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Your World Tonight
Russia-Ukraine peace talks, Indigenous opposition to pipeline, Italian actresses demand accountability from their industry, and more
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<p>U.S. and Ukrainian officials held another round of talks today - in hopes of getting closer to a peace plan to bring Russia's war on Ukraine to an end. Both delegations called the meeting productive, but there are still concerns that a peace deal will be tilted is Russia's favour.</p><p><br></p><p>Also: Opposition is mounting against the Alberta‑Ottawa pipeline deal - made official this past week by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith. First Nations leaders warn it would devastate their clean, coastal waters. And their pushback could stall, or even halt the project.</p><p><br></p><p>And: A group of Italian actresses says their country has become a safe haven for men accused and found liable of sexual assault. We'll tell you more on what observers call a culture of silence and impunity, in Italy’s entertainment world.</p><p><br></p><p>Plus: Refugees from Mali in Mauritania, Funding cuts to HIV-AIDS treatment and prevention, Lobster fishing rights in Nova Scotia,...
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Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day. Yeah. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed flow after 35 gigabytes of network spizzy taxes and fees extra see mintmobile.com this is a CBC podcast. This is delicate. It's complicated. There are a lot of moving parts and obviously there's another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation. Marco Rubio says more work is needed before the war in Ukraine comes to an end. The US Secretary of State met with a Ukrainian delegation today in Miami, with more peace talks expected this week in Moscow. This is yous World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skenderas. Also on the podcast Canada and Alberta press ahead on a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast. But brewing indigenous opposition could stymie that project before shovels even hit the ground. And in Italy, if you denounce someone, often they continue their career and the actresses don't. Italian actresses say the culture of impunity for men who commit sexual assault needs to end. Opposition is mounting against the Alberta Ottawa pipeline deal made official this past week by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith. First nations leaders warn it would devastate their clean coastal waters. As JP Tasker explains, their pushback could stall or even halt. The if Canada gets this done, I will be, I will be gobsmacked if they can pull this off. In northwest B.C. opposition is growing over a new oil pipeline destined for the Pacific, a project coastal first nations leaders fear could lead to a disastrous spill in pristine waters. Our nation has spoken about this more than 20 years ago. The tone hasn't changed, the opinion hasn't changed. And I think it would be very difficult to sit down and talk about that. Maureen Nice, chief of the Heisland, says there's little Ottawa can say or do to get her community on side. It's going to be a very hard sell to British Columbia to First nations people that indigenous opposition could stymie Prime Minister Mark Carney's landmark agreement with Alberta. Carney says he wants some indigenous consent before pressing ahead with a bitumen pipeline to the coast. There's no proponent. There's no route, there's no business plan. There's no possibility. The B.C. government is also doubling down and Adrian Dix is the energy minister. The answer is no, and the reasons are there are better alternatives. But there's little BC can do to stop this proposed pipeline from going ahead. The province's top court has previously ruled interprovincial projects like this are the sole jurisdiction of the federal government, a decision affirmed by the Supreme Court. That coast belongs to all Canadians and we have the right under our constitution to use that coast to transport our goods to the world. Brian Jean, Alberta's energy minister, is trying to persuade the naysayers promising money and jobs for First Nations. I don't know if you've been to northern B.C. recently, but those folks are not doing as well as other places in Canada. Carney is selling his deal with Alberta as a win for national unity. A standing ovation in Calgary, a promising first sign. We will build big, we will build fast, we will build bold again. Meanwhile, his environment minister insists the government hasn't given up on its climate goals, even if hitting them just got a little harder. Here's Julie DeBruzen. We always knew that the targets that we had set for 2030 and 2035 were ambitious targets. Climate activist turn minister Stephen Guilbeault resigned from cabinet in protest over the Alberta deal. Other Liberal MPs over the weekend were downplaying the possibility of the pipeline ever getting built, citing first nations opposition as a potential deal breaker. Still, the prime minister seems committed to a project that could inject tens of billions of dollars into the tariff Fed economy. J.P. tasker, CBC News, Ottawa. Another round of talks between the US And Ukraine has wrapped in Miami. Both the American and Ukrainian delegations call today's meeting productive. But as Rafi Bujkanian tells us, there are still concerns that any peace plan will be tilted in in Russia's favor. First responders in Kyiv clear residents out of a burning building. The country's state emergency service says a Russian missile strike killed five people and injured one just hours apart from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying diplomacy remains active and the American side is being constructive and we are thankful for the efforts of United States and its team to helping us. The head of Zelenskyy's Security Council, Rustem Umarov, using much the same language at the start of a meeting he and a visiting delegation held with the US in Florida. Today we are discussing about the future of Ukraine, about the security of Ukraine, about no repetition of aggression of Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US And Ukraine are on the same page. We want to see the end of the killing and the death and but the peace efforts face headwinds. Just over a week ago, an initial plan unveiled by the Trump administration was seen as favorable to Russia and would have forced Ukraine to hand over territory. We are not talking about, you know, just square meters empty or abandoned, ukrainian MP Helena Yanchenko says giving up land is a non starter. We are talking about Ukrainian territories which are inhabited with cities and villages, with people, with families living in homes. In these territories, observers of the war say Russia has been gaining the upper hand and Ukraine may not have much leverage. What we have now is, I think, one of the last opportunities for a negotiated or diplomatic solution to a war, as opposed to having the war itself conclude through military force. Andrew Rasulas is a former Canadian Department of National Defense official. He says Kyiv may want to push for protection from Western allies in case of further aggression. You may have to make some deals on security guarantees. It's not clear what deal making happened in Florida on Sunday. After the meeting, Rubio briefly addressed the media, but there's more work to be done. This is delicate, it's complicated. There are a lot of moving parts. So did Umarov at Paints to again express gratitude to the Americans with a White House under Trump that's accused Ukraine of lacking that more than once we discussed all the important matters that are important for Ukraine. But neither side took questions from journalists, leaving it unclear where Trump's special envoy could pick up talks as he sets off to Moscow sometime this coming week to meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Rafael Jikhan Yun, CBC News, Washington. In California, at least four people, including three children, are dead after a shooting at a child's birthday party. Eleven others are injured. It happened in the city of Stockton, about 65 kilometers south of Sacramento. The shooting began just before 6pm local time Saturday night at a banquet hall that was hosting the party of over 100 people. Police say the suspect is still at large. The motive remains under investigation. In Tel Aviv, Protesters rally outside of President Isaac Herzog's residence demanding that he not give in to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request request for a pardon in his long running corruption trial. Netanyahu has long denied any wrongdoing and argues the trial is hindering his ability to govern. My personal interest is to continue the legal process to its end, he says. But the security, political reality and national interest demand otherwise. According to Israeli legal analyst Ronit Levine Schnur, such a request by a sitting prime minister is unprecedented. She says Herzog should tread carefully, especially because Israel is heading into an election year. The meaning of such a pardon would be to allow Netanyahu to succeed in his intention to further leading the state of Israel, and that would provide him with a huge political victory. Opposition leader Yair Lapid says Herzog should only pardon Netanyahu if he admits guilt, express his remorse and retires from politics. Still ahead, you'll go to a refugee camp in Mauritania where thousands of people from Mali have been arriving in need of everything as violence in their country between an al Qaeda backed group and Russian mercenaries grows. The full story is coming up on youn World tonight. The floods that have battered several Asian countries are now causing lethal landslides in Indonesia. A video posted to social media captures the moment a torrent of mud smashes into a village, destroying trees and buildings in its path. Others show raging rivers of mud taking away houses and vehicles across three hard hit provinces. The floods hit Indonesia a week ago and have killed at 400 people and displaced nearly half a million more. Aid has been slow. Some people have resorted to looting. Torrential rain and storms have also devastated parts of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Just before World AIDS Day, advocates say the fight against HIV and AIDS has entered a new phase. Access to life saving treatment and preventative medicine have reduced cases in Canada. But as Philip Lee Shenok reports, some of that treatment is not accessible to all, and major support organizations are facing cuts. Our fundraising is barely covering the cost to raise the funds. Ryan Lisk is executive director at the AIDS Committee of Toronto. After 42 years, Canada's oldest HIV awareness and prevention organization is closing its doors in the new year, he says. While welcome, recently developed treatments and prevention have changed the public's perception. HIV pre exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a medication that can prevent sexually HIV infection. You hope that there is a cure. You hope that there is a time when your organization is no longer needed. And that's not exactly accurate. Of this time, the needs for people living with HIV and the prevention needs around HIV continue. Dr. Darrell Tan is an infectious diseases physician and researcher at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. He says despite the decline in new cases, new tools like PREP need to be more widely accessible. HIV prevention and treatment program have suffered major cuts. Our trajectory towards ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030, which was already not on track to happen, is completely going to be gutted by these cuts. Internationally, UNAIDS projects its funding could fall by 30 to 40% this year. Its head, Winnie by Nima, says that will impact millions. The global response to HIV has suffered its most significant setback in decades. UNAIDS warns that the collapse of HIV prevention services could result in 3.3 million additional new infections by 2030, while the US is the biggest donor and has cut the most. Canada also announced its first ever funding cut to the Global Fund, a program that fights the spread of infectious diseases like AIDS in the world's poorest countries. Dr. Isaac Bogosh is an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital. We don't live in a vacuum. This has to be contextualized with what's happening globally with hiv, which is challenging. There may be an uptick in cases when we've seen literally decades of a downturn in new cases and deaths globally because of the funding that's been pulled. In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada's global aid remains significant and targeted for maximum impact, especially in Africa. Philip Lychanox, CBC News, Toronto. Each month in Mauritania, thousands of refugees cross the border from Mali. Mali has been battling armed groups since 2012 and in recent years has turned to Russian mercenaries for help. Freelance journalist Caitlin Kelly went to a refugee camp in Mauritania and brings us this story. Fatimata weaves together dried straw to help build her makeshift shelter. The population in this village in the desert of Mauritania has tripled with the recent arrival of refugees. Now hundreds more are fleeing neighboring Mali as violence escalates between the Al qaedabak group, Jainin, the Malian army and its Russian allies. The Russians took what they could and burned the rest, she says. We fled with our children. She explains how the Russians came to her area and hunted people down. Afraid she would be killed, she ran for her life. We were so thirsty that we felt our hearts might stop, she says. She's only using her first name because she fears for her safety. Khala was also forced to flee her home in neighboring Mali. She says she was given an ultimatum by Jainam to leave in 72 hours or be treated as the enemy. We are all scared. Our souls are not at peace because we are dying every day, she says. The Sahel region plains of sand that extend through Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has become a major front for armed groups since 2012. Violence in the region has displaced 3 million people in Mali, a rebellion in the north weakened the country, allowing armed groups like Jainam to fill the vacuum, says regional analyst Henin Saibiya. But eventually, over time, jihadist groups, they grew strong. They expanded and spread throughout the regions. In recent weeks, Jainm has started attacking fuel tankers, preventing them from reaching the capital, Bamako, suffocating the economy and daily life. They have developed very diverse revenue streams to financing and resourcing their military operations, but also adapting a sort of governance agenda in which they try to replace the state. Five years ago, Mali's military staged a coup and cut ties with France, forcing French and UN troops to leave. The country's junta turned to Russian forces, it says, in the name of fighting extremism, deployed as the notorious Wagner Group in 2021. In June this year, Wagner was replaced by a new Russian military unit, Africa Corps. According to the US government, Mali pays roughly $10 million per month for these forces, now under direct control of Moscow. Military operations by the Malian armed forces and Wagner were also accompanied by mass atrocities, and sometimes the civilians were killed in the hundreds. Inside a shaded tent at a UN camp in Embera, Izata describes how her family was targeted by Russian fighters. When they arrived, they burned all of our huts, she says, and killed her father. The Russians claimed he was affiliated with Janim. Aizata says all they asked was if he had been to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. No one can truly understand the depths of these hardships, she says. Someone who has lost their father cannot be happy at this crossing. In Mauritania, more than 3,300 people have arrived in recent weeks. Mohammed Ali, with the Mauritanian Red Crescent, says those arriving are in need of everything, including shelter and food. But the influx is straining the already limited resources. Some arrivals are fleeing their home for the second or even third time over the past decade. As the violence worsens, it has intensified, become increasingly brutalized, but also spread across the region, not only with implications for the central Sahel but also for the broader West Africa region. As Mali reaches its most critical point since 2012, its civilians are paying the highest price. Caitlin Kelly for CBC news, Phasala, Mauritania. 26 years ago, a landmark Supreme Court ruling was hailed as a victory for Mi' Kmaq fishing rights. The Marshall decision was seen as a way to allow Mi' Kmaq access to the lucrative east coast lobster fishery. But there are still many outstanding issues. Those are the subject of a new documentary from the Fifth Estate. As Stephen d' Souza tells us, some say the only way to solve them is to go back to the courts. Just take my picture with this big lobster I can see Matt Cope feels at home on the water. With the sun shining down, the blue waves of St. Mary's Bay extend out in front of him. When you're out here, the other rest of the world almost don't exist for a minute. But these waters aren't always friendly. Five years ago, Fisheries and Oceans Canada officers threatened to take his boat, claiming he was fishing outside the commercial season, something fisheries officers say is illegal. But Cope says he was exercising his treaty rights to harvest lobster. The very law that they're, that they're claiming that I'm breaking is unconstitutional. The right for Mi' Kmaq to fish these waters for a moderate livelihood was affirmed in 1999 by the Supreme Court in a decision in the case of Donald Marshall Jr. And so that was probably one of the most happiest moments because I think we knew, all of us in that room, that things will never be the same again. Former Senator Dan Christmas was a prominent member of the team supporting the Marshall case. He says the ruling only raised more questions. What defined a moderate livelihood and how would it work with the long established commercial season? What does moderate livelihood mean? We have no idea. It's a legal fiction that really had no meaning. Since that time, the federal government worked to expand first nations fisheries, spending more than a billion dollars. But commercial fishers pushed back. I think that a lot of indigenous governments have perverted the Marshall decision into thinking that martial rights mean an open ended accumulation of fishery access for coastal First Nations. Colin Sproul represents a coalition of commercial fishers associations. He says they're open to first nations fishing as long as it's done in the commercial season with the same rules as everyone else. But we will vigorously defend that one set of management measures must apply to all people who engage in commercial fisheries. Commercial fishers argue that first nations fishing threatens the health of the lobster stock. But a memo from Fisheries in Oceans Canada obtained by the Fifth Estate disputes that. It says while commercial catches in some key areas are trending down, overall the lobster stock is in the healthy zone and the decrease can't be directly linked to some first nations treaty fishing. Meanwhile, Matt Cope finds himself far from the shore in court, fighting a number of lobster related charges. He wants to launch a constitutional challenge to have a definitive ruling on treaty fishing. That's all anybody listens to is the courts. You gotta go to court, you gotta prove yourself. One of the treaties that he says gives Mi' Kmaq the right to fish was signed in 1752 by Jean Baptiste Cope, his direct ancestor. I have a right to fish. I have a right to sell that fish. It's protected under the Constitution and I'm gonna fight that till the END Stephen d', Souza, CBC News, Claire, Nova Scotia and you can watch the Fifth Estate's full investigation Trapped on the Water on YouTube or CBC Gems On North Vancouver island, commuters are directing a flood of anger at BC Ferries. That's because a lone ferry services the area, and as it's out for repairs, it's been replaced with a vessel half its size, which means longer wait times. Maurice Zeidler reports. It's a great day at the ferry dock the in Port McNeil, and at least two dozen vehicles are parked, waiting, standing at the dock. Youth worker Emily Garriott is exasperated. I've yet again had to turn around on my vehicle when I was on my way to work. Garriott lives in the small town of nearly 2500 people on North Vancouver Island. She works with Youth and Alert Bay, about an hour away by ferry if she can get on. I was stuck again, so I had to walk on, but I usually need my vehicle for work. The ferry that Garriott takes also serves the village of Soyentula, an even smaller community another half hour away on Malcolm Island. The three municipalities are closely intertwined. Residents often commute by ferry for work, medical appointments or social events. But since mid October that has gotten more difficult. That's when BC Ferries swap the region's regular ferry for one with half the capacity. It's just inadequate and it's frustrating and I believe tensions are rising. Ernest Alfred is an elected councillor with the local Numgeese First Nation. He says passengers are getting in line hours before a sailing to make sure they can board. Unlike larger ferry routes, this one does not take reservations. Alfred and others say BC Ferries check changed the vessel without consulting local residents, and now commuters are paying the price. This time of year is very busy with potlatch and feast season. Here we are overloading the ferry that was given to us. In a written statement, BC Ferries told CBC News its hands are tied. The refit season means other vessels are being worked on, and this one was needed elsewhere until spring. The news is cold comfort to Port McNeil Mayor James Fernie, the communities of Alert Bay and Swing to Land portmanil We all suffer from this kind of shortsighted decision making. I think that comes out of Vancouver, headquarters of BC Ferries. Fernie says local residents and leaders have tried to offer solutions, but he says their feedback just falls on deaf ears. We holler as loud as we can, but we don't really get heard. BC Ferry says the pain is only temporary. It shouldn't happen again. And with new vessels for Vancouver Island. Coming on board later this year, the new boats will give the region a dedicated relief vessel. Until then, commuters like Emily Garriott will have to make do. It's just the clear disrespect to the community and our way of life. A way of life that's going to include a lot more time and lineups for commuters throughout the region. Marie Seidler, CBC News. Code Marks. A group of Italian actresses says their country has become a safe haven for men accused and found liable of sexual assault just as they were speaking out. A Canadian director found civilly liable for rape in the US Was being celebrated by an Italian film festival. Megan Williams, now in what observers call a culture of silence and impunity in Italy's entertainment world, 28 year old Veronica Stecchetti at a podium in Rome recounts her five year ordeal ensuing a renowned theatre director and the Parma Theatre, she says, enabled him. Stacchietti, with fellow actor Federica Umbrata beside her, won a landmark labor court case this fall. The court believed their accusations that the director, dubbed by those in the know as the Harvey Weinstein of Italy, coerced them into sexualized acting and assaulted them during late night solo rehearsals in an empty theater. The judge ordered both the director and the theater to pay about $180,000 in damages. Women's rights groups call the ruling historic, the first in Italy to recognize an employer's responsibility to prevent abuse in the performing arts. But then came the part that shocked the women. The judge ruled that nobody in the case can be publicly named, including the director and the theater. Stacchetti and Umbrato chose to make their names public last week. Grazia, Tutti Tute still can't name the man they say harmed them, the court decided. We can't name the man in the theater. I think this is not a good thing for us. When you say the name of something, you can really fight against this thing. When you could not say the name, it's something not finished yet. The director continues to mount plays in Italy, and the head of the theater found responsible just received a lifetime achievement award. Women think it's not worth to denounce because in Italy, if you denounce someone, often they continue their career and the actresses don't. Meanwhile, Canadian American director Paul Haggis was appointed artistic director of the Rome Independent Film Festival three years after a New York jury found him liable for rape with four other women testifying he raped or tried to rape them. When CBC News contacted the festival head and jurors none objected to Haggis headlining the festival. Attempts to reach Haggis through his assistant went unanswered. Hagus, who now lives mostly here in Rome, also holds acting classes where students are not informed about the New York rape judgment or other accusations made against him. In Italy, there is zero discussion about men like Paul Haggis who come to Italy. All you hear is how wonderful it is to have the grand Oscar winner here in Italy, says Cincia Spano. She's the head of the Italian feminist actors collective Amleta. She says if these men had been found guilty of Mafia collusion, nobody would work with them. But she says they have no problem celebrating men found guilty of assaulting women. Even umbrato, while still waiting for the court verdict in her case, took a course with Haggis, where organizers praised him for his Oscar with no mention of his rape judgment. She says it took her three years to pull herself out of depression and return to acting. I don't want to give my career as a gift to them. She's now fighting to break through the resounding silence that continues to protect men accused and found liable of sexual assault in Italy. Megan Williams, CBC News, Rome. Come on Wiggle to this sound Wiggle to this sound it's the Wiggles, Australia's most famous children's entertainers. So safe, so gentle, so kid friendly. But right now, the Wiggles are apologizing for a little boo boo that has landed them in some hot water. Two members of the group Blue Wiggle and a character called the Tree of Wisdom were featured. Featured in a TikTok video dancing with Aussie musician Kelly Holliday to his new song. This one sounds fine so far. They've actually appeared on stage with Holiday before. But this song, this song is about drugs in a way that is not at all subtle. It's literally called ecstasy. The post was captioned the Wiggle. Get it? It was viewed 92,000 times. And now what the Wiggles get is a pocket full of problems. Hot potato, hot potato hot potato, hot potato. A Wiggles spokesperson says the group does not condone the use of drugs in any form and says the video and the music were created independently, without their knowledge. Maybe they should stick to their own songs for a bit. Here's one that might help right now. It's okay to cry it's okay to feel it's okay to cry on your world tonight I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thanks for listening. It's okay to cry it's okay to give it's okay to try it's okay for you to live and sometimes when I'm all alone I wonder if you're here with me for more CBC Podcasts, go to CBC CA Podcasts.