The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/16 at 18:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/16 at 18:00 EDT

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, the world this hour, I'm Julianne Hazelwood. The French federal leaders debate begins this hour, but in the last minute change the Green Party has been dropped from tonight's event and tomorrow's English language debate. Greene Roman explains. I have no further comments. Greene Party leader Jonathan Pedneau postponed his scheduled unveiling of his full election platform because this morning

he got a letter from the leader's debate commission telling him he's no longer allowed to participate in tonight's French-language debate or tomorrow's English debate. Their last-minute decision to exclude the Green Party of Canada from the Leaders' Debate is not only unjust and baseless because we met the criteria, it is undemocratic. 28 days before Election Day, each party had to have endorsed candidates in at least 90 percent of federal writings.

The Greens met that bar. But the commission says that because the party intentionally reduced the number of its candidates since then for strategic reasons, that's inconsistent with proof of party viability. And Pedno's inclusion would undermine the integrity of the debates. Karina Roman, CBC News, Montreal. We're taking a historic step forward to protect and unify our country. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is making domestic trade easier. Ford has signed free trade agreements with the Premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Much like President Trump's tariffs, these trade barriers hurt our economy, drive away jobs and investment, and divide us from each other. Ford also says a new bill would make Ontario the first province to remove all current exceptions to inter-provincial free trade. It would also remove barriers that make it difficult

for people in certain jobs to work in certain provinces. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blames the environment for causing autism. The politician says he's committed to identifying the root causes by September, and he insists autism is a man-made epidemic. This is coming from an environmental toxin. And somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin into our air, our water, our medicines, our food. And it's to their benefit.

The Health Secretary's comments clash with decades of research and scientific consensus that genetics play a large role. A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control shows an estimated one in 31 children have some form of autism in the US. Health Disease Control shows an estimated 1 in 31 children have some form of autism in the US. Health officials say the growing numbers reflect better diagnostics and more widespread screening. Water researchers are warning about low snowpack in the Rockies

and they say it could foreshadow another difficult summer for Albertans from farmers to firefighters. Aaron Collins has more. Our forested site snow surveys are half of what we expect for this time of year. Professor John Pomeroy sounding the alarm. The director of the Global Water Futures Observatory project says snowpack in the Rockies is extremely low this year and Pomeroy says that raises the likelihood of drought and water restrictions in Alberta this summer. Nothing new about droughts, but to have end-on-end droughts, we seem to be seeing more of this and of course the temperatures are up and that's global heating.

Another dry summer a problem for the province's farmers, but also making fertile conditions for wildfires. Todd Lowen is Alberta's forestry minister. He says wildfire personnel have been preparing for this season since the fall. In recent years the scale intensity and unpredictability of these fires have shown us just how important it is to be prepared. Lohan says Alberta has beefed up its ability to forecast wildfire conditions this year. Erin Collins, CBC News, Calgary. The number of cross-border travelers going from Canada to the U.S. dropped dramatically

in March. That's according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agency says nearly 900,000 fewer people entered the U.S. from Canada compared to the same period last year. That's a 17 percent decline in travel. Observers say it's largely driven by Donald Trump's trade war and 51st state taunts. And that's your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Julianne Hazelwood.