Thursday's top stories in 10 minutes

0:00Canada is complicated. And help Berda? Well, it has opinions. I'm Kathleen Betty, the host of West of Center. If you're wondering about separation or the many ways Alberta marches to its own drum, our show will help you understand what's going on out West. Tune in for a no-nonsense conversation about the politics that drive this place. And follow West of Center wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning, I'm Arsia Young. Republicans are trying to rally the party faithful ahead of November's critical U.S. midterm elections. They're holding their first-ever midterm convention. Republican and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come. There'll be nothing like it. We're right at that point.

1:00U.S. President Donald Trump addressing the crowd in Dallas for two hours last night. But it is his other comments that have pundits and historians wondering whether Trump might be doing something illegal at the Republican Party Convention in Dallas. Trump offered taxpayers a substantial amount of money if they voted for his party in the upcoming midterm elections. My World Report co-host John Rothkaat joins me now in studio with more. John has something like this ever happened before. Marcia, not as far as anyone can remember. Under U.S. Code 18 subsection 597 titled expenditures to influence voting, both someone who offers anything or accepts anything to affect a vote would be breaking the law. In libel to a fine or imprisonment or both, nonetheless the U.S. President in speaking to the faithful last night appeared to do exactly that. And here is my promise. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.

2:09Now there are a lot of questions about whether this is something Trump could actually do, but that's often a concern raised about a lot of what he proposes and tends to go ahead with anyway. I think the White House ballroom, the Washington Arch, and even tariffs. Why would the U.S. President be proposing to pay voters $5,000? Well there are his tumbling poll numbers, record gas prices. The war against Iran and concerns Republicans could lose both the House and the Senate in November's midterms. That would leave Trump in a position where his hands could be tied for the remaining two years of his presidency, worth noting that if he were to go ahead with his $5,000 payments, initial estimates would put the cost for the American taxpayer at about a trillion dollars. Thank you, John. Thanks, Marcia. My world report co-host John Northcott with me in studio. Tomorrow marks 25 years since 9-11, and still officials in New York are working to identify the remains of more than 1,000 people killed that day.

3:10But as our chief correspondent, Adrian Arsno tells us a new breakthrough could help identify more victims. Be in touch with us. We have a World Trade Center hotline. That's New York City's chief medical examiner, Dr. Jason Graham, renewing the outreach to siblings and children of those killed in the 9-11 terror attacks, some just babies in 2001 and never swabbed for DNA then. There are no doubt family members who could potentially offer samples that are reference samples that we could use in renewing our efforts to try and identify the unidentified remains. 40% of the 2,753 people murdered in New York City that day still haven't been matched with remains. That could change. Advances in extracting DNA from thousands of bone fragments combined with breakthroughs and genetic genealogy have allowed medical examiners to identify remains of 1 more 9-11 victim just last month. It is a new frontier.

4:10Right after the attacks, a promise was made to never stop trying to identify remains for family. They're still at it. Some fragments ground down and tested so many times, there's not much left. So keep testing and risk losing the last samples or wait for the science to get better and risk losing family members desperate for answers. Some we have one shot left and it's very stressful. Mark Desire was there on 9-11 in his early days with a medical examiner's office. He still works on the file and to spoke with a mother worrying she can't wait any longer. She's like, well, can you promise me that if you do find her after I die, will you bury her with me? I mean, yes, we will do that. You have my word. Your job and commitment is sacred and all these years later, that hasn't changed. Adrian Arsenal, CBC News, New York. At least 17 people have died in a school fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

5:11Officials say children are among those killed. It happened in the rebel health city of Bukavu in the east of the country. Dozens of others have been taken to hospital. The cause of the fire is unclear in Ukraine. Emergency services, doubts of fire in the northeastern city of Sumi. People are carried on stretchers after a Russian drone strike on a shopping mall. Three people have been reported dead and 20 are injured. In a separate attack, four people were killed in southern Ukraine. The incidents come as Ukraine targeted a natural gas plant in Russia's Arctic region. Ukraine also used sea drones to target the Russian city of Sochi. In a video posted on social media, explosions and gunfire can be heard. At least eight people are reported to be injured. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Calgary today. Zelensky and his wife are here on a three-day visit. He will be attending events to discuss support for Ukraine with Canadian leaders and is also

6:17scheduled to visit Toronto and North Bay. Zelensky says Ukraine's air defenses and winter preparations will be the focus of his visit. Our Minister Mark Karni is meeting with his cabinet in BAMF this afternoon. They will be planning the year ahead as Canada faces an intensifying trade war with the U.S. But as the CBC's Rafi Bukhikhanian reports, the dispute is not the only item on the agenda. Let's stay relentlessly focused on what we can do. Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne ahead of today's cabinet meeting in the Bukhikhanian

7:19post and unlikely to punish a prime who seems to be delivering at least in the short term. How long does that resolve you know, household finances pressure and the trade war of the agenda. The list of cabinet include the mayors as well as Alberta pollster a little more than a month to the polls on the ballot and a friend of question province should have an separating from the country and CBC use Balfe Alberta. A first nation in Alberta

8:21the provincial government restrictions on medical treatments for transgender youth. As CBC Stephanie Cram reports, it says it is within its sovereign rights to offer gender affirming care and treatment. No longer will our children and families have their rights taken away. That's why we are looking for our chief of satellite creation. Speaking at a press conference in Fort Pitt provincial park to mark the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6. Now her community is asserting their treaty right to health, offering gender affirming care to all Albertans in need. The Alberta government passed the Health Statutes Amendment Act in 2025, which prevents youth from receiving gender affirming medical treatments in surgery. Steinhower says her community rejects the health care and health care. We've always been a normal part of our communities and nations. Dr. James McCoccas from Satellite Crenation is working on the initiative. He is two spirit and says this type of health care would have helped him when

9:22he was growing up to do this work. We have to risk losing some of our own individual freedoms and in my case, that could be my medical license. Tyler Young chief, a counselor from Kiwi and Crenation says his seven year old son will now get the gender of forming care he needs, but young chief is preparing him for the challenges he'll likely face. He's going to have an uphill battle, but if we also want him to know, we're going to be right there fighting for him all along the way. In a statement to CBC News a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice says the province introduced the legislation to preserve the choices of children and youth and to strengthen the role of parents, saying the UCP remains committed to these principles. Stephanie Crams, CBC News, Fort Pit Provincial Park, Saskatchewan and the United States. That is the latest national and international news from World Report News any time. CBC News.CA. I'm Marcia Young. For more CBC podcasts, go to CBC.CA. Slash Podcasts.