The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/22 at 12:00 EST

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/22 at 12:00 EST

What does a mummified Egyptian child, the Parthenon marbles of Greece and an Irish giant all have in common? They are all stuff the British stole. Maybe. Join me, Mark Fennell, as I travel around the globe uncovering the shocking stories of how some, let's call them ill-gotten, artifacts made it to faraway institutions. Spoiler, it was probably the British. Don't miss a brand new season of Stuff the British Style. Watch it free on CBC Gem. From CBC News, the world is sour. I'm Neil Kumar.

We begin in Israel. Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! People gathered in Tel Aviv's hostage square to cheer after the first of six Israeli hostages were released today. The first two hostages released are 40-year-old Tal Shoham and 39-year-old Avir Menkistu. Both are turned over to the International Red Cross in Gaza.

They were then taken into Israel. Several other hostages have also been freed by the militant group Hamas today. Israel will then turn over hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The hostage-for-prisoners exchange will include a total of 33 Israeli hostages. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are preparing to meet with Donald Trump in Washington next week. They're expected to show their ongoing support for Ukraine. It all comes as US officials announce they'll be meeting with their Russian counterparts in two weeks. Anna Cunningham has the latest.

President Vladimir Zelensky sounding a more positive note on the proposed US-Ukraine minerals deal, saying it has the potential to strengthen our relations. This after a bruising week of angry diplomacy between both countries. French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the White House Monday. The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will be there Thursday, both hoping to ease the tensions. Trump has criticised them, suggesting neither have done anything to bring about peace in Ukraine.

French Senate Republican member Ronan Leclerc says he is mistaken. The idea that Europeans did not anything to help Ukraine is just totally wrong. The former British national security adviser Lord Peter Ricketts believes there will be something for European leaders to work with. The fact that the Americans are talking to the Ukrainians about access to these rare Earths in Ukraine suggests that we are getting into something a bit more like the kind of horse trading transactional deal that Trump liked. Anna Cunningham, CBC News, London.

With Donald Trump's terror threats looming over Canada, questions are emerging about their potential impact on the housing crisis. The CEO of Canada's largest homebuilder sat down with CBC Radio's The House to talk about what's next. We get more from host Catherine Cullen. We're here in the kitchen. Right away we know that appliances are one of the items that's being considered for counter tariffs. Brad Carr is giving a townhouse tariff tour. The CEO of Mattamy Homes Canada is pointing out items that could go up in price if Canada finds itself

in a trade war with the United States. From fridges and dishwashers to windows and steel, Carr says Canadian pushback against Trump's tariffs could push housing prices up. So the trick will be to try and find places to keep costs down as much as possible. Federal Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says the government is trying to be thoughtful about building the list of products it would slap retaliatory tariffs on to try to avoid driving up prices. I'm alive to the concern the government's alive to the concern. But he says there's no question that overall when it comes to Trump's tariff threats, Canada has to respond with force.

Catherine Cullen, CBC News, Ottawa. In British Columbia, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck Sunshine Coast on Friday. It shook homes and it was felt between Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver. No injuries or structural damage was reported. Apple will stop offering its strongest data protection in the UK, an optional feature that adds end-to-end encryption for cloud data. The company made the decision after reports the British government was demanding Apple build a backdoor to the program.

That would mean all data would be accessible by Apple, which could be compelled to share it with the British law enforcement. And that is Your World is Sour. Remember, you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts. The World is Sour is updated every hour, seven days a week. For CBC News, I'm Neil Kumar.