Your World Tonight - Artemis mission update, U.S. searches for fighter jet crew member in Iran, Family of a missing woman asks RCMP to reopen the case, and more

Episode Date: April 4, 2026

The crew of Artemis two is on their fourth full day in space, and are now closer to the moon than Earth. Canadian Jeremy Hansen and his three American colleagues are the first humans to leave Earth's orbit since 1972. You'll hear about the astronauts progress, and how they are getting along.Also: The U.S. military is racing to find a missing crew member who ejected from a fighter jet shot down over Iran. The pilot was rescued Friday. But as U.S. forces continue the risky search and rescue operation for the other airman, Iranian forces are also on the hunt. The downing of the F-15 E fighter jet highlights Iran's continued ability to retaliate, even after enduring weeks of relentless airstrikes by the U-S and Israel.And: On the western coast of Hudson Bay, an unsolved mystery looms over the hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut, a fly-in community of just over 3-thousand people. The family of a 20 year old woman, who went missing in 2024, wants the RCMP to reopen its investigation. They say there are suspicious events surrounding her disappearancePlus: Canada's finance minister wraps up a trade mission to China, How the war in Iran is creating a helium shortage, and more.

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Visit XYZ Storage.ca or your nearest location today. This is a CBC podcast. This crew is very close and it's been tough to make fun of him because he goes. got up here, and even though he's Canadian and a first-time flyer, he's making it look easy. A Canadian and three Americans aboard the Orion spacecraft, keeping things light as they attempt to travel farther in space than anyone has before. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Kimberly Gale.

Also on the podcast, the U.S. president threatens to rain hell on Iran in 48 hours. Meanwhile, the search for a missing U.S. service member inside Iran is in its second. Day. And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, most of the women who are being violated are civilians. The UN says both rebel and government forces are using sexual violence as a weapon of war. The crew of Artemis II is on their fourth day in space and is now closer to the moon than the Earth. Canadian Jeremy Hansen and his three American colleagues are the first astronauts to leave Earth's orbit since 1972. Philip Lee Schenuck has more. Day four aboard integrity started off with some wake-up music,

Chapel Rowan's Pink Pony Club. We were all eagerly awaiting the chorus. We'll try again next time. Good morning. High on the list of tasks for the Artemis 2 crew troubleshooting an ongoing issue with the Orion capsules' toilet, unable to empty into space. Instead of doing a small correction burn, mission control, asked the crew to rotate the capsule slightly.

That will put the sun onto that wastewater vent line. And we're hoping that if the problem is the freezing of the vent lines, why we couldn't do the wastewater dump last night. Last night, the Canadian Space Agency hosted a live Q&A with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. We have all these simulations, but it felt so different for us. He said despite training for years, he wasn't expecting the final approach around Earth, before heading to the moon. We were out there at 60,000 kilometers.

We came back to within 200 kilometers of the planet, and it just felt like we were falling out of the sky back to Earth. Integrity's pilot, Victor Glover, says the small team has bonded, which is critical in such tight quarters. It's been tough to make fun of him because he got up here, and even though he's Canadian and a first-time flyer, he's making it look easy. He represents all of us.

Canada's first female astronaut Roberta Bonder, who flew aboard the spatial discovery in 1992, says Hanson's mission around the moon will pave the way for an eventual return to humans to the moon. They're going now into deep space, which means there are subject to galactic radiation. They're subject to any solar flare that might happen. Artemis 3 in 27 will be an unmanned test of a new lunar lander, which hasn't been built yet, and Artemis 4 will lay the next steps for a sustained human presence on the moon by 2028. But NASA isn't alone. Dean Chang of the Potomac Institute is an expert on China's space program.

They've had a goal for a number of years now to land their astronauts on the surface of the moon to build out a lunar base. It's driving another space race. So much is riding on this mission. Artemis 2 will loop around the far side of the moon on Monday. They'll be completely cut off from Earth, losing communication. for about an hour before heading back for a splashdown on April 10th. Philip Lishanak, Cibisi News, Toronto.

The U.S. military is racing to find a missing crew member who ejected from a fighter jet shot down over Iran. The pilot was rescued Friday. But as U.S. forces continue the risky search and rescue operation for the other airman, Iranian forces are also on the hunt. The downing of the F-15E fighter jet highlights Iran's continued ability. to retaliate, even after enduring weeks of relentless airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel. Chris Reyes joins me from New York with more. Chris, what do we know about this search and rescue effort?

Well, in short, we know very little, other than reports that one pilot has been rescued and another crew member's location is still unknown. There's a lot of mystery surrounding this incident because we've heard nothing official from the White House or U.S. Central Command. Iranian state media did claim on Friday that Iranian forces shot down a jet over its southern region. One thing Iran is not saying is that this crew member has been captured. A former Navy SEAL, Robert Harwood, says that offers some hope. He's got communications on him.

He's got signaling devices. He's even got the means to communicate with people who pick him up and offer them a reward if they return him to our side. But I'm encouraged by the fact that he's been on the ground 24 hours already. And again, Kimberly, not confirmed that this service member has not been captured, only that Iran is not saying anything about it. President Trump hasn't said anything about this missing service member yet either. But on social media, he is making renewed threats against Iran. Tell us more about his latest ultimatum. So this is what he wrote.

He said, remember when I gave Iran 10. days to make a deal or open up the Hormuz straight. Time is running out. Forty-eight hours before, and this is where the language gets concerning, all hell will rain down on them. Glory be to God. Let's note that that deadline would come on Monday and that 10-day timeline was last given at the end of March. And that's when Trump threatened that the U.S. would attack Iran's energy infrastructure if no deal was made. Staying on the Strait of Hormuz, the UN Security Council will vote next week on a resolution aimed at protecting shipping in the strait. What impact could that have?

That's right. So this resolution introduced by Bahrain calls for the UN Security Council to sign off on the use of force to secure the Strait of Hormuz. So if this passes, member states of the Security Council would be legally obligated to support such a mission. But as it's been said before, securing the strait is extremely challenging. But one former NATO Supreme Allied commander, Admiral James Severidis, said that maybe it's time to think about what an international coalition to support the strait would look like. We should start by thinking about the Strait of Hormuz ultimately as an international asset. And perhaps what we need eventually is a Strait of Hormuz authority. like we have a Panama Canal Authority or a Suez Canal Authority.

This resolution, Kimberly, faces a lot of roadblocks ahead of its scheduled vote next week. Russia, China and France, who all have veto powers, said they disagreed with authorizing military action to secure the strait. So if it does include that language, very likely they will use that veto. All right. Thanks for this, Chris. Thank you. That's Chris Reyes reporting from New York. U.S. federal agents have arrested relatives of the slain Iranian military commander Kassam Soleimani. The State Department says it has terminated the permanent resident status of his niece because of her vocal support for the Iranian regime.

Her daughter was also stripped of legal status. Both are now in the custody of ICE and facing deportation. U.S. forces assassinated Soleimani in 2020. Oil and natural gas aren't the only vital resources trapped by the war. in the Middle East, Qatar produces about one-third of the world's helium. As Peter Cowan reports, researchers in this country are warning shortages could have devastating effects. At McMaster University, researchers are using nuclear magnetic resonance scanners to find new treatments for cancer, safer battery chemistry, and better understand Alzheimer's.

These big scanners need to be topped up with helium every few weeks. Bob Berno runs the facility. He's starting to get less helium than he ordered. They told us that we are now on allocation of 50%, meaning if I need 250 liters of helium, they will only deliver 125 liters. And there is a significant price increase as well. It's all because of the war in the Middle East. Qatar produces a third of the world's helium and Iranian drone attacks have knocked out production.

It also has to travel through the now dangerous strait of Hormuz. It's got a lot of applications. The one that most people know about is part. balloons, but that's really maybe 10% of the market. Phil Corn Bluth is an American helium consultant. He says computer chip manufacturers and MRI scanners are the biggest users. Those scanners need helium to keep the magnets cool, but can go a long time between Phillips.

The university scanners cannot. If the helium gets too low, it can permanently damage the machine. That's something David Davidson at the University of Manitoba worries about. Helium is a critical mineral. There is no substitute that we can use in these instruments to keep the magnetic. So without a continuous supply of helium, we can't do the research or maintain the instruments that we need here. The university is installing a helium recovery system. It's expensive, but it will let them recover 80% of the helium and keep their instruments running even through a shortage.

I'm very happy that we're at the finishing stages with this project, and I would be just a little bit happier if we had it started last month instead of next month. The shipment of helium has arrived on time at Toronto's Princess Margaret Cancer Research Center. If it gets worse, then we will all be in trouble. Jean-Viev Seabrook runs the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility. She's also part of the Canadian helium users group. It lobbies for a more reliable supply. Canada produces helium, but it must be sent to the U.S. to be liquefied.

Seabrook says Canada needs that capability on this side of the border. We would not be depending on other country. We would be self-sufficient. We would be completely independent of crisis such as COVID or the world. war that are happening in the world. Canadian helium producers say the volume hasn't justified the investment, which leaves helium users hoping they'll get the supply they need to keep their research going. Peter Cowan, CBC News, St. John's.

Still ahead. The family of a Nunavut woman missing for over a year is taking the search into their own hands. They say the RCMP didn't take her disappearance seriously. That story's coming up on Your World Tonight. Canada's finance minister has wrapped his trade mission to China. Francois-Philippe Champagne met a key decision-maker in Beijing, pushing for more trade between the two countries, including having more Canadian financial expertise in China. Lisa Sching has been covering the trip and has more from Beijing.

On his final day in China, finance minister Francois Philippe Champagne is greeted by Vice-Premier He Lifung in front of their country's flags. The two strategized about how China and Canada can do more business together. The very top leaders, you really have influence, and all of them understood the importance and the excellence of the financial sector in Canada and how it could really help for trade. He is the main decision-maker on financial files and trade in the Chinese government and said Champagne's visit is a concrete step in increasing cooperation.

After years of our relationship being at a low point, our economic and trade ties have been reinvigorated, he said. These conversations, launching a working group, this delicate feeling out of a partnership that's been neglected for years, all part of Canada's solution to diversify its economy and increase exports to China by 50% by 2030. A goal set by Prime Minister Mark Carney when he was here in January. Champagne says the goal is to export financial services to Canada, like insurance, pension and wealth management. But getting there takes time.

You need to build relationship. This is not transactional. You can't expect to have more trade if you don't show up. You know, showing up is half of the work. There's still a lot of work to be done. Champagne says he raised the issue of forced labor, a controversy that's dogged Carney in recent days, after new MP Michael Ma questioned whether the practice existed. There are trade irritants, too, like getting Beijing to remove the outstanding 25% counter-tariffs

lifted on Canadian pork imports and some seafood, a vestige of the trade war sparked by Canada's 100% EV surtax, following U.S. policy. Something that has long-erked China, says Zeeffe. Ding Yifan, International Relations Professor at Zeming University of China. Canada could might become more independent in his own way. And then Canada can make his choices on the basis of its own interests,

not to abide by only the rules set by his big brother. That big brother is expected to make an appearance here too. Champagne's efforts are happening as U.S. President Donald Trump himself is slated to visit China in mid-May, hoping to make a deal of his own. Lisa Xing, CBC News, Beijing. Senegal has suspended all non-essential travel for its top officials. The West African country's prime minister says the rising cost of oil caused by the war in Iran is straining the nation's economy, with the price per barrel nearly double their budgeted amount.

Senegal's government will introduce additional measures to limit the impact of the price as early as next week. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations is sounding the alarm over widespread human rights abuses in the fighting between government forces and armed rebels. In particular, the use of sexual violence

as a weapon of war. Freelance reporter Chris Ochoam Ringa has more from Kinshasa. A battle rages in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo between the M-23 rebels and government forces backed by the local Wazolendo militia. Thousands of civilians have fled their homes since January. A new report by the United Nations has revealed serious human rights violations in the conflict zones.

Patrice Vahad is the director of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office. A few months into this new year, so no less than 1,300, those are the cases that the UNGHRO was able to document. M23 supported by Rwanda is one of the greatest violators of human rights and international humanitarian law, followed by the Allied Democratic Force, the ADF, and then you have Kodeku Zaire, but also the Wazolendo that are supporting the regular forces, the AFRGC of the DRC. I think we need to be very clear and transparent by stressing that no war crime will go unparmed. The UN, J-HRO, says women and girls are among the most affected because of the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. According to its data, there were nearly 900 cases of conflict-related

sexual violence in 2025, affecting more than 1,500 victims. The crimes include sexual slavery and forced pregnancy. Annie Modi is a Congolese women's rights activist. She says, more needs to be done to hold perpetrators accountable. People or parties that are involved in use of sexual violence as weapon of war should be considered as criminal. And they should be under international criminal court. That is not happening. Modi says women and girls need to be included in any efforts to end the conflict for good. We have no survivor's voices in the processes that is ongoing.

And some deals, peace deeds that has been passed on with not even thinking about reparations. and justice for the survivor of sexual violence. Violence between the DRC and Rwanda continues despite a US-brokered peace deal last year. Congolese official Issyah Bautuli says they will respect the peace agreement but also have a duty to defend their territory. The Rwanda troops came to Congo to fight Congolese is too, you know. We've got a right to fight back. That's why the Congolese, they decided to fight back to take over

the control of our territory. The UN, the U.S. and the African Union have urged all parties to seize hostilities, but their calls have gone unheeded. Chris Ochoamringa for CBC News in Kinshasa. On the western coast of Hudson Bay, an unsolved mystery looms over the hamlet of Arviat Nunavut, a flying community of just over 3,000 people. The family of a 20-year-old woman who went missing in 2024, wants the RCMP to reopen its investigation.

They say there are suspicious events surrounding her disappearance. Juanita Taylor went to Arviot to find out more. Kaden was a very outgoing, determined kid. Kaden's mom, Hilkbat Koplin, describes her as someone who had big dreams. By the age of 20, Kaden's civic attack was already an accomplished athlete, hunter, and pilot. But on August 20th, 2004, all that ended when Caden was never to be seen again. So in my heart, I know that she didn't come home because something was done to her. Copeland is convinced Fowell Play was involved in the disappearance of her daughter, Caden.

When the truck Caden was driving, was found in the Hudson Bay, with the doors locked, windows rolled up, and only her cell phone inside. I feel that her disappearance is not taken. Seriously? Now, just because the truck was in the water, they automatically thought she drowned. The major crimes unit from Nunavudar, CMP, told CBC that the most likely cause of Cadence disappearance is drowning after a single motor vehicle collision. Cadence's adoptive father, Joe Savigatak Jr., doesn't agree. There was some Cadence personal belongings that were found in an area where currents and tide do not go, and that should have been a red flag right away for the investigators to know that. Seveik attack says major crimes spent only two or three days investigating.

He, along with Copeland, heard Caden had been drinking with three men that night. They believe she was murdered and her body buried. But if someone knows what happened that night, they're not saying anything. For it to happen in such a small community where everybody knows everybody, I guess, people are afraid to speak up. In January 2025, Copeland submitted a complaint with the RCMP watchdog, the Civilian Review Commission, to determine if anything was missed in the investigation. The Calgary Police Service was selected to conduct a review of the case,

they say, was completed in June 2025, including two recommendations for follow-up. Copeland has yet to see it. It's really hard not knowing where she is. Cadence family isn't alone in wanting answers. Some of Cadence friends have organized rallies calling for justice, like Emily Kulchak. There was a lot of people, regardless of the weather, and I'm grateful for that. Grateful for the community for coming to the justice walks. Any mom and any friend, any sister would want justice for their loved one.

Last summer, a police dog was sent to wear RCMP found the truck, but it didn't detect any scent of Caden. Since Caden's disappearance, her family has been searching mostly on their own. This summer, they'll get some help from three scent detection dogs, this time from a private company. I think we're never going to stop until we find her. Anita Taylor, CBC News, Rankin Inlet. Nunavut. In Nova Scotia, Arden Professional Client Care looks after some of the province's most

vulnerable people. It's accepted tens of millions of public dollars over the past eight years, and after a CRA audit, it is rapidly losing workers. Those who remain say it's becoming a major safety issue. Shane a luck with more on the investigation. They're extremely vulnerable people. It's very much the end of the road, as far as I understand, with regards to the guards to care. This person works at Arden professional client care. It's a company that houses and cares for children in government care and adults with severe disabilities. CBC News is not identifying the workers or using their real voices because they fear retaliation. They're also extremely concerned for their clients. These people have extreme schizophrenia, extreme autism, nonverbal

autism, which is extremely challenging to try and communicate and to understand the client as well. Everyone who works for Arden is considered an independent contractor making about $20 an hour. Many contractors were under the impression they didn't have to pay tax on their income until last month. That's when Arden announced it was audited by the Canada Revenue Agency and now everyone must file. Workers tell CBC News that's prompted many people to quit. Since this announcement and since all of the vacancies have shown up on the schedules for people that are no longer taking shifts, As a result of this news, there are people that are working 66 hours straight with no breaks. Arden says it doesn't provide income tax advice to its contractors, and they're responsible for their own tax decisions.

But internal emails show Arden disagreed with the CRA. In a statement, the company says it's complying. With so many people quitting, Arden is struggling to staff its houses. It's supposed to have two workers for every one client. Workers who talk to CBC News say lately some shift. have been one to one. They say it's a safety issue for the 56 people in care and them. There can be situations where you're having to deal with someone who is in a manic state and are physically violent with you. So yeah, it's dangerous. It's extremely concerning at times,

even with two people. The company said it continues to work with the province to ensure there are no changes to client care and safety. But two years ago, Nova Scotia's auditor general, Kim Adair warned about the risks to children in care at companies like Arden. She thought the province's oversight was too weak. So we wanted to, I guess, send a signal to the department and to the minister that this is serious stuff and you need to make sure these children are cared for. The province of Nova Scotia has given Arden $184 million over the last eight years. Despite concerns from workers, the minister in charge, Barbara Adams, says she's satisfied.

We are in constant contact with our service providers, including Arden, and at this time we have no concerns about staffing levels. The province does have the power to do its own audit on third-party companies providing this emergency care. But for now, it's deferring all financial issues to the CRA. Shane Aluck, CBC News, Halifax. The oldest known living Canadian has died. Burdette Bird-Sissler was 110 years old. He was one of Canada's last surviving Second World War veterans. Sissler, who lived in Fort Erie, Ontario, rarely drank, never smoked, and his life advice,

people should treat others the way they'd like to be treated. Governor General Mary Simon released a statement saying he witnessed profound moments in history while embodying the values of service. A statement from his family says, Sistler died on Thursday of natural causes, just shy of his 11th birthday. He is survived by five children, 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren. Unlike the astronauts aboard Artemis 2,

few of us will ever make it to outer space, but movies like this year's smash hit Project Hail Mary can give us a taste of what it might be like. And it is hardly the first movie to coincide with a major space mission. Magda Gabra Salasa now on what happens when science fiction and science fact collide. blasting into space keeping audiences glued in real life and with fiction too. As the Artemis II roars towards the moon, its mission accomplished for the box office winning Ryan Gosling hit Project Hill Mary. It's a big, massive thing that really rewards being seen on a giant screen.

Christopher Miller is one of the film's directors. Having a space film in theaters while outer space makes news is nothing new. Stanley Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey, showed astronauts walking on the moon, about one year before the first moon landing. Five, four. Around the time the Martian, starring Matt Damon, hit screens in 2015, NASA announced it found evidence of liquid water on Mars. Space exploration changes your perception. And in 2018, the movie First Man, about Neil Armstrong, the first man, was released just months before the mission's 50th anniversary. My first love is an astronaut is, of course, spaceflight, but my second love is going to all of these space movies.

Canadian former astronaut Robert Thirsk is part of a select few. Having been to space, he knows what films get wrong and right, too. Obviously, every movie has to make some compromises for the sake of the drama, for the sake of the story. And I find that the technical realism is getting better and better and better all the time. It's just one problem after another that needs to be solved. That is realistic. What could become real someday is making movies in space. I want to go to the International Space Station.

That was Tom Cruise in 2002, sharing his wildest dreams with entertainment tonight. While in 2020, NASA confirmed there were plans to make that happen. Cruz was on a path to film aboard the International Space Station. But there's no official word on where that stands. Personally, I would love to see Tom Cruise. crew's come back for a mission impossible and do like just one scene out in space. I think it would absolutely be fantastic. Rachel Ho, a movie critic in Toronto, thinks that Hollywood could still go where no films have

gone before. I don't think it's that far off, actually. I think that there could be a very realistic chance that this could happen in the next, you know, 10, 20 years. That may be the next frontier. But for now, all eyes are set on space with its real-life missions. and fictional displays. Magda Gepa de Salasas, CBC News, Toronto.

For updates on the Artemis 2 mission and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hanson, you can always go to cBCNews.ca. This has been your world tonight for Saturday, April 4th. I'm Kimberly Gale. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.