March 20: Friday's top stories in 10 minutes

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This is World Report.

Good morning. I'm Jennifer Yoon.

In Iran, the start of the Persian New Year or Nehru is bringing more attacks from Israel.

An early morning bombing campaign hit Turan today.

Israel says it is targeting the regime's infrastructure.

Israel's commanding has more from Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is destroying Iran's remaining ballistic missiles and nuclear program.

But in CIS, Iran no longer has capacity to enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles.

Within hours of his statements, sirens blared across Central Israel.

Many in missiles were incoming.

Multiple warnings overnight and into this morning for people to shelter, followed by the thought of interceptions by air defense systems.

Earlier Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Ali Muhammad Naini said Iran's missile production continues and there's no stockpile shortage.

Hours later, he was killed in an Israeli air strike.

More than 3,000 have been killed in the war so far according to the group Human Rights Activist News Agency.

As a part of their latest breakdown, it noted 1,394 civilians were killed and 639 were listed as unclassified.

In addition to the start of the Persian New Year, Eid is underway.

A 3-day Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

Despite Israeli rules around gatherings under the state of emergency, Muslims converge as close as they could to relax a mosque,

praying in the street, multiple holy sites in the old city are closed.

Homefront command is expected to ease more restrictions Sunday in locations deemed as safer.

Crystal Commanding, CBC News, Jerusalem.

The U.S. is increasing its military presence in the Middle East.

Three more warships led by the U.S. boxer have deployed from San Diego with 2,500 Marines on board.

This comes as Iran issues a new threat that it could target global parks and tourist destinations.

The U.S. and Israel have been hitting Iran hard for almost three weeks now, but the regime continues to attack energy hubs in the Gulf,

driving global oil prices to $108 a barrel.

Some breaking news from the world of entertainment, legendary actor and martial artist Chuck Norris has died.

You want to do it the easy way or the hard way?

The icon passed away suddenly Thursday at a hospital in Hawaii.

Norris first rose to fame in the 1970s, famously sparring with Bruce Lee before starring in hits like missing in action.

He later became a household name in the 90s as TV's Walker Texas Ranger.

His family says he was surrounded by loved ones and at peace Chuck Norris was 86 years old.

The U.S. Congress is considering a new bill taking aim at Canada's so-called Netflix tax.

The legislation is a direct response to Canada's online streaming act.

It currently forces certain streaming companies to invest part of their revenue in Canadian content.

The CBC's Willie Lowry joins me now from our Washington Bureau.

Willie, what can you tell us about this bill?

So the bill introduced by Republican Representative Lloyd Smucker is targeting Canada's online streaming act, which calls on large streaming services to provide a portion of their revenues to fund Canadian content.

Smucker says that gives Canadian companies an unfair advantage.

In a statement he said, quote, Canada's unfair policies stack the deck against U.S. companies, creators and workers.

This bill would protect American creators and companies while permitting mutually beneficial competition and innovation.

At its core, the bill calls on the U.S. Trade Representative's office to launch a section 301 investigation, the unfair trade practices law.

That could lead to more tariffs on Canadian products.

The Trump administration has been using section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to levy tariffs against countries, including Canada.

Now, this bill, which was introduced in the House, still faces an uphill battle.

If it makes it to the Senate, it would require 60 votes to pass.

Remember, Republicans have 53 seats, meaning they need to find support among some Democrats.

So, where does Canada's online streaming act stand now?

This act was passed by the Liberals back in 2022 and then received Royal Ascent in 2023.

It's designed to protect and promote Canadian content, but it still hasn't been fully implemented, as it's being challenged in the courts by a host of foreign streaming giants, including Amazon, Netflix and Spotify.

It's also worth noting that countries like the United Kingdom, France and Spain have introduced similar taxes to ensure that these large streaming platforms contribute to the countries that they profit from.

The CBC's Willie Lowry in Washington. Thank you, Willie.

My pleasure.

Northeast Australia is being hit by a powerful storm.

Forecasters say winds from severe tropical cyclone Narell reach 250 kilometres an hour as it made landfall.

With those destructive winds and heavy rain, residents are being urged to stay indoors.

David Christophouli is the premier of Queensland.

Wind is intensifying.

In many cases, there will be the strongest wind that people have experienced in this part of the state for a long long time.

There's a lot of rain in this system.

And as it moves, it will be hard and fast.

And we're dealing with an area where there are already very saturated catchments.

But look, I don't want to show you the code this.

We are going to experience loss of electricity and the damage is likely to be significant with a system of this size.

Authorities say Narell could be among Australia's worst storms in living memory.

For the first time in 43 years, Vancouver has ended the winter season snow-free.

Environmental experts say this could become the new norm for the region.

While the mild weather may be a relief for some, the lack of mountain snowpack could have serious consequences for the city's water supply.

Yes, mean running reports.

It is very slushy.

It wasn't the ski run, Tom Rikowski was hoping for.

Grouse Mountain near Vancouver covered in soft mushy snow.

It's been raining and it's been kind of crappy.

A lot of rain, but not cold enough to turn it into snow.

In fact, Vancouver saw a no snow winter this year for the first time since the 1982-83 season.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor says there were a few flurries, but not enough to count.

He says this winter was one of the warmest on record.

The mean temperature for December January and February was 6.0 degrees at the airport.

The normal mean temperature is 4.3 degrees.

The lack of snow on the mountains could spell trouble for the city's water supply.

Says John Richardson, Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia's Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.

In British Columbia in particular, we don't have very deep soils, so there's not a lot of deep groundwater.

And the snowpack in the mountains is really kind of our water tower.

He says unless it snows in the coming weeks or it rains a lot throughout the summer,

people in the region will likely have to conserve water.

Yes, Marane, CBC News, Vancouver.

And finally, an 87-year-old Alberta man is fighting extradition to Scotland.

He is accused of physically and sexually assaulting 17 young students in the 1960s and 70s.

The CBC's Julia Wong reports.

It's upsetting, of course, both to him and his family.

Defense lawyer Stacy Persor says, and Alberta Justice's extradition approval for her client, Peter Murray, won't be the end of the road.

Prosecutors in the United Kingdom accused the 87-year-old retired teacher of the physical and sexual assault of 17 young students at two Scottish Catholic boarding schools more than half a century ago.

The UK is seeking his return to stand trial.

Murray denies the allegations and is appealing the Justice's decision, Persor says.

I think there is a significant fairness issue given it is an advancing age and sending someone back essentially to die awaiting trial in Scotland.

Marion Scott is a reporter with Scottish newspaper The Sunday Post.

She says Murray's alleged victims were heartened to hear he might be prosecuted.

You have been absolutely elated because this is a day the thought was never going to come.

For decades, Scott has covered institutional child abuse at Catholic boarding schools in Scotland.

This is a shameful legacy of the past.

The young students were often labeled trouble maker of Scott says, and people didn't want to believe abuse was happening at the hands of the Catholic Church.

But attitudes have changed, she says.

It's unimaginable that something like that could happen today, but it did happen and it happened in our lifetime.

And I think that's why it's very important that these cases do come to court.

The decision to surrender Murray lies with Canada's Justice Minister.

A department spokesperson says there's no timeline on when that may happen.

Julia Wong, CBC News, Edmonton.

That is the latest national and international news from World Report.

For news anytime go to cvcnews.ca, I'm Jennifer Yoon. This is CBC News.