The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/05/15 at 07:00 EDT

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/05/15 at 07:00 EDT

Carly Fortune became the queen of Canadian romance with her breakout hit Every Summer After. On my podcast Bookends, Carly told me all about the life-changing success of that book, and she dished on her newest summer love story. Two young women wait to the end of my signing line once and then said, we have a bone to pick with you. And they said, we need Charlie's happy ending. Justice for Charlie. Check out Bookends with Mateja Roj to hear the rest of that conversation wherever you get your podcasts.

From CBC News, it's the World This Hour. I'm Joe Cummings. It was hoped that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would take part in peace talks today in Turkey with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But while Zelensky is there, Putin isn't, with Moscow instead sending a delegation of low-level officials. Crystal Gmancing reports. NATO Chief Mark Ruda says there should be no doubt anymore Ukraine is ready to negotiate and it is Russia that must take the next step. Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson says Vladimir Putin was the one who initiated direct

talks adding the Russian delegation in Istanbul is ready for serious work. It's not a serious delegation. Alex Younger is the former head of the British intelligence agency MI6. Head of the delegation is a former culture minister and amateur historian. Vladimir Medensky is a Kremlin aide. He's heading up the Russian delegation. He was involved in talks in 2022, which failed. The two leaders have not met face to face in six years.

Crystal Gamansing, CBC News, London. Hospital officials in southern Gaza say more than 60 people have been killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the city of Hanunis. It's the second straight day the Palestinian territory has come under intense bombing. Trent Murray has the latest. It is being reported that a lot of those strikes in Kahnunis are trying to prevent rescuers getting to the site of the European hospital. But we are also tracking several strikes around Gaza City where evacuation orders were issued

overnight, an area with three schools were located as well as a hospital. Those areas where civilians were sheltering, seemingly because it was safe. But based on what we're hearing now, those people are being evacuated out as the IDF embarks on what it says is an intense airstrikes program in order to try and target Hamas infrastructure. We're of course witnessing the scenes on the ground where civilians are being caught in the crossfire, health facilities there are struggling to treat the injured and of course those health facilities are now being also targeted it is seen. Certainly the European hospital seems to be a site of continued attacks which we are tracking

based on the IDF saying that underground Hamas bunkers were under the hospital. Trent Murray for CBC News, Tel Aviv. Under the shadow of the Trump tariff campaign, today is Budget Day for the Ontario government. It's the first budget for the Progressive Conservatives since Premier Doug Ford's re-election in February. And as we hear now from Jamie Strashan, the PCs are calling it their plan to survive the trade war.

Let's not rely on President Trump any longer. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says reducing reliance on American trade and becoming more self- reliant will be priorities in today's budget. There's been a flurry of pre-budget

spending already. Billions of dollars to speed up housing growth, retrain workers and reduce tolls. Also a plan to defer billions in taxes. Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethenfalse. That is what the budget is going to be about. Boosting our economic prosperity, thinking big and championing nation-building projects. All of this will come at a cost. Ontario's relatively small $1.5 billion deficit could swell.

And Shelf plans to balance the books by next year, says the province's former chief economist Brian Lewis. We are seeing slower economic growth, so that's going to affect government revenue projections. Beyond Trump, Lewis says healthcare is a priority. Things like addressing hospital wait times, also much needed money for the province's university and colleges. Jamie Strash in CBC News, Toronto. The Manitoba RCMP say it will take days to confirm the identities of two people believed

to have been killed this week in a wildfire northeast of Winnipeg. The two bodies, believed to be a man and a woman, were found in a region where the fast moving wildfires have destroyed structures and prompted an evacuation order. At this point about 1,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes. And that is The World This Hour. For news anytime go to our website cbcnews.ca. For CBC News, I'm Joe Cummings.