The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/01/13 at 15:00 EST

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/01/13 at 15:00 EST

Hi, I'm Caitlin Prest, and I am here in your ear to tell you about a very incredible show called Asking For It. Asking For It is a darkly comedic series that follows a queer fem singer whose herstory of violence finds her no matter how many times she runs away. It has an original soundtrack and it'll make you laugh, cry and feel a little bit less alone. Asking for it. Subscribe now. From CBC News, the world is our. I'm Tom Harrington. Israel says it's waiting to hear from Hamas on a possible ceasefire deal in Gaza. Qatar's government says a draft agreement has been sent to Israel and Hamas after a breakthrough in talks.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sarr says a deal would include freedom from some hostages held by Hamas. We see some progress in the negotiations. Israel wants a hostage deal. Israel is working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal and soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing. Some hardliners in Israel's government are opposed to any deal with Hamas but the pressure is on both sides with Donald Trump's inauguration

just one week away. Los Angeles fire officials are preparing for the wind and the wildfires to pick up again tomorrow. The change in the weather is threatening to undo the progress made in recent days. Meantime, a Quebec water bomber, grounded while fighting the wildfires in LA, is preparing to fly again. Last week, it collided with an unauthorized drone, which tore a hole in its wing. Lauren McCallum reports.

It's been a scramble to fix the damaged Quebec water bomber, but LA County Fire Captain Sheila Kelleher-Burko says the parts were quickly ordered and the repairs have been made. Best case scenario will be up later today within within hours if not early tomorrow morning. Quebec is also sending two more identical planes further up the coast to fight fires in the wine region of Santa Maria. They are supposed to leave on Wednesday but Transport Quebec spokesperson Sarah Bensedoun says that all depends on the weather. Because if it's too cold or if there's frost we're not going to be able to fly them because it usually takes two days to go from Quebec to Los Angeles. The FBI has recovered pieces of the drone that struck the Quebec water bomber and is piecing it together. It is also piecing together who owned it and once they find the suspect,

that person could face very serious charges leading to huge fines and even prison time. Lauren McCallum, CBC News, Montreal. Canada is also sending 55 firefighters to California to reinforce and supplement the efforts. 42 of them come from Alberta and the province says it is also preparing water bombers and pilots in anticipation of future requests. And BC is sending 23 people. As of today, it costs more to mail a letter here in Canada. Canada Post is increasing the price of a single stamp by 29 cents. Nisha Patel has more. This is the largest I've seen for letter rates. Donald Chang owns a convenience store in Windsor, Ontario.

He says the price of postage usually goes up by a few cents. This latest hike is much steeper. People are surprised and a little angry that they look at it as a big money grab. Canada Post is raising the price of mailing a domestic letter with a single stamp jumping from $1.15 to $1.44. The corporation says it's facing cost pressures and the new rates will bring in $80 million this year.

But small business owners like Kat Pasquatch are worried. We're looking at increases of over a dollar per package and given the volume of packages that we send, it is going to be significant. Canada Post has lost more than $3 billion since 2018 and the strike made matters even worse. While workers are back on the job, the corporation still hasn't reached a new labour deal with its union. Nisha Patel, CBC News, Toronto. Joe Biden has summed up his foreign policy accomplishments in one of his last speeches as president.

He touted his record of building relationships with allies. He says the U.S. is in a stronger position in the world than when he took office. Our adversaries are weaker than we were when we came into this job four years ago. Just consider Russia. When Putin invaded Ukraine, he thought he'd conquer Kiev in a matter of days. The truth is, since that war began, I'm the only one that stood in the center of Kiev, not him. Biden also says his administration reinvigorated faith around the world that the U.S. is a

true partner. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.