Your World Tonight - Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations, Political violence in Manitoba, Jays vs Yankees, and more

Episode Date: October 4, 2025

Israel says it has formed a delegation to negotiate ceasefire talks, under U.S. President Donald Trump's twenty point plan for ending the war in Gaza. Both Israel and Hamas have indicated they are willing to move forward with a deal, but there are still roadblocks. We'll have the latest from on the ground in Jerusalem.Also: In Manitoba, concerns over political violence dominated the legislature this week, after multiple acts of vandalism and arson on the offices of two NDP MLAs.And: All eyes are on Rogers Centre in Toronto, for game one of the playoffs between the Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. The Jays are back in action after a six day break, fresh from clinching their first division title in ten years. We'll take you to the field for all the excitement.Plus: Trump's embrace of Project 2025, Beluga whales in jeopardy, and more.

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Follow World Report wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Stephanie Skanderas. This is your world tonight. We are on the verge of a very significant achievement. Israel's prime minister says he hopes the remaining hostages will soon be freed. And the world waits to see if this could be the beginning of the end of the war in Gaza. Trump is pushing for a deal.

we've got the latest. Also on the podcast, political violence in Manitoba. You'll hear about the cases of vandalism and arson on the offices of two MLAs and the heated debate that followed. Plus, look at the fans out here. This is our Canadian team. We have one Canadian team and they're the Blue Jays. Everybody's behind them right now. Okay, Blue Jays fans, a big moment for the home team taking on the Yankees in game one of the playoffs. Israel says it has formed a delegation to negotiate ceasefire talks under U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan. Both Israel and Hamas have indicated they are willing to move forward with a hostage and ceasefire deal, but roadblocks remain. The CBC's Paul Hunter is in Jerusalem and joins us with more.

So Paul, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation to talk about next. steps. So where do things stand right now? Well, as Netanyahu put it in his speech, quote, we are on the verge of a great achievement and he said he hopes the remaining hostages will be freed in the days ahead. But at those coming talks in Cairo aimed at sorting out the many details that Hamas says need attention before Hamas signs off on any of it, there will be a lot of stuff in play. In his speech tonight, Netanyahu also said, for example, that Hamas will be disarmed, echoing his language at the White House a few days ago and using the phrase they can do that the easy way or the hard way.

Hamas made no mention of disarmament in its statement, conditionally accepting the peace deal. So lots to be done and talked about in Cairo before any of this becomes a reality. Meanwhile, Donald Trump weighing in again today, here's a quote from his post on truth social. Hamas must move quickly or else all bets will be off, he wrote. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let's get this done fast. Trump clearly underlining he wants action on this. All eyes now move to Cairo, though, for those talks.

U.S. envoy Steve Whitkoff will travel to Egypt to lead the negotiation with pretty much everything in the balance. You spent the evening in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. This is where the families of hostages have gathered to protest every week, where they did once again. this evening. How are they feeling right now? Boyant, hopeful, excited, cautious, because they've been hopeful before only to be let down. And indeed, despite the pressure to get all this sorted in Cairo and despite the positivity from Donald Trump, believing this will happen that the hostages likely will soon be freed, as Netanyahu puts it, believing that isn't easy after all this time. And yeah, the rally at hostage square

in central Tel Aviv has been held every Saturday night since late October 2023. Tonight, many, many thousands of people were on hand. Some, by the way, wearing I heart Donald Trump t-shirts, but all of them chanting, as they do, bring them home. There have indeed been lots of these rallies, but tonight's was extremely high energy. At it, I spoke to a number of people, and I want to play you a clip from one of them. Jasmine Argument, I asked her what she makes of the news.

The hostages may soon be released, and here's part of her answer. shaking here. I believe, you know, I believe the time is now. We want these families to have a good ending. The hostages, they deserve to be home enough. You know, it's just, I want to believe and I believe. Of course, in Gaza, where after two years of war, countless Gazans remain in dire need of food, clean water, medicine, shelter, and more. And where so much of their infrastructure is being destroyed, they all want this to end, desperately so. But there's a real sense of, I'll believe it when it actually happens. Here's how one man in Gaza put it today through the voice of a translator. I'm not optimistic. I will only feel optimistic when the agreement

has been directly implemented. An agreement on paper, mere media reports, and evasion don't convince me. Tuesday, of course, marks the second anniversary of the day this all began with those horrific attacks from Hamas into Israel. So we've got very cautious optimism, I guess we can. can say that maybe this is finally nearing its end, Stephanie. Okay, Paul. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. You're welcome. The CBC's Paul Hunter in Jerusalem. Global Affairs Canada says it's aware of two Canadians that have been detained in Israel

after a flotilla trying to bring aid into Gaza was intercepted. Israeli authorities stopped dozens of ships from reaching the territory on Thursday, arresting at least 470 activists on board. On Saturday, Israel's foreign ministry says it's, deported 137 activists from 14 countries, not including Canada. Global Affairs was not able to confirm the total number of Canadians that were part of the flotilla. In Syria, parliamentary elections on Sunday are being seen as a stress test of the country's transitional government and its internal cohesion. It's the first such vote since rebels forced President Bashar al-Assah

to flee the country last December, ending his family's 50-year rule. But the elections are not fully democratic. And as our senior international correspondent Margaret Evans reports, critics say there's a lack of transparency. The Syrian People's Assembly will be chosen not by individual voters, but through a combination of electoral colleges and direct appointments by President Ahmed al-Shara, the former rebel leader whose Islamist-led forces toppled Bashar al-Assad from power.

Two-thirds of seats will be chosen by electoral. colleges appointed by regional committees and the remaining third appointed by Ashara. Critics say that makes the process open to manipulation. Others say it's not bad for a country emerging from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed more than half a million people. Kassan Al-Gadir is a candidate for parliament in the eastern city of Dresor. We wished for direct elections, he says, but the country, The country's current conditions, the unavailability of data and millions of Syrians being

outside the country prevented this. Der Azor itself is a reminder of existing fault lines in Syria. Only half the city is currently included in the electoral process. The other half, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic forces, is not. Al-Sharaz administration says it's delayed voting there for security reasons, as it has in other Kurdish-controlled areas and in the Druze stronghold of Swayda, where sectarian clashes broke out with government forces over the summer.

It's heightened fears amongst Syrian minorities that they'll struggle for representation in the new parliament. Damascus resident Marcel Mohamed is in al-a-white. Popular or not, he says, when an authority appoints a parliament, the outcome is expected to reflect the mindset of the authority. There are no set quotas for the representation of ethnic and sectarian minorities or for women. But some analysts say Al-Sharah could use his appointments to increase their numbers.

And Syrian authorities say the parliament will only have a 30-month term, after which regular elections would be held. Last month, Al-Sharah became the first Syrian head of state to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly in nearly 60 years. A remarkable turn for a former al-Qaeda member once jailed by U.S. forces in Iraq. Analysts say his continued rehabilitation on the world stage and much-needed economic support for Syria will depend on the representation of minorities and transparency of governance. Margaret Evans, CBC News, London. In the Czech Republic, a political comeback for a former Prime Minister. Andre Babish thanks a crowd of supporters

after his party won the country's parliamentary election. His populist Anno party took the most seats with 35% of the vote, not enough to secure a majority. Babish has been a fierce critic of his country's military support of Ukraine and has pledged to stop sending weapons and artillery there. Opposition parties have accused Babish of wanting to move the Czech Republic away from the European Union and NATO, which he denies. Still ahead, Marineland says it's running out of money and can't care for 30 beluga whales.

The federal government says they can't be sent to China. So the whale's fate is more uncertain than ever, and their lives hang in the balance. We'll explain the situation coming up on your world tonight. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says the Trump administration plans to federalize 300 members of the state's National Guard. In a statement, Pritzker says the guard got word from the Pentagon early Saturday. They would be called up. He did not say when or where the guard would be deployed, but President Trump has threatened to send troops into Chicago as part of a nationwide crackdown on crime and immigration. Now, that crackdown is one of the key proposals of Project 2025.

Donald Trump spent much of last year's election campaign actively distancing himself from that contentious blueprint for governing. But as Ashley Burke reports from Washington, he's now openly embracing it. I'm a person with great common sense. I'm not an extremist at all. During his re-election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly distanced himself from Project 2025,

a controversial policy blueprint, I mean, they're seriously extreme, but I don't know anything about it. I don't want to know anything about it. But for the first time, Trump is publicly changing his tune and appears to be embracing it. Acknowledging online, his budget director Russ Vote was a key architect known for his project 2025 fame and said he's meeting him to discuss cutting what he calls democratic agencies. He feels emboldened to do that because there has not been significant pushback against many of his authoritarian actions.

Manisha Sinha with the University of Connecticut describes what changed. I think he somehow feels now that he is president for the second time and the Republicans have completely couted out to him in Congress and they control both houses, that he can to reveal himself, reveal his true colors. Project 2025 is a sweeping policy plan created by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation for Trump, if he won. It promotes itself in videos like this. Our heritage is telling woke corporations and leftist bureaucrats that they belong

in the backseat. Their plan recommends Trump cracked down on immigration, scrap abortion access, NDEI, and much more. Matthew Dalek is a professor at George Washington University. Project 2025 takes a sort of view of presidential power and puts it on steroids. It has a very aggressive view of what the president can do. Democratic Senator John Federman worries Trump will leverage the ongoing government shutdown to advance Project 2025's goals.

Because that allows him to pull a lot more levers. It creates all new opportunities for him or vote to make all these kinds of changes. The president trusts his cabinet secretaries. Trump's press secretary, Caroline Levitt, asked point blank about Project 2024. Is that the blueprint for shrinking the government? Look, the blueprint is what the president and his team and his cabinet secretary is ultimately decide. But it will be up to Americans to ultimately decide if they're okay with Trump's agenda. He's added several of Project 2025's key authors to his administration

and is already taking steps towards rolling out parts of their playbook. Ashley Burke, CBC News, Washington. The Trump administration is also providing, a legal justification for its killing of alleged drug smugglers off the coast of Venezuela. In a memo sent to the U.S. Congress this week, the administration says the alleged cartel members are not criminals, but combatants. And their killings by the U.S. military are part of an armed conflict. But experts say that legal rationale is unconvincing.

Freelance reporter Cody Weddell has more from Colombia. Venezuela's defense minister, Vladimir Padino-Lopez, calls the latest actions by the United States just off his country shores a provocation. Five U.S. fighter jets, Lopez says, were detected by Venezuelan aerial defense systems. The planes were flying close to areas of Venezuela influence, he says. The Trump administration has also deployed at least eight warships to the Caribbean Sea, all an effort, according to. to the White House to combat drug trafficking, which they say flows through Venezuela to the U.S. Some drugs do go through Venezuela. It's probably in the region of around 5% of the cocaine, comes through Venezuela. A lot of that is actually going to Europe.

Phil Gunson is an analyst with the International Crisis Group based in Caracas. As part of its campaign, the U.S. has declared Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, as the head of a drug trafficking organization and offered a 50 million U.S. dollar reward for his arrest. But Gunson says there's little evidence to support those claims. What's mostly going on, historically, what has been going on, is that the generals or other members of Venezuela military are taking money in order to look the other way

or they're taking money in order to facilitate the logistics of the drugs passing through. They're not necessarily the owners of the shipment. Up until now, U.S. forces have targeted boats that officials say were carrying drugs, killing at least 21 people. Fabian Cardenas is an international law expert at Columbia's Zaverian Pontifical University, La Haviriana. What the U.S. government had to do was to approach the boats and arrest them or eventually contact the Venezuelan authorities to proceed with regular criminal procedures. The U.S. State Department argues that by designating drug cartels, as terror,

terrorist organizations, they have the legal authority to conduct lethal strikes against them. But President Maduro suspects the U.S.'s actual in goal is regime change. A land invasion of Venezuela is unlikely, says Victor Mihades, an expert on the Venezuelan armed forces. Mihades says the U.S. strategy may be to so discord within Venezuela's military ranks. Real objective here I think is more making pressure from the Caribbean in order to break. break the cohesion within the chavismo and the cohesion within the military and the political power in Venezuela. That pressure campaign so far has not yielded any noticeable results because Mihades says

the Venezuelan military has been designed to prevent internal uprisings. You know, a very spread military forces with several clusters and no communication and with political officers within every unit. In a post on X, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hex said. wrote U.S. forces will continue to attack boats off the coast of Venezuela that he says are carrying drugs bound for the United States. Cody Weddle for CBC News, Bogota. Marine Land says the fate of 30 captive beluga whales could be decided by Tuesday. The Ontario Park says without federal funds to help care for the whales, it'll have no choice

but to euthanize them. Philip Lyshenock reports. Marine land's failure to plan for these scenarios isn't Canada's emergency. Amusement Park Marine Land says it doesn't have the money to take care of 30 beluga whales on its Niagara Falls, Ontario property. Marine Land claims it costs $2 million a month to care for the animals. Aaron Ryan of World Animal Protection Canada calls it extortion. I think it's morally reprehensible for marine land to be holding the government of Canada hostage for making what is essentially the right decision. This week, Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson denied Marine Land's request, to export them to China.

Thompson said the decision is in line with a 2019 law that bans keeping whales and dolphins in captivity or using them for entertainment shows. Now the park could soon file for bankruptcy following the decision. I'm an animal lover, and it's just a sad situation. Ontario Premier Doug Ford blamed the federal government for putting the whales at risk. I'm disappointed that the federal government

wouldn't sign off on moving them. I'm really encouraging the federal government to allow us to make sure that these whales survive. Professor Angela Fernandez teaches at the University of Toronto Law School. She says if marine land can no longer provide care, the responsibility for the welfare of the whales actually falls to the government of Ontario under provincial law. So that's really Doug Ford, who needs to kind of come forward

and basically seize the animals in the park. Even if it's just seizing them in place for the moment, until a good plan can be worked out as to what to do with them. Fernandez says Ontario Premier Ford and federal fisheries minister Thompson should work together. This could be a good news story of federal provincial working together rather than a story where, you know, God forbid the animals end up dead and everyone's pointing to each other whose fault was it. In a statement to CBC News, Thompson said only one export request for the belugas had been received

and others are welcome. Philip Lyshenock, CBC News, Toronto. In Manitoba, concerns over political violence dominated the legislature this week. Those concerns stem from acts of vandalism and arson on the offices of two NDP MLAs. Karen Pauls takes us through what's happening. So, honorable speaker, I table over 450 emails from different Manitobans demanding the minister be removed from her office. Conservative leader, Abi Khan, challenging Premier Wab Canoe for defending his family's Minister Nahani Fontaine over two recent incidents. In June, Fontaine was caught complaining

an American sign language interpreter distracted her during a speech. Then, after the murder of U.S. activist Charlie Kirk, Fontaine reposted a commentary saying he represented, quote, nothing but hate, adding she had no sympathy for him. Fontein apologized for both incidents, but that didn'ts. Gop calls for her resignation. Why is the preber keeping a minister in his cabinet who has showed such visceral hate, condoned political violence, and showed no empathy? I'm keeping the minister in cabinet because she's a great minister

and because I don't believe in cancel culture. The attacks on Fontaine are not just inside the Manitoba legislature, her constituency office and that of housing, addictions, and homelessness minister Bernadette Smith have been vandalized, broken windows, fires, and other destruction. Fontaine and Smith are the first, First Nations women ever in cabinet, and they're presiding over some contentious portfolios. On Tuesday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, fire crews battled yet another blaze at Fontaine's office. She, believes, was deliberately set. The next day, several dozen people attended a Nahani must go rally outside of the legislature.

Nahani Fontaine still has the support of extreme radicals. These people are freaks. What you're seeing here is uncivilized, barbaric behavior. Clashing with Fontaine supporters, many of them female First Nations elders. What is that behavior? That is beyond unhuman. This person is soulless. This person needs help.

So our job is to pray for them. Some analysts worry, inflammatory language and rage baiting is opening the door to violence. Christopher Adams teaches political science at the University of Manitoba. It's disconcerting that even if people disagree with her, and many people do, that there's some sort of green light to be violent. Lori Turnbull agrees.

She's a professor in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. That's another step in intimidation. in attacking the person. Bernadette Smith says vandalism and fires don't just harm her and her staff. It's an attack on democracy. You know, we're not able to do our job fully. Fontaine says she won't back down.

We worked hard to be here. We continue to work hard. And no amount of attacks will ever push us out of this. Both women are ramping up security as police continue to investigate the attacks on their offices. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Winnipeg. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in.

is caught up in an epic showdown. It is game one of the playoffs between the Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. The Jays back in action at the Rogers Center after a six-day break, fresh from clinching their first division title in a decade. In a sea of fans decked out in blue and white, we found CBC's Jamie Strassion.

Jamie, I can hear all of the energy, the excitement behind you, of course. It's amazing, amazing atmosphere. It's an amazing atmosphere. It's everywhere in the city. What's it like there? Inside the stadium, it's been crazy. I mean, the crowd has been on its feet since the game began.

They've been loud. The stadium has been full, about half an hour, 45 minutes before the first pitch. Outside of the stadium before the game, fans were lined up two, three hours. We've heard the idea that this is Canada's team. It's the only team in Major League Baseball. It's a theme that the team has embraced, and it's a theme that fans. have embraced as well. Look at the fans out here.

There's people we've met earlier. They're all away from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Vancouver, all over the place. This is our Canadian team. We have one Canadian team, and they're the Blue Jays. Everybody's behind them right now. And Stephanie, everyone behind the team inside the stadium, not an empty seat that I can see from the press box, the crowd rising and falling with every pitch, very electric crowd. very electric crowd outside, even more so inside, cheering on, as we mentioned, Canada's team.

Jamie, a couple of the Blue Jays big stars aren't playing in the first game. What can you tell us about these roster changes? Yeah, ahead of game one today, some key roster announcements made by the Blue Jays involving some key players, Stephanie. Bo Bichette, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassett, all out of the lineup for this series against the Yankees. Obviously the big name there, Boba Chet, one of the Blue Jays best players, unable to return from a knee injury. These obviously are tough decisions. These guys are big part of this Blue Jay team, part of the success they had this year. Here's what Blue Jay manager, John Schneider, said about making these very tough roster decisions.

You know, these are guys you trust, and these are guys that have been a lot in the game. So, you know, they're disappointed, but they're kind of leading the charge and understanding that whatever we have to do to win, they're on board for. Now, Stephanie, it doesn't mean that Blue Jay fans won't be seeing these players again this year. If the Jay's happened to win this series against the Yankees, the Jays could revisit possibly adding those players back onto the roster should they advance to the second round. And how do the Jays stack up against their old rivals, the Yankees? It's really, Stephanie, a tale of two teams.

The Jays kind of old stool, contact, small ball, putting the ball in play, running the bases, playing good defense. Yankees, that modern-day power team, they will beat you with their bats. They hit 30 more home runs than any other team in Major League Baseball. So kind of a tale of two very different teams, what should be a great best-of-five series. Jamie, thanks so much. Have fun out there. Thanks, Stephanie.

I appreciate it. The CBC's Jamie Strassion in Toronto. They are the U.S. Navy's showboats in the sky. The Blue Angels are a daredevil flight demonstration squadron famous for their loops, rolls, and tight turns. The six-member team flies as close as 46 centimeters together during their Diamond 360 maneuver. They're a big deal during air shows in various American cities.

But while three big shows, are happening in California, the Blue Angels are back home in Pensacola, Florida. The U.S. Federal Government shutdown has grounded some of the biggest aerial acts, including the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels.

But not to fear, American plane fans, another squadron is flying to the rescue. The Royal Canadian Air Force's snowbirds are in town, ready to headline events like the Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach and San Francisco Fleet Week. The snowbirds' red and white jets are quieter than the Blue Angels, and there are some other differences, as Major Brett Handy or Snowbird One spoke about on a very windy tarmac in Oregon. Unlike the U.S. jet teams, we fly with a total nine aircraft in the air. which is fairly impressive. We don't have the power or the speed that the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels have,

but we try to make up with that, make up for that with a bit of complexity. We do very dynamic formation flying, so in the middle of doing looping or rolling maneuvers will actually change formations dynamically. So that's something new that the crowd doesn't always see. And we try to keep the show really in tight, so there'll always be someone in front of the crowd.

And they're humble too. So the snowbirds get to fly high at least until the U.S. government's better angels prevail. Here's a little Backman Turner overdrive on Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skandaris. Thank you for listening. There's an easy-ass fishing you could be a musician. If you could make sounds watermelow. Get a second-in-h guitar, chances are you go far.

If you're getting with the ride by chumbellows. People see you have been fine, just a lion in a sun. Tell them that you like it this way. It's the work to feel. CBC Podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.