Your World Tonight - Trump's expletive-filled threat to Iran, Byelection advance voting, Dog import ban, and more.

Episode Date: April 5, 2026

Hours after celebrating the high stakes rescue of an American airman inside Iranian territory, the U.S. President issued another threat against Iran. In a profane Easter morning post, Donald Trump vowed to target Iran's power plants and bridges. This latest invective has prompted pushback from Iran and from some inside the U.S.Also: Voters in three federal ridings, two in Ontario, one in Quebec, were out at advance polls this holiday long weekend. Voter turnout was high, especially in Terrebonne - a riding north of Montreal. The results could give the federal Liberals a majority in Parliament, thanks to recent defections from other federal parties.And: Animal rescue groups are calling on Canada to end its ban on importing rescue dogs from over 100 countries. The temporary ban was brought in in 2022, after two rescue dogs from Iran tested positive for rabies. Organizations say the ban is too heavy-handed. But some vets warn the risk is too great.Plus: Mexico fights a measles outbreak, Preventing the health risks of wildfire smoke, The decline of tween pop culture, and more.

Life changes fast. One thing shouldn't. Your storage price. At XYZ storage, lock in your rate for a full year with our industry first locked in pricing promotion. No surprises, no sudden increases. Just secure, affordable storage you can count on. Whether you're storing a little or a lot, now's the time to make your move. Visit XYZ Storage.ca or your nearest location today. This is a CBC podcast. Let me tell you what won't reopen this greater formula's threatening work. of bombing indiscriminately power plants, cursing at Iran. What we need is statesmanship. Democrats in the U.S. react to Donald Trump's latest threat against Iran. The U.S. President offered an expletive-filled ultimatum on Sunday, open the Strait of Hormuz, or the U.S. will destroy Iran's bridges and power plants. This is Your World Tonight.

I'm Peter Cowan. Also on the podcast, advanced voting is underway in three key by-elections. They could deliver the federal liberals, a majority. government. Plus, And here's the maple syrup that we opened up and had at lunchtime today. So we had a little bit of Canada on board today. A sweet Canadian treat for the crew of Artemis II as the astronauts prepare for their big moon moment.

Hours after celebrating the high-stakes rescue of an American airman inside Iranian territory, the U.S. president is again threatening Iran. In a profane Easter morning post, Donald Trump vowed to target Iran's power. plants and bridges. As Katie Nicholson reports, Trump's latest invective has prompted pushback from Iran and from some inside the U.S. An Iranian state TV reporter gestures to the charred remains of what's believed to be two U.S. military aircraft blown up during the daring rescue mission of an injured airmen deep behind enemy lines. These type of rescue missions are fraught with the potential for disaster. Brendan Kearney is a retired U.S. Marine Colonel.

You've got the Iranian military, particularly the fanatics in the IRGC, roaming around the ground looking for this gentleman. All it takes is for one person to spot him, and for some reason he was able to stay hidden. There have been multiple reports the injured weapons officer hiked up a mountain and hid in a crevice. The CIA located him and launched a misdirection operation as the military swan. into high gear in the treacherous Iranian territory. Two transport planes became inoperable and had to be abandoned and blown up. Just after midnight, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a celebratory message, quote, an amazing show of bravery and talent by all.

Followed hours later by a new foul-mouthed Easter morning threat against Iran's power plants and bridges unless they, quote, open the effing straight, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell, just watch. Praise be to Allah, he wrote. This is all embarrassing and juvenile. The Post, earning withering scorn from Democrats like Senator Tim Kane. It's people trying to act like they're puffed up and tough when what we really see from the administration in this war is the absence of a plan.

And Representative Ro Khanna. Let me tell you what won't reopen the Strait of Formules, threatening war crimes of bombing indiscriminately power plants. cursing at Iran. What we need is statesmanship. Trump has threatened to hit Iranian power plants for weeks now tied to sliding deadlines. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure can be a war crime under international law. These threats are simply an indication of a criminal mindset. Ismail Begahi is Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson.

It would mean that you want to put at risk the whole population. and this is nothing less than war crimes and crimes against humanity. While on the streets of Tehran, American threats on the power grade have angered citizens. Iran has to retaliate, she says. This infrastructure belongs to the people of Iran. America has no right to harm the people of Iran. More than 100 international law experts have raised concerns about potential violations of humanitarian law, especially if energy and water desalination plants are struck in escalating attacks.

The clock on this latest U.S. ultimatum now set to run out on Tuesday. Katie Nicholson, CBC News, Washington. For more on this, let's go now to Sasha Petrissik in Jerusalem. Sasha, the Iranian Foreign Ministry says if Iran's infrastructure is attacked, then it will react in kind. What more do we know about what a response could look like? Well, Peter, one hint, I guess, is a message today from an Iranian general responding to Trump's post saying that the gates of hell will be opened upon you if you attack. Now, that would likely mean a kind of tit-for-tat retaliation targeting civilian infrastructure. The kind of bridges and electrical plants, both the U.S. and Israel have already started hitting and say they plan to hit even more.

Now, we've already seen Iran go after not only oil refineries, but this past weekend, damaging a desalination plant in Kuwait. Now, that's critical in this part of the world because it threatens basic needs and it is hitting their neighbors. Yes, Iran's statements do sound a bit like chest thumping bravado, but much of this comes from the regime's theological roots. Iran is the heart of Shia Islam, and it's often considered. marginalized. So when they do fight, they frequently see themselves as leading a resistance. This is how Justin Crump puts it. He's the head of Sibbeline, a British risk and intelligence consultancy. So it's slightly ingrained in the mindset as well that you must survive. You must improvise adapt, carry on. They've often been persecuted, and Iran is the Shia state.

And if we look at the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, that conflict lasted almost eight years. years and it ended in draw. The downing of a U.S. fighter jet last week suggests that Iran may not be as weakened as the White House says it is. What do we know about Iran's remaining capabilities? Well, here in Israel, we've seen a steady increase in the number of ballistic missiles and ones with cluster warheads. And they've really been giving Israel's sophisticated air defense system a bit of trouble. We've also seen a U.S. intelligence report this week, though. saying that despite intense bombing runs, targeting missiles and launchers, Iran has been digging

out its underground facilities and revitalizing them, fixing them sometimes within an hour or two of a strike. That intelligence assessment says that while some 11,000 missiles have been destroyed by the U.S. and Israel, that may only be about half of Iran's arsenal. So they've got a lot more left, and that's what they have been hitting their neighbors with. Petrissik in Jerusalem. Thank you. My pleasure, Peter. We told you Saturday how the U.S. State Department announced the arrest of the niece and grandniece of Qasem Soleimani. The U.S. killed Soleimani and Iranian General back in 2020. But now the late General's daughter says the State Department's claims are false. She tells Iranian state media her father had no nieces and that

the two women arrested by the U.S. have no connection to her family. In Rome. packed St. Peter's Square at the Vatican this morning for Easter Mass. This is Pope Leo's first Easter since becoming pontiff. During his address, the Pope called on global leaders to end conflicts raging around the world. Let those who have weapons lay them down, he said. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace. Pope Leo has repeatedly called for an end to the fighting in places like Iran, Sudan, and Ukraine. Still ahead, wildfire season has started in parts of the country, and with it comes the deadly danger of smoke.

Hear how one mother in BC is turning a tragic loss into a project of prevention. That's later on your world tonight. Now to the Artemis 2 Lunar Mission. The crew in the Orion Space capsule is fast approaching the moon. The historic flyby is expected to start tomorrow afternoon. The CPC's Quobina Oduro has the latest from the Canadian Space Agency. So, Kwebina, tell me about this special honor given to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen this afternoon. So Jeremy received his NASA gold pin today from his colleagues in space.

This pin represents astronauts who have actually flown to space. So he joins this elusive club of astronauts with gold pins. And last night, the Canadian Space Agency hosted a question and answer session for kids across Canada with Jeremy Hansen and his colleagues. They showed off their food and how things are carried out in. space and Hansen was asked what movie realistically helps explain what he's experiencing in space and his answer was kind of surprising. For our specific example here, one that really captures it, I think, is Apollo 13. Now, we haven't had any major malfunctions like Apollo 13 did, but they ended up on a very

similar trajectory to us. And that movie really shows you a lot what it's like with just three humans, you know, trapped in a tiny capsule. So hopefully their experience is a little different from that movie. Artemis II is now well on its way to the moon. So what exactly happens next? So the Orion will be in the moon's gravitational pull rather than Earth's, and as the astronauts get deeper into space,

they will start to see things that have never been seen before. So I spoke to someone from Canada's space agency, and they told me that astronauts will see the moon that will look like a basketball. So if you open up your hand and you stretch it out, and you open up your palm, it will look like a basketball in your hand. I also caught up with Tim Hultington, a senior scientist here at the CSA, and he explains what happens next. So over the course of several hours, the spacecraft is going to fly towards the moon,

eventually around past it, and they're going to be the furthest humans ever away from the Earth. They're going to be photographing the surface, documenting what they see. So how have the astronauts been preparing? So today the astronauts were testing out their survival. suits. These suits are bright orange and they are a safety measure in the event that something catastrophic happens. The suits are meant to give them oxygen, keep them alive for about six days. And I was told that the suits are not the most comfortable things by CSA employees, but they are super safe. And they're also preparing for the return capsule when they come back to Earth.

So, Peter, they're going to be going deep into space. But when they're ready to return to Earth, they will be well prepared. Lots to look forward to. That's Quabino O'Duro in Montreal. Thank you. Thank you. Voters in three federal ridings, two in Ontario and one in Quebec, are out at advanced polls this holiday long weekend. Voter turnout has been high for the by-elections, especially in Terbonne, a riding north of Montreal.

As Philip Lyschanik reports, thanks to defections from other federal parties, the liberals could be on the verge of securing a majority in Parliament. Advanced voting turnout was strong in the fast-growing suburb of Terban, north of Montreal. The lineups were so long, this couple decided to leave. It takes too much time, so it's an hour in 10 minutes, says this man. We'll try again tonight, says his wife. Last time, it only took 10 minutes. The Liberals won here by a single vote in 2025.

The Block Quebecois challenged the results after a voter complained her men. in ballot was not counted. The Supreme Court agreed. A pretty whopping-sized ballot. Matthew McKenna of Elections Candidates says 48 candidates are running in Terrebon, an active protest by the longest ballot movement, which seeks electoral reform, making the process more difficult. So our right-in ballot was used by voters instead. Rather than a list of all the candidates where they mark an X beside their name, there'll be a blank space where they write the name of the candidate of their choice. Block candidate, Natalie Sinclair de Gagnier, says that's caused the delays.

It's certainly a bit longer to write the full name of a candidate than to tick with an X, she says. Polls analyst Eric Grenier with the Rit expects another close result. What happens in Tehrbun will be much more of an assessment of how voters in that riding feel about both Mark Carney and the chances of his government getting a majority. Liberal wins and at least two ridings will give the Carney government a slim majority. wins in all three will mean the speaker won't have to vote to break deadlocks. Grenier says this time around Terbon liberal candidate Tatiana August has some name recognition. And August says cabinet ministers like Melanie Jolie have been out campaigning for her.

This time around I have so much support. All my colleagues coming around. In Ontario, Philippe Fornier of Election Projection Site 338 Canada says it's a different matter. Toronto ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University Rosdale are considered safe liberal seats. We have no real reason to believe that those races could be close. And during a recent trip to Texas, Ontario progressive conservative premier, Doug Ford said a Kearney majority would be helpful in the lead-up to trade talks with the U.S. Let's move forward.

You know, there's a couple tweaks with the USMCA, Kuzma, and everyone will be stronger at the end of the day. Advanced voting continues on Easter Monday, with by-elections taking place April 13th. Philip Lichanox, CBC News, Toronto. In Mexico, the government is carrying out a sweeping campaign to vaccinate people against measles. An outbreak started last year. Getting those shots to where they're needed most comes with challenges. And the public's enthusiasm for vaccination campaigns appears to be waning. Freelance reporter Katie Silver has more from Mexico City.

Earlier this year, the Mexican government pledged to vaccinate 2.5 million people a week. And vaccinate they have. There have been pop-up spots across the country in roundabouts, train stations, bakeries, cinemas, Walmarts, you name it. Around the capital, walls are plastered with posters featuring QR codes so people can look up where to get vaccinated. WhatsApp groups ping with reports of waiting times at various centres. Erica Breonnais Chavez is,

is a nurse at a government medical center in the neighborhood of Chapultepeg. She says at the height of the measles panic, the cues were up to two hours long. We administered 200, 300 and one day in the morning. That went on for about two months. Complete families came. Even the grandparents wanted to get vaccinated. The numbers, though, have dropped off, and the nurses are worried people won't return for the crucial second dose,

administered a month after the first. Health policy consultant Beatrice Martinez says people can become complacent. As diseases become less visible, people perceive less risk. The outbreak started north of the border. Last year, a nine-year-old Mennonite child in the state of Chihuahua fell ill after visiting relatives in Texas. Cases spread quickly through Mexico's largely unvaccinated Mennonite communities before becoming a national outbreak.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and while most people recover, it can be deadly. It's especially dangerous for young children and people with weakened immune systems. Some infectious disease experts have lauded the effort, but Sergio Meneces Navarro, a researcher at Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, says it's not targeted enough.

In reality, it's a massive response, but it has inefficiencies. We should be working with the most unprotected regions with the most unprotected populations. Sergio Minesse Navarro says that for some people here, distrust of public institutions goes back a long way. The Society of Mexico is profoundly divided, very stratified. There are very few large economic and social gaps in education, in income, in health.

And as you can see, inequalities are really big. They're abysmal. He says the number one thing Mexico needs is a national immunization register to get vaccinations back on track and prevent another outbreak. Katie Silver for CBC News, Mexico City. Bangladesh is also working to curtail a fast-spreading measles outbreak. The country has launched a mass vaccination campaign with the support from UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

The goal is to get the vaccine to more than a million children. Bangladesh's health ministry says there have been over 7,500 cases nationwide, with 17 confirmed deaths and another 113rd suspects. deaths. The campaign will prioritize vaccinations for children between the ages of six months and five years. In Western Canada, summer has become synonymous with wildfire season. And as the season gets longer and the fires get bigger, it means many Canadians are inhaling more smoke. Camille Verne, now on the health risks. In this bag, my better puffer.

Nine-year-old Roland Latimer has asthma. and never leaves home without his puffers. My lungs, like, close up. I could, like, lose breath and maybe even die. Yeah. Anyways, that's why I carry it with me, so I don't. He understands the danger of wildfire smoke. He knows about Carter Vey.

In 2023, the death of nine-year-old Carter Vey shook British Columbia. Hi, Amber. Amber, Carter's mom, remembers his last day. We got all the kids ready. We walked down to the park and by like about noon, the smoke started to, I started to notice it coming in. That evening, Carter suffered a severe asthma attack. And I just knew that we needed to take him to the hospital and get them checked out.

At one point they started having to do CPR on him. The doctor asked us to step outside of the room and he told us there was nothing more. that they could do. And when we walked back into that hospital room, my baby was gone. Wildlife smoke is linked to roughly 1,500 deaths in Canada every year, according to the Lancet countdown. Dr. Sarah Anderson,

scientific director at the BC Center for Disease Control, says those deaths are just the tip of the iceberg. We see higher risk of people going to the ER for asthma attacks and for heart attacks. People have a harder time controlling their diabetes. We see that it has an impact on children's performance in school. Wildfire smoke contains particles so small that when they reach the lungs, they can enter the bloodstream and damage organs.

That is especially dangerous for people with asthma. Pretty much every health impact that you can imagine, we know that wildfire smoke has an effect on it. To protect yourself from bad air quality, Anderson says to run air purifiers indoors and reduce outdoor workouts. Amber Vai has been advocating for better air quality monitoring. At the time that Carter passed, we checked the air quality on our phone, not knowing that our closest air quality monitor was 100 kilometers away,

and it told us that the air was safe, not knowing that it wasn't. So had we have had real-time accurate air quality monitors, in 100 mile at that moment, we might have changed our day and not gone for a walk to the park. We might have stayed inside instead. With the help of the BC Long Foundation, Amber started Carter's project. So far, they have installed 20 monitors across the province. What's the air quality? Gold River, where Roland Latimer lives, now has one.

And that's a relief for his mother, Trisha. Before we had those, it was always a guessing game. It is... 31. 31, we're in the green. For Amber, it's about empowering families and ensuring no other kids are lost. We always said that Carter was going to do something great in his life. He's going to make a difference in this world. Camille Verney, CBC News, 100 Mile House, British Columbia.

Animal rescue groups are calling on Canada to end its ban on importing rescue dogs from over 100 countries. The temporary ban was brought in in 2022 after two rescue dogs from Iran tested positive for rabies. As Marina von Stackleberg reports, organizations say the ban is too heavy-handed, but some vets warn the risk is too great. Mimi, who's a good girl? Who's sitting?

Amira is a two-legged senior dog rescued from the streets of Thailand. Walking with her specialized prosthetic legs, she's now living her best life in Montreal with her owner, Lara Pleasance. She has totally changed our lives, and I know we've changed hers. But Amira wouldn't be a little bit. adoptable in Canada now. Three and a half years ago, the federal government completely banned the commercial import of dogs from more than 100 countries.

It was meant to be temporary, aimed at preventing the spread of rabies. It effectively shut down the work of international animal rescues in Canada, like Soy Dog, the charity that saved Amira. A blanket ban like this is ridiculous, especially with absolutely no exemptions for responsible rescue organizations like Soy Dog. It's been such a different environment for you, huh, buddy? Camille Labchuk is a lawyer and executive director of animal justice. Her nonprofit legal group has tried unsuccessfully to fight the ban in court.

Canada's now the only country in the world with such a restrictive, flat-out ban. Labchuk says the U.S. and European countries have brought in different methods to allow dogs to enter safely, like requiring proof of vaccination, blood tighter tests that check for rabies antibodies. and quarantines. Before the ban came into effect, Canada was known as a beacon of hope for dogs coming from war-torn countries, dogs and countries where the dog meat trade flourished, dogs and countries without much animal welfare infrastructure. Canadians were seen as compassionate folks who wanted to open their homes to rescue dogs.

But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the federal body in charge of the restrictions, says those screening measures aren't an absolute guarantee, and the risks to public health are serious. Such a good boy. Such a good boy. Yeah. Ottawa veterinarian Kelly Butler agrees the ban is necessary. While dog rabies isn't much of a fear in Canada anymore, it kills nearly 60,000 people globally each year.

These are countries where canine rabies is endemic. So we can't be allowing those pets to come into Canada to put our people at risk. And it's pretty straightforward. just say no. The federal government says it will keep looking at options to once again allow rescue dogs to be imported into Canada. But for now, that temporary ban remains in place. Marina von Stackleberg, CBC News, Ottawa. Once upon a time, there was a whole pop culture industry aimed specifically at tweens,

those kids roughly between the ages of 9 and 13. Streaming has more or less killed that industry. Griffin Yeager now on what's lost when tweens no longer have pop culture of their own. I'm Miley Cyrus. Hey, I'm Selena Gomez. Hillary Gumpf from losing the Wire, and you're watching Disney Channel. For a tween in the 2000s, this wasn't just TV, but a whole industry geared towards them. Disney Channel, a star-making machine turning cable actors into household names. For fans in their pre- and early teens, says author,

Ashley Spencer. It becomes something that's unescapable. Someone who was just a lowly actor on a kid's cable show is now the biggest star in America. According to Nielsen ratings, in 2014, Disney Channel had about 2 million cable viewers. In 2025, just over 100K. Experts point to streaming in social media for the drop. What we had in the 90s and 2000s were kids and tweens basically having two to three options for content they're going to consume. Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network in the U.S. As social media takes off, as YouTube explodes, a kid can go on their computer or their phone

and just swipe through an endless stream of content from all different places. Having that tween-specific content is important, says millennial pop culture creator Ariel Sprague. I felt like as a child I had really something of my own that my parents weren't privy to. For tweens, they really don't have an ecosystem to live in. So instead of chasing a new generation of tweens, Disney is bringing back what once worked.

They've realized we know these are hits and they already have the name recognition. That's a lot easier for marketing, for your budget, for everything. In 2026, old faces back in familiar roles. The Jonas Brothers returning to Camp Rock and Miley Cyrus back in her Hannah Montana wig. The first teaser for the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special racked up 123 million views in just 24 hours. It's just been out there. There's a buzz.

Christina Jennings is the president of Shaftesbury Productions, behind the show Life with Derek. Picked up by Disney 20 years ago, also celebrating, its milestone with a reunion all because the fans were asking for it. They're probably all mid-20s, late-20s right now. And there is something in this crazy world that we're living in that we want to escape a bit. We're looking for nostalgia, things that make us feel good. In a press release, Disney TV president calls the Hannah Montana special a love letter to fans

as passionate today as they were 20 years ago. We actually grew up together. Trying to remake the magic of the past. Griffin Yeager, CBC News, Toronto. And finally, university students have a lot to deal with, from finals to rising tuition costs. But at the University of Waterloo, students are also dealing with some foul play. They're charging at this one guy, and I was like, oh my God, I'm so scared.

He starts hissing at me and he runs at me for a second. I had to sprint away and kind of like wave him off, you know? And just who or what is that menace? one of this country's national icons, the Canada goose. It's such a big problem that one student came up with a high-tech solution. My name is Anirid Dabas. You can call me Ani. And I am the creator of Waterloo. And what exactly is Waterloo? Well, it's an app. Open it up, take a gander on your way to class to avoid a wild goose chase. A lot of us get attacked by geese around campus, which is, which basically strength your dignity. It's like a 12-pound geese and you have to basically run

from the geese because they fly at your face and it's not a good experience. They're actually a menace. The map pinpoints areas where the geese are known to attack. Often it's because they have a nearby nest. Students can submit photos which are analyzed by AI to detect the geese, their manner, and if they have any eggs or goslings. It uses that data to give students the best route to get to class. This wasn't a class project or something Dubas hopes to get rich off of.

You just wanted to solve a problem. I think making something that generally makes a difference in your life and in your friends' life and making something that people genuinely enjoy, I think that that has been a very rewarding experience for me. Students at nearby Wilford-Lorea University have started submitting their own geese sightings and students at other universities have reached out to say they too would like to, in the words of the app's slogan, avoid the honk. The geese came here first and we came here second. So our job here is to work around the geese and not the other way around.

This has been your world tonight for Sunday, April 5th. I'm Peter Cowen. Thanks for being with us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.