Your World Tonight - No Kings protests, Bishnoi gang rebrand, Eco-friendly coffins, and more

Episode Date: October 18, 2025

Across all 50 states, in major cities and small towns, Americans are taking a stand against U.S. President Donald Trump. The No Kings protest movement brings together people opposed to a long-list of the president's policies. We'll take you to one of the day's largest gatherings - in New York City.Also: A notorious gang from India, active in Canada, appears to be attempting a rebrand in this country's South Asian communities. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang is accused of involvement in the murder of a Sikh activist in B.C. two years ago. Now, Bishnoi members are apparently attempting to remake their image as less violent gangsters - more Robin Hood.And: The funeral industry is looking to improve its ecological footprint. A new burial option is now available in Canada - A coffin made partly of mushroom roots. It’s tied to the idea that moving on can also mean giving back to the environment.Plus: Two more bodies of hostages return to Israel, Lessons in cooperation from Lloydminster, Police officers in Canadian classrooms, and more.

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We are not going to put up with the dictator. We're going back to 1776 and saying, enough, no more kings. From D.C to NYC, Philly to L.A. Huge demonstrations across the United States challenge the policies of President Donald Trump. This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Skandaris. Also on the podcast, Hamas hands over the remains of more Israeli hostages. But Israeli officials say Hamas isn't moving fast enough. And the people in Lloydminster are the microcosm of this kind of silliness that we're dealing with across the country. A tale of two provinces and the city smack in the middle, lessons in cooperation in the face of a trade war. Across all 50 states in major cities and small towns, Americans are taking a stand against U.S. President Donald Trump.

The No King's protest movement brings together people opposed to a long list of the president's policies. The White House is branding the demonstrations anti-American. CBC's Chris Reyes went out to one of the largest gatherings for our top story. A sea of demonstrators covered Times Square in New York City, united in one message. Donald Trump must go. Carmine Agosto said it should be obvious to everyone why people are hitting the streets. What's going on in this country is just a complete travesty. The man has lost touch with reality.

They came with signs. They dressed in costumes. They brought their families, like Mother Moira Herbes, who came with her two children. What's the message today for the kids? This is what democracy looks like. People in the streets. This is our country.

This is our city. And this is supposed to be a government of foreign by the people. The movement Bill No Kings raises the alarm over President Trump's policies, including executive orders to end birthright citizenship, expanding powers for immigration agents and dismantling government agencies, policies that Alison Elliott says, threatened democracy. We want to show our support for democracy

and for fighting what is right. I'm against the overreach of power. Avis Hanoi is most concerned about sweeping arrests by ICE. I'm out here for a number of reasons, but primarily I'm here for my students who are absolutely at risk in our neighborhoods and in our school.

I have students who are absolutely terrified to come to school. From D.C. to Boston to Philadelphia and Los Angeles, demonstrations have been most intense in cities where Trump has either sent or threatened to send the National Guard to curb crime. In Chicago, the protests there drew celebrities, like actor John Cusack. It's all upsetting, seeing sort of a fascist authoritarian, seeing that sort of cosplay that the right wing has been fooled around with for so long,

seeing it kind of devolved. into the real thing is predictable, but deeply saddening. Republicans have clapped back, including Speaker Mike Johnson. We refer to it by its more accurate description, the hate America rally, okay? And I'm not sure how anybody can refute that. Those at the rallies say they can. Betty Kremlin joined a peaceful crowd in New York. No, I don't feel it's a hate America.

I feel it's a love America, don't you? I don't see any hate. I think they're fighting. A fight that the No King's Movement hopes will continue beyond these demonstrations. Chris Reyes, CBC News, New York. President Trump says the two survivors of a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug boat will be returned to their home countries. The American military rescued the pair after striking a submarine in the Caribbean on Thursday. Two others were killed, according to Trump.

In a post on truth social, Trump says the two survivors, Vivers will be sent to Ecuador and Colombia. He says the boat was carrying fentanyl and other illegal narcotics. It's the sixth known U.S. attack on vessels in the region that Trump accuses of being part of Venezuelan drug smuggling cartels. Hamas has handed over the bodies of two more Israeli hostages, but the remains of 16 are still in Gaza, and Hamas says it needs more time to find them all. Israeli protesters, meanwhile, say they will keep taking to the streets.

until all the hostages are back home. Crystal Gomansing has the latest from Jerusalem. Mellow music for a tired but determined crowd rallying outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence. So, Yorov, give me a sense of, did you think you'd be back out at a rally with people in the streets and Jerusalem so soon? I mean, I hoped it'll be over by now,

but again, until everyone's home, We've got to keep going and keep coming here. Not everyone at the rally wanted to talk about the remaining deceased hostages or that forensic teams in Tel Aviv were told to expect two more bodies to be released by Hamas. So you are spreading shit about this world. I see your reportage on YouTube. So what are you fucking doing here? What are you fucking doing here?

Your government allows us to be here. That's a problem. Others who walked up joined the young man saying we were the problem. but they also challenged Israelis' gathering displeased with any criticism of the government. Dan and Abraham, however, kept it civil. Is there any talks? Are there the hostages out today if it wasn't for our government? Let's not go there.

This morning, Israeli officials confirmed the 75-year-old grandfather known as Churchill was the 10th deceased captive repatriated. Israel Defense Forces said Elia Hu Margulit was murdered on Kibbutz near all. during the Hamas-led attacks. His body abducted and held in Gaza for two years and ten days. Hamas says it needs heavy machinery in time to locate all of the bodies. For a second day, earth-movers dug around destroyed high-rises in Han Yunus in southern Gaza. It's unclear if Margulet's body was found at one of these dig sites.

Palestinians, meanwhile, continue to race to hospitals, carrying the injured and the dead. Gaza Civil Defense Agency said 11 members of one family were killed Friday. However, it only recovered nine bodies as two children are missing. The agency said they were in a vehicle going to check on their home east of Gaza City. Israel is accused of firing on them with a tank. Israeli forces have not commented on the particular incident. It has in the past said it will defend the Yellow Line

and its military personnel. Israel still controls 53% to the strip. Palestinians who spoke to a freelance journalist in Gaza working for CBC said they don't know where the yellow line is. The IDF said it will add physical markers to make it clear which areas are off limits. It says it has been warning people to get back. Since the ceasefire agreement took effect October 10th,

the Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli fire. has killed 38 people. The ceasefire is holding, but both sides say terms are being violated and nerves are frayed. Crystal Gamansing, CBC News, Jerusalem. Hamas in a statement says Israel's refusal to open the Rafa border crossing is a violation of the ceasefire agreement. That border between Gaza and Egypt has been largely closed since Israeli forces entered Rafa in May May 24. Earlier Saturday, Israel said the crossing will stay closed until Hamas returns the bodies of all dead hostages. But according to Hamas, by blocking the entry of specialized teams and equipment into Gaza, Israel is delaying that process.

Still ahead, Ontario may soon be bringing back police officers into schools, re-igniting the debate about how much that strategy works to keep kids safe. We'll look at where that conversation stands coming up on your world tonight. The political grounds are shifting in Bolivia. Voters are picking the country's next president this weekend after no candidate had an outright victory in the first round of voting back in August. Whichever candidate does secure the win will be a conservative, breaking from nearly 20 years of socialist rule in the South American country.

Freelance reporter Cody Weddell has more. 55-year-old Carlos Grimaldi marches up a hill toward a main square in La Paz, Bolivia's capital. He's leading hundreds of supporters chanting for the right-wing frontrunner in presidential elections, Jorge Tutu Kiroga. And after several hours of traditional and in music blasting from loudspeakers, The 65-year-old Tuta Kiroga finally emerges, waving to the crowd of thousands. Amid the festive atmosphere, which includes plenty of alcohol, he launches straight into his stump speech. He says over and over again, we have lines for gasoline. When there's no gas, there's no production, no transport, and food prices soar.

Bolivia's need for foreign currency has been a central part of Kedoga's campaign. A banner at his rally reads, quote, dollars and gasoline. He has pushed for a quick fix, a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. He uses slogans like radical change to emphasize that he represents a clean break from the ruling socialists. Kiroga faces 58-year-old Senator Rodrigo Paz in the Sunday runoff election, which will and over two decades of left-wing socialist rule after the governing coalition didn't advance to the second round. PAS has also focused on the economic crisis.

Let's be certain there will be diesel and gasoline under a Pazana government. He has portrayed himself as a more moderate option, an apparent attempt to pick up votes from former socialist party supporters. Outside of a local gas station, a line stretches on for blocks. Fico Estrada says he's waited for two hours. A long-time socialist supporter, he says this year he'll make a radical flip back in Kiroga. He seems more intelligent, he tells us.

Jefferson Rojas, who also tells us he formally supported the governing party, says he will support the more centrist candidate because he says he's a new face. Bolivia has failed to invest in its main export, the natural gas sector. That means the country doesn't have the dollars it needs to import subsidize gasoline. And like the fuel supply, many Bolivians say their patience is running low, and they hope a radical shift in politics, starting with Sunday's elections, will bring some relief. For CBC News, I'm Cody Weddle in Los. La Paz, Bolivia.

At least two people are missing after an oil tanker caught fire off the coast of Yemen. The ship was traveling from Oman to Djibouti when an explosion forced the crew to evacuate. The exact cause is unclear. The European Union's naval force says it was most likely an accident, but the British military is investigating the possibility of a projectile hit. 24 crew members were picked up by other vessels in the area and are being taken to Djibouti. in western Kenya. Officers struggle to restrain the surging crowd gathered to grieve

former Prime Minister Rila Odinga. Dozens of people were injured needing to be carried out on stretchers. There have been massive crowds at these services in chaotic scenes. At least five people died and hundreds more were injured in the capital, Nairobi. Odinga died at a hospital in India on when. at the age of 80. He's known for steering Kenya to become a multi-party democracy. A notorious gang from India, active in Canada, appears to be attempting a rebrand in this country's South Asian communities. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang is accused of involvement in the murder of a sick

activist in BC two years ago. The Canadian government declared it a terrorist organization last month, saying it engages in murder, shootings, arson, extortion, and intimidation. Now, Bishnoy members are apparently attempting to remake their image as less violent gangsters, more Robin Hood. Evan Dyer reports. A video posted on social media shows a man firing a pistol into a glass storefront. The shooting in the early hours of Thursday was the third attack in a few months on Capp's Cafe, which belongs to well-known Indian comedian, Cat Bill Sharma. Ian McDonald is with Surrey Police.

And at this point in time, I will say that there are earmarks of extortion. Surrey's extortionists are only getting bolder. Former BCMLA, Ginny Sims, does a radio show out of Surrey's Swift 1,200 AM. A week ago, the station hosted Surrey's police chief to talk about the situation. That same evening, shots were fired directly into the studio. Extortion demands that have been reported are generally assumed to be only the tip of an iceberg. In Surrey, we are now up to 64 cases. People are shooting at people's businesses, at people's homes, where kids live.

Sometimes I wonder, is it Bishnoy or is it people using the name now because the name creates fear? Indeed, the Bishnois have complained on social media about copycats using their name. Suri journalist Kropri Tzahota says they've also complained about middlemen, siphoning off extortion money meant for the gang. Let's say somebody's being extorted. Bishnoi's asked for money for one. a million dollar and then a middleman whoop up okay I know both parties maybe I can arrange in 500,000 or 200,000 they are claiming which nois are claiming that the money never reached to them

radio station shooting was one of three shootings posted the social media that night all on properties linked to one suri family whom the bishnoe is accused of extorting punjabi musicians acclaimed the family has strongly denied they are saying we are only looting the people who looted the community. The people who cheated international students and abused them or the people who abused girls at their businesses were not harming a common person in the community. Sahota says the propaganda is having an effect. Right now people are thinking, yeah, they are maybe robin house and they're not targeting any hardworking person. But at the same time, few people are worried that these gangsters are

after big fishes now, but eventually they will come after the small people as well. Sims says the Robin Hood Act is purely cynical. The fact that they are trying to rebrand themselves, I would say it is blaming the victim. Blaming the victim is never good when you're the one with a rifle in your hand. The Bishnois make a point of keeping their extortion demands within the South Asian community. The gang is hardly keeping a low profile, but it does seem to be changing tactics in the wake of its terror designation. Evan Dyer, CBC News, Ottawa. As the U.S. trade war goes on, one Canadian city is becoming an example of what needs to change for this country to unite.

Lloydminster is in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's quirky, but it's also often a headache for local businesses, which often have to deal with two different sets of rules and regulations. Julia Wong tells us how that plays out. Work is brisk at this job site kilometers from the Alberta-Suscatchewan border. Trade people are putting together a wall and installing heating in a new home. For Jesse Moffitt, general manager at Rossville Holmes,

how this house is built, depends on where it is. We have to have everybody really thinking about where they are. That is the reality of doing business in and around Lloyd Minster. Here, the invisible border between the two provinces, is marked by soaring red posts on a major road. A constant reminder, there are two masters to serve. When it comes to construction, plumbing, and electrical, there are two sets of permitting processes and regulations,

as well as different provincial inspectors. A worker, forgetting which side of the border they are on, can lead to mistakes, which can hurt the bottom line. And it just costs the business money, because we have to go back, which is extra mobilization costs, and we have to rectify the issue. And the issue isn't so much a safety or, you know, performance concern. It's just a difference in the way that the Saskatchewan government wants to see it

over the authority having jurisdiction in Alberta. In most cases, we are always the unique scenario. There is an extra step two for realtors to work in Lloydminster, like Chris Hassel. They have to be licensed in both provinces. You could choose one side or the other, but of course that would severely limit your, capabilities to perform for a buyer or a seller. All of our units have like two filibulators in there. Paramedics who want to work in Lloydminster also have to be dual licensed.

Because of health care agreements between the two provinces, Saskatchewan paramedics must follow Alberta patient protocols when working in the city. Navigating all of this can take a toll, says Walter Duchak, general manager of WPD Ambulance Service. It's very frustrating. You know, it's frustrating for us, and it's frustrating for the people. and our staff, and it's just not a very simplistic way of dealing with emergency medicine on a regular basis.

As Canada tries to build a stronger domestic economy, these barriers need to come down, says Martha Hall-Finley, the director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. The people in Lloydminster are the microcosm of this kind of silliness that we're dealing with across the country. Hall-Finley says a central database of provincial regulations is needed. The goal, to harmonize rules and regulations. If the issue is data, then let's figure out how to get each of the provinces

to put all of its regulatory data into a central database that can be compared with all of the other provinces and territories. For Moffat, fewer obstacles and less red tape would go a long way, rather than constantly being on edge, trying to recall and remember what's needed to work in either province. You're going to six projects a day. Three of those might be on the Saskatchewan side, right? Three of those might be on the Alberta side. It takes a lot more bandwidth. Bandwidth that could instead be used to think about business and how to grow it in this unique border city. Julia Wong, CBC News, Lloydminster, Alberta, Saskatchewan.

More school districts in Canada are bringing police officers back to the classrooms. Supporters say the police presence makes schools safer. Those opposed argue it creates an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. Deanna Suminac Johnson now on that debate. We started having a kind of a gang problem and a lot of the things that the police would do is do kind of informational for parents. Lisa Gunderson kids are grown now, 19 and 23. But in Victoria, they live, police officers were present in schools for part of their schooling before being removed two years ago due to community concerns that their presence was intimidating and targeting racialized youth. School police liaison officers are now back in that school board,

and Gunderson, who is of Jamaican background and works as an equity and diversity consultant, says it's not a bad thing. And so you have kids who are able to talk to an adult that they're comfortable with and say, hey, you know, this is what's happening. And the, you know, SPLO can take that information and they can figure those kind of things out and get that and get, give information to that person to their parents to make them feel safe and stuff without risking them going into the PD. It's one point of view in a debate over police and schools that has been reignited in many provinces, largely because of reports of student violence, towards other students and school staff.

In Ontario, the provincial government may soon pass legislation that would require all provincial school boards to bring police officers back into schools. Many young people are feeling unwelcomed. Andrea Vasquez Jimenez is the director of organization Policing Free Schools. She says there are good reasons why Toronto District School Board, the largest in the country,

said goodbye to its police and schools program eight years ago. Many students even choosing not to attend a school because of police presence. Many young people had mentioned feeling surveilled and policed within spaces that are meant to be, for them to be able to learn and thrive. Temitope Oriola is a professor of criminology at the University of Alberta, who is conducting research on so-called SROs school resource officers across different provinces. I think there's been an oversell of this program in terms of what it can or cannot do. He says there's no convincing research that the presence of police officers in schools

creates a safer environment. And in our study, in interviews with students, what students have informed us is that they're more likely to dial 911 than start looking for the SRO officer on the school premises. But in Victoria, principal Heather Brown says their newly reintroduced school police officers will work with teachers and principals as part of a team. Because they bring a perspective that I don't. And I bring one that they don't have. So when we work as a team, you know, we try to reach these youth who are really needing that support. She says that if it's working right, the presence of a police officer in a school can keep at-risk youth out of the criminal justice system.

as decades-long debate on whether police officers belong in school rages on. Deanna Sumanek-Johnson, 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 environmental impact of industry is a hot topic as the world experiences the impact of climate change. One industry that's looking to improve its ecological footprint is the funeral business.

A new burial option is now available in Canada, a coffin made partly of mushroom roots. The appeal is a funeral practice that's much less carbon intensive, than conventional caskets or cremation. As Anandrom tells us, it's tied to the idea that moving on can mean giving back. In the solemnity of a Brampton-Ontario funeral center, there's a room where people come to see the kinds of caskets that are, for lack of a better word, on offer. But there's something new in there. Tell me about what we're seeing.

Yes, it's more in the shape of somewhat of a cocoon. Angie Aquino has been in the funeral business for more than. 40 years, and what she's showing us is a casket. Its name, like its shape, is the loop living cocoon. It is made of mycelium, which is the root structure of mushroom, and it's a blend of that along with the upcycled hemp fibers. Spongy, styrofoam-like, this coffin biodegrades in the soil in a matter of months, giving its unadorned, unembalmed occupant a less carbon-intensive way to return to the earth. For some, it's... about giving back to the environment.

For some, it's about enriching the soil. For some, it's about nature. The more overall mission is to enrich nature. Bob Hendricks of Loop Biotech in the Netherlands invented this coffin, and he is very much a product guy, thinking about how to disrupt a traditional funeral industry that hasn't changed much. The whole intention of the product was to make sure the industry,

for the industry, it should not be a different product, only for the environment. The mushrooms, he says, help bodies decompose. while enriching soil biodiversity. It's early days in North America, but he says they've sold a couple thousand cocoons in Europe. The number of people becoming interested in diverse options of funnels, that's just god ballistic.

Douglas Davis is with the University of Durham in the UK and has been studying death for decades. He says this environmental enthusiasm needs to be met by the establishment. I think that religious organizations need to think much harder about these aspects of life and indeed what kind of liturgies are appropriate. There wasn't any option for our bodies that aligned with my desire to like

leave the planet a better place when I finally leave the planet. Katrina Spade is the CEO of a company that offers another alternative, technology to turn the deceased into soil through composting, a service that's now legal in 14 U.S. states. I think when people are choosing this option, It's because it feels personally meaningful to them. That is a pretty profound idea that those molecules will truly and literally become part of that tree, that forest.

Back in Brampton, Aquino takes us to where those mushroom coffins could go the wild and overgrown natural burial area. It is not maintained where we don't mow the lawn here. It's not pristine in the same way that the rest of the cemetery is. And it's here among the seven-foot-tall golden rods and buzzing insects that you can listen to life growing out of death. Onondrom, CBC News, Brampton, Ontario. If you don't want to think about nature taking its course with your coffin, well, you might want to find a way to live forever.

May we suggest, composing some music, so good, it'll last at least a couple hundred years and counting, like Chopin. Every five years since 1927, there's been a big contest in Warsaw to find a master of Chopin's music. It's called the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition. and that competition is fierce. The winner gets almost $98,000 in an automatic career catapult with high-profile recordings and concerts around the world. The contestants are all between the ages of 16 and 30, and this year, a Canadian is among them.

That's who you're hearing now. Calgary's Kevin Chen is 20 years old and one of the 11 finalists who are battling it out over three days. He'll play a piano concerto by Chopin with the Warsaw Philharmonic on Monday. But he's not the first Canadian to reach these impressive heights. Montreal's Bruce Liu won the gold medal in 2021. Canadians also picked up the top prize in 2015 and 1980. So as we wait to see where Kevin Chen will land,

we'll leave you with more of Bruce Liu's prize-winning performance. This is Concerto and E minor Opus 11 on Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thank you for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.