The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/18 at 13:00 EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/18 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 Tom Harrington. From last Thursday to Sunday, Toronto Pearson saw extreme conditions, two separate snow storms. The president and CEO of Toronto's Pearson Airport suggests the amount of snow may have played a part in yesterday's plane crash.

Deborah Flint says the two longest runways at Pearson remain closed due to the ongoing investigation. The Delta Airlines plane crashed while attempting to land and rolled onto its roof. All 80 people on board survived. I cannot commend enough the crew, the flight attendants, pilots and our emergency responders for their quick and effective response. It's really, really incredible and when you see that aircraft it just makes you really thankful for all the safety checks that

go into running one of the world's safest air transportation systems. Canada's Transportation Safety Board is heading up the investigation with assistance from American flight investigators. Canada's inflation rate went up a notch last month. It reached 1.9% 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 is 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 will 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. Canada's Heritage Minister says she will not seek re-election. According to Radio Canada, Pascal Saint-Onge will make the announcement this week. She represents the riding of Broma-Sysquad in Quebec and was elected in 2021.

Saint-Onge plans to complete her term as minister and MP. The United States and Russia are taking first steps toward reestablishing diplomatic ties. That includes holding preliminary discussions on ending the war in Ukraine. They began today in Saudi Arabia without the Ukrainians at the table. Krishal Gupta Singh reports. We're going to appoint our teams, respectively, that have worked very quickly to reestablish the functionality of our respective missions. That reconnection, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was the first of four points agreed to by the U.S. and Russia.

The second point is that we're going to appoint a high-level team from our end to help negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine. Yuri Sak, a Ukrainian government adviser, says Ukraine won't accept a deal penned by Russia and the US in isolation. We just know that Russians cannot be trusted and this is why the security guarantees that Ukraine must receive as part of this process are very, very key. The UK has said it would be ready and willing to send British troops to Ukraine to ensure enduring peace. But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says NATO or troops under any flag on the ground in Ukraine would be completely unacceptable. Crystal Gamansing, CBC News, London.

Villagers in southern Lebanon are sifting through the rubble of their homes following the departure of Israeli troops. They are looking for the remains of their relatives, killed in last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah. The war displaced more than one million people in Lebanon and tens of thousands of Israelis from northern Israel. Today was the deadline for Israel to withdraw from the border region under a ceasefire deal. Leonard Peltier has been released from prison in Florida. The Native American activist spent nearly half a century behind bars for the murder of two FBI agents in 1975 and sentenced was commuted by Joe Biden in the final hours of

his presidency. For many, Peltier's imprisonment has symbolized systemic injustice for Native Americans. Others have criticized the former president's decision. And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.