Your World Tonight - Shooting strikes fear, Israeli PM points finger at Carney, Canada Post strike pending, and more

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

The fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington is spreading fear in Jewish communities in the U.S. and Canada. The FBI director says the attack was a targeted anti-Semitic act of terror. A 31-year-old man was arrested at the scene, as he called out "free Palestine"And: Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement saying he is devastated by the shootings, and he condemns the violence and antisemitism. Israel’s prime minister suggested Canada - and other countries – have played a role in emboldening Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas is grateful to Carney and the leaders of France and Britain for saying the war in Gaza should end immediately.Also: The two sides in the Canada Post labour dispute are not talking, and a strike could begin at midnight tonight – the second disruption in a year. Small business owners who rely on the mail service are trying to find other options.Plus: G7 finance ministers meet, Stellantis delays production on one of its electric vehicles, Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named NBA MVP, and more.

Other People's Problems was the first podcast to take you inside real-life therapy sessions. I'm Dr. Hilary McBride, and again, we're doing something new. The ketamine really broke down a lot of my barriers. This work has this sort of immediate transformational effect. Therapy Using Psychedelics is the new frontier in mental health. Come along for the trip. Other People's Problems Season 5, available now. What we saw last night was disgusting.

They walked outside to go home and were gunned down. The hate has got to stop and it has to stop now. The intersection of 3rd and F streets in Washington DC is far from the tragic devastation of Gaza. But last night, the conflict in the Middle East spilled over into the heart of the U.S. Capitol as the killing of two young Israeli diplomats and the links to the Israel-Hamas war lead to condemnation and security concerns in Canada and around the world. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner also on the program.

Because we send small things like greeting cards and stickers but we had to suspend that because the threat of the strike is not good. Small business owners once again caught in the middle of a bitter labor dispute at Canada Post with the company and postal workers heading towards a midnight strike. A Canadian institution with more than a century of history faces an uncertain future. faces an uncertain future. There is shock and sorrow around the world tonight over what US officials are calling a targeted anti-Semitic act of terror. The killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC.

Katie Simpson is in the US Capitol with what we know about the investigation, the suspect and the victims. Mourner stood in a small circle near the front steps of the Jewish Capitol Museum. Amid a heavy police presence, they shared songs, prayers and clutched on to one another as they sought comfort in their grief. This is an unbelievable painful moment and it's so important that we're here together. At this very spot less than 24 hours earlier, two Israeli embassy staffers, a young couple, 30 year old Yaron Leshinsky and 26 year old Sarah Milgram, were leaving an event organized by an American Jewish advocacy group. Police say they were confronted by a gunman who had been pacing back and forth in front of the entrance.

We heard between 10 to 15 gunshots, roughly. Yoni Kalin was at the museum and says immediately after the shooting, a man who seemed confused ran into the building. And once police arrived, Kalin says the man confessed. He put his hands up, he grabbed a red kaffee out of his pocket and started the Free Palestine Chants. The arrest captured on video by stunned onlookers. Police have charged 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez with first-degree murder, murder of foreign

officials and several other weapons charges. FBI Director Kash Patel called this a targeted anti-Semitic act of terror. Authorities are trying to verify his apparent manifesto and examine his social media posts, which includes pro-Palestinian content. If this is not a wake-up call to the world, then they have died for nothing. Ayelet Razin Betor was friends with Milgram. They met through the embassy. Betor is a criminal lawyer who traveled to Washington

to advocate on behalf of victims of the October 7th attack. She joined the embassy shortly after October 7th, after she felt the rise of the anti-Semitism. The same anti-Semitism that she struggled was the one that brought to the end of her life that got her murdered. Milgram was Jewish and grew up in the US. Leszczynski was Christian and was raised in Germany and Israel, according to the Israeli ambassador in Berlin. They met at the embassy more than a year ago and were supposed to fly to Israel on Sunday.

Milgram would meet his parents for the first time. He'd bought a ring and was planning to propose. The Department of Justice will be prosecuting the perpetrator responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt says President Donald Trump spoke with Israel's prime minister offering condolences in the wake of the murders, vowing to ensure investigators have every resource possible as they pursue this investigation. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington.

The Canadian government is condemning the murders in Washington and expressing concern about a rise in anti-Semitism. But as Marina von Stackelberg reports, Ottawa's statements on the incident have not eased the current diplomatic tension between Canada and Israel. And we had to go through metal detectors. Michael Levitt runs a Toronto group dedicated to combating anti-Semitism. He says after the Washington attack, security has been stepped up. We visit a Jewish community centre and there is police on duty.

The Canadian government is promising extra funding for security. I am absolutely appalled and horrified. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand commented briefly on the attack. My thoughts are with their friends, their families and the broader Jewish community. But Anan did not take more questions about tense diplomatic relations between Israel and Canada. Earlier this week, Canada, France and the UK released a sharp criticism of Israel. Those countries called on Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately let humanitarian aid in. They threatened to take action if it didn't.

Now Israel is drawing a link between those criticisms with what happened in Washington. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly called the leaders of the three countries out. You're on the wrong side of justice. Now these leaders may think that they're advancing peace. They're not. One Israeli cabinet minister took it even further, saying Canada, the UK and France, quote, emboldened the forces of terror.

And Israel's foreign affairs minister, Gideon Sarr, echoed that. There is a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder. This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries. Ehud Omeret is a former Israeli Prime Minister. To blame them for anti-Semitism and support of terror is absolutely outrageous. I have no other words for it. Canada's former ambassador to Israel, John Allen, says this is Israel's way of scaring off further criticism.

They're taking a terrible tragedy that occurred in Washington and trying to use it to score political points. This says Canada summoned Israel's ambassador in Ottawa, wanting an explanation of what happened yesterday in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers there fired warning shots near a group of diplomats that included Canadians. Israel says they had strayed away from an approved route. Prime Minister Mark Carney says what happened was unacceptable. The relationship between the two countries getting more fraught by the day. Marina von Stackelberg, CBC News, Ottawa.

In Gaza, officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 50 people. Israel has not commented on the attacks, which come as international pressure to end the conflict and bring humanitarian relief to Palestinians, continues to grow. Chris Reyes reports. There's bread baking again in Gaza. As quickly as they come out of the oven, they're put in plastic bags ready to be handed out. Vladimir Jovsev is with the World Food Program. He's calling for more supplies to come in. What we need to do is to continue to bring humanitarian aid,

advocate for the crossings to be open, and make sure that the food goes to the ones mostly in need. After an 11-week Israeli blockade and desperate calls from leaders around the world, aid is trickling back into Gaza. On Wednesday, the UN confirmed that some 90 truckloads that carried nutrition supplies, flour and medicine were allowed in. Stefan Du Jaurique is a spokesperson for the Secretary General.

He says all aid must be coordinated with Israeli security forces, slowing down the delivery. They continue to face huge challenges in getting goods out of the crossings to where they are needed in Gaza. Israel has increased its military operation in Gaza since early May, saying it wants to eliminate Hamas and bring back the remaining hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says more aid will be allowed in with a plan to establish a large safe zone in Gaza's south. The Palestinian population will move there for their own safety while we conduct combat in other zones and receive humanitarian aid there without Hamas interference.

Israel says Hamas was taking the deliveries for its fighters. Hamas denies that claim. At the United Nations Security Council, Gaza was highlighted as a striking example of the deadly toll conflicts take on civilians. Canada's ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, called on the council to uphold international humanitarian laws. When we fail to subject the power of the rule of law wherever it takes place, wherever it takes place, we are in fact condoning tyranny and abuse and impunity around the world. The desperation for supplies in Gaza is so evident in the massive lines around the few outlets that can provide meals. In one crowd, dozens of children hold empty pots, hoping they might eat today. The UN has warned that more than 2 million people in Gaza are at risk of famine.

Chris Reyes, CBC News, New York. Coming up on the podcast, electric vehicle production in Ontario suffers another blow, a possible imminent strike and the uncertain future for Canada Post, plus a Canadian basketball star celebrated at home. A midnight strike deadline means in just a few hours Canada Post workers could be off the job and for the second time in the past six months, deliveries could be stalled for people and businesses across the country. Sophia Harris has more.

Because we send small things like greeting cards and stickers, but we had to suspend that because the threat of the strike is not good. A possible Canada Post work stoppage on Friday already hurting business at Alana White's greeting card and gift store in Toronto. Online orders make up a quarter of her sales. Even so, she has stopped selling much of her online merchandise. Worried it will get stuck in limbo. It's not great. It's a lot of extra work and it's you know worrisome.

It's enough stress is running a small business without having that on top of it. White and many other independent retailers are still reeling from the month-long Canada Post strike last year, which ended when a request from the federal minister led the Labour Relations Board to order employees back to work so negotiations could resume. Well, I'm getting a ton of emails and reach outs from small business owners panicking about the absence of Canada Post.

Dan Kelly is president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. He says more than three-quarters of small companies rely on Canada Post. I don't know how much more uncertainty we can throw at small business owners across Canada right now. We already have, of course, the U.S. care situation. But the uncertainty continues. On Wednesday, the Crown Corporation made its latest offer. It includes a more than 13% wage increase over four years.

But it also calls for the creation of part-time jobs to give the corporation more flexibility, especially on weekends. That's a sticking point for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, says Ian Lee, a business professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. They do see it as a slippery slope, a much smaller Canada Post, and a much smaller union as a consequence. The union proposed a two-week pause on the potential labour disruption to review the offer.

However, Canada Post said it can't afford a delay as it continues to lose business to private couriers and hemorrhage cash, about three billion dollars since 2018. We are in an existential crisis. We are effectively insolvent. John Hamilton is a spokesperson for Canada Post. It's time to get down to breast acts and get a deal done. We are prepared at any moment to sit down and begin negotiations with a mediator who has been there for the last while.

And we have not heard back, so balls in Cup W's court. The union says it's analyzing the corporation's offer and working on counteroffers. So, no firm answer yet on whether Canada posts 55,000 workers will go on strike at midnight. Sophia Harris, CBC News Toronto. Canada's auto sector is taking another hit from U.S. tariff uncertainty. It's happening once again at Stellantis.

The automaker is pausing production of one of its electric vehicles. As Thomas Dagla reports, it's the latest bump in the road for EVs in Canada. A shiny two-door muscle car zooming down the highway, Canadian-made and all-electric. It was only last year that Stellantis was showing off its new Dodge Charger Daytona RT. Now it's slamming the brakes on the 2026 model, postponing production in Windsor, Ontario and blaming US tariffs.

Every day we come in it's just we go from there. That's all that's all. It's the latest in a series of abrupt changes at the assembly plant leaving workers like Paul Lachance with their heads spinning. Our work schedule has changed three times in the last say a week or so. I've had to change my dentist's appointment three times. Although Canada's auto sector has recently suffered thousands of layoffs, today's announcement isn't expected to lead to any immediate job cuts. Stellantis is still set to assemble other Dodge Charger models in Windsor,

even as US President Donald Trump piles on pressure for car companies to build more vehicles stateside. Plus, I think this is a reflection of the general slowdown in EV sales. Peter Fries at the University of Windsor points to that other major challenge. The companies will pause EV investments until sales return to a sustainable level. In particular, industry experts say the electric Dodge charger model that's now on hold may not have been selling as well as the company had hoped. Its starting price listed just under $58,000. I spoke to the CEO of

Ceylantis this morning. Industry Minister Melanie Jolie says the federal government remains committed after investing big in EVs. And I'm convinced that we can get to a good place. Just last week Honda announced its postponing a new $15 billion EV operation in Alliston, Ontario. And while US tariffs still loom over the industry, laborer Denis Desaunier at the Stellantis plant in Windsor sees it this way.

At the moment, I don't think the consumers are ready, but so much that's been invested by the government that I don't think it's something that's just going to be thrown away. Just as the automaker today announced plans to pause production on an EV, the company also touted the arrival of a separate model slated for next year. Another Dodge Charger that's fully gas-powered. A reminder, many car owners aren't so keen to go all in on all-electric. Thomas Daigle, CBC News, Toronto.

The Prime Minister is now officially a Member of Parliament. I do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty, King Charles III. Mark Carney was sworn in as the MP for the Ottawa riding of Nepean. When Carney first became Prime Minister, he did not have a seat in the House of Commons yet. Parliament returns on Monday. On Tuesday, King Charles will read the speech from the throne. Talks have ended at the G7 finance meetings in Banff, Alberta. The group discussed unfair economic practices, global trade, and the war in Ukraine, setting the stage for Canada to host next month's Leaders Summit.

Karina Roman reports. We had productive and frank discussions. Very constructive. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne declares the G7 Finance Minister's meeting a success. This after his Italian counterpart revealed yesterday that there were difficulties at the start of the summit. But Champagne says they were ultimately able to come to a consensus.

And that is a win in his books. And we found common grounds. This is what the G7 is about. You have the largest economy in the world and we found common ground on the most pressing global issues that we face. The final joint statement talks about how to improve economic growth, resiliency and fairness. It includes a call to action to combat financial crime. There is agreement on Ukraine and its future reconstruction and possible further sanctions on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire.

The communique outlines next steps on stemming the flood of goods from China. But one word that is not mentioned once in all nine pages, tariffs. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem co-chaired this week's summit. Obviously tariffs are on all of our minds. We clearly have more work to do and we are committed to continuing to reduce that uncertainty and that includes around trade and tariffs. Champagne sidestepped the question on how to restore financial stability when the biggest player at the table is a cause of economic instability.

I would say when I look at where we are to where we are today and the journey ahead of us, we're on a good track in order to reduce the instability. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde says the meetings were an opportunity to allow the people around the table to understand each other a little bit better. While it's fairly obvious that international trade will never be the same again, it's also pretty clear that there will be further negotiations, that there will be further movements on the part of all partners in the trade.

Recent history shows that a US cabinet secretary signing on to a joint communique has little bearing on US policy under President Donald Trump. Still, Champagne's one-on-one meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant yesterday was an important step. We get along very well together. So this was one discussion,

and there'll be more discussion about a whole range of issue and you wouldn't understand why because Canada is the biggest customer in the United States. So it's quite normal when you meet your biggest customer that there's a lot to discuss. This week's meetings lay the groundwork for the G7 Leaders Summit in mid-June in nearby Kananaskis, a high stakes gathering by its very nature but even more so now that President Trump has confirmed he will attend. Carina Roman, CBC News, Banff, Alberta. At least three people are dead, several others injured after a plane crashed into houses

in San Diego. A music talent agency says three of its employees were on the plane and all died. The crash set multiple homes and cars on fire in the largest military neighborhood in the U.S. City Councilor Raul Campillo says he's thankful nobody on the ground was killed. There was many miracles and many heroic actions from our police department, from our firefighters and the military members themselves. I heard stories about military families about military families

helping military families out of their home, jumping out of windows, avoiding fire. Officials say the plane went down in extremely foggy weather. This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you wanna make sure you stay up to date and 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. Not since the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship have basketball fans in Canada been this proud. You might have heard Hamilton's Shay Gilgis Alexander is this season's MVP and just the second Canadian ever to earn that honour. As Jamie Strachan tells us, the 26-year-old point guard is inspiring people on and off the court. I'll present to you the Canada basketball jersey with Shay on the back. It's a long way from the school gym at McNabb's secondary in Hamilton Ontario to Oklahoma City. To celebrate Shay

Gilgis Alexander's journey to the NBA and now the league's most valuable player, students at his old high school raised a banner. Canada basketball's Rowan Barrett joined them. For the kids maybe that haven't even been born yet that are here in Hamilton that will come through this school will see that there was a great man that came from this school right here in Hamilton. Something not lost on student Noah Smart. It shows that it can happen you don't have to go to so crazy prep schools or anything like that you can make it out come into a public school and yeah do big things.otis Alexander wants the angle.

Spin. The 26-year-old star, usually referred to as SGA, led the NBA in scoring in his team to a league-high 68 wins, as Oklahoma City Thunder are one of four teams left competing for a spot in the NBA final. As it's always been for the quiet point guard, the MVP award was a chance to celebrate his teammates.

Without you guys, none of this would be possible. I want you guys to know this award is your award too. So thank you guys so much. SGA's big win is being celebrated by fans across the country, but those in Canada's tight-knit hoops community are bursting with pride. This is a model athlete that you want for cannon I think. Rowan Barrett says Gilgis Alexander can always be counted on to represent his country on the world stage where his unique skills elevate everyone. Every single year, every year he's adding something, he's becoming even more efficient each and every season. I mean it it's amazing. It's amazing to watch the mastery. Steve Nash is the only other Canadian to be named MVP. He did it twice in 2004 and 2005.

Nash marvels at SGA's exquisite skill set and relishes having a second Canadian name on the MVP trophy. It's amazing. This is a very special moment for me. I genuinely get super excited to see his success. And it's really probably my favorite player to watch. More importantly, Nash says this award shows the rapid rise of Canadian basketball, a place where the best in the world can be developed. It has been an explosion. And to think that we are now constantly having to cut or not accommodate NBA players on our national team from where we were 20, 30, 40 years ago is

remarkable and a testament to just how much the game's growing, how popular it is. To a point where kids playing in gyms in big cities and small towns across Canada can dream one day of not just making it, but being the best. Jamie Strash in CBC News, Toronto. Finally, it's one of the most prestigious and richest literary prizes in the world and a Canadian author has won the 2025 Dublin Literary Award. So now I'm very pleased to announce that the 30th Dublin Literary Award winning book is The Adversary by Michael Crummey. Newfoundland author

Michael Crummey was presented with the award at a ceremony in Ireland today for his novel The Adversary. It's a story of a heated sibling rivalry over control of fishing operations on an isolated Newfoundland outpost. For the Dublin Award, works of fiction are nominated by public libraries around the world and in his acceptance speech, Crummy spoke about the role the libraries played in his life as an author. But if I had to name a beginning to that journey it would be Saturday morning visits to the Buckins public library. I spent hours in that library as a youngster browsing and reading and it made the little world that I was born into feel something

close to limitless. Crummey has written several novels and poetry collections. He was previously shortlisted for the Governor-General's Literary Award and the Giller Prize. As the Dublin Award winner, Crummey received 100,000 euros, which works out to more than $150,000 Canadian. Thanks for joining us. This has been Your World Tonight for Thursday, May 22nd. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.