The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/03/18 at 20:00 EDT

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/03/18 at 20:00 EDT

Struggling with debt? Help is available. Discover reliable solutions to help you get back on track. Visit Canada.ca slash debt dash solutions for support you can trust. A message from the Government of Canada. From CBC News, the world is sour. I'm Tom Harrington. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Son Sunny Williams are back on Earth at last, nine months after starting a mission that was supposed to last eight days.

They were stranded when their new Boeing Starliner was deemed unsafe to return. Nicole Williams reports. Butch, Sunny, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home. Butch Willmore and Sunny Williams have returned home with a splash, surrounded by curious dolphins. After a 17-hour trip from the International Space Station, the two American astronauts are finally back on Earth. The SpaceX capsule burned through the planet's atmosphere

at 28,000 kilometers an hour, then a series of parachutes deployed, slowing down the spacecraft's descent, eventually floating into the waters off the coast of Florida. Captain Chris Haig from inside the capsule. That capsule which carried them home was hauled from the water and onto a ship. The hatch opened in the Florida sunshine and Williams and Wilmore were into wheelchairs

after their long exposure to weightlessness, all smiles as they breathed fresh air for the first time in nine months. Nicole Williams, CBC News, Ottawa. Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced nearly $7 billion in spending for Arctic security, including a new radar system. Catherine Cullen has the details from Ecaluite. The world is changing. Our adversaries are increasingly emboldened. Prime Minister Mark Carney says this is not just about Canada's security, but its sovereignty too. We must invest in Canada's north to defend our sovereignty.

Canada will work with Australia to build an over-the-horizon radar system. It would protect the Arctic against threats, including hypersonic missiles from Russia, China and elsewhere. The system could be ready as early as 2029. Canadian officials say in their conversations with the American military, this investment has been welcome. The $6 billion project is part of a previously announced plan to spend nearly $40 billion beefing up North American defense. There's also funding to increase the armed forces presence in the Arctic. Carney's first phone call with Donald Trump, who has been critical of Canada's military spending,

is anticipated to happen soon. Catherine Cullen, CBC News, Iqaluit. For long weeks we have been going out and from, to achieve one goal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says from now on negotiations with Hamas will happen only under fire. Gaza officials say the Israeli strikes overnight killed hundreds of Palestinians. Netanyahu warns those strikes are just the beginning and that military pressure on Hamas is the only way to free the remaining hostages. The blame for the resumption of hostilities lies solely with Hamas. The acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea, says Washington supports Israel's

actions. Shea says Hamas had refused every proposal and deadline to extend the first phase of the ceasefire and release more hostages. Hamas had insisted on moving on to the second phase, meaning the withdrawal of Israeli troops. The U.S. and Russia have agreed to pursue a limited ceasefire in Ukraine. The agreement came after a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. Under the proposed deal, Russia and Ukraine will stop targeting each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days.

But the Kremlin insists the U.S. must stop its military assistance to Ukraine for a lasting peace to be reached. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will support any proposal that leads to stable and just peace, but cannot support talks about Ukraine without Kiev. Canada's inflation rate saw a sharp spike last month. Statistics Canada says it jumped to 2.6% from 1.9 in January. Analysts say the sudden surge in consumer prices was due to the end of the federal government's two-month GST holiday.

The tax was lifted on a range of products just prior to the Christmas shopping season. It was brought back into effect in the middle of February. And that is Your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.