The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/01/22 at 17:00 EST

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/01/22 at 17:00 EST

Alright, get in here, we have a lot to talk about. My name is Alameen Abdelmahmoud, I'm the host of Komotion. You know that feeling when the group tat is lighting up? Maybe talking about a new movie that just came out or a new Netflix show or like a big TikTok trend of some sort? That's what Komotion does every day. We get the smartest, funniest people together and we talk about the big stories in pop culture, arts and entertainment.

I think you should join the Komotion group chat. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, the world is our. I'm Tom Harrington. As the possibility of a terrafore with the US looms, Canada's first ministers held a virtual meeting today to discuss this country's response. It's not just how to push back on Washington. As Olivia Stefanovic tells us, one of the proposals involved removing inter-provincial trade barriers. Why is it so hard to send a bottle of wine

from one province to another? Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston expressing frustration with inter-provincial trade barriers. We should have a lot of pride in what we produce here. The problem has existed since Confederation, but now there's growing consensus among premiers to cut the red tape in light of US President Donald Trump's tariff threat. Ottawa is preparing a strong retaliatory response, but Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe doesn't agree with the entire approach. Broad-based tariffs, dollar-for-dollar tariffs with the U.S. is not in Canadians' best interest.

Moe is siding with Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, who also disagrees with using energy exports as leverage. But Moe and Smith do agree with the need for trade diversification, a subject the federal government is convening an urgent meeting on next week. Olivia Stefanovic, CBC News, Ottawa. President Trump is moving quickly to end diversity, equality and inclusion programs created under the Biden administration. Trump has called the programs discrimination and insisted on restoring merit-based hiring. But civil rights advocates argue DEI programs are necessary to address long-standing inequities

and systemic racism. Chris Reyes has the story. All traces of diversity, equity and inclusion programs have already been deleted from U.S. federal websites. The president has directed all federal employees in DEI roles to be placed on paid leave by tonight. Trump is also putting federal agencies on deadline to come up with a plan for firing those employees by January 31st. All DEI related offices will shut down.

Mark Morial is the president of the National Urban League, and he's calling on his fellow members to push back. It's reprehensible. It is nothing but an effort to repeal the progress that this nation has made over the last 60 years. And it has to be resisted. Trump's executive order undoes many of President Biden's initiatives to promote inclusion within the government, including signing an executive order to assess any systemic barriers to diversity.

Chris Reyes, CBC News, Washington. Amazon Canada is closing all seven of its warehouses in Quebec. That puts 1,700 permanent employees and 250 temporary workers out of a job. The decision comes after Amazon lost an effort to stop a unionization drive at its Laval warehouse. The online retailer says the closures are not in response to that initiative. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says this is not the way business is done in Canada. Rupert Murdoch's newspaper Empire is issuing a public apology.

It's part of a lawsuit settlement with Prince Harry, which he is calling a monumental victory. He sued News Group, accusing two Murdoch papers of using illegal means, including phone hacking, to gather information about him. David Sherborne is Prince Harry's lawyer. In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that the son, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch's UK media empire has indeed engaged in illegal practices. The apology also includes an admission the media conglomerate intruded into the private life of Harry's mother Princess Diana. As well, News Group paid a financial settlement

to the Prince but the amount is not being disclosed. The Canadian Armed Forces are changing some of their medical standards for new recruits. It says attention deficit disorder, anxiety, asthma and allergies are the four medical conditions it will now be evaluating when people apply. Previously, any one of those would automatically disqualify the person. The change comes as the military is trying to recruit more than 6,000 new soldiers for the year. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington.

Thanks for listening.