The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/20 at 10:00 EST

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/20 at 10:00 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, it's the world this hour. I'm Joe Cummings. We go first to the Middle East where Hamas today has handed over the bodies of four hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attacks. Included are the bodies of Shiree Berbus and her two young children, who Hamas says were all killed in an Israeli airstrike. Sasha Petrusik has more now from Jerusalem. Right until this week, many in Israel hoped the Bebus children had survived,

says family friend Yifta Cohen. Shireen and the kids became a symbol. I still hope that they will be alive. A symbol of hope for many in Israel, not knowing how many of the remaining 69 hostages survived 16 months in captivity. A shocking day, a day of grief, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Many here blame him for dragging out ceasefire negotiations and the hostage releases.

But today, as some gathered in hostage square and others lined the route home for the coffins, the focus was on the youngest ones lost. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Jerusalem. Also today Hamas says it is prepared to release all its remaining hostages at the same time if Israel commits to a second phase of the ceasefire agreement. An extradition hearing is scheduled today in Montreal for an alleged ISIS supporter accused of plotting to murder Jewish people in New York. Thomas Daigler reports.

RCMP arrested Mohamed Shahzib Khan near the US border in Quebec in September. Today he's appearing before a judge in Montreal who will consider whether the 20-year-old should be extradited to the US to face a terrorism charge. Born in Pakistan, Khan came to Ontario on a student visa in 2023 and was soon on the FBI's radar. US prosecutors say he planned an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn and wanted to carry out the plot this past October 7th. Khan's lawyer, Gaetan Bourassa, previously suggested investigators lured his client into

all of it. My impression is that it was a victim of entrapment by police officers in the States. A CBC News investigation found Khan was in the process of claiming asylum in Canada, while the FBI alleges he was seeking others to join a murderous plot. Thomas Daigle, CBC News, Toronto. Now to Washington, where it looks like the Pentagon could be the next target, as the Trump administration continues with its campaign of government spending cuts. Cameron McIntosh has more.

The Washington Post is reporting it obtained a memo from Secretary of Defense Pete Hagseff calling for 8% cuts to the Pentagon budget for each of the next five years. Now the Pentagon's budget is about $850 billion. So this is almost $70 billion a year. Now Hagseff says these cuts aren't supposed to affect service personnel, people in uniform, nor Trump priorities like securing the southern border. But Haig-Seth says spending should reflect America's shifting priorities towards China, away from Ukraine and Europe. Dark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused

on the security of Europe. Hague Seth is telling the Pentagon to have a list of cuts ready for Monday. Cameron McIntosh, CBC News, Washington. It's Canada against the United States tonight in the championship game of the Four Nations Faceoff Tournament. It's been something probably even more than maybe what people expected as far as, you know, the intensity and everything that's, you know, that's been part of it. That's the captain of Team Canada, Sidney Crosby. Amid U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing tariff threats and his references to Canada becoming the 51st state, this already intense rivalry has moved now to the next level. These two teams met over the weekend in Round Robin Play

with the U.S. posting a 3-1 win, and that game featured three fights breaking out in the first nine seconds. Game time tonight in Boston is 8 o'clock Eastern. And that is The World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.