Your World Tonight - Opening date set for Gordie Howe bridge, Carney visits the Calgary Stampede, Tempo fever, and more

Episode Date: July 11, 2026

Canada and the U.S. have officially made a deal to open the Gordie Howe International Bridge on July 27th. The pathway connecting Windsor, Ontario to Detroit was slated to open last month - until it was postponed after objections by U.S. President Donald Trump. The announcement is being celebrated on both sides of the border.Also: Less than 24 hours after landing from his international trip to Saudi Arabia and the NATO summit in Turkey - Mark Carney is now at the Calgary Stampede, and thrust back in the middle of issues he faces back at home. Notably - his visit comes as Alberta goes through a debate on national unity.And: Canada's first WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo, is quickly gaining fans across the country. Especially in Montreal, where the team are playing two games this weekend as part of a cross-country series. You'll hear how the team is bringing together fans of women's basketball across the nation.Plus: Building a radar system for defence in Canada's North, How news was delivered centuries ago on the shores of Newfoundland, and more

With the help of Google AI, Access Now is mapping Canada's accessible places, empowering the disabled community to explore with confidence. Innovation is Canada's story. Let's tell it together. Find out more at g.co slash Canadian Innovation. This is a CBC podcast. You know, the Detroit-Windsor corridor has been the cradle of cooperation between the U.S. and Canada. This is going to add great quality of life to the people that go back and forth. Bridging the gap. After an unexpected setback, the Gordy Howe Bridge finally gets a new opening date.

But what does this supposedly better deal mean for Canada? This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scanderas. Also on the podcast, Prime Minister Mark Carney hits the Calgary stampede. But it's not just fun and flipping pancakes as he deals with questions about national unity and U.S. trade. Plus, just being at a WMBA game for the tempo is insane. All I'm thinking is I want to be there. I want to do that when I'm older. Montreal fans break a record to support Canada's WNBA team. It started as a symbol of Canada-U.S. cooperation and turned into a symbol of the growing dysfunction

between the two countries. The Gordy Howe International Bridge connecting Windsor to Detroit was supposed to open last month. But after the U.S. President objected, that plan was stalled. Now the opening is back on, scheduled for July 1,000. 27th. As Philip Le Sienach reports, that news is being celebrated on both sides of the border. I know how much cables there are? Oh, tell me. How many?

216. Six-year-old Lucas Laguerre knows a lot about the Gordy Howe International Bridge. He's been watching it rise from the banks of the Detroit River for as long as he can remember. His grandparents, Jeff and Sharon Marshall, would take him every week to see the progress.

I thought it was a piece of history and why not be a part of our new Gordie Howe Bridge and watching the bridge grow and watching him grow along with it. Liguerre was disappointed when the bridge's opening was delayed last month. I really wanted to go in the bridge. He's not the only one. We really could have opened the bridge up in late March or early April. Former U.S. ambassador to Canada, James Blanchard says the bridge could have at least opened last month as planned.

The owners of the competing Ambassador Bridge reportedly lobbied the Trump administration to block the crossing. Shortly after, U.S. President Donald Trump called the bridge deal unacceptable and said blocking its opening allowed him to cut a much better deal for America. Blanchard, a Democrat who also served as governor of Michigan, is skeptical. My guess is whatever adjustments are made are probably more fig leaf for the administration of Washington rather than its material change. The original deal saw Canada front all the construction costs. Once that had been recouped from tolls, ownership and operating profits would be split with Michigan. A senior government source tells CBC News, changes include a regional development fund and input from the U.S. if toll rates are changed. It's a green light. It makes sense for both of our businesses.

Stephen Laskowski of the Canadian Trucking Alliance says whatever the details, it's good for both sides. It sounds like on the edges things have been changed, but going forward, it's as other bridges operate. Oskowski says the new crossing will increase efficiency, saving tens of thousands of dollars a month in transportation costs. Dwight Duncan is a former Windsor MPP who served as chair of the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority. He says both countries should celebrate an historic feat of international cooperation. Canada has dealt now with five presidents, Democrats, Republicans, Donald Trump in 2017, called for the expeditious completion of the Gordy House. bridge. As for Lucas Laguerre, he can't wait to cross the bridge he watched for so long, and he wants to do it on his bicycle. Phil Pichanak, CBC News, Toronto.

Days after exchanging fire, the leaders of the U.S. and Iran are now trading threats. Iran's supreme leader is vowing to avenge his father's killing, and U.S. President Trump says Iran will face heavy consequences if it tries to assassinate him. All this, as mediators try to revive a ceasefire deal. Peter Armstrong is following all of it from Washington for us. Peter, let's start with the Iranian threat. When did this start? Yeah, this has been building for a few days now, right? At the funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, there were these giant banners, right? Written in English, which tells you something, some of which saying, Trump, we will kill you. And now the new Supreme leader has issued a statement. Right. So the son of the former Ayatollah really

statement today. It reads, we pledge that we will avenge your pure blood and the blood of all those martyred in these two wars from their criminal and disgrace killers. This revenge is the demand of our nation and it most certainly must be carried out. Now, as you've said, he took over as supreme leader after his father was killed in air strikes at the outset of the war in February. Several family members were also killed in those same strikes. Okay, so Trump's saying the Iranians want to kill him. Is there more to that than just that statement? Yeah, I think, you know, Trump takes that threat, but also intelligence from both U.S. and Israeli sources, and he's trying to kind of put it all together. He's said, to be honest, for a while now that the Iranians have wanted him dead.

Trump has claimed he's at the top of the Iranian list. And now he's said that he's left instructions as to what should be done. If there is, in fact, an attempt on his life, he issued a statement on truth social today saying thousands of missiles are locked and loaded, named at the Islamic Republic of Iran. thousands more to immediately follow should the Iranian government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the globe to assassinate or attempt to assassinate the sitting president of the United States. He went on, though, to say, orders have already been given, and the U.S. military is ready, willing, and able, for a one-year period of time, subject to extension to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran.

He ended that statement on truth social saying praise be to Allah. So, yeah, tensions already high have certainly ratcheted up this weekend. Meanwhile, Trump has said the ceasefire is over, but that talks are ongoing. But who is actually talking to whom today? Right. As ever, we don't have a full picture. So we kind of got to cobble together, a bunch of different strands of information. We do know that Iran's foreign minister is in Oman. We know that Qataris are involved in those conversations.

And the assumption, Stephanie, is that they're trying to hash out some kind of a deal around traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The Americans have demanded assurances that ships will be able to move freely through that strait. Once that happens, maybe then we can see talks progress. Peter, thank you. Yeah, you bet. Peter Armstrong, reporting from Washington, D.C. Still ahead in 2006, the world is at our fingertips, news from anywhere accessible in seconds.

But a couple centuries ago, it would arrive like a message in a bottle. Coming up, take a trip back in time to find out how it got to the shores of Newfoundland and made its way to someone like you. That's later on Your World Tonight. In Manitoba, recent flooding is still raising water levels in the Assiniboine River near the city of Brandon. Officials say the river rose just over a meter in the past 24 hours, and the water level is expected to peak early next week. Meanwhile, the provincial government says $500 checks will be sent out in the coming days

to those who have applied for disaster financial assistance. The province has also partnered with the Canadian Red Cross to match donations, up to $15 million. Another $15 million will help people who don't qualify for existing disaster programs. Less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney landed from his international trip that included stops in Saudi Arabia

and the NATO summit in Turkey, he's now at the Calgary Stampede, thrust back in the middle of challenges he faces here at home. Rafi Bujicanian is following the Prime Minister and is in Calgary. So Rafi, Karni is following. the tradition of many politicians to show up at the stampede, attend events, flip pancakes, but he also visits at a time of a national unity debate in Alberta. How is he expected to balance those?

Stephanie, it would be a bit of a surprise for a Canadian Prime Minister not to show up to the stampede, especially on a year like this, where Albertans are staring down a referendum question. They'll have to answer whether or not the province, in Canada or eventually faces another vote for secession. Now, Mark Carney recently pledged the Federal Crown Corporation would pay for most of the new oil and gas pipeline to the West Coast if the project receives approval from the Federal Major Projects Office to go ahead. A decision we're expecting less than three weeks before voters in Alberta go to the polls on their province's political future in October.

What we're seeing here this weekend is a bit of an unofficial Canadian unity. campaign kickoff. Carney met with indigenous leaders this afternoon of three treaty nations which were going through the courts trying to stop a referendum question from being gasped in the first place. He's got the usual stampede photo-op events, your chuck wagon races and pancake flips, but we also know dozens of liberal MPs were to attend this event as well. That's a bit unusual. The party only has three elected MPs in Alberta.

Conservatives are here too, of course. This province is more of a power base. for Pierre Palliev's party, but neither party has seemed particularly keen to unite themselves and joint shows of force as they campaign for Canadian unity. Another thorny issue Carney is having to contend with is that there's still no trade deal between Canada and the United States. How much pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister over that? So July 1st has come and gone now, and the U.S. did not agree to start a review over Kuzma,

the three-way free trade deal between Canada, Mexico and the states, something we know the other two countries were keen to do. That just means Kuzma goes on as is, with no changes until 2036, but it leaves outstanding issues unresolved, like heightened American tariffs on Canadian sectors like aluminum, steel, and forestry. Journalists asked Karni if he has made any progress on trade talks with the U.S. while he was in Saudi Arabia. He said simply, I'll keep you posted.

an answer that will likely only keep raising questions as the weeks go by. Rafi, thank you so much. You're welcome. CBC's Rafi Bougiccanian in Calgary. Canada is moving to acquire a sophisticated technology to monitor the Arctic against threats. The polar over-the-horizon radar system will be placed in the far north. It's being built in central Alberta. Lena El-Sadi went to the factory to find out why that matters.

On this side here, so this is our engineers. Seen as a crucial investment to monitor airspace for threats over the far north, Canada's new polar over the horizon radar will be located deep in the Canadian Arctic. But part of that technology is being built by Red Deer, Alberta-based company, Technologics. Do you want to leave your home defense up to your neighbor? No one does. The company's chief operating officer, Thomas King, says, the project is an example of why Canada's recent defense. and military buildup should prioritize local companies. We have the capability in Canada to take care of our defensive needs. We need to grow our industry here.

Robert Gullen is CEO of Technologics. How proud can you be having the ability to protect your own country? Technologics is building 72 transmitters for the project. Over the Horizon radars are designed to see over the curvature of the earth, and Canada's needed reach is massive as massive as, the second largest country in the world, but also over one of the most vulnerable places. University of Manitoba's Director of the Center for Defense and Security Studies, Andrea Sharon says that Canada is falling behind without having this technology.

The number of missile types that we are dealing with these days, they tend to use the Arctic Ocean as the avenue of approach because it's the smallest ocean. And although Canada collaborates on defense with the U.S. through NORAD, Chiron believes it is wise to develop this technology at home. She says only Russia has over the horizon radar systems so far north because the Arctic environment poses unique challenges. You know, sort of the same reasons why we get the wonderful northern lights also makes it a challenge for trying to direct radio waves off of the ionosphere.

According to Frank Creasy, CEO of the Red Deer District Chamber, the polar contract could foster local economic growth in central Alberta. We could become specialists in a variety of different industries that relate to defense, but also the commercial uses. You could look at our educational facilities, could grow and expand to become either specialists or generalist. He says the town has advantages to leverage, like proximity to Calgary and Edmonton, and is cheaper cost of living to attract talent. The radars are expected to be functional in the 2030s. Lena Olsadi, CBC News, Red Deer, Alberta. Rain pummeles the city of Wenzhou, China, as typhoon Bavi makes landfall moving west.

Nearly 2 million people in the country's southeastern coast have been forced to evacuate. The storm has already brought strong winds and heavy rain to Japan's southern islands and Taiwan, with a max wind speed at more than 140 kilometers an hour. There are no reports of any deaths in those countries, but earlier this week, landslides triggered by the typhoon killed at least 17 people in the Philippines. Ebola has killed at least 600 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months. The country declared an outbreak two months ago. Experts with the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention say it's the fastest growing outbreak of the virus ever recorded.

Freelance reporter Chris Oachim Ringa has more on that story. Healthcare workers attend to Ebola patients. in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congolese authorities declared an outbreak on May 15th after the disease had gone undetected for weeks. Experts say that late detection, coupled with community mistrust and violence by armed groups, has largely caused Ebola to spread faster than efforts to contain it. But the DRC government says it has wrapped up measures to contain it. Patrick Muayyaya is the government spokesperson. We have less daft than we use that we have before. I was in Mungualu, in the earth of this outbreak, where people were dying

10 to 15 daily. But now it's between two and five. Authorities recently faced another challenge. Some healthcare workers on the front lines of the outbreak went on a brief strike this week over poor working conditions and unpaid wages. We work day in, day out, yet we go unpaid, says epidemiologist Jisleim Barneba. We have gone more than 52 days without pay. The latest outbreak is caused by the Bundibuja strain of the virus, for which there is currently no vaccine or treatment. Clinical trials for two potential drugs are underway, raising optimism among experts like Professor Placid Mbala from the National Institute of Biomedical Research. It's important to take this opportunity to assess the

drug that showed good promising result. that will help us to have a tooth that can, I can say, strengthen our way to respond. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is the fastest growing ever on the continent. Donors recently pledged $900 million, but less than half the funds have been released. The DRC's help minister, Dr. Roje Kamba, is calling for more international support. There was a foreign medical expert who became infected and had to be repatriated to his country very fast, he says.

That just shows we need international aid because the virus is a global concern. The latest Ebola outbreak is the 17th recorded in the DRC since 1976. Chris Ochanmringa for CBC News, Kinshasa. It's that classic Canadian sports experience. Montrealers cheering for a Toronto team. Okay, so maybe that's not a hockey thing, but the WNBA is bringing people together. As Canada's first team, the Toronto Tempo,

plays two games in Montreal. As Alexander Silberman reports, the trip comes during a big moment for women's basketball. In Montreal's Bell Center, a historic, record-breaking crowd for a WNBA game. And a tempo answer. More than 20,000 fans packed into the arena to see the Toronto Tempo face off against the Dallas wings. A sign of the surge in excitement around Canada's first team.

The energy in Montreal and just being at a WNBA game for the tempo is insane. 14-year-old Blair McKenzie traveled with her family from Halifax to see her first WNBA game. The love of the game, it was just in the air and I loved it. It was amazing. All I'm thinking is I want to be there. I want to do that when I'm older. The buzz around the tempo continued with a fan fest. Hundreds of families turned out to the arena for basketball clinics, games, and a chance to meet players. It's very exciting to watch and witness.

Haley Bryson traveled from Fergus Ontario to see the tempo. The 16-year-old is a basketball player herself and says star players like Kiki Rice are a source of motivation. And I've had injuries and she kind of inspired me to just keep working and knowing it's not the end. The pair of Montreal games come at a golden moment for the WNBA. The league has seen a big spike in viewership and attendance and has expanded, bringing teams to new markets, including the tempo. It was a huge movement for not just the WMBA but for women's sports. Savannah Hamilton is a sports journalist based in Toronto. She says broader television visibility is helping the league see an end.

unprecedented surge and interest. And stars like Caitlin Clark are drawing in new fans. Where there's investment, there's growth. And it really took the WMBA and the powers that be to really believe in women's sports, period. The WNBA's players are some of the highest paid women athletes in the world. 31 now earn more than a million dollars per year, including three on the tempo. Allison Sandmeyer Graves is CEO of Women. in Sport Canada. It enhances the role models that girls and young people have access to in this country. At the Tempo Fan Fest, Alessio Delgobo brought his three-year-old daughter to see the tempo in action. Just to have her have that experience for women now and just to see them playing is absolutely phenomenal.

The new fans joining a global excitement for women's sports. Alexander Silverman, CBC News, Montreal. These days, you can get your world news in the blink of an eye. But before smartphones and 5G networks, even before radio, dispatches from abroad would make it to your local paper, thanks to men in boats off the coast of Newfoundland. A new book tells the story of those men and their role in bringing news of the world to North America. Mark Quinn reports. Ro me bully boys row. Roe me bully boys row through the wind and the rain through the rain, through.

From 1856 to 1866, those bully boys launched from Cape Race, Newfoundland. They scoured the waves looking for canisters dropped by passing steamships on route from England to New York. Before there was internet, before there was even radio, Cape Race was at the center of how North America got its news. And it's all detailed in Teresa O'Leary's book, Race to the Cape. It's the story of how six American newspapers pooled their resources for the Associated Press and used Cape Race to get all the latest news from Europe first. So it was really incredible. They were fierce competitors, but they came together to save money. It couldn't have happened without Cape Race, its lighthouse, its telegraph station,

and the people of nearby Portugal Cove South. Cape Race is in the middle between London and New York, and it also is first landfall in North America for many ships. coming from Europe. The perfect spot to drop canisters filled with the latest news and mail from England. It could be news about wars in England. It could be correspondence between the Queen

and the President of the United States. So the boys would then telegraph that news to New York City within a matter of hours as opposed to the days it would take when the ship would arrive. And that's why it's called a wire service. For a decade, the news of the world was sent over wires from the telegraph station

at Cape Race. Once the transatlantic telegraph cable was laid from Ireland to Newfoundland, Cape Race became unnecessary. But people living in the area are the descendants of those news pioneers, and for them it's important that this story is being told. Gertie Malloy is chair of the Cape Race Heritage Committee. I learned a lot. I guess I've been around a while, but I still learned a lot. I knew about the story of the canisters, but not the whole story, right from beginning kind of like to the end of the era, you know? So it's great for us to have it and for us to be able to share that history

from here with visitors. And now, thanks to Irish musician Terry Boyle, there's a sea shanty about Cape Race and the AP Newswire that they can teach visitors too. Mark Quinn, CBC News, Cape Race. Let's welcome everybody to planet pit and some what worldwide music is. From Mr. Worldwide. From Mr. Worldwide to Mr. World Record.

Pitbull, the Cuban-American rapper from Miami, has hit a major new milestone in London. I'm a fireball. Legions of Pitbull fans came out to Hyde Park, dressed like him, Thai, aviators, goatee, and one more special accessory, this one to set a record, the largest gathering of people wearing bald caps. I think it's good to be a part of something we're going to make history today. Make our mom's crowd. Yes.

This was our childhood dream. So we've been waiting for this moment. I just want to feel this moment. In their rubber headgear, the crowd was hot. Not in a good way. It was 31 degrees. Yeah, I'm definitely swayed. But the man himself was there to raise their spirits.

You know why we're baldies? Because we fly high like bald eagles. Yeah. That's the truth, baby. The Guinness people took the count very seriously, dozens of volunteers adding up from the ground and aerial drone images until it was time for the final tally. We can confirm that you achieved 22,141.

Congratulations. You are officially amazing. We did it about this. We did it about this. Pippel thanking his fans. for being with him through thick and thin hairlines. Say it to the ball to these all the time in the shows. When y'all put on them ball caps,

you know you're about to have the time of your life. And I put it on my life, baby. I'm going to get you a ride, baby. Can't promise tomorrow, but I promise tonight. Gosh. More classic pit bull on your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. Thank you for listening.

For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.