The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/18 at 11:00 EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/18 at 11:00 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, it's the world is our. I'm Joe Cummings. The latest inflation numbers are out this morning and they show the inflation rate was on the rise last month. It reached 1.9% which is up from 1.8% in December. Peter Armstrong has more.

This is the first time in three months that we've seen prices accelerate again. It's largely as economists had been expecting. Higher gasoline prices and mortgage costs came in heavier than that GST tax holiday and overall that drove prices up. The core measures that the Bank of Canada is always watching, those also accelerated, but if you zoom out a bit those are cooling too on a three month average. Inflation's back on the tips of everyone's tongue right now, if only because of the looming

threat of a trade war with the United States. If the US imposes tariffs that'll slow demand and likely drive prices down. But if the Canadian government responds with its own tariffs, that would likely drive prices up for consumers in this country. We'll hear again from the Bank of Canada in three weeks time. Peter Armstrong, CBC News, Toronto. There are no details yet on a possible cause, but the investigation is well underway into yesterday's Delta Airlines crash at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. We have a plane that hit the ground, that rolled, sheared off its wings, sheared off

its tail, came to rest on its top, and all those people leave that aircraft. It really is an engineering marvel. That is commercial pilot Joshua Sherrard. 80 people were aboard the flight and as mentioned there were no fatalities. However, 21 people were taken to hospital and three are reported to be in critical condition. The Federal Transportation Safety Board is heading up the investigation with assistance provided by American flight investigators. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there is only one person who can end the war in Ukraine. Donald Trump is the only leader in the world that can.

So no one is being sidelined here. But President Trump is in a position that he campaigned on to initiate a process that could bring about an end to this conflict. Rubio and other senior U.S. officials met today with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia. He says the two countries have agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and will be working together on a plan to end the war in Ukraine. As for what that plan will look like, here is National Security Advisor Michael Waltz appearing this morning on CNN. We know just the practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and

there's going to be some discussion of territory, and there's going to be discussion of security guarantees. Stephen Pletka, Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D. Walt says Europe will need to take the lead on those security guarantees, and EU leaders will need to step up defense spending. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is yet to be included in any of these discussions, and he says there will be no deal to end the war without Ukraine's full involvement. Canadian scientists are learning that their meetings with U.S. government scientists are

now being reviewed by the Trump administration. CBC News has obtained internal American emails showing that all international scientific collaboration now has to be submitted for White House approval. Jailor Bernstein has more. Aaron Fisk is the Canada research chair in changing Great Lakes ecosystems at the University of Windsor. Up until a few weeks ago, he worked closely with Americans. That reality now drastically altered. It's bizarre and it's scary.

CBC News has seen emails sent to staff at NOAA, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The memos place limits on international scientific meetings. A former NOAA official told CBC News there are also talks of significant cuts to the workforce. Dalhousie University professor Doug Wallace is with the Marine Environmental Observation, Protection and Response Network. Why would you apparently, anyway, demolish something which is really a crown jewel of the USA? A spokesperson for NOAA denied there is any pause on international communication. The Canadian government told CBC News that it had received no official notice of changes to its collaborative relationship with NOAA.

Jaila Bernstein, CBC News, Montreal. And that is 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.