The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/04 at 12:00 EST

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/04 at 12:00 EST

When a body is discovered 10 miles out to sea, it sparks a mind-blowing police investigation. There's a man living in this address in the name of a deceased. He's one of the most wanted men in the world. This isn't really happening. Officers are finding large sums of money. It's a tale of murder, skullduggery and international intrigue. So who really is he? I'm Sam Mullins and this is Sea of Lies from CBC's Uncovered, available now.

From CBC News, it's the world this hour. I'm Joe Cummings. With Donald Trump pausing his threatened trade action on Canada, the next tariff battle for the White House is China. And China is putting up a fight, threatening today to impose a wide range of tariffs and export controls if the Trump administration doesn't stand down. Yenna Lee reports now from Beijing. A 15% tax on U.S. coal, 10% on goods such as crude oil, farm equipment and pick-up trucks.

These are just some of the US imports that face new Chinese tariffs. China also announced export curves on five critical minerals, metals that are crucial to technology and innovation. Beijing argues that this is just a response to Washington's actions as the US slapped an additional 10% tax on all Chinese goods first. Beijing argues that this is just a response to Washington's actions as the US slapped an additional 10% tax on all Chinese goods first. Now, this situation doesn't have to lead to further escalation and further escalation. On the contrary, it appears both sides are actually entering a round of negotiations.

These new tip for Chinese tariffs are set to start on February 10th. So there is some time and some space for discussion still. According to the White House, a call between Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping could take place in the coming days. Yen-A-Lee for CBC News, Beijing. Now, Canada may have received an 11th hour reprieve from Trump's tariff threats, but that doesn't mean the federal government's work is done. In fact, it's only just started. Janice McGregor explains. but that doesn't mean the federal government's work is done. In fact, it's only just started. Janice McGregor explains.

This may be an economic reprieve, but it's not a political one. Sure, Canada's not rolling out tariffs this morning, but everything else remains. They have to make sure that the new spending actually delivers results that Washington will see. And Canada can explain away Trump's trade deficit allegations, but the data on military

spending and defense capabilities are not flattering. Even work on the retaliation strategy can't let up because March 4th isn't very far away and even after that there's the other trade reviews with April 1st deadlines those could trigger other actions against Canada on and on it goes. Canadians have demonstrated again that they value their sovereignty. But divisions have emerged over the best tactics for defending that. And as complicated as it is for the Liberal government during this period of transition in Ottawa, it's also complicated for the Conservative opposition,

as it tries to balance its instincts for patriotism while still harnessing the same populism that propelled Trump to power in the first place. Janice McGregor, CBC News, Ottawa. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington today for talks with the U.S. President Trump, and it's worth noting that Netanyahu is traveling outside Israel despite being wanted by the International Criminal Court. However, Jerry Simpson, a professor at international Law at the London School of Economics, says

the Israeli PM has nothing to fear. The United States has no duties to arrest or surrender Netanyahu. So there, the kind of political needs of the United States match rather nicely with the legal position. The US is not a member of the International Criminal Court, and in fact last month it sanctioned the ICC after it issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Also named in those warrants, incidentally, are Israel's former defense minister and a former Hamas commander.

Now to the Greek island of Santorini. Since people boarding a ship headed for the mainland, in recent days there have been more than 200 underwater tremors in the immediate area of the island. They've all been relatively minor, but they have touched off a number of landslides, and there are fears a major quake or tsunami could hit at any time. Court proceedings are underway for the man charged in the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie. In the summer of 2022, Rushdie was stabbed 10 times at a literary event in New York State. He survived, but the attack cost him the vision in his right eye. 27-year-old Hadi Matar is charged with attempted murder and assault.

He is pleading not guilty. And that is The World This Hour. Remember, you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts. The World This Hour is updated every hour, seven days a week. For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.