Your World Tonight - Iran vows revenge for Supreme Leader's death, Human trafficking in Northern Ontario, Testing sunscreen effectiveness, and more

Episode Date: March 1, 2026

The United States and Israel hit Iran with a fresh wave of attacks Sunday - a day after the assassination of the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has vowed retaliation - continuing its own airstrikes on a number of countries in the region. An interim council is running the country. But Khamenei's death, along with the killings of several senior Iranian figures, has created uncertainty about Iran's future.Also: In a ten year period ending in 2024, Canada had more than five thousand reported cases of human trafficking. And the Northwestern Ontario city Thunder Bay had the highest average annual rate. Many of the victims often don't know they're being groomed. But those who have gone through it are playing a key role in trying to protect those at risk.And: Skin cancer rates are on the rise in Canada. But as people turn to sunscreen for protection, the number on the bottle isn't always trustworthy. The CBC Marketplace team sent samples from one brand of sunscreen to several labs for testing. And the results they got back were wildly different.Plus: More reaction to the conflict in Iran, the effect of motherhood on orcas, and more.

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This is a CBC podcast. I assume that it takes a short period of time, maybe in one or two days, they will elect a new leader for the country, inshallah. Iran's foreign minister promising a new supreme leader will be chosen soon. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei was killed yesterday in an all-out air attack by Israel and the U.S. that continues to pummel the country. In response, Tehran is hitting back across the region, with deaths reported in Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Three American service members have also been killed. In response, President Donald Trump vows vengeance and says there will likely be more U.S. casualties to come. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Kate McGilvery. Also on the podcast. The message from Ottawa to Canadians in the region remains one of caution. Those in Iran are being told to shelter in place

as travel warnings urge Canadians not in the Middle East to stay away. And I think every Iranian people now we have a new life. I don't think that there will be any regime change as expected by some. Jubilation, excitement, anxiety, grief, reaction to the death of Iran's supreme leader is a study in contrast, revealing deep fault lines among Iranians, both abroad and here in Canada. The faint sound of explosions echo through Tehran as a thick plume of smoke rises from the horizon. The United States and Israel hit Iran with a fresh wave of attacks on Sunday, a day after the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khomeini.

Iran's supreme leader was killed Saturday, his country now in a 40-day period of mourning. An interim council is running the country, but Khomeini's death, along with the killings of several senior Iranian figures, has created uncertainty about the country's future. The CBC's senior international correspondent, Margaret Evans, has more on the day's events from Jordan. And so begins 40 days of Iran for a man who has ruled Iran for nearly 40 years. Ayatollah Ali Hamenei holding the country in an iron grip so tight few could imagine it ever being ripped from his grasp.

Until now, satellite images show what's left of the Supreme Leader's compound in Tehran. after Israel launched the strike killing Hamenei and several of his top military advisors, leaving his supporters to mourn and those members of the regime still standing to manage a war and a succession at the same time. Iran's president, Masoud Pazashkian, will be part of a three-man interim leadership council. The armed forces of the Islamic Union, the armed forces of the Islamic Union, Islamic Republic of Iran are taking action with the power to destroy the enemy's bases, he says. Iran's retaliation has targeted Israel, but also U.S. military bases hosted by countries across the Middle East,

from Iraq and Jordan to the Gulf states, drumming up fears that the conflict could easily spread. Israeli and American strikes are continuing to hit targets inside Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying they'll continue in aid of what he called his promise to strike the terror regime decisively. Our forces are now striking in the heart of Tehran with growing intensity, he's saying, and this will only increase in the coming days. One strike in southern Iran reportedly hit a school, killing dozens of children. These are frightening days for supporters and opponents of the regime alike.

But for some of those who have long campaigned for an end to a regime known for its cruelty and repression, they are also hopeful days. Many celebrated when they heard news of Hamonay's demise, some daring to do it in public, albeit under cover of them. darkness. This is a crowd tearing down a symbol of the Islamic Republic. That's despite a heavy presence of security forces on the streets and warnings from Ali Larajani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Groups seeking to divide Iran should know, we will not tolerate it, he said. The armed forces and the nation stand by the unity of Iran. They should not think that a breeze has blown and they can divide a part of the country. That's also a warning to Iran's enemies and calls on the Iranian people

to rise up against the leadership that remains by U.S. President Donald Trump. Margaret Evans, CBC News, in Amman, Jordan. Already, there are U.S. casualties as a result of the expanding conflict. The U.S. military announced today three of its service members have been killed in action. and five wounded. And this afternoon, President Trump said there could be more. Meanwhile, there's division in how U.S. lawmakers are reacting to the strikes with some opposition even from within the Republican Party. Paul Hunter reports from Washington. As the U.S. assault on Iran continued Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump was steadfast. Combat operations continue at this time in full force,

and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved. We have Very strong objectives. Trump, releasing a video this afternoon, urging Iranian authorities to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain death. Won't be pretty. Separately, in an interview with Atlantic Magazine, Trump said Iran's new leadership now wants to talk.

So I will be talking to them, he said, but gave no other details. All of it, about time, say Trump backers, such as, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Iran in the future will no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism. They cannot rain terror on the region. They cannot commit mass murder. That's the goal of this operation. Again, the mothership of terrorism is sinking.

The captain is dead. Well done, President Trump. But in that video statement today, Trump also acknowledged those first U.S. troops to have been killed in this operation. And sadly, there will likely be. more. Before it ends, that's the way it is, likely be more. Democratic Senator Jack Reed raising another matter. Where does this go from here? We are now in a gamble, and we're in a situation in which the president has not clearly

articulated what is his real goal and how will he achieve it. So there's a lot of ambiguity, I think, even within the administration of what comes next. Trump, who had long pledged never to start a war, is also finding opposition within his own Republican Party. Senator Rand Paul slamming the assault as yet another preemptive war in the Middle East. Former Republican lawmaker and one-time major supporter of Trump, Marjorie Taylor Green, called it the worst betrayal of all time, writing, It's always a lie and it's always America last, adding, it comes from the very man who we all believed was different. I call upon all Iranian patriots who... Trump ending his video with a message to the Iranian people.

Seize the moment, he said. Take back your country. The rest will be up to you, but we'll be there to help. Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. In Israel, air raid sirens blaring across the country today, like this one in Jerusalem, forced people into fortified shelters. The country is being hit with counterattacks from Iran. Officials say a strike killed at least nine people today and injured more than two dozen others. Crystal Gumancing is in Jerusalem.

Crystal, what's the latest on the counterstrikes targeting Israel? Well, for the second day in a row, a missile got through Israel's air defense systems, resulting in what police described as a direct strike in Betshamesh. Now, that city is located about 30 kilometers west of Jerusalem. The amount of destruction at that location was sweeping. Some of the buildings unrecognizable, others had sections blown off, a synagogue was destroyed, along with a public shelter. Now, that is a shelter where people would have sought cover. They are strong, but they can't withstand a direct hit.

Among those working at the scene were Israel's two emergency services agencies. They were searching for survivors, treating the wounded, and removing the dead. Before the military operation got underway, one of the things Israel Defense Forces, did in preparing for these operations was getting more search and rescue teams trained and ready to deploy to strike sites like the one we saw at Bet Shmesh. And how are people in Israel reacting to these attacks so far? There is this sense of exhaustion. For three years now, there has been conflict dominating life.

And it's not that people are saying they're against the military operation for regime change in Iran. They are questioning how long this will go on. And what they might lose in the meantime, will it be their home, will it be their work being hit, will it be one of their children killed in the military operation? They seem to be running out of energy and even questioning if they'll have energy to run to shelters multiple times a day. There are so many alerts that are coming in, so many warnings, and people are being told expressly to heed these warnings because missiles are getting through.

so people are really just asking questions. And both the president and the prime minister addressed the challenging and painful days with the strikes that we saw today and yesterday. But they said they have to press on. It seems as if leaders are really trying to work on morale here. Both talked about the partnership with the United States and how their two are working to ensure Israel's future.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is hitting Iran hard and that pressure will increase that it has to. Crystal Gumansing in Jerusalem, thanks for this, Crystal. You're welcome. Now to Turkey, which shares a nearly 600-kilometer-long border with Iran. The CBC's Breyer-Stewart is in eastern Turkey, and I spoke to her earlier. So, Breyer, you were at a border crossing today. Can you describe the scene for us and what you were hearing from some Iranians crossing into Turkey?

Yeah, Kate, I was at the Capicoi border crossing today, and it's one of three main crossing points between Turkey and Iran. And we certainly saw people going in and out of Iran, some dragging suitcases. At times, you had entire families with young children making the crossing. And part of the traffic that we saw over the border

is due to the fact that the airspace over Iran is closed. So people who left the country had to, you know, make it back over land. But you also had people leaving because of the security situation. We met people who had citizenship in Turkey or in other countries like the UK. And they wanted to leave now

because of the airstrikes, but also because of the great uncertainty, given the death of the supreme leader. Some feel very hopeful about what could come next, but others that we spoke to said the leadership may change, but potentially not much else. I think every Iranian people now, we have a new life from today. Freedom? Yes. Probably things will keep up as they were before, and then I don't think that there will be any regime change. whatsoever as expected by some. We also spoke with some of the border who said that some Iranian citizens were being delayed or even prevented from crossing over. We met one father who came out with his six-year-old son.

The father was born in Turkey, but his wife was born in Iran and she wasn't given permission to leave. She was sitting back there and waiting with what he estimated were another 50 to 60 others. Turkey has offered to mediate this conflict. What more are we hearing from the government there? Well, in a statement on social media today, Turkey's president, Rejip Taip Erdogan, said he was saddened by the news of the death of Ayatollah Ali Hamenei, and he extended his condolences to the people of Iran. Now, Ordogan has called the U.S. and Israeli strikes attacks on Iran's sovereignty, but at the same time, he's called Iran's attacks on other countries in the region like Bahrain and Oman, totally unacceptable. Erdogan has warned that without restraint and diplomacy, the entire region, risks being dressed. into a circle of fire.

And of course, Turkey is a NATO member, and it's always been trying to kind of balance its relations with its neighbors and the alliance. And frequently, it takes on the role of middleman. But even the divisions around what's happening in Iran is evident in Turkey itself, because today in Istanbul, you had rallies celebrating Hamini's death,

and you also had protests against the U.S. and Israel. That's Breyer Stewart in eastern Turkey. Thanks, Breyer. You're welcome. Still ahead. For Orca moms, it's a labor of love. New Canadian-led research on the whales is showing us the heavy toll that having offspring can take. That's coming up on Your World Tonight. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Anita Anand, is advising Canadians in Iran to shelter in place.

Iranian Canadians here are doing the opposite, getting out in the streets in celebration of what many hope is the end of a repressive regime. But many are also fearful of what friends are. and family will have to endure in the coming days. Philip Lee Shanak has more. Outside the U.S. consulate in Toronto, pre-revolutionary Iranian flags wave alongside the stars and stripes and Israel's blue and white star of David flag.

We don't care if he's coming from Israel or U.S. or China or anywhere. We need help because they're killing our children. Protester Alina, who asked us not to use her last name as she says she's received death threats, says she heard from low. loved ones in Iran and says those who openly celebrated the U.S. Israeli strikes were attacked by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Like the people came out outside and they started to shoot the people outside as well from

IRGC group. So until they're completely out, we're never going to be safe. Iranian Canadians are watching developments with hope and worry as the Iranian regime that has ruled for almost 50 years continues to violently quash descent. In Edmonton, Payman Parsan says his cousin was killed in Iran during a protest in January. She was out on the street protesting unarmed, not causing trouble. Still, he says the loved ones he spoke to are unafraid and full of hope. They told us word for word, don't be worried for us. This gives us hope.

47 years we've been waiting for this opportunity to take back our country. Fawaz Yerges teaches contemporary Middle Eastern studies at the London School of Economics. He says those looking for regime change in Iraq. Iran could be targeted for retaliation. The Iranian leadership will be much more brutal and repressive if they survive. And he says despite promises to come to the aid of protesters, U.S. President Donald Trump says he's willing to negotiate with Iran's new leadership. Donald Trump is not interested in the welfare of the Iranian people.

And if Donald Trump is given a win by the Iranian leadership, he will basically declare a win and ceases his military campaign. Iranian Canadian activist Parmita Baras says those who want a secular democracy in Iran are not expecting it to be handed to them. They're thankful to those who stood by their side, like President Trump. He said help is on the way. It has been on the way. And I believe that they will be able to liberate themselves. And Barras says the people she has spoken to will not be placated by promises of reform.

They say they know the risks, she says, and will not accept anything less than regime. Team change. Belta Shenox, CBC News, Toronto. They're targeting migrants, foster children, and indigenous women and girls. Human traffickers are making Thunder Bay a national hub. In a 10-year period, ending in 2024, Canada had more than 5,000 reported cases of human trafficking. And the northwestern Ontario City had the highest average annual rate. Victims often don't know that they're being groomed, but as the CBC's Sarah Law reports, those who have gone through it are playing a key role in trying to protect those at risk.

For me, it played into how I thought and felt about myself. It tied into my self-worth, like, I'm only good for this. Vanessa Tukene is a survivor of sex trafficking. The member of Fort William First Nation is now a child and youth worker in Thunder Bay. But a few years ago, her life looked a lot different. It's kind of ingrained, or it's the rule that you don't talk to cops, or you don't seek out help, don't talk to. don't tell. Human trafficking largely remains behind closed doors. Stephen Carney is a social work

student at Lakehead University. He's been researching the issue in northwestern Ontario and people's misconceptions about it. This isn't taken with Liam Neeson, right? This is an issue that's a little more subtle. Human trafficking can range from sexual exploitation to forced labor. According to statistics Canada, 93% of reported victims are women, two-thirds of whom are younger than 25 years old. Carney says human trafficking intersects with several social issues. There's so many crossovers between a number of other issues, gender-based violence, domestic violence, murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. Tuchinae says she's hearing more stories of women being whined and dined as perpetrators groomed them

to stay. And not knowing, like, what the risks and the attachments are. It's always good in the beginning and then it's not, and then you owe them, or you're stuck out there, or you're being controlled. Cindy Pay Pompey is co-chair of the Thunder Bay Coalition to end human trafficking. It brings together law enforcement, health, education, and social service providers. This is not like a funded coalition. We're just doing this on our own, like the organizations. Pay Pompey says a big focus of the coalition is education.

Like signs of a person who may be trafficked, safety planning, local resources in Thunder Bay. When Tukane was being trafficked, she says a peer support worker and police officer in the human trafficking unit kept in contact with her. She credits them for helping her escape. I mean, when I was ready and when I did need help, I felt safe and comfortable enough because I had built a relationship with them. Tukene is now four years into her recovery from addiction. She's become a community advocate and helps others who are going through similar challenges. Tukene has a message for people who are being taken advantage of. You're not alone and you're more than what you do.

And life won't always be this way. Tukene says she wants the city's frontline workers to receive more support so they can help more victims become survivors. Sarah Law, CBC News, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Skin cancer rates are on the rise in Canada, but as people turn to sunscreen for protection, the number on the bottle isn't always trustworthy. The CBC Marketplace team sent samples from one brand of sunscreen

to several labs for testing. They got back wildly different results. Christine Beirak tells us the numbers and why experts say Health Canada should take action. Maybe five years. There's a 37% chance to live five years. Annette Seer will never forget those words. Against the odds, she beat melanoma.

Sitting in her home in Oakville, Ontario, Sears says Canadians need to take skin cancer more seriously, and so do those in charge of making and regulating sunscreen. Because we're putting our health in the hands of others. I expect what they put on that label is pretty darn close to what's in that bottle. Studies show sunscreen is safe, but marketplace testing found SPF numbers can be unreliable. You'll never get the protection on the bottle. Professor Brian Diffy spent decades researching sun exposure and SPF protection. He says lab testing is standardized, but results vary widely. To test that marketplace sent a popular sunscreen

labeled SPF 50 to five labs and got back five different results, one said it was SPF 50, another went higher, but three lab results were lower, including SPF 15. The results are really quite worrying, aren't they? Because not only was there a big range, when we actually compared one lab with another, they were all different.

For these sunscreen users, that data, doesn't inspire confidence. I mean, you'd hope for some consistency. I mean, that's ridiculous. How are they so different? To find out, we travel to a testing lab in Fairfield, New Jersey. I'm going to place the lamp on your back. To measure SPF, they use human volunteers,

expose them to UV light, with and without sunscreen. It's very archaic because you're causing a burn, which is an inflammatory response, and that's a very variable thing. Michael Trout oversees lab. testing at consumer product testing company. He says a researcher then visually examines the redness to calculate SPF. Labs also use a precise amount of sunscreen.

Trout says it's more than most people use. A number of studies have been conducted that show that on average people apply far less than half of what we do on this test. Still, Health Canada only requires sunscreen makers to test a product once at one lab on 10 people. They don't need to submit test results to health. Canada either, unless they're asked. In 2022, the owner of AMA, a major American test lab, went to prison. The company had been fabricating SPF data for 30 years, yet no products were recalled in Canada.

It sounds like it's a little bit of a crapshoot, to be honest. Annette Sear is worried about rising skin cancer rates. She heads melanoma Canada. Underperforming sunscreens can still provide protection. But Sear says if that protection is between 15 and 50, maybe that's what belongs on the label, and it would increase transparency and rebuild trust. Christine Birak, CBC News, Toronto. They're stocky, they're vicious, and they're vital to many ecosystems in Canada. The American Badger can be found across a large swath of the country, but increasingly the population is in trouble, even in traditionally safe zones in Western Canada.

Amir Saeed. has more. Other modern species of wildlife has a greater imprint on the prairies of Alberta. Wildlife biologist Chris Fisher is no stranger to badgers. The elusive animals are relatively common on farms and his home province of Alberta, but a recent federal assessment suggests Canadian badgers could be in trouble. Chris Johnson is a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. They continue to face a number of risks and threats to their persistence in the country. Those threats include habitat loss, moving vehicles, and the killing of badgers by farmers and landowners. Badgers are found from Ontario to BC, but in southwestern

Ontario and the BC interior, the situation is grave enough that those badgers have been designated as endangered. We do know that there are real threats for badgers and that they need to be managed. Otherwise, there's a risk of them trending into one of those other categories. Badgers are more common in the prairie provinces, but they face the same thing. threats, which is why those badgers are considered a special concern species. Often when people do see badgers, they're on the road. We do see them hit on roads a fair bit. Chris Fisher says badgers are attracted to roads because it's easier to dig burrows in ditches.

That's also what brings plenty of gophers there, which hungry badgers can't resist. A combination of being attracted to the buffet and having a high-speed road right beside it is not a particularly good one. That's only part of the problem, according to Fisher. He says urban development is expanding into natural grasslands at a rate that puts badgers at risk. And these species really do best, where we do least. It's illegal to kill endangered badgers in both Ontario and BC, but in Alberta, it's legal to hunt and trap them and for landowners to shoot them. As a wildlife biologist, Fisher provides consulting services to help protect sensitive species.

That includes encouraging developers to build away from badger dens. He says for a species at risk, every little bit helps. Amir Saeed, CBC News, Calgary. This next story is a reminder for some of us to call our moms. New Canadian-led research out today looks at the toll that motherhood is having on killer whales. It took decades of data following moms and their offspring and is revealing more about the sacrifices made by these socially complex animals. Anandram has more.

Consider that whatever these killer whales are squealing about, they're likely saying it around their mom. Highly social and matrilineal, meaning moms are critical to the pod for knowledge, hunting, and unlike many human families, the children, the calves, they never really leave. Our sons and daughters are more than killer whale daughters and sons. They're right there with their mom and being fed throughout their lives.

Sharon Kay is a biologist and part of a team that measured the toll of that motherhood in northern resident killer. whales off the coastal waters of British Columbia. And what they looked at was body fat. When a killer whale mom is in trouble, she'll lose fat behind her head. But since orcas won't line up to have their heads measured, the team used drones, taking photos of these moms for more than 10 years, from pregnancy to nursing to a life feeding their stay-at-home adult kids. And the telltale sign of their health were those white eye patches. Amy Roley is a co-author with the Raincoast Foundation.

The iPaches are more kind of angled outwards. That's a faster, healthier whale versus if they're kind of parallel or even slightly inward. And what they found was that it was the number of living offspring that had a greater influence on how quickly the mom recovered body fat. So a female with lots of offspring is in worse condition for her age than a female with fewer offspring. And the sex of the offspring didn't seem to matter, despite some evidence that sons are more expensive to Orca Mother. than daughters, at least in one way. Females with more sons were less likely to have subsequent kids. They were less likely to reproduce.

Michael Weiss was part of the team that made that finding at the center of whale research. But this study, he says, still connects some dots for future research to work on. The kind of like wrinkle I love in this kind of research where you kind of think you have an animal figured out. And then something pops up and turns out there's all these new questions. How tough is it to be an orca mom? I wish I could answer that comprehensively. Anna Myers is a marine ecologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She also thinks the study adds another piece to the puzzle.

You really get this rich understanding of how these different animals work in the ecosystem, right? Which is all part of what we'd like to understand in ecology. Are you kidding me? And while we can sometimes get to see these animals live these socially complex lives, experts say we have to remember the environmental and societal pressures they face. There's a long, long cost of taking care of offspring because they are spending so much time with their offspring throughout their entire lives. So if killer whale kids want to talk, they should be, and maybe they are saying, Thanks, Mom.

Onondram, CBC News, Toronto. And as we end our show, let's revisit the key developments in our top story today. Iranian missile fire is pounding the Middle East, retaliation for the ongoing. going attacks led by the U.S. and Israel. Tehran continued its strikes on its nearest neighbors on Sunday, killing nine in an Israeli city, with more deaths reported in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and beyond. The Pentagon also announced that three U.S. troops were killed in action,

the first Americans to die in this conflict. Inside Iran, an interim committee will run the government as they choose a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khomeini. The country's supreme leader was killed on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump now says he's willing to speak with Iran's new leaders as he reiterated his call for Iranians to, quote, take back their country. This has been your world tonight for Sunday, March 1st. I'm Kate McGilvery. Good night.

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