cheapest way, the most impactful way, is through the Global Fund. Dr. Provet-Jaw is the founding director of the Center for Global Health Research at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. He says Doctors Without Borders should go through the global fund to get the drug. They have mechanisms for delivering other drugs. So why invent a new business? pipeline. Dr. Joanne Liu disagrees. She teaches at the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University. Although the global funds are having access to medicine, they cannot go everywhere.

Dr. Liu says Doctors Without Borders is working on the front lines of crises and in conflict zones with deeply marginalized people. She says she's also reflecting on the passing of Stephen Lewis, her mentor on HIV AIDS. I think that Stephen would just say, do the extra mile, do as much as you can. Lena Capavir has not been approved in Canada yet. The U.S. list price is $28,000. But Gilead says a $40 generic version will be rolled out in 2027. Doctors Without Borders says it's not asking Gilead for charity. It's willing to pay a reasonable price for the drug to save lives.

Christine Burak, CBC News, Toronto. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today about ending birthright citizenship. That guarantees that nearly. every child born on U.S. soil automatically becomes a citizen. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that attempts to end that guarantee. In court, Solicitor General John Sauer argued citizenship should be withheld if a parent's primary allegiance is not to the U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts suggested the argument is too broad. You know, children of ambassadors, children of enemies during a hostile invasion, and then you expand it

to the whole class of illegal aliens are here in the country. I'm not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and sort of idiosyncratic examples. Trump took the unusual step of attending this morning, becoming the first sitting president to attend a Supreme Court oral argument. He later took to social media to say the U.S. is stupid to grant birthright citizenship. The court's decision is expected by the end of June. Police in Wuhan, China, say a system failure caused multiple robotaxies to stop trapping riders inside.

Videos posted on social media show the taxis stranded in the middle of roads with hazard lights flashing. Some blocked traffic lanes and other vehicles were forced to navigate around them. It's not clear what specifically caused the outage. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you never miss one of our episodes, Follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. Some British Columbians are blooming mad right now over their beloved cherry blossoms.

The pretty flowers are so quick to open up, then wither away, thousands of people are flooding into parks to catch a glimpse. But as Caroline Bargut tells us, too many visitors are doing more than just looking. Amid the crowds of people flocking to see the cherry blossoms in British Columbia is Nidia Binos, who was not pleased to see broken branches and flower blooms on the ground. People have to be respectful of nature, so everybody enjoys it. All over social media, people are posing with cherry blossom trees, sometimes with blooms in their hair.

Other times, they've shaken a tree to make it look like it's snowing. Andrea Arnaut is the organizer of Vancouver's Cherry Blossom Festival, which draws upwards of 60,000 people. I think the popularity of cherry blossom season has grown so much over the last five years that people really want, you know, those photos because it's so beautiful and it's so short term. She says every 20 minutes or so, she finds herself telling people not to touch the blooms. Mostly we see people just having fun and taking fun photos, but there are some people who want to get that amazing Instagram shot

and they start shaking tree branches or pulling them down. and we want to really discourage that. It's become such a problem. The city of Richmond has put up signs asking revelers not to harm the trees. Egan Davis is the manager of parks operations. Of course, when you see something beautiful like these cherry trees, the instinct is to want to touch the flowers and pull them down to get a close camera shot,

but the wood is brittle and they break really easily. Cherry blossom season only lasts a few weeks. That has led scores of people to rush to parks to take photos before they're gone. The heavy traffic puts a tremendous amount of pressure on tree roots, says Douglas Justice, the associate director of the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden. You know, it can only take so much. And so this is going to shorten the life of the trees just because of that added stress. Now, if you add to that, people pulling on the branches,

if people are breaking branches, that can be a serious issue, particularly in a rainy time. He says broken tree branches provide an opening for fungal and bacteria. material diseases where they otherwise would not be able to penetrate. I think maybe it's the excitement that they just want to take a photo or video. Charlene Mercy brought her boyfriend to see the trees for the first time. If we want to keep them being beautiful every year, it's important to take care of it. Experts say people don't realize their actions are harming the trees.

But with a little education, they hope that'll change. Caroline Bargut, CBC News, Vancouver. We close tonight with another entry in what's becoming. a cringe cultural category of its own. Festivals build as glitzy gatherings that wind up going embarrassingly bad. The Fire Festival, the Willy Wonka experience, and now, and this is no April Fool's joke,

the Barbie Dream Fest. I just got Fire Festivaled by Mattel. I had to take time off of work. I had to spend over $1,000 just to come to this. And it was just so disappointing. Jana Likari attended what was branded the Ultimate Barbie Fan event this week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With some VIP passes costing more than $600, fans were led to believe they could step inside a life-sized Barbie dream house. Turn out to be a 2D cardboard cutout.

The 80s-themed neon roller disco, a small skating area walled off with metal barricades. Special swag bags included with the more expensive passes, nothing but a plastic pouch with a bottle of hand sanitizer. And it all happened on the gray concrete floors of a sparsely decorated convention center. The space was huge and it was just so much emptiness. What? What? Bad reviews are all over social media.

Hardcore Barbie fans looking for a magical experience. But instead of singing, I'm just can, they just can't. Barbie Dream Fest. More like Barbie Nightmare Fast. What is this? That's... Oh, okay. Some of the promises did pan out.

There were panel discussions with Barbie designers and celebrities, including Serena Williams. A third-party company organized the event, but it was backed and licensed by Mattel. The Barbie maker is apologizing to fans and offering full refunds to all ticket holders. This has been your world tonight for Wednesday, April 1st. I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thank you for being with us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca.com.