The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 at 12:00 EST

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 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, the world this hour, I'm Claude Fague. People from Windsor, Ontario to Nova Scotia are digging out after another monster storm hit eastern half of Canada. As Philip Lee Schanek reports, for a huge part of the country with most of its population dealing with two storms in a row is a challenge. You caffeine, food, sleep where you can. Toronto snowplow driver Zach MacLeod is running on fumes. After a midweek storm brought 40 centimeters of snow, the city got walloped with another 30 centimeters more. He says it's all got to go somewhere.

Snow is so much that downtown there's not a lot of places to put the snow. Vincent Sraza is with the City of Toronto. He says the priority is to clear the roads then workers come back to remove the massive piles. So we'll collect the snow, put them in dump trucks, and then we will then transport them. Montreal and Quebec City had 50 centimeters of snow, some regions as much as 70. Stay home would be my best advice.

Philippe Sabaraz with the City of Montreal. He says it will take days before the city can begin to clear its 11,000 kilometers of streets. Across the province, many schools will be closed and police are urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel. Philip LeShannock, CBC News, Toronto. The company that provides most of the blood testing and specimen collection in Canada is facing rotating strike action in British Columbia.

As Yvette Brand reports, Life Labs locations in B.C. issued a 72-hour strike notice for this Thursday. At a rally in the freezing rain, unionized LifeLabs workers chanted calling for fair wages. They want the same pay as hospital workers to perform tasks like collecting blood and medical samples, voting 98% to strike after almost a year with no contract. BC General Employees Union President Paul Finch said they're tired of wage gaps and

understaffing, driven by what he describes as a U.S. for-profit model. This is a struggle between a group of workers here in BC who provide a critical health service and an American for-profit Fortune 500 company. LifeLabs was taken over by Quest Diagnostics last year. In an email, the company said, our highest priority is to ensure continuity of care for the people of British Columbia. Customers are urged to check LifeLabs website as lab closures will rotate to ensure service continues.

Yvette Brand, CBC News, Vancouver. Today marks 500 days since Hamas launched its October 7th attack on southern Israel. And there are questions about what lies ahead for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and the future of the Gaza Strip. The CBC's Sasha Petrcic has more from Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, they blocked roads this morning. In Jerusalem, they marched to Israel's parliament. Families and supporters of hostages still held in Gaza, marking 500 days since their loved ones were abducted by Hamas militants.

They are especially nervous that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pull out of the ceasefire deal with Hamas and return to war. His hardline coalition partners are demanding it. U.S. President Donald Trump has encouraged it. But 15 months of devastating war hasn't brought the hostages back. And in Gaza, Palestinians fear more fighting will only punish civilians. America is helping Israel with weapons, says Raja Abu Rajab in Ra'afa, but there's nothing

left to destroy. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Jerusalem. Krista Freeland has come out with her new policy plan to tackle the country's housing crisis. The federal liberal leadership Hopeful released a 10-point plan this morning of the steps she's promising to take as prime minister. They include tying the number of new immigrants to the availability of housing,

slashing municipal development charges, and boosting the amount that people can contribute to a tax-free first home savings account. And that is Your World This Hour. tax-free first home savings account. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fague.