The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/05/30 at 15:00 EDT

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/05/30 at 15:00 EDT

Do you hear that? It's a wood thrush. Songbirds lift our hearts, bring us joy, support healthy environments, and connect us with nature. Sadly, due to free-roaming cats, collisions with buildings, and habitat loss, over a quarter of Canada's birds have disappeared. It's heartbreaking. With your help, Nature Canada has mobilized thousands of Canadians for more than 85 years to protect and celebrate birds. To find out how you can save bird lives, go to birds.naturecanada.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Julianne Hazelwood. We begin with the latest on the wildfires across the prairies. In Manitoba, shifting winds are sending the fire threat

toward the community of Flynn Flawnwn and officials warn the time to leave the city is running out. Caroline Bargout has the latest. Five thousand people from the town of Flynn Flawn were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday but the mayor and some councillors stayed behind. Now the community is being told they all have to go because the fire could be heading their way. George Fontaine is the mayor. We still have a few people and we've got to get them out. So we're managing all that sort of thing.

But once we drive away, that's it. I'm not sure when we'll be able to come back in here. When or if. Dennis Ballard is one of thousands who fled their homes. The 84 year old made the five and a half hour drive to Saskatoon. He says over the years there were other fires that came close to Flintlawn, but these forest fires are different. It almost seems apocalyptic, you know, like the world is burning up.

They're bigger, they move faster, they're hotter, and a hell of a lot more scary. A number of First Nations have also been evacuated. The Canadian military is sending in Hercules aircraft to help get them out. Caroline Bargout, CBC News, Winnipeg. A group of Alberta firefighters trapped by a wildfire are now free. Officials lost contact with the group last night. Wal Snowden has the details. The eight firefighters were trapped as the flames closed in on the community of Chippewa Lake. They were forced to take shelter as they awaited rescue. Efforts to extract them with night vision radar failed as smoke choked the skies. Hours later, they finally drove to safety.

Municipal officials say a 20-man rescue team was deployed to help them navigate the road out littered with downed trees. The damage to the community remains unknown as it's still not safe to enter. It was a volatile night across the province with baking heat, fierce winds and severe thunderstorms triggering a wave of new evacuations, including in Shantay, where more than 900 fled as a black plume filled the sky. Air quality warnings have been issued as smoke blankets almost every corner of the province. Wallace Snowden, CBC News, Edmonton.

Police in Pickering, Ontario have charged a teenager with first-degree murder. An elderly woman was stabbed and killed outside her home yesterday afternoon. The accused is 14 years old. Joan McCabe is with Durham Regional Police. She says investigators are still looking to see if there's a connection between the two. They will look at every avenue at this point. There's nothing to say the two of them are connected. However, due to the distance they were in proximity of each other, every avenue will

be looked at, but there's nothing to suggest at this time that they're connected. Police say the suspect was arrested hours after the stabbing without incident. The suspect remains in custody until the bail hearing. Elon Musk is leaving his role as advisor to the US president. The world's richest man spearheaded the so-called Department of Government Efficiency or DOJ. His efforts to reign in government spending upended multiple federal agencies, triggering thousands of layoffs. Donald Trump says that work will continue. Many of the DOJ people, Elon, are staying behind you, so they're not leaving. And Elon's

really not leaving. He's going to be back and forth, I think. I have a feeling. It's his baby and I think he's going to be back and forth, I think. I have a feeling. It's his baby and I think he's going to be doing a lot of things. Musk's departure comes a day after he criticized Trump's tax bill, calling it an expensive measure that would undermine his work. Doge claims its efforts have saved the U.S. government $175 billion so far, while short of Musk's stated goal of $2 trillion. In Gaza, Palestinian health officials say Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours have killed 70 people.

The UN Human Rights Office says dozens were also injured when crowds overwhelmed an aid center. But the Israeli-backed organization put in charge of distributing that aid denies anyone was hurt. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Julianne Hazelwood.