The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 at 13:00 EST

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/17 at 13:00 EST

1942, Europe. Soldiers find a boy surviving alone in the woods. They make him a member of Hitler's army. But what no one would know for decades, he was Jewish. Could a story so unbelievable be true? I'm Dan Goldberg. I'm from CBC's Personally, Toy Soldier. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Stephanie Scanderis. A pair of intense winter storms has buried much of southern Ontario and Quebec in snow. And as Jennifer Youn reports, it could be weeks before everything goes back to normal. After a mild start to the winter, Marc-Antoine Dregoire was thrilled when he saw the snow

finally coming down in Montreal last week until he had to start digging out. I've been living in Montreal for 15 years or so and I think it's the worst time that I've been living in Montreal for 15 years or so and I think it's the worst time that I've seen. Two winter storms slammed into the city in five days and the snow isn't done yet. Montreal spokesperson Philippe Sabourin says city workers are working hard to clean up but it'll take at least eight days. We have 3,000 employees, 2,500 trucks on the road. In Toronto, the clean-up could take three weeks, as city official Vincent Svratza. It is an extremely time-consuming, slow process. The prairies, too, are frozen solid under an extreme cold warning, while another storm

is hitting the Maritimes today. Jennifer Yoon, CBC News, Toronto. Today is the deadline for Liberal leadership hopefuls to pay their final installment of the entry fee. Each candidate must pay $125,000 to stay in the race. The high cost to run is criticized by some as a barrier for grassroots contenders and it has forced at least one candidate to drop out of the race. CBC News has confirmed all five remaining candidates have raised the money they need. Workers at British Columbia's largest provider of lab diagnostic services are on strike.

The union says LifeLabs employees have been without a contract for nearly a year. So Rab Sandhu reports. Workers are asking for it to be paid the same wages as the people who do the same jobs as them in the hospital laboratories. Mandy DeFields works as a medical lab technologist at LifeLabs. She is among a group of striking workers rallying outside a patient service center in Burnaby. DeFields says along with pay parity, the workers are calling for solutions to chronic understaffing and want to see improvements to their health and safety benefits. Retention and recruitment is a serious issue. The BC General Employees

Union, which represents 1200 Life Labs workers across the province, issued a 72 hour strike notice Thursday. Paul Finch is the union president. We had an over 98% strike vote. In a statement, Life Lab says some lab locations may be subject to rotating closures. So wraps on the CBC News, Bernabe. The Ukrainian president is dismissing planned talks between the U.S. and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky says Kiev should be involved in any discussions about its future.

His comments come as the U.S. Secretary of State arrives in Saudi Arabia. Marco Rubio is there for the high-stakes talks between the U.S. and Russian officials. The U.S.-Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, says no one will impose a peace deal on Ukraine. In Rome, Catholics pray for Pope Francis' health. A group carrying a cross gathers outside St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to hospital on Friday. Doctors say the 88-year-old has a complex clinical situation and have changed his treatment.

The Pope's public appearances have been canceled until at least the end of the month. A US judge is hearing a challenge today to Elon Musk's efforts to access government information that includes sensitive personal data. Musk's doge, or Department of Government Efficiency has been slashing civil service jobs and agency spending to cut costs. Attorneys general from 13 democratic states say Musk doesn't have the right to do that

since Congress did not approve the creation of DOJ. U.S. President Donald Trump has endorsed Musk's efforts. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Stephanie Scanderis.