Your World Tonight - Canadians missing in Nepal flood, U.S. trade rep blames Canada for end of negotiations, Meta settlement, and more

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

Two dozen Canadians are among those missing after a massive flood and mudslide on the border area between Tibet and Nepal.And: United States Trade representative Jamieson Greer sat down with the CBC��s Rosemary Barton for an exclusive interview. He says Canadian officials are at fault for torpedoing negotiations.Also: Meta agrees to pay up to $18 billion US to settle claims of harm alleged by dozens of states. The social media company also says it will restrict U.S. teenagers’ access to its social media to certain hours of the day. Meta was accused of designing its apps to get children addicted, misleading consumers about ‌safety, and improperly collecting the personal data of children.Plus: Fire in Pakistan hospital nursery, AI in policing, Ohio residents on Canada trade fight, and more.

At Desjardin Insurance, we know that when you own a nail salon, everything needs to be perfect from tip to toe. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs. You put your heart into your company, so we put our heart into making sure it's protected. Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. This is a CBC podcast. Rescuers in Nepal rush an elderly woman to safety after a wall of water and flood of mud

swept through communities on the Himalayan border with Tibet. Canadians are among the hundreds of people missing. This is Your Will tonight. It's Wednesday, August 26th, just before 6 p.m. Eastern. I'm Salima Shivji. Also on the podcast. Anybody who has some kind of a trade dispute or something, eventually it ends in a negotiation

where you settle out and each side thinks like, well, I would have rather had this, but you find a compromise position. And I don't know, we're not there with Canada. An exclusive interview with the top U.S. trade representative. Jameson Greer points his finger at Canadian officials for bringing an abrupt end to trade talks. What he says about the state of negotiations as the tariffs mount on both sides. Catastrophic flash flooding ripped through the border region between Nepal and Tibet,

washing away homes and killing at least 160 people. Hundreds more are still missing, including 24 Canadians, and the true scale of this disaster is still unknown, with communities cut off and fears the death toll could climb much higher. She and Desjaldane now on the urgent search for survivors and pleas for help. An intense rescue underway in Nepal, completely covered in mud, a person is carried out of a building, one of the lucky ones, after deadly flash floods obliterated the region. This is really devastating and about 10,000 people must be swept away from all the river banks.

Some villages gone entirely, says Nepal's red cross-secretary general Richie Kinal. CC TV video captured near the Nepal-Tibet border shows people racing to flee. just moments before a massive wall of muddy water catches up, swallowing everything. I saw around nine trucks being swept away by the floods, including people, says this teacher. It's a heartbreaking incident. And this man says three family members of his were rescued.

One lost their home. Other loved ones still missing. It's monsoon season, but climate experts think in avalanche from a melting glacier is to blame. Officials estimate, with hundreds still missing, the death toll is expected to climb, with many believed to be on pilgrimage to Mount Kailas in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus. According to the report so far, I have received, 24 Canadian nationals are out of contact. And feared missing Nepal's ambassador to Canada, Barat Raj Pogh, says, although it's not clear why they were in the region.

That area is pretty much popular for hikers, number one, and number two, that is a route to go to Mansarover, Kailas, for pilgrimage. And those Hindus take that route to go to Kailas, Manchur also. On social media, Prime Minister Mark Carney called the situation devastating, asking Canadians to register their presence in the region as soon as possible. We are listening so many calls from the Nepalese people who are living in Canada. Their family is not contacted. Despite frantic efforts to reach them, says Soutresen Sapkuda, the president of the Nepalese Canadian Community Service. That's why we want to do something. We want to help the way we can, any way we can.

But on the ground in Nepal, chaos. People look for their loved ones. And reality sets in. Nobody has imagined that such a big flood can come on this. River itself. Donanjay Rigmi is a member of federal parliament. I'm really terrified that this is one of the biggest devastation that had ever happened in Nepal. Requesting help from China and India as they race to save who they can. Shia de Chalde, CBC News, Toronto.

We're hearing directly from American officials tonight on the terror fight. United States Trade Representative Jameson Greer says actions by Canadian officials are to blame for the talks, He sat down with the CBC's Rosemary Barton for an exclusive interview. Let's go now to Catherine Cullen, senior reporter and host of the House for more. So Catherine, walk us through how Greer is framing the breakdown of negotiations. Well, Salima, he says it came down to the Canadians asking for more. That is a pretty stark contrast to Mark Carney's suggestion that it was the U.S. that added things to the discussion at the 11th hour.

In his interview, Ambassador Greer says the shift came. came when Canada's U.S. trade minister, Dominic LeBlanc, went back to Ottawa, discussed the deal with the prime minister and the premiers, and then. And when they came back, they had some additional views, they had some additional requests, they had some additional things that were too much for the United States. It wasn't something we could do at the time. We felt that giving them the best deal in the world would have been enough to get us over the hump and put us on a positive track to even bigger and better things.

Greer also touched on the specific issues that Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed to around language, around autos and trade deals with other countries. Greer was asked repeatedly if the U.S. wants to end auto manufacturing in Canada. Greer didn't give a direct answer to that question but said globalization has hurt manufacturing in both countries. On language, he denied the questions around the French language media were make or break issues for the U.S. And on trade deals, Greer said, yes, he did want some rules around imposing tariffs, but he said it's Canada who has been seeking this Fortress North America approach and that some of this similar language is already in the Kuzma Free Trade Deal. Now, it's worth noting that all of those are different characterizations than Mark Carney has offered to the same set of facts.

Carney says the U.S. asked for more than Canada could or would give. So we're in this now. What did Greer have to say about the path forward? Well, he was asked specifically about further retaliation, which would presumably include the counterteriffs that Canada is planning. If there's further retaliation from the Canadian side, you know, we of course, we're not going to just sit down and take that. You know, our view is don't retaliate, but I know that, you know, I know how people are feeling in Canada and what they think. So, you know, it's unfortunate, but it is what it is. He says there are not open channels between himself and Minister LeBlau right now,

and he says that he believes that the Canadian side is talking about next steps. Salima. Okay, the CBC's Catherine Cullen in Ottawa. Thanks for this. Thank you. Two of Canada's prairie premiers are calling for a more measured retaliation to the U.S. tariffs, specifically when it comes to energy. Scott Moe says putting levies or restriction on Saskatchewan's potash or oil

will cripple his province financially. Alberta's Danielle Smith agrees. Although I understand the need to respond strong, to these tariffs. I cannot think of a more disastrous policy decision than cutting off or taxing Alberta's oil to the United States. Doing so would absolutely devastate the Canadian economy. It would not only extinguish the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Albertans, it would economically hobble our friends and neighbors in other provinces to the east. The U.S. President is also not staying silent on the trade issue today. Donald Trump took to the

airwaves on a talk show hosted by conservative commentator Glenn Beck and took aim at Canada with fresh accusations. They've taken our car industry and they've taken our agriculture industry. You know, the farmers can't sell anything in there because the tariffs are so enormous. And yet they want to sell in us without any test. So I had a deal. That was a pretty good deal, you know, quite good because they're afraid that I won't do any bit.

In other words, we won't trade. They don't have anything that we have to have. It's time to teach Canada. You can't do this anymore. As the U.S. President and Trade Secretary point fingers at Canada, it's clear Americans are feeling the consequences of this trade fight, too, especially in the industrial Midwest. The CBC's Katie Nicholson is in Youngstown, Ohio.

A city wants to find by steel that has spent decades rebuilding and diversifying its economy, with cross-border trade playing an important role. Now, that relationship with Canada and the job, that depend on it are under new strain. Joe Koch's crew puts the finishing touches on a new build in Youngstown, Ohio. So we've installed all the cabinets and the bathrooms in the kitchen. Thing is, he'd been expecting to be building three or four more homes in this development by now.

That was before the U.S. trade war started driving prices up on vital materials like lumber and aluminum from Canada. People are just going to not build that house this year. They're going to wait until interest rates lower. They're going to wait until the tariffs. subside. Koch says he and many others in Youngstown are now caught in the middle of a politically charged trade war between the U.S. and Ohio's biggest customer, Canada. It's a game of chess, and it's a game that goes on indefinitely.

There's no victory. It's just battle after battle, and you win where you can. You try to minimize the damage wherever there is damage, and then you live to fight another day. Though if you ask the president of the Youngstown War in Regional Chamber, Guy Caviello will tell you, Not everyone in town is opposed to the slew of new steel and manufacturing tariffs. It hurts some, it helps some. And there are some companies where it hurts on one side and helps on the other. I think overall there's probably a net negative.

On this evening, at the community baseball field, some say they're feeling the pinch, like Larry Kelly. I just bought a car today. It was $100 more a month than the exact same car I bought three years ago. people can't buy groceries. The tariffs have just, I think, really done a lot to destroy the economy. Pam Hall expects this ongoing trade war to flip seats in Republican Red Ohio this November. People vote with their pocketbook. And when you go to the grocery store, you go to Walmart.

You know, shampoo is more expensive. And people vote by that. The trade war also currently crushing a few ambitions. Take shapes unlimited, which makes aluminum fences and gates. We'd like to further extend our reach into the provinces. But it isn't cost effective right now. CEO Doug Rendey said he'd also like to be able to buy Canadian aluminum because of its quality and its proximity. But certainly not when there's a 50% tariff on it.

Regardless of the political affiliations and points of view of your prime minister and our president, the bottom line is it's affecting us as individuals as consumers. While not immune to the U.S.'s fraying trade relationship with Canada, in this factory, Ohio, soldiers on another day. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Youngstown, Ohio. The trade war with the United States could be a big issue in the upcoming Quebec election. Premier Christine Freshette is scheduled to hold a cabinet meeting tomorrow morning. She'll then meet with the province's lieutenant governor to dissolve the National Assembly and trigger an election. That means the campaign will last 39 days with a vote scheduled for October 5th.

It's expected to be a tight race between Frischets' CAQ and the Partsique Quebecois. Coming right up, a multi-billion dollar settlement. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram agrees to make changes to its platforms after allegations their services caused harm to children. Plus, heartbreak in Pakistan, following a hospital fire that left 14 newborns dead. And later, we'll have this story. I'm Karen Pauls in Winnipeg, where the police service is looking at ways to use AI to protect the public and make investigations more efficient. The criminal element is using technology to advance their efforts, and we need to do the same.

It's critical for police agencies across Canada to embrace AI. Having said that, we want to proceed with caution. It's a debate happening across Canada and the U.S., a balance of public safety and privacy. I'll tell you more. More about it later on your world tonight. Meda has reached a multi-billion dollar settlement to end a landmark lawsuit, accusing Facebook and Instagram of intentionally addicting minors and harming their mental health. The agreement in a California court is the first of its kind, legally forcing the tech giant to redesign its user experience and include new safety measures.

Cameron McIntosh with more on the ruling and how some believe it will change social media. Lawyers for META and the state suing it saying little going into court in California. But inside, agreeing to a deal that will see META, owner of Facebook and Instagram, pay out up to $18 billion. Over allegations, it promoted features aimed at youth and drove compulsive use and harmed young users' mental health. California Attorney General Rob Bonta. We believe the proposed settlement filed today addresses some of the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and that it will force. transformative changes necessary to protect our children. Meta isn't admitting to that, but is agreeing to impose stricter age verification and controls

for American users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram, including two-hour daily time limits and nighttime restrictions, keeping teens off the platforms overnight and stopping notifications overnight. I'm very pleased. The settlement welcomed by Victoria Hinks, whose daughter took her own life at age 16, Hanks blames social media. As long as they enforce it properly, and I'm glad that the judge asked how are you going to actually do this. It's an initial settlement of $12 billion that could go up to $18 billion over 10 years if other social platforms, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, agree to sign on to avoid similar litigation.

From a legal and financial aspect, some are heralding this as social media's big tobacco moment. Ratesh Kotak is a Canadian tech and cybersecurity analyst. Yeah, this is one of those moments that I think. in history, we're going to look back and say, this is finally being taken seriously when it comes to applications and teens and their mental health. But what the agreement doesn't address are Meta's messaging services and how it gathers data. Luke Stark is a professor of media studies. The general business model of Facebook hasn't really been touched by this loss. Meta has already lost two trials this year. Last quarter, it spent $2 billion on legal fees.

The settlement, big as it is, not only cuts Meta's losses, which some estimate could have been over 200 billion, but also lets it set the terms for how it will change, says digital media professor Richard Lachman. Avoiding Mike Zuckerwig having to testify. And the other thing they're trying to limit with this is maybe legislation. Kotak agrees. It's inevitable that we're going to see more lawsuits. However, I think that they've dodged a major, a major potentially horrible or catastrophic situation.

It seems investors agree. Meta shares trade it up all day. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Toronto. Social media safety advocates are hoping the META settlement will boost Canada's efforts to tighten rules on social media use for kids here. There are a series of measures in the works to protect young people online, but Canada has yet to implement them. Deanna Sumanak Johnson reports.

Well, it's certainly encouraging, encouraging to see that finally these tech companies are being held accountable. Meta, having to pay and institutions, more measures to protect teen users is a good first step, says Vancouver mom, Jenny Perez. The parent group she founded Unplugged Canada has been urging the government to protect Canadian kids from potential social media harms for years.

I think it's another step forward, but there's a lot left to do because in our opinion, the list of safety features that we need to be covered is long. Advocacy of groups like hers and mounting evidence by pediatricians in Canada that social media impacts everything from teen body image to focus in schools, factored into the federal government's decision to act. Bill C-34 Safe Social Media Act was stable in June and presented by Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Mark Miller.

It proposes a minimum age of 16 for social media and AI chatbot use unless platforms can prove they're installing measures to protect children. It also seeks to establish a new federal social media regulatory body. Technology journalist and analyst Carmi Levy says Mehta's big payup strengthens the case for the bill. I think what this does is this validates why we need that legislation in the first place. It all aligns with governments here in Canada and elsewhere, tightening the noose around big tech companies and forcing them to behave. As for the changes, META has to implement to make its platforms more teens safe, changes including

time limits, stopping notifications during school, a block on the app during overnight hours. So far, these changes only apply to the U.S., but Levy says it will likely trickle down to cover Canadian users as well. Historically, whenever technology companies like META introduce significant changes to their infrastructure in a certain region, eventually they do go global. We saw this with the European Union, where regional changes there eventually went worldwide. Jenny Perez says her group will be watching. They still want age restrictions on social media use that the Canadian bill proposes.

Meta and other social media giants are still facing thousands of lawsuits by individuals and groups in the U.S. and a $4 billion one launched by Ontario school boards. Deanna Suminac Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. A former marine land beluga whale has died in Chicago's shed aquarium. The facility did not give a cause, a spokesperson only saying, the animal had been dehydrated and was eating less. The 23-year-old female was one of eight whales recently shipped to Chicago from marine land. The Ontario Park has been closed for two years.

It has been relocating dozens of animals since July. Four dolphins and two belugas were sent to Spain just today. 14 newborn babies are dead in Pakistan after a devastating fire tore through the nursery wing of a hospital in Islamabad. Local officials say they're launching an investigation, with witnesses reporting it took hours for rescue teams to arrive. Sasha Petrissik tells us more. By the time rescuers arrived at the Institute of Medical Sciences, one of Islamabad's biggest hospitals, it was too late. Fire had raced through the maternity ward, killing 14 infants, including Javaria's three-day-old son. It wasn't Allah, she yells outside.

This was the fault of humans. Rescuers took two hours to arrive, says Javeria, while doctors and nurses fled and babies were left to die. Hearing shouts and smelling smoke at 6 a.m. Hivsa Walid was across the hall. I grabbed my niece and ran, she says. that baby was the only one to survive. Officials say the fire started inside an air conditioning unit. Sparks ignited oxygen in breathing tubes and the flames spread quickly.

Pakistan government minister Tariq Fasal Shodri says the fire was unstoppable. Even if you take all 50 measures, still, if there is a short-circuiting, if there's a blast, then you just can't do anything. As the bodies of babies in blankets were carried down a ladder, one father complained that doors to the ward were locked, preventing anyone from running in to help or from escaping. Officials deny that. No security is tight to prevent babies from being stolen, says the hospital's chief executive, Dr. Rana Imran Sikandere.

He says the doors were guarded, not locked. The gates were not closed. They were mad, properly mad. And so people were able to escape? Yeah. An investigation is underway and Pakistan's prime minister has already suspended a top health department official. In a village outside Islamabad at an afternoon ceremony, Koram Mahmood's baby is being buried. The funerals have started. One at the hospital is taking real responsibility, says Mahmoud. All the families are left with their grief. Sasha Petrissik, CBC News, Toronto.

AI technology is changing the way police in the United States do their jobs, everything from license plate readers and facial recognition to drones and gunshot detectors. Here in Canada, police departments are bringing in AI a little bit more slowly. But as Karen Paul's reports, civil liberties groups still warns, the technology is moving faster than privacy protection. The high-powered cameras are on 24-7, recording vehicles and people outside locations like the U.S. Consulate in Toronto and Synagogues north of the city, recently targeted in attacks,

raising questions for passers-by. What's the tracking us for? I don't like the camera all deposit to me. Critics say a network of automated license plate readers and AI-powered sensors. could be used as a form of mass surveillance that erodes public privacy. People should be very concerned because this stuff is infrastructure. Matthew Grasigula is with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Atlanta.

Software upgrades can be integrated instantaneously, practically, and so things like face recognition, police officers get really comfortable using all of that data, and it's hard to then put the genie back in the bottle. Toronto police declined an interview, but in a statement wrote, We currently have five static cloud runner cameras that are specifically deployed based on intelligence and risk assessments in areas with a recent history of violent activity. Adding, the system is solely used to identify vehicles linked to potential criminal activity.

There is significant investigative benefit to the use of these cameras. These are the same cameras used recently in Montreal for a specific police investigation. They're similar to the controversial flock safety cameras used in the U.S. where dozens of communities are now joining what's known as the Deflock Movement. Shakir Rahim is a lawyer for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. He says the public has a right to know when technology like this is being used. We're moving into an era where technology and surveillance is occurring in ways that legislators, courts and others never contemplated.

For George Labossier, the use of AI in policing is a balancing act. He's deputy chief of operations at the Winnipeg Police Service. The criminal element is using technology to advance their efforts, and we need to do the same. In Winnipeg, the police are not currently using AI-enabled surveillance cameras, though LaBosier does see some value in that. If we're looking for somebody we know is wearing a blue jacket who got on a transit bus,

we may have to look through hours of video, whereas AI technology could quickly go through that. video and pinpoint every individual who came on with a blue sweater. Police say they are mindful of privacy issues and data security, but they say AI is helping spread thin resources further. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Winnipeg. And finally. Tim Curry there as the outlandish and flamboyant madman. Tim Curry there as the outlandish and flamboyant mad scientist Dr. Frankenfurter in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The English stage and screen actor has died at the age of 80.

He first made his name acting in the stage version of the sci-fi cross-dressing rock musical, both in London and on Broadway, before starring in the film. Curry was known for portraying loony villains, including a child-killing clown in the 1990 psychological horror drama miniseries, It. A few years later, he faced off against McCulley Culkins, Kevin McAllister, in Home Alone 2, lost in New York, playing the suspicious and nosy hotel concierge, Mr. Hector. And how are we this morning? Fine. Is my transportation here? Out in front, sir, a limousine and a pizza compliments of the Plaza Hotel.

Curry's other notable credits include a conman in 1982's Annie, as well as a butler in the 1985 musical comedy, Clue. Eight months ago, while promoting his memoir on Live Talks, Los Angeles, Curie described his approach to playing villains. I find it difficult to grasp the idea that somebody might actually choose to be evil. I believe that the people who behave badly really do. badly. Must have some kind of redeeming feature. I try to make them amusing if I can because of that, really. The actor suffered a major stroke in 2012, which forced him to use a wheelchair.

His longtime manager said he died at home in Los Angeles, but didn't give a cause. Thanks for being with us. This has been your will tonight for Wednesday, August 26. I'm Selima Shivji. Good night. podcasts.