The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/05/12 at 10:00 EDT

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/05/12 at 10:00 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 will be Saudi Arabia.

Chris Brown has more. 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 US 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 trade war between the United States and China is now on hold for 90 days. The pause goes into effect with both countries agreeing to roll back the steep tariffs they both imposed in recent weeks. Nick Harper has the details. Both sides have agreed to dramatically reduce their reciprocal tariffs, slashing them by 115% each for 90 days. So that reduces the US tariffs on Chinese goods all the way down to 30% and Chinese duties on US imports now stand at 10%. And that is a much bigger cut than was expected.

The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bersin said that the negotiations had been very productive. We do want trade. We want more balanced trade. And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that. Both sides have said they acknowledge the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship. But of course, this isn't the end and the clock is now ticking on those 90 days. They say that they will continue to have discussions. Future talks could take place

either in the US or China but it's just not clear if 90 days is long enough to resolve all of the long-standing issues between both sides. Nick Harper for CBC News, Washington. Prime Minister Mark Carney introduces his cabinet tomorrow morning at a gala swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall, which means in Ottawa there's another day of speculation on who is and who isn't expected to make the grade. Here's Janice McGregor. This is an exercise in managing expectations for the newly expanded Liberal caucus, MPs who frankly brought the prime Minister here but can't

all be stars. If there is a need for continuity with the previous government it could be around the relationships that a handful of senior ministers have already built with key players in Washington. On Rosemary Barton Live yesterday, International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc played coy about whether he'd be staying on that basis. I'm certainly not going to offer any views on the Prime Minister's decision with respect to the Cabinet. I hope I can continue to make a contribution and I'm enthusiastic about the work ahead.

The 24 hours before a Cabinet swearing-in often leads to a bit of a parlour game in this town. Pundits weigh in on what they do. The fact is only a very small group of people know what the Prime Minister is doing and frankly, we'll all find out soon enough. Janice McGregor, CBC News, Ottawa. Now to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Oh, and the chant of USA is echoing through the arena in Florida. In Miami, that's the Florida Panthers beating Toronto Maple Leafs last night 2-0, so that

best of seven is now tied at 2. Meanwhile in Dallas, the Winnipeg Jets were beaten by the Stars 5-2. That means Dallas now has a 2-1 series lead there. Women's hockey, PWHL, and a game that lasted close to 6 hours, Montreal beat Ottawa in the fourth overtime. 3-2 the final score, with Catherine Dubois getting the game winner. That best of 5 is now tied at one. And that is The World This Hour.

For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings. ...