The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/03/17 at 23:00 EDT

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/03/17 at 23:00 EDT

In Scarborough, there's this fire behind our eyes. A passion in our bellies. It's in the hearts of our neighbors. The eyes of our nurses. And the hands of our doctors. It's what makes Scarborough, Scarborough. In our hospitals, we do more than anyone thought possible. We've less than anyone could imagine.

But it's time to imagine what we can do with more. Join Scarborough Health Network and together, we can turn grit into greatness. Donate at lovescarborough.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neil Herland. The fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas

appears to be over. Tonight Israel launched a series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas. The Associated Press is reporting 69 people are dead. The CBC's Sasha Petrusic joins me now in studio. Sasha, did we see this coming? Well, there have been hints. All day long the Israeli government has said that Hamas is preparing to attack Israel again, though it hasn't presented any proof of that.

But it did sound like something was going to happen. And indeed, by the end of the day, we had a statement from the prime minister's office saying that the IDF, the Israeli military, had been preparing for this all day long. Also signals that there is support from the United States, from the White House. The White House said that Israel has the right to defend itself and to act against any security threats. Also some statements out of Israel that sounded an awful lot like the Americans speaking, saying that the gates of hell would be opened and Hamas would be hit with a huge force unless it released all

the 59 hostages that are left right now. And what is the fate of those hostages? Well, that's a very good question. Hamas said that they face an uncertain fate, and that is the big question. There's been a huge amount of pressure on the government by people in Israel, the majority of people in Israel, who have been out on the streets pushing the government for a continuation of the ceasefire so that all the hostages could be released.

Thank you, Sasha. My pleasure. The CBC's Sasha Petrasek in studio tonight. Manitoba RCMP say a second set of remains found in a Winnipeg area landfill have now been identified as belonging to Mercedes Myron. Previous remains found at the Prairie Green landfill were identified earlier this month as belonging to Morgan Harris. Both women were murdered by a convicted serial killer in 2022. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew responded to the news. Mercedes Myron and Morgan Harris are coming home. This is what we set out to do.

I don't know if many of us knew the odds of success. I certainly was always trying to keep a realistic perspective. But it turns out bringing them home was within our grasp and something we were able to do for these families. Canoe's NDP government authorized the search in December after the previous conservative government decided not to, saying it was expensive and potentially hazardous. Prime Minister Mark Carney says there's only so far Canada can go in pushing back against the United States with counter tariffs. Carney made the comment during a packed day of international meetings.

Catherine Cullen has more from London. There was a one-on-one meeting with King Charles and enthusiastic welcomes from France's Emmanuel Macron and the UK's Keir Starmer. Prime Minister Mark Carney can point to the beginning of a new partnership with France on intelligence and security, but more than concrete change. The trip mostly demonstrated Canada has friends besides the United States. Carney also acknowledged there's only so far Canada can go, hitting back against the US with dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs.

There's a limit to matching these tariffs dollar-for-dollar given the fact that our economy is a tenth the size of the United States. Donald Trump has talked about global reciprocal tariffs on April 2nd. Carney says his government wouldn't put in place counter-tariffs that are outright harmful to Canada. Catherine Cullen, CBC News, London. An Ontario court has found a 2023 stabbing at the University of Waterloo was not terrorism, but the judge ruled it did constitute a particularly grave hate crime. 25-year-old Giovanni Vallalba Aleman attacked people in a gender studies class, stabbing a professor and two students. He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and other

charges. The attacker was sentenced to 11 years in prison. And that is your World This Hour. I'm Neal Hurland.