The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 20:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/17 at 20:00 EDT

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Exclusions apply. See Specsavers.ca for details. Offer ends soon. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Julie-Ann Hazelwood. We begin with the federal leaders debate happening right now in Montreal. The first topic the four leaders were asked about is Donald Trump's tariff threats to Canada. Liberal leader Mark Carney fielded the first question on his approach to negotiations. The starting point has to be one of strength. Show that we have control of our own economic destiny and also has to have a position of strength in terms of our reaction to the US unjustified tariffs and that's why we have put in place counter tariffs that have

maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact here at home. Conservative leader Pierre Polly, I was asked what he would do differently as prime minister. I would cut taxes, red tape and approve our resource projects so that we can get our goods to market and bring home the jobs so we stand up to President Trump from a position of strength. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh emphasized the importance of making decisions in Canadians' best interest.

And that's what I would advocate for, making sure we are resilient, independent, and less dependent on the United States. Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet talked about the importance of having Quebec's voice heard in any negotiations with the US administration. Other themes in tonight's debate include affordability, energy and climate, and public safety. Two people are dead and six are wounded after a shooter opened fire at Florida State University. Authorities say they shot the gunman and took him into custody. The shooter is believed to be a student and is receiving medical attention. He's a 20 year old and the son of a sheriff's deputy, according

to police, and he had obtained access to a weapon that belongs to his mother and shot the victims using the former service handgun police say. Canada's measles cases continue to grow. Ontario has added more than a hundred confirmed and suspected cases in just one week and Alberta is also reporting an increase. But officials in Quebec are much more hopeful. Alison Northcott has the details. As of Thursday, 89 cases of measles have been reported in Alberta. Pediatrician Dr. Tehseen Lada says the latest available data from 2023 shows immunization rates were far below the target.

The vaccination rates are actually terrible. Lada is urging people to get vaccinated. She says multiple studies show the shots are safe and effective. On the other hand, getting measles, especially in a child, is high risk. We're looking at a 10-plus percent risk of being hospitalized and a one in a thousand risk of your child dying if they are unimmunized and get measles. Ontario has the largest outbreak right now with more than 900 cases and nearly 70 hospitalizations. In Quebec, health officials say the outbreak

there could soon be declared over with no new cases recorded in nearly a month. Alison Northcott, CBC News, Montreal. In this very galaxy far far away lies a planet that scientists say has a remarkable chemical signature, one that could be made by living organisms. Science reporter Anand Ram has more. This moment in history of science will be viewed as a paradigm shift. Nikku Muthusuthin isn't shy about what his latest research could mean. He's with the University of Cambridge and suggests new data from a planet more than 120 light-years away carries signs of life.

We have found signs of biosignature molecules, both of which are produced uniquely by life here on Earth. The planet K2-18b is thought to be an ocean world. The smelly signal detected is dimethyl sulfide, produced here on Earth by cabbage and marine algae. I understand that publics are necessarily excited. But scientists urge caution. Yanqin Wu studies the makeup of exoplanets at the University of Toronto. Once the signal is confirmed, we have to figure out whether it's made by life exclusively. Confirmed or not, Wu expects more discoveries like this as the James Webb Space Telescope

uncovers endless worlds that we never knew existed. Anand Ram, CBC News, Toronto. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Julianne Haseel-Wood.