The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/13 at 15:00 EST

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/13 at 15:00 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, the world this hour. I'm Tom Harrington. The new US Defense Secretary told a NATO conference America is not abandoning Ukraine. Pete Hegseth walked back yesterday's comments that Ukraine should not expect to get back territory it lost in the war. But he did say Donald Trump is committed to a diplomatic end of the conflict. And Hegseth warns European countries

need to spend more on defense. We can talk all we want about values, but you can't shoot values. You can't shoot flags, and you can't shoot strong speeches. As much as we may not want to like the world we live in, in some cases, there's nothing like hard power. Hexeth repeated Trump's demand NATO nations allocate 5% of their GDP for defense.

But the Alliance's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, says many members are upping their defense budgets. We discussed the importance of our continued support to Ukraine. And we discussed the need for European allies in Canada to do even more. In 2024, NATO allies provided over 50 billion euros in security assistance to Ukraine. Nearly 60% of this coming from Europe and Canada. Well above the 40 billion that we had pledged for the year. The UK is among the NATO members saying there can be no Ukraine peace talks without Ukraine's

full participation. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services. The final vote in the Senate was close and mostly along party lines. But in the end, enough Republicans dismissed the concerns raised by the scientific and medical communities. Chris Reyes has more. The yeas are 52, the nays are 48. Confirmation is confirmed.

With that vote, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will now be the top public health official in the U.S. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr. is one of President Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet picks. During a contentious confirmation hearing, he was grilled on his vaccine skepticism and support for other fringe conspiracy theories on health matters. Top Democrat Chuck Schumer. A vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy is a vote I truly believe many, many Republicans and most Americans will eventually very deeply regret.

RFK Jr. abandoned his presidential campaign to support Trump. His signature slogan is, make America healthy again. In his new role, RFK Jr. will oversee dozens of agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration. Chris Reyes, CBC News, New York. President Trump signed a memorandum today warning he'll put reciprocal tariffs on any countries that levy their own surcharges on U.S. goods. Trump calls this a way to level the playing field for trade, but he admits consumers will

see higher prices. In January, U.S. inflation hit 3.9 percent. The former CEO of Alberta Health Services is suing her former employer and the province's health minister. She's alleging they interfered with her attempts to investigate some of the agency's contracts with private surgical facilities. Michelle Belfontaine reports. authorizing a forensic audit and investigation into some AHS contracts and procurements, and for trying to bring rates in line with other providers during last fall's contract renewal with the Alberta Surgical Group. Mensalopoulos says officials with Alberta Health told her to wrap up her investigation and send all files to them. They also assumed oversight

on contracts with chartered surgical facilities. The statement of claim alleges Health Minister Adriana Lagrange met with the board of AHS. She wanted them to fire Mensalopoulos, but they refused. The Deputy Minister of Health fired her the next day. The allegations in the statement of claim have not been proven in court. In a statement, Lagrange says many of the claims are, quote, clearly false. Michelle Belfontaine, CBC News, Edmonton. Igloo is recalling more than one million of its coolers sold in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The handle has caused finger injuries, even some amputations. The Igloo 90-quart flip and toe-rolling coolers have been sold since 2019.

Owners are urged to stop using them immediately. And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.