The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/08 at 18:00 EST

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/08 at 18:00 EST

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for important information to be revealed. Explore over 890,000 titles on audible.ca by signing up for a free 30-day trial and start listening today. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Julianne Hazelwood. Israel and Hamas carried out another hostages for a detainees exchange. More than 180 Palestinians were bussed to the West Bank in Gaza, hours after Hamas released three Israeli men. But this time, the now former hostages were not in good health.

Sasha Petrasek has more details. Joy and relief as families and friends of Israeli hostages watched three more released by Hamas. There was despair too though as they came out looking frail. Yotem Cohen worries about his brother Nimrod still being held. I was horrified. I was pretty devastating. Photos of the hostages looking like survivors from a concentration camp. That set off a day of finger pointing, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the scenes shocking.

But as 183 Palestinian released detainees arrived in Gaza, they accused Israel of mistreatment. They took our clothes, they deprived us of food, says Hatem Quaidar. As new negotiations start aimed at extending the ceasefire and releasing more hostages, today's accusations have only heightened mistrust. Sasha Petrasek, CBC News, Tel Aviv. Canada is planning to deepen its economic ties with the European Union in the face of Donald Trump's tariff threat. International Trade Minister Mary Inghe emphasized that message today.

She's in Brussels meeting with European Union leaders and officials who are also facing tariff threats from the U.S. president. Inghe says the focus of meetings is bolstering economic connections beyond the Canada-EU trade agreement. Trade agreements are one thing, and we have seen really great numbers, but what more can we be doing to help Canadian businesses enter into any of the 27 member states that's here in the European Union? What more can we do to do the same in Canada for European businesses?

The EU is Canada's second largest trading partner after the US. Ing says if Washington ends up imposing tariffs, Canada would challenge the Trump administration at the World Trade Organization. Liberal leadership Canada, Chrystia Freeland, is getting support from an opponent in the race. After it emerged, she may be the target of foreign interference. A federal agency tasked with investigating election interference traced what they called a coordinated and malicious campaign to a popular WeChat account with alleged ties to the Chinese

government. This morning, Mark Carney posted a message of support for Freeland and pledged to defend the integrity of the leadership race and Canadian democracy. The three Baltic states pulled the plug on the Russian power grid today. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia say it's part of their plan to integrate more closely with the European Union and boost their own security. Dominic Vlaidis has more details. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia disconnected from Russia's power grid this morning, severing their link to the network of their former Soviet imperial overlord. Shortly after, Latvian workers climbed towers 100 meters from the Russian border

and cut the power cables. A highly symbolic act. Tomorrow, the three Baltic nations will connect to the European Union's power network. It's a historical moment. Kasper Smelnis is Latvia's energy minister. It's one step more forward if you talk about our security, our independence. At this moment we are fully independent and we're fully responsible for what's happening in our systems. The Baltic nations have been planning to decouple from the Russian grid for years.

Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 saw those plans gain momentum. Dominic Vlaitis for CBC News, Riga, Latvia. A violin made in 1714 by the legendary luthier Antonio Stradivari has sold for $11.3 million US at a Sotheby's auction in New York. That's a lot of money, but not a record-breaking price. More than a decade ago, someone paid $15.9 million for another Stradivarius violin. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Julie-Ann Hazelwood.