The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/05/12 at 06:00 EDT

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/05/12 at 06:00 EDT

How did the internet go from this? You could actually find what you were looking for right away, bound to this. I feel like I'm in hell. Spoiler alert, it was not an accident. I'm Cory Doctorow, host of Who Broke the Internet from CBC's Understood. In this four-part series, I'm going to tell you

why the internet sucks now, whose fault it is, and my plan to fix it. Find Who Broke the Internet on whatever terrible app you get your podcasts. From CBC News, it's the World This Hour. I'm Joe Cummings. US President Donald Trump leaves Washington today on a three-country tour of the Middle East. Trump will be visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but his first stop is Saudi Arabia.

Chris Brown has more from Riyadh. The Saudi capital is getting ready to throw a big party for Donald Trump, with fancy dinners and lots of extravagant ceremonies. The country's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS as he's known, has held out the prospect of a deal-making bonanza for the U.S. president. Trump is arriving in a country

in the midst of significant changes. You can see women and men mixing together, and women can now hold decent jobs. Trump had once hoped for a grand deal for Saudi Arabia to normalize its relationship with Israel. But the war in Gaza stopped that process in its tracks. Now he'll try to push Israel for a ceasefire as a precondition for better relations. Hamas agreeing to release U.S. hostage Eden Alexander gives the U.S. president an early win

and maybe some momentum as this trip begins. Chris Brown, CBC News in Riyadh. Meanwhile, the United States and China have come to terms, at least temporarily, on a trade deal. Here's U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bissons. We have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially moved down the tariff levels. Both sides on the reciprocal tariffs will move their tariffs down 115%. Both countries will still impose an across-the-board 10% tariff on each other's goods, but Bisson

is saying overall both the U.S. and China have an interest in a balanced trade relationship moving forward. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is calling for a ceasefire with Russia and says he's willing to meet personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war. And Russia too is calling for peace talks, possibly to get underway as early as Thursday. Andrew Rasoulis is with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. This is a very important development. To say that it's a breakthrough and that the war will end, that's premature. But certainly, we are at a point now, the closest we've been to

a potential negotiated settlement since March of 2022, when the last talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul. This was one month into the war, and then things broke off. So we have not had any direct dialogue between the Russians and the Ukrainians since then. In a flurry of diplomatic developments over the weekend, Moscow shunned the ceasefire proposal tabled by the US and Europe, but offered direct talks as mentioned with Ukraine on Thursday. Two and a half years after a major hurricane hit Atlantic Canada, a Nova Scotia family in Europe, but offered direct talks as mentioned with Ukraine on Thursday. Two and a half years after a major hurricane hit Atlantic Canada, a Nova Scotia family

is still out of their home as they wait for their insurance claim to be finalized. And adding to the delay is a rare clause invoked by their insurer. Richard Woodbury has a story. I just want them to honor the policy. Claudia Sheehy and her son Kieran have spent most of the past two and a half years living in Airbnbs and hotels. I'm not normally a very emotional person and this has changed who I am. And I don't know if I'll ever be the same. Part of the roof of their Grand Lake Nova Scotia home was torn off during Hurricane Fiona.

And when another powerful storm hit later in 2022, there was more damage. Temporary repairs have been far from adequate. Water gets inside the home whenever it rains or snows. And when another powerful storm hit later in 2022, there was more damage. Temporary repairs have been far from adequate. Water gets inside the home whenever it rains or snows. Sheehee is locked in a dispute with her insurer, Allstate, over how much the repair should cost. Last year, Allstate enacted a dispute resolution mechanism known as the Appraisal Clause. Under this, the insurer and the insured each have to hire and pay for an appraiser.

If they disagree about the claim value, a party known as an umpire is brought in to reach a binding decision. In a statement, Allstate said it has high standards for customer service and has been in regular contact with Sheehy. Richard Woodbury, CBC News, Grand Lake, Nova Scotia. And that is the World This Hour. Remember, you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts. The World This Hour is updated every hour, seven days a week.

For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.