Your World Tonight - Extortion threats against South Asians, Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, Australia's teen social media ban, and more

Episode Date: December 7, 2025

South Asians in Canada accuse Ottawa of putting foreign policy interests ahead of their safety. They're holding a series of town halls in multiple cities across the country, to address what they call an extortion crisis facing their communities. Also: Christmas celebrations have returned to Bethlehem, after a two-year hiatus. Saturday night saw the lighting of a Christmas tree in Manger Square. You'll hear how officials are hoping the ceremony will herald an economic revival for the tourism-reliant city.And: Australia is about to attempt what many parents see as a losing battle - forcing kids off social media. On Wednesday, it will become the first country in the world to ban anyone under 16 from having social media accounts. We'll take you to Sydney for more.Plus: Recruitment crisis in Canada's Armed forces, One year since regime change in Syria, German secessionists gain popularity, and more.

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Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. There's been a wave of violence against the sick community across this country from coast to coast to coast. And the government is not doing enough to stop it and hold India accountable. Canadian Sikhs accuse Ottawa of putting foreign policy interests ahead of their safety. They're holding a series of town halls in multiple cities to address what they call an extortion crisis facing their communities. This is your world tonight.

I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Also on the podcast, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Australian youth will soon be banned from all of them, but some of those teens say they won't be forced offline without a fight. And Canada's military growing pains. A lot of people have that misconception about the military that all road lead to combat. How does the Canadian Armed Forces grow its ranks when young people say they don't want to enlist?

An ongoing crisis of violence has gripped several communities across Canada. Sick families and businesses have been targeted with threats, shootings, and arson, which they say is coming directly from India. Politicians, business owners, and victims gathered in Brampton, Ontario today for the first of three town halls organized by sick groups to try and address. the problems. Philip Lee Shanok tells us more. Like his smile just let up the room. Two years ago

this week, Gurleen Cordata's father Harjit Data was shot and killed in the parking lot of his business on his birthday. There's a hole in a heart that's never going to be felt. We miss him every single day. Like every single day. The 51-year-old former truck driver

turned insurance broker came to Canada in 1997. In the days leading up to his murder, he'd been extorted and threatened. They demanded for 500K, and obviously he denied, and we then went to the police itself. The police thought that it isn't serious. Police arrested three men in British Columbia and charged them with Dada's murder. They've been brought to Ontario to face trial.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Dharapa says extortions in the South Asian community were new to police here. We historically have never had an extortion problem to this extent, right? So, and frankly, our capacity to respond hasn't been to the extent that it has now. Darappa says there's now a dedicated extortion task force in the region with dozens of officers assigned. They've made more than 40 arrests and laid hundreds of charges. Gala Biani teaches criminology at Kwotland Polytechnic University in Vancouver. He says even in BC, police were behind in seeing the trend.

To connect the dots, it took a little bit of time because they were happening in different cities. So police officers were attending these shootings or arsons, but they weren't connecting the dots with the neighboring jurisdictions. Then police across the country in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec found similar threats and extortion against business owners in the South Asian diaspora community. At this town hall in Brampton that police across the country could be so late in recognizing the problem was a source of frustration.

There's well wishes or thoughts or intentions, but there's been no meaningful steps. Prabjat Singh is legal counsel for the Sikh Federation. The organization has been involved in three town halls, this one in Brampton, as well as in Calgary and Surrey, B.C. He says the issue is beyond a policing problem. The national crisis we're seeing around extortions is not just this law and order issue. It's not a regional issue in Brampton or just in Surrey. It's fundamentally a national security issue.

Singh accuses the Indian government of foreign interference and transnational crime and warned against Canada's attempts to restart trade with India. Meanwhile, police say they are now working in a coordinated fashion across multiple jurisdictions with federal backing. Still, the number of extortion cases in Peel region has increased year over year from around 220 to more than 400 this year. Philip LeShannock, CBC News, Toronto. The union representing some 750 air transat pilots

has issued a 72-hour strike notice. The pilots say they will strike from Wednesday morning unless progress is made at the bargaining table with travel company Transat AT. The airline says flights will be gradually suspended starting Monday but says it's working around the clock to reach a deal. Last week, the pilots voted 99% in favor of a strike. At issue are pay, benefits, and job security.

Experts are now examining dozens of cultural objects belonging to Inuit, First Nations, and Métis people that are being returned. The item's journey back to Canada was an emotional occasion for indigenous leaders who spent years negotiating to get them back from the Vatican. It's also an opportunity for young people to learn more about their heritage. Juanita Taylor has more on the homecoming. Snow falls softly as a creative precious cargo is offloaded on the tarmac in Montreal. Indigenous leaders and members from their communities got to be there

to welcome them back after being away for 100 years. Another step closer to their return home. An emotional time for Dwayne Smith, who led the repatriation for his Inuviali people, embracing the crate that held a sealskin kayak used to harvest beluga whales. I was just trying to get our kayak home. Sorry. The Kayak and other indigenous items were sent to the Vatican in 1925.

Negotiations to get it back resulted in a much bigger victory for indigenous people. Altogether, 62 items belonging to the Inuit, First Nations, and Métis, returned to Canada. Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith is with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. These items arrived not merely as pieces of history, but as symbols of resilience, identity, and living memory. A press conference was held after the item's arrival. Federal Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Mark Miller, was there. We pledged to do more. Committing to continue working with indigenous groups to repatriate more cultural objects.

Canada needs to do more. countries around the world where these are housed, whether it's Britain or elsewhere, also need to step up. For First Nations youth, we're asked by the Assembly of First Nations to accompany the cultural objects back to Canada from Frankfurt, where a flight donated by Air Canada brought them back. Katisha Paul is the First Nations youth from the West Coast. As spiritual people, we have an understanding that these aren't just artifacts. She says she felt honored to have taken part.

As young people, we're ready to open up our hearts and our minds to learning about these processes because we will be the caretakers moving forward. The cultural objects are now at the Museum of History in Gatineau, and Inuit delegation will get a private viewing of its 14 pieces Monday before deciding on a final destination for them. Juanita Taylor CBC News, Montreal. Still ahead, three years ago, Germany,

cracked down on a group of conspiracy theorists who were plotting a coup. Some of them had already created their own pseudo-state with its own currency. Well, now the movement's not only still growing, its membership has more than doubled. The full story is coming up on Your World Tonight. In Ottawa, the conservatives will force a vote this week to try and expose divisions within the Liberal Party. plans to ask all MPs whether they support a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to BC. That proposal formed part of a deal signed between the feds and Alberta last month. But as J.P. Tasker explains, not every liberal is on board.

I'm forcing the liberals to put up or shut up. Conservative leader Pierre Pauliev is turning up the pressure on liberal MPs this week, forcing them to publicly take a stand on whether they support the Prime Minister's landmark deal with Alberta. He's blown eight months, saying one thing to his keep-it-in-the-ground caucus and the opposite to Albertans. It's time for Mark Carney to stop speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Speaking to CBC News on Sunday, Paulyev said the results will reveal whether Mark Carney is willing to demand skittish members fall in line. So we need to now go from announcements and signing pieces of paper to putting shovels in the ground and building something.

A spokesperson for the government House leader said the Liberal Party has nothing to say on how its members will vote on this motion when it comes up on Tuesday. At least one MP is uncomfortable with what's been negotiated. Stephen Gilbo quit Carney's cabinet over the issue. What is being proposed through this MOU would be the end of a climate plan in Canada. Still, polls suggest the majority of Canadians are generally on side with Carney's Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta. Even in places where in the past, you would have found,

a lot of resistance, like in Quebec, like in British Columbia. And in both of those two provinces, there are more people who think this pipeline to the West Coast is a good idea than a bad idea. Advocatist data pollster David Coletto says right now, jobs and growth are top of mind for most voters, not the environment. No matter where you are in this country, the economic uncertainty is very much defining how you're looking at everything. And while First Nations Chiefs voted against the deal on mass last week,

Some indigenous leaders are coming forward to say this pipeline could deliver some much-needed money and jobs. Stephen Buffalo speaks for the Alberta-based Indian Resource Council. It's been a struggle for a long time for First Nations that they have to find different ways to create wealth for their community. If a large contingent of Liberal MPs vote against this motion, it would be an embarrassing setback for the Prime Minister, who has staked a lot of political capital on securing a deal with Alberta. Still, forcing MPs to vote in favor could rankle some members of caucus who are wary of a new pipeline and worried about the possible political consequences. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Ottawa.

Right now, there's a renewed focus on Canadian defense after threats to this country's sovereignty from across the border, a commitment to meeting our NATO target, and a recruitment push. That last point may prove challenging. An auditor-generals report this fall found the Canadian Armed Forces is facing a recruitment and retention crisis. National polls suggest young people are less willing to enlist. Deanna Suminac Johnson tells us how experts say the military can turn that around. The military was a big part of my upbringing. My dad was a Marine in South Korea, and he was very proud of his military service.

He's in his last year at the University of Waterloo's prestigious math break. program. His career options wide open. But after graduation, Adam Yeo has his site set on joining the military. Yeo was a cadet as a teen and says he loved the adventure, being outdoors and the discipline of the military culture. I believe that Canada is a country that's going to be more and more geopolitically relevant in the future due to its vast natural resources and Arctic presence. So I think it would be really cool just to be a part of that vision. His dreams are aligned with the federal government's plans to major. rebuild and strengthen Canadian armed forces, with $20.4 billion, earmarked over five years

to retain and recruit new CAF members. But young Canadian's views about joining the military are complex. Angus Reid conducted a major survey among Canadians in July, asking them, could you ever foresee an armed conflict that would compel you to join the military in a combat role? 18 to 34-year-olds, the very generation needed to fill recruitment gaps were the least like to say yes. Experts point out that there are things CAF can do to broaden the tent of potential recruits. So we are actively developing and improving our processes and efficiencies. Part of CAF's strategy is also pointing out that joining the military doesn't

necessarily mean active combat, says Captain Joshua Register at Canadian Forces Recruiting Center Vancouver. A lot of people have that misconception about the military that all road lead to combat. You know, there's a variety of different occupations, almost as wide as anything that you could do on the civilian side of things. Eric Sauve, a military consultant and columnist, says that attracting young people also has to appeal to their emotional side, that life in the military is one of adventure and excitement. What I say is you need to light a flame, right? I want to join this. I see some exciting

stuff. I see people doing our stakeholder courses. I see, you know, People running in the mud, like ships on that sea, you know, airplanes flying. Still in an uncertain economy and particularly high youth unemployment numbers, the military's job stability and solid pay, including a new raise, are factors. Private Shigozia de Jaya has been in basic training at Canadian Armed Forces Base Borden since June. She worked in the corporate sector before. When I talk to other people outside, that's something I always bring up. pay. Money is coming in right now, and so this is a good time to join.

It's something Adam Yeo is also aware of. And I have so many friends around me that recently graduated that are struggling to find jobs. As young Canadians, in an era of patriotism and tough economy, rethink the military as a career choice. Deanna Suminac Johnson, CBC News, Toronto. After a two-year hiatus Christmas celebrations have returned to the spot where it all began, Saturday night saw the lighting of a Christmas tree in Bethlehem's Manger Square. The tourism-reliant city is hoping the ceremony will herald an economic revival. Tom Perry reports.

Celebrating the season for the first time in years, crowds gathering in Bethlehem to watch as a Christmas tree towering over Manger Square, a fixture for Christians who believe this was the birthplace of Jesus, is lit up for the first time since the start of the war in Gaza and the attacks of October 7, 2023. Fort Jawad Nushasha, here from Jerusalem, the ceremony is a welcome change. We need something to make us happy after all, so after two years of war and the militia, this is better for us. Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem have been muted the past two years as the fighting in Gaza raged on. Prior to that, the pandemic put a damper on gatherings and made celebrations like this impossible. Reem Kuri used to come to the tree lighting every year with her family

and says it's good to be back. Nobody had the appetite to celebrate. So now, we're hopeful and, you know, peace would somehow miraculously come. For local businesses, the past few years have been hard as tourists and pilgrims disappeared. We used to see many tourists coming between over 100 buses every day to visit the Church of Nativity. So this is business for the whole city. Jack Tabash and his wife have been selling local crafts for decades, but their shop has been closed for most of the past two years. They're glad to see this celebration, but no, it's just the first step. Not the tree that brings the tourists is the political situation of the country.

When it's come, no wars, no shootings, then you can see tourists. On this night, the crowds are big, but most people here are Palestinian, from Bethlehem and other communities. Local officials say what's needed is for foreign tourists and their money to start making a comeback. is ready to receive tourists and pilgrims. Mayor Kanawati, the mayor of Bethlehem, is hoping for a turnaround. We were getting like 2.5 million tourists a year, and October the 7th just stopped. It was a big drop from 100 to a zero.

And, you know, Bethlehem went black. The mayor and local people hoping this ceremony is a sign of better days ahead. praying for prosperity and peace. Tom Perry, CBC News, Bethleh. Staying in the Middle East, Israel's prime minister says the second phase of the U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza will begin soon. Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump at the end of the month to discuss the implementation of the new phase. But he says several key issues still need to be resolved, including the deployment of a multinational security force to Gaza, and the disarming of Hamas. Israel is also waiting for Hamas to return the remains of one more hostage.

Monday is one year since Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed in Syria. During its 13-year civil war, millions of Syrians left the country, most settled in Turkey. Now, hundreds of thousands of refugees are making the journey home, hopeful for a better future. But as Breyer-Stewart reports, many are still anxious about what that future may hold. At the entrepreneur border crossing in eastern Turkey, a line of trucks piled high with sofas, chairs and tables, wait for the green light to head into Syria. Inside the border office, 62-year-old Lufvilla Hassan is getting her paperwork checked. She is one of more than 500,000 Syrians who Turkish officials say have made the same journey out of Turkey in the past year. Syria is our homeland, our home, she said.

She's from Aleppo, an ancient city scarred by years of intense fighting. She doesn't know what life will be like there, but after more than a decade in Turkey, she says it's time to go. Rent is expensive, it's hard, she said. After Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, more than 3 million people fled over the border with Turkey. Many lag Juma Hidder moved to the eastern Turkish city of Gazi Antep and found work in one of the city's textile factories.

What do you remember about coming here then when you were 14 or 15? There was a bomb. We ran away. We came here and slowly we worked and lived, he said. Now with two young children, he says it's not safe to go back now. My hometown is not in a good condition. yet. I don't have a job there and no electricity or water for hours. The World Bank estimates it will cost more than $200 billion U.S. to rebuild the country. And it will likely be an even bigger challenge to unite a fractured society. The new government doesn't have full control in all of the regions, and in the past year

thousands have been killed in sectarian violence. It depends on the political situation in Syria. Shakir Dean Shaheen is a professor at Istanbul Gettik University. His research recently took him to Syria to speak with some of those who moved back. Some of them had this sense of belonging to Syria, especially after the revolution succeeded. They wanted to go back and contribute to the rebuilding of Syria. The presence of the Syrians in Turkey has been a highly political and polarizing issue, at times leading to large protests. Officials say there's no pressure for them to return.

However, most of those leaving now will not be able to come back unless they have a war permit or Turkish citizenship. Back at the border, Lutfia Hassan wipes away tears. The rest of her relatives, including her grandson, are staying in Turkey. But she and her husband believe they will be able to cope with whatever awaits them because in Syria at least, they will be home. We're at CBC News along the Turkey-Syrian border. They've been labeled terrorists, crackpots, conspiracy theorists,

and their numbers are growing. Three years ago today, German police carried out a series of raids across the country against a group that was plotting to violently overthrow the government. At the time, many Germans believed the movement was weakened. But as freelance reporter Melissa Kent tells us, it seems stronger than ever. As you can see, I have so much stuff.

Tobias Ginsburg looks through a large folder, filled with documents and other artifacts from the months he spent undercover with Germany's conspiracy theorists and right-wing fringe groups. Here, for instance, one of the early books of Peter Fitzek, when he started to explain to people that he can talk to angels. The man he mentions Peter Fitzek was arrested earlier this year. Police caught up with him in a tiny village in Saxony. Germany's Spiegel TV was there.

A former karate teacher, Fitschek, founded Konychreich-Deutschland or Kingdom of Germany in 2012, a secessionist group which, over the years, bought up land and real estate to create a pseudo-state, complete with its own currency and constitution. Fitzek crowned himself king and goes by the name Peter I. At a press conference following Fitsk's arrest, Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrind accuses the group of trying to create a counter-state and, says Kingdom of Germany, used anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives to underpin its supposed claim to power. This is not, as the club's title might suggest, a case of harmless nostalgia,

but rather a case of criminal structures and a criminal network, and that is what. is being banned today. According to the government, the kingdom of Germany and its reported 6,000 members make up the largest group within the so-called Reichsburger movement, or citizens of the empire, a loose association of individuals and groups who, for various reasons, don't believe modern Germany is a sovereign state. Many subscribe to right-wing populist, anti-Semitic, and Nazi ideologies. German authorities claim everyone arrested was part of the far-right Reichsburger movement.

The movement made international headlines three years ago when German authorities uncovered a plot by a Reichsburger group to violently overthrow the government and install a minor German aristocrat as leader. There were nationwide police rates. More than two dozen people were arrested. Their trials are ongoing. I cannot tell you what the typical Reichsburger is. Tobias Ginsburg says they come from all walks of life. People coming from a happy family. You meet people who are hugely unwell.

You find professors at universities. You find politicians. You find people from the press, policemen and women. He says like Q&ON in America, Heiksburger conspiracy theories flourished during the pandemic lockdown. The first victim of these pirate conspiracy theories are the believers themselves. I didn't meet anyone who was. Happy? I didn't meet anyone who, oh, now I found a great community. No, you found an enemy.

And the number of believers keeps growing. Germany's domestic intelligence agency says there are currently 26,000 known Reichsburger members across the country. That's 3,000 more than in 2022, the year of the nationwide police raids, and more than double the number 10 years ago when the government first started tracking the movement. Melissa Kent, for CBC News. Berlin. Australia is about to attempt what many parents see as a losing battle, forcing kids off social media. On Wednesday, it'll become the first country in the world to ban anyone under 16 from having social media accounts. Freelance reporter Danielle Robertson has more on that from Sydney.

How many people would put their hand up to say that they'd be okay if social media didn't exist? That was Michael Whipfly speaking to a group of teenagers at a school in Sydney, Australia, a conversation that sparked a nationwide movement for safer online spaces and eventually led to a world-first social media law. He co-founded the 36 months campaign that pushed to delay social media access from age 13 to 16 to protect teens from bullying, harmful algorithms and mental health risks. Parents were central to the team, sharing real stories of the psychological harm online platforms caused to their children, including father Rob Evans, who told the Prime Minister the story of his daughter Olivia and the circumstances of her death by suicide.

She went on this deep dive of like self-loathing, unrealistic, real estate. health standards, body image, the social media just like it sucked her into this vortex. I do truly believe that if these laws existed, she wasn't on it, that she'd probably still be here. The law comes into effect on December 10, with users required to verify their age via government ID or facial recognition. The government says platforms could face fines of up to $45 million, but cyber safety specialist Stacey Edmonds warns enforcement will be difficult.

There's going to be children who will work around it. So what we're going to see, increase in virtual private networks, increase in using other people's ID. 13-year-old Angel King has confirmed that in her circle of friends, that is already happening, this month receiving a warning that her Snapchat account would shut down. Many of my peers just created facial expressions to make it appear that they had wrinkles

and were able to bypass the ban and are still on their social media. Angel says the first. fight to stay online isn't just about staying connected. It's about having a space to be creative and build a career. A view shared by Leonardo Paglisi. Good evening and welcome to Six News. He launched a YouTube news channel at 11 years old. Now 18, it's grown into a business with thousands of followers, even landing the Prime Minister as a guest on his show. It has allowed me to explore my passions. It's allowed me to find plenty of friends. People I consider good friends. It's been a positive experience and I'm glad that I was able to use social media.

With the ban, just days from taking effect two teenagers are now challenging it in the High Court, including 15-year-old Noah Jones. I felt very strongly about being the plaintiff for young Australians having their right to free speech taken away from them and I feel that we will become invisible with this ban. We won't be able to share our views and opinions. We'll be isolated and separated from our country and the rest of the world. While progress on this court case won't happen until next year,

for now the government hopes this will mean a chance to disconnect. And as Greg Atwells from the 36-month campaign puts it, we launch into what will hopefully be the best summer ever. While not all may agree, it will be the first summer in Australia that this generation has ever experienced

without social media, now part of a global test with the world monitoring its effects. Danielle Robertson for CBC News, Sydney, Australia. Shirley Manson from the band Garbage has never been shy about saying how she feels. The Scottish singer definitely got angry at a festival in Melbourne, Australia on Friday. During her band's set, a fan started throwing beach balls in the crowd, which sparked this. Guy with your big beach ball!

Ooh! What a f*** bag! It's disrespectful. And musicians have had enough. And we're fed up of not getting paid properly. I'm fed up of having to play for d'u-like you. You're a middle-aged man in a fucking... ridiculous hat, and you're a

f***-ha-face. Okay, okay, okay, we're just going to stop that right there. The rant went viral. Now Manson is doubling down. Posting online, she says, I make no apologies, all caps, whatsoever for getting annoyed at beach balls at shows. I am so tired of folks taking music for free and treating us all like circus performers.

I joined a band because I hated the F-word beach. Look, like I said, she's never hidden how she feels. Here's more from Garbage on Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skandaris, and from Shirley Manson to you. Good night, Angel Face. I'm only happy when it rings For your misery down For your misery down on me

For your misery down For your misery down For more CBC podcasts Go to cBC.ca.