Your World Tonight - Israel/Hamas ceasefire concerns, French crown jewels stolen, Alberta teacher's strike, and more

Episode Date: October 19, 2025

Growing worry over whether the ceasefire in the middle east will hold after Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza after saying Hamas ambushed IDF troops.And: Thieves in balaclavas break into Paris's Louvre museum, stealing priceless objects like some of the French crown jewels, before escaping on scooters.Also: High school students in Alberta worry about impacts on their post secondary future as the weeks-long teacher's strike in the province drags on. Windows for scholarships, both athletic and academic are closing. Plus: Avian flu in Alberta, Trade uncertainty with the U.S., Blue Jays face off against Mariners, Wool makes a comeback, and more.

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as Israel launches new strikes in Gaza with both sides accusing each other of violating the agreement. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Skandaris, also on the podcast. You know, you think in the Louvre of all places, don't they have like the best security? on the planet. So it's crazy. It's not Oceans 11, but it is a story of a brazen heist involving a famous museum, priceless, crown jewels, and getaway scooters. Plus. I am very concerned about how I'm going to do on the diploma

and how that's going to affect my application to university. Alberta students start getting worried about their future as the teacher's strike goes on. The ceasefire in Gaza could hang in the balance tonight. Israel has launched a wave of strikes across the territory. In retaliation, it says, for Hamas firing on Israeli soldiers. Hamas denies the violations, accusing Israel of breaking the truce. Hospital sources in Gaza say at least 40 people have been killed as aid to the territory was suspended. Tom Perry has more.

Once again in Gaza, ambulances, injured patients and body bags. Israel unleashing a wave of airstrikes across the territory. Killing more Palestinians, among them, the brother of Salis Alman. We were sitting in a cafe drinking tea and coffee, he says, and suddenly we heard the news. They were hit and bombed and everyone was killed. Military strikes just one part. of Israel's action. The Israeli government announced as well it's suspending shipments of

humanitarian aid into Gaza until further notice, though those shipments could reportedly resume by Monday because of U.S. pressure. Israel says it's retaliating for Hamas opening fire on Israeli soldiers. Shosh Bedrosian is an Israeli government spokesperson. Today, the IDF announced terrorists fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire towards our troops operating in the area of Rafa to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, all in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. Now, in response, the IDF began striking in the area to eliminate the threat. Hamas has tried to distance itself from the Rafa incident and says it remains committed to the ceasefire. But the Israeli strikes are the latest blow to a deal that's barely a week old. Israel had already accused Hamas of

violating the agreement by failing to turn over the remains of all Israel's deceased hostages. Hamas, accused Israel of breaching the deal by continuing to fire on Palestinians, it says, have approached Israeli positions. With strikes on Rafa in the south, Deer al-Bala in central Gaza and elsewhere, Mel Brecknell, a Canadian doctor working in central Gaza, worries about what might come next. Now we have no idea what is going to happen. Since this morning, we know that there's been a text in Rafa in the south, and then when we heard about Derebella, now we can all only imagine the world. Israel's defense minister has issued a warning to Hamas saying it will pay a heavy price for any breach of the deal. Israel now says its resuming enforcement of the Gaza ceasefire signaling a possible end to strikes for now.

Tom Perry, CBC News, Cairo. U.S. President Donald Trump says he's ending all aid to Colombia and call the country's president, quote, an illegal drug leader. Trump made the comment about President Gustavo Petro on Truth Social today. He says Colombia isn't doing enough to end drug production. For his part, Petro accused the U.S. government of killing a fisherman in Colombian waters during a military strike last month. The U.S. military has carried out multiple strikes against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean since September.

London's Metropolitan Police says it will investigate allegations, involving Prince Andrew and its officers. Media reports allege that in 2011, Andrew asked officers who protect him to dig up personal information about his main accuser, Virginia Joufrey. She was trafficked by sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew

when she was 17 and took her own life this year. Andrew denies the allegations. On Friday, he announced he was giving up his royal titles. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood heist thriller. Professional thieves pulling a brazen daylight job at the Louvre and making off with priceless crown jewels. Authorities in France are now trying to piece together how it happened. Philip Lysenock reports. Tour guide Monica Wu had just started her day when museum staff told her to take her group and leave immediately. She posted a video of what she thought

was a false alarm. Properly somebody smoked inside the Louvre. that happened before and we are asking to go outside. American tourists, Jim and Joan Carpenter, were also caught up in the chaos. Lots of confusion. And then they ran us all out. They would say, go this way and that would be closed. Authorities say masked bandits used a truck with a cherry picker and power tools to break into the lube. They grabbed jewelry, including a tiara, necklaces and earrings embedded with diamonds,

emeralds and sapphires and fled on scooters. The heist took only seven minutes. Paris prosecutor Lorbaquo says four suspects arrived just as a museum was opening. They were professional, organized, and knew what they wanted. They used a truck with a cherry picker, positioned it under the balcony, which allowed direct access to the gallery. She says they targeted nine objects and got away with eight. The crown of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, was recovered.

crown of Emperor Tugini, which was one of the targets, was found at the foot of the balcony, and the thieves lost it as they fled. But she said the famous 140-carat regent diamond, which had been initially reported stolen, was safely in its case. Alexander Giello of a French auction house, as the pieces they did get away with are priceless. But the crown jewels are unsellable and will likely be broken apart, and the gold melted and sold. These pieces are too well-known, too publicized, he says. The museum was closed for the day. Some like this American tourist had questions.

In the Louvre of all places, don't they have, like, the best security on the planet? I'm thinking an inside job, maybe? Authorities say five museum officers confronted the thieves, but as per security protocol, immediately called police. Elise Mueller is with the union that represents museum employees. She says staff cuts have impacted their ability, to keep the Louvre's 35,000 works of art safe.

We have alerted management for months and months to highlight the flaws and problems we were facing daily. The Minister of the Interior had already sounded the alarm about the vulnerability of French museums due to a lack of investment. French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered security reviews calling the robbery an attack on French heritage. Voltaicenock, CBC News, Toronto.

A painting by Pablo Picasso is at the center of a police investigation in Spain. Still life with guitar was supposed to be in a temporary exhibition in the city of Granada earlier this month. It was transferred there from Madrid along with other artworks. But when museum staff opened the crates three days after delivery, the painting was missing. The missing piece is small, measuring about 13 by 10 centimeters, but is insured for a whopping $980,000. Still ahead, when you're buying clothes, are you looking out for natural fibers? Lots of people do, choosing things like wool as a sign of quality over synthetic. But the calculation changes when price gets factored in,

and now many old-school wool producers are struggling. You'll head to a sheep farm near Rome to hear more coming up on your world tonight. The U.S. trade war is creating tensions inside team Canada. David Eby, BC's premier, calls U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber an existential threat and says while workers in his province are sitting on a knife's edge, Ottawa is focused only on Ontario and Quebec. J.P. Tasker reports. Most small, medium-sized companies in Canada are not in a situation where we can, you know, ingest 45%.

In BC, the softwood lumber sector is grappling with huge new U.S. tariffs, punishing levies that could put sawmills out of business. Our workforce has gone from 30 to 18, and it might be going down from there at our meal. Andy Riley's West Vancouver Company produces red cedar, and much of it is shipped to the U.S. Last week, his small firm paid some $48,000 to eat the cost of American duties. I will be honest with you that we are now selling products. at the margin. We're not making any profit on it. Right now, Canada U.S. talks on tariff relief are focused on the steel and aluminum sectors, big industries in central Canada. There should be high anxiety and energy. This is a major sector. BC Premier David E.B. says the lumber sector is

getting short drift from federal negotiators and it's fueling some regional resentment. If you look at the auto parts sector, if you look at the primary steel sector, you put them together. Softwood is bigger than both. And it just, it just, just does not get that resonance. Still, those bilateral negotiations have so far produced no results for any sector. After a week of talks with his American counterparts in Washington, Canada U.S. Trade Minister Dominic de Blanc is back on home soil, and there's still no deal in hand. We have to focus on what we can control. A Diwali celebration in the Toronto area this weekend, Prime Minister Mark Carney showed some frustration with the U.S. administration. I can't control Donald

Trump. I've got to tell you. Actually, I can't let him think I'm controlling him is maybe a better way to do it. You never know. You never know what's going to come next. Fenhamson is an expert on Canada-U.S. Relations and a professor of international affairs at Carlton University. He says hope for a good deal is fading. The direction of U.S. policy is unmistakable. If America believes it can make, grow, or mine goods domestically, it's not going to offer concessions. A senior government official tells CBC News, Minister LeBlanc could be headed back to Washington

this week for more talks as the two sides try to hammer out a deal, but it hasn't been confirmed yet. In the meantime, the trade war drags on, wreaking havoc on Canadian industry. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Ottawa. Alberta's province-wide teachers' strike heads into its third week tomorrow with no resolution in sight. The teachers' union says it declined the government's request to head back to the classroom voluntarily Monday and start a proposed mediation process. The reason for the no? Because overcrowded classrooms were not going to be part of the discussion. This all leaves high school students in particular in limbo as they think about future plans.

Sam Samson has more on that. Paige Beck likes to stay a step ahead. During Alberta's teacher strike, the Edmonton student, who's in grade 11, is keeping up with her cross-country running schedule, even though provincials are postponed. And she's taking a grade 12-level biology course. We're on molecular genetics right now,

and they're very tricky concepts, and they're very easy to mix up. I am very concerned about how I'm going to do on the diploma and how that's going to affect my application to university. Diploma exams, otherwise known as provincial, exams are worth a big chunk of a student's grade. November's exams are now optional due to the strike, but that does not help students like Beck

who will take them in January. The longer the strike stretches out, the harder it's going to be to get back, and the more we realize how much we need our teachers. Alberta teachers have been off the job since October 6th. Their union and the province can't agree on issues like classroom sizes and salaries.

Premier Danielle Smith says if nothing changes soon, her government will order teachers back to work. If we do not get back to the table next week with the students returning to classroom, you should fully expect that there'll be legislation in the week of October 27th. That's good and bad news for grade 12 students like Jane Cundert, who was hoping for good grades and good times this last year of school. On one hand, I'm really glad that the teachers are doing something because the class sizes are also affecting my learning. But the strike is also affecting my learning. Work to rule, like no sports teams, no clubs, no activities, no school trips.

It's going to absolutely append our last year in high school. No teachers or work to rule means no regular season for student athletes. Even though the Edmonton Elks opened up their field to help football players practice, the window to secure scholarships is getting smaller. Maybe going to CFL, NFL, NFL, you know, of course that's the big dreams. Grade 11 running back, Joe Klespitz, says he has missed out on low, of game tape, footage of him playing that he'd send to university scouts. Yeah, I'm fairly worried about it, but I'm sure it'll all work out in the end,

but it does suck, of course, to lose film and lose those opportunities that could be presented to you in the future. A future, like so many others, that hangs in the balance of what happens next in this province-wide teacher strike. Sam Sampson, CBC News, Edmonton. A Calgary petting zoo has been forced to close after nine cases of avian flu were report it. All of the cases were in poultry, according to Alberta Health Services. People who visited Butterfield Acres Petting Farm between October 6th and 12th are asked to monitor for flu-like

symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, or pink eye. Health officials say the risk to the public is low. 36% of all prisoners in British Columbia identify as indigenous. That's a high proportion, given that indigenous people represent only 6% of the overall population in the province. Many of them have committed non-violent or minor crimes. Now, a new program in downtown Prince George

will offer some of them an alternative to being criminally charged. Hannah Peterson has a details. There's a gross over-representation of indigenous people in the justice system. Corey Wilson is the chair of the BC First Nations Justice Council. She was in Prince George for the grand opening of a new diversion center that provides an alternative to incarceration for indigenous people charged with minor crimes, like shoplifting, fraud, or mischief.

The center will offer indigenous offenders. the option to complete a 90-day cultural program, as well as help with addictions and mental health, to have their charges dropped. Participants can join in ceremonies, land-based healing, elder teachings, clinical counseling, and life skills training. Wilson notes the Prince George Regional Correctional Center is currently over capacity, with 63% of inmates identifying as indigenous. Indigenous people are at the negative end of every socioeconomic indicator, so we need to do something different. She says the program will prevent crime by addressing the root causes of why people break the law. People often think that it's a get out of jail free card, but in fact, it's much harder

to face a group of your elders and to face your victim and to face the people that you've wronged and harmed and to take ownership over that. Wilson says preventing incarceration can also help save taxpayer dollars. She says it costs around $200,000 a year to keep an indigenous person incarcerated. And they're able to lead productive, contributing lives and change their path. Clayt Leitaine Elder Marcel Gagnon is the center's elder in residence. He says the program aims to give people a sense of belonging, worthiness, and connection. I think it's going to be very successful, and especially reconnecting with ceremony and being on the land. RCP Superintendent Darren Rappell says like many cities, Prince George is struggling with

repeat offenders. He says the program will change the way the RCMP deal with certain nuisance calls and is hopeful it will break the cycle of repeat offending within the community. The more options that we have on the table, the better, the better for the individual, the better for the community. The Indigenous Diversion Center will begin training with the Prince George RCMP this week. Hannah Peterson, CBC News, Prince George. When it comes to recovering from injury or illness, the older you are, the longer it can take. But a recent Canadian study suggests older people can recover from health challenges just as well as their younger counterparts. And many of the things that seem to make a difference

are more simple than you think. Jennifer Yoon reports. Ken Martin's smears chalk all over his hands, readying himself for a deadlift. He planted the whole time, right? Yes. At 79 years old, he deadlifts 230 pounds. Benches about 120. Looking at him now, you would never guess. He almost died last year. I blacked out probably 25 different times. Hooked up to a monitor in hospital, a nurse told him how close he'd been to death every time he blacked out. And said, Ken, your heart stopped for 10 seconds. Told me the previous 25 or 30 times, that's what had happened every time. Doctors immediately implanted a pacemaker. Now, after months of working out,

and making friends at the gym, Martin says he feels like a whole new man. I feel like I'm in better or as good health as I've ever been. It's not as rare a story as you might think. A recent Canadian study followed thousands of adults over 60 going through a period of bad health mentally or physically. Three years later, a quarter of them recovered so much, they said they were in optimal health. Mabel Ho is one of the authors of the study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Plus One.

So we do hope that people will see that. Aging is not just about like a doom and groom or decline or deterioration, but there are many things we can do to age well. Those who bounced back tended to share some characteristics, say the researchers. They stayed physically active, they didn't smoke, they weren't obese, they slept well, and they weren't lonely. To have someone to talk to, someone to love you, someone to confine with you, so that social connection is also very important. Ho says those who were psychologically and emotionally well were almost five times more likely to bounce back after struggling with their health.

People say, well, I'm older, so I don't know if I can actually recover what I've lost. For geriatrician Dr. Samir Sinha, this study is further proof, countering the pessimism he sometimes hears from his patients. But it's amazing when you can really help turn people's attitudes around and remind them that there are many things they can do. you can give people hope. And as families gather for Thanksgiving, younger generations also have a role to play

in supporting healthy aging, Senha says. How can the family and friend network rally around to help maintain a good level of social connection? How can we help them get connected to supports and services that might help them regain their physical functioning as well? Because Senesas, it's never too late to look out for a loved one, and you're never too old to build resilience and health.

Jennifer Yun, CBC News, Toronto. 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. The Toronto Blue Jays have their back. backs against the wall. For the first time in the playoffs,

Canada's only Major League Baseball team is facing elimination. If they lose to the Seattle Mariners tonight, in game six of the American League Championship Series, Toronto's fairy tale postseason run will be over. But if they win, the Jays will be within reach of the World Series. Thomas Daggle reports.

Let's go Blue Jays! With their team facing elimination from the playoffs, Blue Jays fans are holding their breath. Many remaining optimistic as the squad returns to their downtown stadium where this season they had the best home record in the league. It's going to be hyped and they'll bring the energy and I think it's going to be amazing. Fans here in Toronto are amazing. They're going to rally for the team and the team's going to rally for the fans. Oh, Jay's go!

Toronto received welcome news earlier in the day when the club confirmed George Springer would be in tonight's lineup. The veteran slugger took a 96-mile-an-hour fastball to the kneecap Friday night in Seattle. Oh, it hit right in the knee. Forced to leave the game after dropping to the ground in pain. But Jay's manager, John Schneider, says tests showed no damage to the 36-year-old Springer's knee. George, he's played through a lot, probably more than you guys know this year, but over the course of his career, too. So he's a tough dude. Springer provides the Jays with a big boost at the plate.

The 2017 World Series MVP with the Houston Astros, this year he enjoyed a resurgent season. High and deep to left and it's gone. Posting the best batting average of his entire career, hitting 32 home runs in the regular season and another three in the playoffs before tonight's game. The neat guys like that, right? Those guys are calm and they know how to handle the chaos and all the stress that comes with the game. Ontario-born outfielder Rob Butler was on the roster when the Jay's last one, the World Series in 1993. He's confident this squad can also advance to baseball's biggest stage.

All those guys that have been our leaders all year need to step up and do it again and, you know, keep the ball rolling, keep that train rolling, keep all his fans, you know, excited. It's the best, it's the best TV I've seen in a decade. Tonight, the Jays are sending rookie pitching sensation Trey Y Savage to the mound. At just 22 years old, he says he's trying not to focus on the weight of history. Everything has led us to this point and we're able to show the world who we are. So, it's special. With a win tonight, the Mariners would punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time in franchise history, putting an end to the J's postseason run.

But if Toronto can pull out a victory, they'll force a game seven at home tomorrow night, leaving fans holding their breath again. Thomas Dagg, CBC News, Toronto. Wool is one of the world's oldest textiles. It's naturally occurring, biodegradable, and keeps you warm in those cold winter months. But these days most wool is mass produced, leaving small-scale farmers and mills struggling to survive. As Megan Williams reports from Rome, a new movement led by designers, producers, activists, and farmers is trying to bring wool back sustainably. On a blustery fall day outside Rome, sheep graze and the pastors of Ilar Vinturini Fendi's farm.

Once a fashion designer at her family's luxury label, Fendi left that world behind to focus on circular design and sustainable wool. Today, her farm is a meeting place for the World Hope Forum, with farmers, activists, and designers determined to prove that wool produced locally can once again have worth. Among them is Canadian designer Cynthia Hathaway. Wool is a biodegradable resource that used to be the golden fleece, but has been kicked out, I guess you could say. Hathaway started thinking about wool when doing a design stint on a farm. And there were sheep in the landscape, and so I followed the wool trail and found out that wool is part of a global system now. One that obscures the fact that most wool is now industrially produced and environmentally damaging. Today, wool makes up less than 1% of the world's textile fibers, with cheaper petroleum-based

synthetics now dominating the global market. Hathaway organizes regular wool marches in her adopted country of the Netherlands, leading flocks of sheep through city streets, soft mobs, she calls them, to highlight how devalued locally produced wool is in much of the world. In Europe, cost to produce it is so high, many sheep farmers simply burn it. The wool march, also points to how far fashion has drifted from the land. Take Irish wool, for example, most of which actually comes from China and is passed off as local.

Blonaid Galaher, founder of Ireland's Galway Wool Co-op, is trying to change that. She'll soon join an EU-focused group looking at how to rebuild the continent's wool economy. We want to ensure that the policy also includes consumers given the opportunity to know where that fiber grew. Italian actor and now farmer, Isabella Rossellini is also working to reconnect people to the fiber's origins.

We started with a vegetable and then it became chickens and now the heritage breed of sheep for wool. At her mama farm in New York, she and her daughter, Elektra Weidman, run a program called Farm to Fashion, pairing young designers with heritage wool. That really explains to people where this sweater comes from, who created it, the artist is involved, when you buy it, what you're supporting. Weinman says people are more invested in what they buy when they know it's supporting local economies and biodiversity. It's a very ancient fiber. Dutch future forecaster Lee Edelcourt, the organizer of the World Hope Forum, says Wool has become a way to tell new stories about how fashion can be made. Here you see the local communities making outsider art, you know, insanely beautiful. It's so rich.

As sheep graze in the distance, these artists and farmers are trying to be. to reshape how we value the materials and the lives of those behind what we wear. Megan Williams, CBC News, Rome. We're well and truly into fall now, and if you're a fan of autumnal flavors, then you've probably already picked up one of the most ubiquitous ones, a pumpkin spice latte, a.k.a. PSL. have, well, you may want to raise your coffee cup to the woman who may have invented it. Tori Amos, yes, there's a theory going around that the singer is responsible for something more

orange than her famous ginger hair. It starts with a thread from someone called Doug Mac on the social media app, Blue Sky. Mack served a flavor history and dug up a review of a Tori Amos show in Seattle, famously the home of Starbucks, from September 1995. Amos is quoted as saying, You have all your Starbucks things. Well, I have one that tastes like pumpkin pie. It's my own invention. It's my contribution to Halloween.

A little witch-warmer. Amos wouldn't be the only celebrity Starbucks drink. Back in 2015, Kenny G. told Bloomberg he made an early suggestion to the CEO that took off. I'm a sweet guy, so I would go for the Frappuccino. I think that part of the reason that they did Frappuccino was people like me giving them that kind of feedback. While Starbucks started doing Frapecinos in the 90s, it wouldn't embrace pumpkin spice everything until 2003, giving them plenty of time to heed Tori's eye. idea. Guess it really struck a gourd. Here's more of Tori Amos and cornflake girl on your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. Thank you for listening.

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