Your World Tonight - Three military reserve members face kidnapping, firearm charges.

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

Three Canadian Armed Forces reservists are among seven people charged in connection with a plot to kidnap and rob a victim of crypto currency in Toronto.Also: Ukrainian officials say Starlink restrictions weaken the country’s ability to protect itself against Russian attacks.And: Affordability emerges as the leading election issue of the U.S. midterms and that is bad news for Republicans.Plus: Canada courts India’s trade, last push for votes in Alberta's referendum, flags as a tool of intimidation in the occupied West Bank, and Canadian companies showcase their anti-drone technologies for military use.

Albertans are voting on their future in Canada on October 19th. Wondering how we got here, CBC podcast has you covered. Start Referendum Day with front burner host Jamie Poisson. She'll bring you her story from Edmonton about the final pitches from the unity and independence camps. Then tune in to Power and Politics live for their Referendum Day coverage from Calgary. The morning after, West of Center is your destination for a behind-the-scenes look at the initial results and what they mean for Alberta and Canada. Find front burner, power and politics, and west of center, wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast.

Somebody will need to be held to account as to how it is that these members were able to abscond with elements that can pose a serious risk to public safety. They pledged to defend Canada. Now they're accused of breaking its laws. A third member of the Canadian Armed Forces is under arrest in relation to a violent abduction. Police say the incident isn't just a breach of public trust, but part of an evolving trend. This is Your World Tonight. I'm Salima Shivji, also on the program. They switched off it. It's their decision. Now, it's a big mistake. For Ukraine, a stable satellite internet connection is a matter of life and death. Ukraine says restrictions imposed on their access to Elon Musk's Starlink terminals

led to the failure of several combat missions. It happened without notice and some, Ukrainian officials say the move is political. A third military reservist has now been arrested in Ontario, accused of stealing ammunition from the army and orchestrating a violent kidnapping. Police say four civilians also took part in the plot. They allegedly abducted and beat their victim at gunpoint in an attempt to extort cryptocurrency. As Aaron Collins reports, the shocking crime is raising questions about trust and military security. I can confirm that three of the accused are members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Toronto's police chief says those service members are among seven people charged in connection to a kidnapping over the summer. Chief Myron Demkew identified the three as Tala Rumba Fernando, James Morrow, and Jack Miley. Demkew says police also seized guns, drugs and ammunition in their investigation. Almost all of this ammunition was allegedly stolen from the Canadian Armed Forces. The fact that three of the accused are members of the military troubling for Demkew. When you're dealing with people who have a degree of training, as we do, with members of the Canadian Armed Forces, who are prepared to engage in what's alleged here, you know,

taking somebody off the street by force, that's incredibly concerning. And he isn't the only one concerned by the involvement of reservists. The Canadian public has higher expectations of people in uniform than they do of your average Canadian. Christian Leoprecht is a professor at Queen's University's Royal Military College. He says the military will need to determine how the accused stole ammunition too. Clearly, somebody will need to be held to account as to how it is that these members were able to abscond with elements that can pose a serious risk to public safety. For its part, the Defense Department says military police are investigating the theft and working to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Investigators with Toronto police say the victim was abducted in public, assaulted, handcuffed, and confined in a car at gunpoint. They say the victim's cryptocurrency was the target, part of a growing trend. Criminals are learning more that this can be a potentially very high return on investment for the time and resources. put into it. Jameson Lopp is a cryptocurrency expert. He says crypto can be a quick and easy target because it's easy to transfer. And Lop says there's another reason that crypto is increasingly popular among thieves. Most people who are crypto asset owners have very, very little security relative to other high value targets, you know, like banks or armored cars or whatnot. Police say their investigation is ongoing, but so far they say they haven't connected those accused in the kidnapping scheme to any organized crime groups.

Erin Collins, CBC News, Toronto. Ukrainian officials are raising the alarm about the country's ability to defend itself against Russian aggression. Russian ballistic missiles are pounding Ukraine's biggest cities, hitting residential areas and energy facilities. But Keeves says it has stopped getting the usual intelligence warnings from the U.S. and that Starlink has been restricting its connectivity, limiting defense capabilities. Breyer Stewart explains. Rescue crews respond to a blackened high-rise building damaged in a Russian missile attack. At least two people were killed.

During the initial barrage on the Capitol, explosions rang out before the air alert sounded, because Ukraine said for the second night in a row it didn't receive a warning from its partners that Russia was launching missiles. There was little time left to react, said Sophia Patapova, a resident in the building. Questions have been swirling about whether the U.S. is cutting off intelligence. It's fueled in part by the fact that American officials have been reportedly threatening for days to do just that if Ukraine didn't stop striking Russian refineries, and the absent missile warnings aren't the only issue. Ukraine also said that the satellite internet service it uses,

which is called Star Shield, was restricted. It's essentially a military-grade version of Starlink. It was made by SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk. An advisor to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said it was clear that the restrictions were not coincidental and were related to the current political situation. Zelensky went even further in an interview with British host, Pierce Morgan. So we understand what's going on.

So they switched off to it. It's their decision. What is your message to Elon Musk? No, it's a big mistake. This decision will bring a lot of human losses. Musk said that the Star Shield systems are controlled by the U.S. government, so any decision to slow them down would ultimately be made by Washington. The U.S. insists it hasn't.

cut off sharing information with Ukraine. And today the EU Commission said that there was no indication that intelligence sharing had been halted. I would like just not to be in a Russian and a hurry with conclusions. Volodymyr Haverlov served as Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defense in 2022 and 2023. He says the political tension with the U.S. is amplifying fears about intelligence and access to equipment being cut off. Any kind of problem which is on a tactical level can be magnified to some huge political conspiracy. So we should be very careful now. But in recent weeks, Washington has been blunt and has been putting more pressure on Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump not only signed a diesel deal with Russia, but he's also said that he believes it's time for Ukraine to get a new leader. Breyer Stewart, CBC News, London. Coming up, it's well on its way to becoming the world's fourth largest economy, and Canada wants buy-in. Hundreds of business leaders are in India this week with big ambitions for bilateral trade. Plus, ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, there's one word on the minds of many Americans, affordability. We take you to West Virginia, where the present state of the pocketbook could dictate the future makeup of Congress. And later, we'll have this story.

I'm Evan Dyer at Suffield Research Center in Alberta, where the Canadian government has invited innovators to show their solutions for a major problem facing all militaries, how to kill enemy drones before they kill you, and do it in a way that's sustainable. We need to break the current economic cycle that we're seeing playing out in Ukraine right now, where we're shooting million-dollar rockets at $5,000 drones. I'll have the story of the counter-dron sandbox later on your world tonight.

Politicians of all stripes in Alberta are making their final arguments ahead of next Monday's referendum. And whatever their politics, they all agree on one thing. Turnout matters. Already nearly 200,000 voters have marked their ballots via advanced voting. Stephanie Kramm has more. With Alberta's referendum days away, leaders from both sides are rallying their base to get out and vote. This is a critical vote, probably the most important vote, that any of us will have. have a chance to participate in in our lifetimes. Thomas Lukasik, founder of the Federalist Group Forever Canadian, urging

Albertans to show up. His group is doing everything they can to get as many Albertans to the polls, including calling electors and driving people to polling stations. And this week, he's organizing two rallies in Calgary and Edmonton. This will be a rally that is historic in nature. And you want to be able to tell your grandkids that, you know, I was at that rally. I was there when that vote actually happened. He says the mayors of both cities,

NHL hockey players, and even Prime Minister Mark Carney, will be on hand for both rallies. I don't know about Daniel Smith. I don't know what she is doing, but all the other major political leaders are taking an active role in the last week. Dwayne Brat, political science professor

from Mount Royal University. Federal Conservative leader Pierre Pollyev will be in Alberta this week, speaking at a conference in Calgary, where the Premier will also speak. Bratt says despite these efforts from politicians, most Albertans already have their minds made up. There's still going to be maybe a million people that are going to vote on Monday.

But as far as influencing people, I think those are pretty much decided. Elections Alberta says they have received over 400,000 special mail-in ballots. And on the first day of advance voting, close to 175,000 Albertans cast their ballots, including Alberta NDP leader Nahed Nenshi, who voted in Calgary. We're just encouraging everyone to vote, and of course, vote option one, vote yes to Canada, and vote no to the other nine questions. His concern now, making sure folks don't rest on their laurels. The thing I hear most commonly is, Nahid, why are you so worked up about this?

The separatists can never win, to which my short answer is, well, you got to vote. It is unclear where Alberta Premier Daniel Smith will be on the night of the referendum, and this weekend one last push to motivate voters with competing rallies at the Alberta legislature. Separatist group Let Alberta Decide is holding a rally on Saturday and on Sunday, a federalist event organized by the Alberta Federation of Labor. Stephanie Kramm, CBC News, Edmonton. A sizable Canadian trade delegation is in India this week in an effort to deepen economic ties between the two countries. Ottawa wants a trade deal signed with India by the end of the year with a goal of

doubling trade by 2030. Susan Ormiston reports from Mumbai. India, as you can see here, is growing quite fast. It's a market that we can't ignore. About 100 meters from the historical gateway of India at Mumbai's port, Canada's international trade minister, Menendor Sedu, hosts the largest trade mission here in nearly 30 years. Ladies and gentlemen, our minister of trade. Businesses looking for a gateway into India's huge market. 1.4 billion people. We're going to be signing about 30 commercial partnerships

that are amounting to about $300 million in space technology, in aerospace, in agri-food, in clean tech, and energy. Joining that trade mission, Montreal's Port Authority looking to expand with Indian ports, says Senior Vice President Marie-Claude Gallinou. This was one of the reasons why we absolutely needed to be here, import and exports. Between our two countries are super important,

and we do believe that it's key for the Canadian economy. Ziamodi, a long-time international trade lawyer in Mumbai, says it reflects an improved political and business environment. There's a brotherhood or sisterhood or whatever you like to call it again between the two nations. I think the political friction is over. Canadians have invested for so long in India, especially the pension funds, that they've become what I call Indianized. The mission comes as Canada and India,

India worked to finalize a major trade deal, the goal to double trade between the countries to $70 billion in just four years. Canada wants some lower tariffs on its exports. And what can we offer? Energy, potash, critical minerals, advanced manufacturer goods. India's middle class is growing incredibly fast and they're looking for good quality products. And that's where I want to see the tariffs come down. Strategic analyst Harsh v. Pant in Delhi says Canada and India, have worked to relax tensions and grow trade in part because they have to. It is not a question of choice.

Both sides are facing economic headwinds which require them to engage with countries in the same position. And I think that is why India-Canada relations today are becoming more promising than they have ever been. Prime Minister Carney and India's Prime Minister Modi spoke by phone this week on trade and security. Narendra Modi is expected in Canada in mid-day. December to potentially sign that trade pact. Susan Ormston, CBC News, Mumbai. Consumer prices, fuel, and mortgage rates are all climbing in the U.S. And that's got Americans feeling the pinch just weeks before the November midterm elections.

That puts Republican incumbents in a bind. And as we hear from Katie Nicholson, some are doing everything they can to shift the blame. Krista Levy sticks price tags onto secondhand. hiking boots at a Martinsburg, West Virginia thrift store. It's been busy as parents try to make their dollars stretch further. This is the best place to come even get anything. A lot of places around down, like there's the boutiques and whatnot and can't afford it, especially with like kids. Levy feels their pain. I've had to really survive off of food pantries recently. You know, electric's gone up. The rates have gone up with that. Literally, I pay my rent. And,

and I have nothing left. Levy's hardly alone. The latest consumer price index which tracks the cost of basic household items and services is up. A steep spike across the board up 3.7% in September compared with a year ago. Costs also made their biggest jump in five months between August and September.

Much of it driven by soaring energy prices. Everything from filling up at the pumps to airline tickets much more expensive. My boyfriend and I have started making souring sourdough because bread was getting so expensive, but flowers are a lot cheaper. Juliana Kaiser among the many in this Republican district trying to work around it. I have definitely limited my shopping trips. I've definitely limited the amount of traveling that we do. And I try to condense my trips into all one big loop out. So I'm not back and forth in the gas as much.

Will that weigh on her mind when she votes? Yes, absolutely. The latest inflation numbers, bad news for embattled Republicans. It looms large because it is a reminder every day. when you're at the pump, it costs a hell of a lot more than it used to. Tim Molloy is a Quinnipiac University polling analyst. He says with the midterms just weeks away, Trump and his party have little room to maneuver. It's really, really late in the day, and the president's down to 32% on our poll, which is terrible.

Other reliable polls have meant 30. That's almost unrecoverable. Republican candidates having a hard time spinning skyrocketing prices on the campaign trail, like Maryland Representative Andy Harris. The facts are that diesel prices have gone up. There's no question about it. Why has it gone up?

Because the Democrats, environmental regulations have not... If he's worried about how rising prices may impact his party, the U.S. President stumping for Republicans in Arizona today, also blamed Democrats for the affordability problem, something in the past he's also called a hoax. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell will soon have passports from both sides of the border. Mitchell officially became a U.S. citizen on Tuesday.

She announced the news on her social media, sharing a brief moment from her naturalization ceremony. Johnny Mitchell, Canada. The 82-year-old musician has been living in the state since the 1960s. Mitchell didn't give any details as to why she decided to pursue U.S. citizenship now, but she's previously expressed frustration at not being able to vote in the country. The caption of Mitchell's Post online reads, A Journey that began 62 years ago. The Pope is up and about and has resumed his regular diet one day after surgery to remove part of his lung. The Vatican says X-ray and blood tests today suggest Pope Leo is recovering as expected.

Doctors removed a mass that was first noticed during a checkup, and he's now been diagnosed. with lung cancer. Tests are underway to see if the cancer has spread, and that will determine any future treatment. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians say Israeli settlers are using flags as a tool of intimidation. Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal under international law. Video viewed by CBC News shows nearly 20 people planting dozens of Israeli flags outside a Palestinian business overnight. or senior international correspondent Margaret Evans reports. It is an unexpected sight,

a large cluster of Israeli flags along the main road next to the Palestinian village of Luban al-Shakia. The flags managed to obscure from view the small roadside cafe and shop owned by Muayat Hussein, who lives with his family just behind it. I have eight children to take care of, he says. I'm very demoralized. The flags have closed off my business.

No one sees me. The flags were hammered into the ground under cover of darkness by hard-line Jewish settlers earlier this month, caught by a security camera perched on a tree outside Hussein's shop.

Nearly 20 settlers can be seen arriving and engaged in the task on the video he showed us. They don't know. They don't want us staying in our home, says Hussein. The same people who put up the flags burnt my shop before. Israeli flags have begun appearing all across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, crowded into the middle of roundabouts and lining major thoroughfares.

The apparent brainchild of settler Eyal Spiegel, who boasted openly about it to Israeli media earlier this year. There's no difference between Tel Aviv and here, said Spiegel, standing opposite Hussein's shop. The land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. Physical attacks by hardline Israeli settlers against Palestinians on their own land have increased dramatically this year, encouraged, say critics by an Israeli cabinet wedded to the de facto annexation of the West Bank. We are talking about now a very organized.

the process, very organized players. Palestinian analyst Ibrahim Rabaya calls the flags a new kind of psychological intimidation. They put more pressure on Palestinians and the idea of ownership, the idea of arresting anyone who can take off these flags. Like many Palestinian villages, Luban al-Sarqqqqa is overlooked by settler outposts, often manned by extremists, not afraid to use violence in their efforts to expand Israeli settlement. Violence often overlooked and sometimes assisted by Israeli soldiers and police. Hussein says he's been warned by the settlers not to remove the forest of flags,

now surrounding his shop, or they'll be back. And he believes them. Margaret Evans, CBC News, in the Occupied West Bank. Protesters have set fire to Albania's ministries of justice, finance, and education. Demonstrators took to the streets for another day, some throwing rocks and using long poles to break into the buildings. Police fired on them with tear gas and water cannons. Protests have been growing in the country with students angry over the state of the public education system.

And a demonstration that began over protecting wildlife from development projects has escalated to a demand the Prime Minister resign because of government corruption. The federal government is offering big cash prizes to jumpstart Canada's drone defense industry. And a testing facility in southeastern Alberta is giving companies a chance to show off the hardware. The sandbox is a defense technology event hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defense. Evan Dyer takes us there. We would love for Canada to be our first customer. Paul Zia dea of Calgary's North Vector Dynamics is designed a laser-guided missile,

and he's come to Alberta's Suffield Research Center to test it, all expenses covered by the Department of National Defense. The goal with this is to take out a Shahed type of drone. Shahheads are the long-range fixed-wing kamikaze drones designed by Iran that have devastated infrastructure in two wars across Ukraine and the Arabian Peninsula. They used to be powered by a propeller. Now, many have a jet engine, says Ukrainian army major Sergei Kuziara, here to observe and share his practical battlefield experience

from the world's leading drone nation. They're using the tricky stuff. So when they're entering the territory of Ukraine, they are flying together with the regular ones at the speed of 200 kilometers. And when they're arriving closer to the target, they're increasing the speed to go through the air defense and their usual speed before attack is 500 kilometers.

We can achieve speeds exceeding 900 kilometers an hour. Zyade believes his missile has the answer. In the counter-dron game, it's not enough to be fast or accurate. You also have to be cheap, says Colonel Gabriel Dorei of the Canadian Air Force. We need to break the current economic cycle where we're shooting million-dollar interceptors at the $5,000 drones. North Vector's missile is just one of the methods being tested at the same. sandbox trials, which is open to Canadian and international competitors and offers a million

dollar prize for the best solution. And we won the sandbox in 2024. So it was a prototype system back then. Janelle Froen is with Australia's AIME defense, which won the last sandbox with a laser weapon that can hit a dime-sized target at a range of one kilometer. It's like you've got a blow torch in the sky at a kilometer away, burning out the electronics or whatever you're trying to hit. For a winner of the Sandstone, box. We've had a lot of fantastic support from Canada. We've created something that's field deployable now in the two years. Fruin says AIM used the prize money to set up a Canadian division that now employs 10 people. And that's part of the goal here, says Colonel Dore,

not just to identify counterdron tech that can be used by the Canadian forces, but to grow a domestic Canadian drone and counter drone industry. If we continue the momentum that we've established over the summer at the same speed, we should expect the Canadian drone companies to be as competitive as any when it comes to the developing a sovereign capability. Evan Dyer, CDC News at the Suffield Research Center in Alberta. Finally tonight, another use for drones. I don't know what I would do without the drones for my mental health, really. When I fly a drone, I do not think of anything else but that moment.

You might say she's up on cloud nine. The drone Cheryl West is flying certainly is. The Saskatchewan resident started filming videos with drones after her son recommended it six years ago. West says she didn't truly appreciate her province's beauty until she saw it from above, rolling hills, grassy meadows, picturesque small towns. But for West, going far and high up was also a journey inwards.

She's had a difficult few years with deaths in the family and personal challenges. I never had a chance to actually grieve each moment or whatever because there was always something happening. And so this flying, it became to be a mental health thing, became to be a great hobby. A hobby that's caught the attention of thousands of followers on social media. Flying drones brought West back to the present moment, but it also connected her with her past and a person very dear to her.

My dad had passed away in the year 2000, and before he had passed away, he had said to me, don't worry, I will live through you. And I started, you know, with the gimbal and everything, and then the drone, I thought, that's exactly what he meant. He was going to live through me with his photography. West has this piece of advice for anyone feeling a little lost or overwhelmed right now. Do something you like, because you never. know where it'll take you. After all, a new vantage point means a fresh perspective. Thanks for being with us. This has been your world tonight for Wednesday, October 14th. I'm Salima Schiffey. Good night.

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