Your World Tonight - Riyadh's international airport hit by missile strikes, and more

Episode Date: October 11, 2026

Officials in Saudi Arabia say the international airport in Riyadh has come under attack for the second time in 24 hours. It comes after a strike on Saturday killed more than a dozen people and injured hundreds more. Canada has joined other nations in condemning the attacks, that are being claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.    Also: Hurricane Simon has hit towns and popular tourist areas along Mexico's southwest coast. The eye of the category 4 storm has so far remained off the coast as it moves north. But even without a direct landfall, Simon has brought damaging winds, storm surge and flooding.And: Steel-maker Stelco says despite pressure from Ottawa, it's going ahead with laying off hundreds of Ontario workers. Last week, the federal government issued an ultimatum to the company: Produce a plan to keep those jobs, or be taken to court. The CEO of Stelco’s parent company insists, they are operating within the law. Plus: Malaysia's mass deportation of refugees from Myanmar, Minneapolis residents mobilize to keep intimidation away from polling stations, The friendly rivalry between Alberta and Montana football teams, and more.

I've been staring at my offer letter for three days. The salary is exciting, but trying to understand terms like group matching and flexible spending, it feels like reading another language. Congrats on the job. That's huge. But yeah, entering a new workplace comes with a big learning curve. I just want to make sure I'm setting myself up right from day one. It feels like there's so much to figure out about how all of this works. We all feel a bit out of our depth when starting out.

When I made my last jump, I was totally trying to make sense of my new paycheck and my real-life expenses. Glad, it's not just me. It helps to know that everyone goes through this phase. For sure. Honestly, just bringing it up in the first place is half the battle. Landing the job is just the start of the journey. Want to hear how others are navigating the early careers? Check out Count Us In.

A web series where host Michelle Spina sits down with members of Gen Z to share real perspectives and experiences on money, and what comes next. Paid content with Desjardin. Now streaming on CBC Gem. This is a CBC podcast. This is a conflict that has deep roots and it's been reignited and it's completely unclear how it could be brought to an end. A deadly escalation, putting pressure on the Saudi kingdom, threatening to drag more countries into Yemen's bloody civil war. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Kaz Bovan. Also on the program, Hurricane Simon, now a a Category 4, forecast to intensify and continue grinding its way north along Mexico's western coastline. And having the prime minister of Canada saying that I betrayed my employees, this is not true.

Stelko's U.S. owner stands firm despite Ottawa's threats of possible legal action. The company says it will move ahead with layoff notices for hundreds of Ontario steelworkers. The International Airport in Riyadh has once again, come under attack. Officials in Saudi Arabia say a strike has killed one person and injured about a dozen others. And yesterday, attacks on the same airport killed more than a dozen people and injured hundreds. Yemen's Houthi rebels are claiming responsibility and are warning airlines and passengers to stay away. Tom Perry is tracking developments for us from Jerusalem. Video shot in the moments after Saturday's attack show scenes of chaos at the

Hald International Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Passengers rushing through shattered glass and tiles to exit a damaged building outside, ambulances wait to carry away the injured. A day after the attack, which the Saudis call a war crime, the country's health minister visited some of the survivors in hospital. As a spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility. The attack prompted a cascade of condemnation from world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump. Look, the Saudis are good fighters, but I think the attack was a terrible thing. Trump suggested his administration could join Saudi Arabia's fight against the Houthis,

something it has so far been reluctant to do. Britain's Defense Secretary, West Streeting, says the U.K. is open to the idea of increased military support for the Saudis in light of this incident. What we saw in terms of the attack on the airport in Riyadh was a shocking escalation, actually hundreds of casualties. Prime Minister Mark Carney posted his government's message on social media. No political or military objective can justify the targeting of innocent people, he wrote. Canada condemns these reckless acts of violence in the strongest possible terms.

This is just the latest violent flare-up in a long, drawn-out fight between, the Saudi regime and Houthi militants. The kingdom has long backed Yemen's internationally recognized government in its bid to regain control over the country in a fight that has grown more intense since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran, the Houthi's main backer. Nader Hashemi, who studies Middle East politics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., sees no easy way out. So this is a conflict that has deep roots and it's been reignited and it's completely unclear,

you know, how it can cut, how it can be brought to an end. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority has confirmed the airport in Riyadh came under attack again on Sunday with injuries reported. The Houthi's warning airlines to avoid Saudi airspace declaring it a zone of military operations. Amid reports, Saudi back forces have now hit a Houthi-controlled airport in what remains an active ongoing conflict. Tom Perry, CBC News, Jerusalem. More than 100 migrants have died after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti. The dead include 15 children. The vessel was carrying about 300 people. Around 80 have been rescued, and a search

operation is underway for dozens of others who are missing. The migrants were traveling from East Africa to Yemen in the hopes of eventually reaching the Gulf countries. The International Organization for Migration says, as the Bob El Mendeb Strait continues to be a busy crossing for migrants even with the escalating violence in Yemen. The Malaysian government is in the process of returning thousands of refugees who came from Myanmar. The deportees have been living in detention centers often in poor conditions, but human rights

groups say deporting them back to a military-controlled country in the middle of a civil war puts them in danger, especially the persecuted Rohingyas. Freelance reporter Adam Bemma has more. The second issue of concerns that was the perpetration of Myanmar National. Last Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim held bilateral talks in Kuala Lumpur with Myanmar junta leader and President Minong Lange. High on the agenda was Malaysia's deportation program, which is accelerated amid a rising tide of anti-migrant sentiment in the country.

Malaysia has deported 10,000 Myanmar nationals to their home country since January. addressing lawmakers in the capital, the Prime Minister says no stateless Rohingya have been returned to date. The UN Refugee Agency data indicates over 90% of registered refugees in Malaysia are from Myanmar, with the vast majority being Rohingya who fled a 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine state, an offensive now subject to genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice. People are very worried that they might be forced. to go back. Nur Sadeq is a Rohingya community advocate

living in Kuala Lumpur. While Malaysia maintains all repatriations are voluntary, community leaders like Sadeq strongly contest that characterization. When someone is being deported from a detention center, you don't call it voluntary because they

do have a choice to say no. Malaysia sent back around 1,500 Myanmar nationals in late September. Nadia Lukman, a Kuala Lumpur based researcher on displaced populace. says the legal protection for refugees are rapidly eroding. The situation right now is actually quite concerning. Earlier this year, the Malaysian government introduced its own independent refugee management system

designed to bypass U.N. refugee agency registration mechanisms. However, rights advocates note that only a handful of detainees in state facilities have been successfully processed under the new framework, even as deportation operations intensify. The main concern is that they cannot be re-references. they cannot be returned. If they return, then there will be a significant harm that they will actually face. Many of us do not realize that hardly any country are willing to accept this

perpetration in large number. As bilateral coordination between the two countries deepens, hundreds of thousands of refugees across the country face an increasingly uncertain future. Adam Bema for CBC News, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, says he supports the idea of an energy ceasefire with Russia. Earlier Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Kiev and Moscow had agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure. That post initially seemed to catch Zelensky off guard. He told Axios, it was news to him.

But in a later video statement, Zelensky clarified he will agree to the plan on one condition. He says we expect Russian President Vladimir Putin to follow through on what Trump announced. According to the Prime Minister's office, Mark Carney told the U.S. President he supports the energy ceasefire proposal. But in an earlier call with Zelensky, Canada and Ukraine's leaders were critical of Trump and Putin's deal for Russia to supply diesel to the U.S. market. Carney says that arrangement will help Russia fund its war and undermine efforts to create peace and stability. in Europe. Still ahead. One team, two nationalities, six-man football. Even as Canada-U.S. relations have taken some hits, a cross-border connection between one high school in Alberta and another in Montana plays on. That's coming up on your world tonight. Steelmaker Stelko says despite pressure

from Ottawa, it will proceed with layoffs affecting hundreds of Ontario workers. Last week, the federal government issued an ultimatum to the company, produce a plan to keep those jobs or be taken to court. The CEO of Stelko's parent company insists they are operating within the law. Philip Lyshanock reports. This is the last Thanksgiving that you are out of a job. You're going to be brought back. Lorenzo Gonzalez, CEO of Cleveland Cliffs, the U.S. owner of Stelco, says the jobs are not gone for good. The layoffs of up to 500 workers announced last week are temporary. And he says workers will be back in the Hamilton and Nantico-Contaro plants when it makes economic sense. We'll continue to employ all the workforce that I had there when I bought the company.

The Cleveland-based company bought Stelco in 2024 for $3.4 billion and agreed to legally binding conditions to keep jobs in Canada for five years. But Gonzalez says now U.S. tariffs are hurting its galvanized steel business, and the company is simply matching employment to March. market conditions. There's no provision that I have to keep employment at a certain level every single day of the five years. When you promise somebody something, like, you need to stick to it, business or no business. Mike Wad is one of the steelworkers who got a layoff notice this week. He says not only do workers feel betrayed, they don't believe Stelko's excuses. Guys don't understand because we have Canadian orders. And there's no reason for us to be shut down.

No, no reason for layoffs right now. They need to comply. If not, we will use the full force of the law. Industry Minister Melanie Jolie this week threatened legal action, giving Cleveland Cliffs an ultimatum to keep its commitments under the Investment Canada Act. And she says the company cannot blame U.S. steel tariffs, which benefit the company's American operations. Trade war against steel workers cannot be used against these commitments. Nisira al-Hadri is a Toronto-based business lawyer.

She says it's not public what Cleveland Cliffs agreed to to get the sale approved, so it's not clear what would be considered a breach. It has to be clearly out of the control of the investors. A market changing in this circumstances is not enough to justify non-compliance. Cleveland Cliffs says the layoffs are necessary to ensure its survival in a tough market. The government stands bold. its ultimatum and is reviewing all legal options, including a court-ordered sale of Stelko to a buyer with a better plan.

Philip Lyshanock, CBC News, Toronto. In just over three weeks, Americans will head to the polls for the midterm elections. They won't see Donald Trump's name on the ballots, but the president's political life could become a lot more difficult depending on the outcome. Polls suggest his Republican Party could lose control of both the House and the Senate. As the CBC's J.P. Tasker reports, Trump's stance on Canada may not be helping its prospects. November 3rd, it's going to be a big day. The U.S. midterms are underway and the fractured relationship with Canada has become a major election issue.

And look at Lake Ontario. Canada has been ripping us off for 50 years. President Donald Trump rallying the Republican base with his taunts. Everyone says like, oh, Canada's so nice. they treat us terribly. They're not treating us terribly anymore. Night after night, blasting Canada and its leadership. I like the national anthem, O Canada,

but I don't really have to listen to it. It's the first time Canada has been much of a factor in a U.S. federal election. NAFTA, the Mexican trade agreement, where they pay people a dollar an hour. There were the debates over NAFTA in the 90s, but those were focused on Mexico. with independent presidential candidate Ross Perrault, a leading voice. You're going to hear a giant sucking sound of jobs being pulled out of this country. You have to go all the way back to the early 19th century to find anything comparable.

The War of 1812 attacked by American critics as an offensive and ruinous war in that presidential election year. Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. Now on TV screens in Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and beyond, the trade war is front and center in campaign ads. Some Republican candidates like Michigan's Mike Rogers are distancing themselves from Trump. Farmers are hurting right now. There's absolutely no reason for this. While Democrats remind voters that the Canadian trade dispute has pushed up prices. That's why we need Susie Lee. Voting to end the war. And stop the tariffs.

Las Vegas is far from the northern border, but few places have been hit harder by the Canadian travel boycott. Democrats there are calling it the Trump slump. Donald Trump and his administration is directly their fault. And it's totally unnecessary. Canadian tourism dropped by more than 17% in 2025. Airline data shows this year is on track to be even worse. They're not enough tourism, let's say, during the weekdays. Now you're not being calling to work. Diana Valles is the president of the Culinary Workers Union. She is mobilizing her 60,000 members in Nevada. to punish Trump and his party at the ballot box. Our members are paying the price of this craziness that is going on in the White House.

Peter Navarro, Trump's top trade advisor, has warned Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team not to interfere in these elections. But this focus on Canada, it's happening organically. The president hoping that Talking Tough on Canada will result in his party holding both houses of Congress. Even as poll after poll shows this fight with a longtime ally could prove to be a least. losing issue. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Washington. Staying with the U.S. midterms, Republicans' poor polling numbers are driving concerns Trump may take drastic action on voting day, measures

which could disrupt the democratic process. Some in Minneapolis are not leaving that up to chance, as Katie Nicholson reports, they're mobilizing to prevent any interference at polling stations. It's a weeknight in St. Paul, Minnesota. Nearly two dozen people are seated in a small community center. Is ICE going to show up at the polls? Are they not going to show up at the polls? This is democracy defender training. Helen Cuba is a new recruit.

My trust in some of the systems that I was brought up to believe in and not question has faltered. And it's been really disappointing and disheartening. Cuba, like others, is still shaken from the Trump administration's massive immigration cracked down in the state last winter. And it's this same energy that. that we're feeling right now that was being fought back then. People were afraid people want answers to questions.

Luis Aguetta is with Monarcha, one of several community groups helping people organize ahead of the midterms. We can never watch a stolen election again. Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of electoral fraud without evidence, raising fears he could unlawfully send armed officers to the polls, something the U.S. president hasn't ruled out. We want to make sure that we're doing right now is making sure that people are equipped and they know exactly what to do and how to handle any happenings during this midterm election.

It felt like the world was ending, or it felt like my world was ending. Shea Alcamo is among the tens of thousands of Minnesotans who train to observe ice officers. Operation Metro surge deeply affected her. She even woke up to a raid outside her home. since metro surge happened, I've really been focused on how do we defend ourselves from the next threat? Do you have a second to chat? Sure. Now she's canvassing her neighborhood, making sure people are registered to vote and looking for others willing to step up.

I'm just trying to go around and meet neighbors to kind of talk about what we might do. Like if ICE were to show up at the polls, are you guys interested at all in being in the network? Great. On this day, she signs up two more people. It's a really hard conversation about like what is possible for us when we've already seen state violence take away to members of our community. So, you know, it's also these conversations about like what is your risk level if that were to be the situation at the polls. But concerns about federal interference run beyond the grassroots. The evidence is all around us that they do have an appetite to step in and try to control aspects.

of state-run elections. Steve Simon is Minnesota's Secretary of State. For more than a decade, he's prepared contingency plans for elections in case of storms and power outages. But before now, he's never had to prepare for potential federal interference. For months, he's been meeting with his counterparts in other states to game out scenarios just in case. We are ready now in a way that we might not have imagined

we would have to be before Operation Metro Surge. A readiness he hopes isn't tested come November. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Minneapolis. Hurricane Simon has been hitting towns and popular tourist areas along Mexico's southwestern coast. All day, Sunday, the eye of the Category 4 storm remained over water as it moved north, but even without making a direct landfall,

as Caroline Bargud explains, Simon has brought damaging winds, storm surges, and flood. flooding. Waves crashing to shore, growing larger by the hour, as the eye of the storm nears Mexico. Hurricane Simon is a category four storm and is expected to intensify Sunday evening. Videos show flooded streets in the Port City of Manzanillo. A semi-truck stuck and unable to move. Cecilia Gonzalez came to the beach to see the storm firsthand. It's tempting to look. It's the first time we've come here, and it's the first time we've come to see a hurricane here, she says. A hurricane warning is in effect for parts of Mexico's Pacific coast south of Porto Viata,

including the area around Manzanillo, the country's largest Pacific port. A tropical storm watch has been issued further south. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says 240-kilometer-an-hour winds were reported on Sunday. Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum posting a warning on social media telling residents of coastal communities, Halisco, Kalima, Nairit, and Michoakan, to shelter in place until officials say the danger has ended. Police are at local beaches asking residents to leave. This man says, of course I'm going to leave.

I'm not going to risk my health. 80 people have been evacuated from coastal towns and brought to Portoviata by ship. Mavi Diaz Hernandez says they were picked up. Originally, they planned on staying, but in the end, they decided to go. The storm has brought heavy rains to Manzanillo. Armed with buckets, the Navy was called in to help. Everything got flooded. From here to there, everything, my closet, everything, says Maria Elena Vasquez.

Mexico's National Civil Protection Coordination has placed 28 municipalities in Halisco and Kalima under its highest cyclone alert level, while 93 other municipalities are under a high alert level. Stores and businesses are boarded up. Beaches are closed and barricaded, while soldiers, Marines and the National Guard patrol areas vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Caroline Bargut, CBC News, Vancouver. At the Vatican. Pope Leo, announcing he will soon undergo a procedure to remove a nodule on his lung.

The 71-year-old Pope has had no major medical complications in the past, and he's stressing that the nodule was detected at a very early stage, during recent tests. Leo's surgery is expected to take place in a few days. In eight days, Albertans will choose whether to remain in Canada or begin the legal process of holding a second referendum on separating from the Federation. CBC's Nick Purden recently spent some time on the front lines of the campaign, speaking to people on both sides of the debate. It's sunset on a recent Sunday in Cold Lake Alberta. Hello, everybody. Thomas Lukasukh, steps out of an aging RV.

to meet a hundred or so people gathered in a public park. Can we gather together? Thank you, everybody, for coming out. Lukazik used to be the deputy premier in Alberta. Nowadays, he's the leader of the Forever Canadian movement and dedicated to keeping Alberta in Canada. This is probably the most important work that we will do as Canadians in our lifetimes, and the vote that we will be participating in will define us.

Lukazek wants to visit every single town in the province to make people understand their vote is crucial. The stakes are very high. You know, this isn't fun and games. This is very serious business. And there are those that are saying, Thomas Alberta will never separate from Canada. This is not realistic.

I think it is realistic. There is a pathway, and Brexit has shown us what the pathway is. When people feel too confident that they are on the winning side, they tend not to vote. Apathy sets in, and that's how the other side wins. Thank you again.

Thank you for your leadership. Yes, I'm a proud of Bert from it. I'm a proud Canadian. Of course, not everybody agrees. A man arrives and puts up a sign that supports the idea of looking into separation. There's a moment of tension, and Jesse Heinrichs explains that he's not happy with Canada. I'm a hard work in Albertan, and I want Alberta's money to stay in Alberta, and I want Alberta to have more of a voice in Ottawa. And they've continually promised that, and they've never delivered it.

I want a better future for my newborn and for my family. I'm to the point where separation actually is making more sense than staying. How does that work? How would separation make people's lives better? I meet Kathy Flett, who's been pushing for Alberta sovereignty for 10 years. She founded the Alberta Women for Independence Network. And Flet says Ottawa takes too much of Alberta's wealth, and separation would make regular Albertans richer.

What that means, pragmatical, I guess on a day-to-day, our paychecks. More of that money will stay in our bank account so that we can look after our families. Because it's not going to Ottawa, we'll be able to decide what's best for Albertans, not Ottawa deciding what's best for Albertans. Polls suggest that as many as 70% of Albertans want to remain in Canada. And what's remarkable as elections Alberta projects an 85% turnout for the vote, which would be a record. Nick Perden, CBC News, Cold Lake Alberta. Several times a week, teenagers from Milk River, Alberta, crossed the border.

They meet up and play high school football side by side with students in Sunburst, Montana. They may be from different countries, but it's all the same on the gridiron. She and Desjardin has that story. This is a new tradition before high school football games in Sunburst south of the border. Both teams are from Montana, gearing up for a frigid, snowy game of six-man American football. But it makes sense on some burst team. There's 13 of us total and then six of us are Canadians. We get to enjoy the American high school experience and just have fun with Americans,

different countries, same people. Brennis Van Groff and his Canadian teammates go to school in Milk River, a small Alberta town just north of the border. We haven't had a football team here for a very, very long time. Our high school numbers are not super big right now. Milk River's athletic director, Lara Johansson, says they teamed up with North Tool County High School and Sunburst, which was looking for more players. We have kids that are Canadians and kids that are Americans meeting together in America to play football. So we got my jersey?

Forgetting anything ahead of the season's final home game is out of the question for Vengroff. All I need is just my passport. They still have to cross into a different country before they can play. If the line's too long, then we'll walk across the bridge and then go up to the booth over there, give him the passports, and then walk across and wait for the bus. Teammate Jet Butler guesses he's crossed around 100 times in the past month alone. I got my first touchdown a couple games ago, so it's been going really good. My dad, he went to school in Sunburst, so he knows a bunch of guys down there.

These border towns have been interwoven for generations. Still this official co-op between the schools is new, and going well, according to football, Coach Scotty by. I kid you not. The first week, we had everybody hanging out together. It was nothing we did. The kids are just, you know, good kids. His focus is making the team competitive.

We do have a little bit of talent, right, with these Canadians. And the thing that I've had the hardest time with is getting them up to speed. That doesn't seem to be much of a problem at this game, an icy night with people watching from their cars to stay warm. Fans from two countries hyped for one team. And it's a big win for Sunday. But the Canadians have one more task ahead. Just go right back across the border, getting an hour-worn blankets. Shian de Jaldane, CBC News, Sunburst, Montana.

Finally, let's talk pumpkins. Tis the season. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, jack-a-lanterns. It's enough to make some people a little obsessed. Here great pumpkins. I'm looking forward to your arrival on Halloween night. It's also the time of year when some farmers compete to harvest their own great pumpkin. And tonight we bring you the tale of one fanatical gourd grower, Leslie Lake of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, who's creating a monster. He's growing, he's still growing.

He's putting on probably five or ten, maybe even 15 pounds a day, depending on temperature. Lake's recent estimate put his pumpkin at around 996 pounds, or just over 450 kilos. But his efforts almost ended in disaster. We had a cool summer, and so one night I went out, it was going to be down to around 10 or 11 degrees. And a pumpkin really needs to be around 15 degrees to keep growing well. So I went out and I put a blanket on them, and I put a heating pad on top of the blanket. The next morning, the smell of cooked pumpkin told Lake something had gone terribly wrong. The heating pad short-circuited, burning a six-inch hole.

Lake thought it was a goner, but the pumpkin pulled through. But it never grew. That patch is a scar, sort of stay scarred, and all the pumpkin grew around it, so he has a huge pothole. Lake estimates by the time he picks pothole sometime before Halloween, it could be as heavy as 1,200 pounds. We got a friend of ours. She's going to bring out a calibrated scale and a forklift, and we're going to lift it and get an exact measurement. Other growers' pumpkins did not do so well this year, so Clarenville, Newfoundland, Giant Pumpkin Festival has been called off.

Still, Lake says Pothole will likely outweigh his 2022 creation, the 1,034-pound behemoth, Gordzilla, smashing that pumpkin record. And in that spirit, leaving you with the Smashing Pumpkins classic Cherab Rock, this has been Your World Tonight for Sunday, October 11th. I'm Caswell Ban. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.

slash podcasts.