The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/08/04 at 04:00 EDT

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/08/04 at 04:00 EDT

Art has power to inspire us, to unite us, to give us solace and courage when we need it most. To create important stories, lasting memories, a sense of belonging. Your National Arts Centre serves as a catalyst in communities across Canada, empowering artists, inspiring audiences, and bringing us closer, together. Learn more at nac.ca slash create in Canada. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neil Herland. U.S. President Donald Trump says his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Russia this

week ahead of a U.S. sanctions deadline. Last night Trump was asked if anything could stop new American sanctions. You got to get a deal where people stop getting killed. A tremendous number of Russian soldiers are being killed. And likewise Ukraine, a lower number, but still thousands and thousands of people. So it's a lot of people being killed in that ridiculous war. Trump has not said what the new sanctions might be. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three and a half years ago.

Officials in South Korea are removing loudspeakers along the border. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense says it's a practical measure to help ease tensions between South Korea and the North without affecting the military's readiness posture. The speakers blared anti-North Korean messages and even K-pop music. In June, the new South Korean president turned off the propaganda speakers in a bid to improve relations with the North. More than ever before, we rely on satellites up in orbit to fully support daily life down here on Earth.

But Canada has lagged behind other nations when it comes to space infrastructure. That could soon be changing. On the East Coast, there's growing interest in rockets, satellites and launch facilities. Brett Ruskin explains. Countdown for a SpaceX rocket set to rumble up to orbit. Inside, a shoebox-sized satellite that took a Nova Scotia-based team two and a half years to build. The team was led by Arad Garagosli from Galaxia Mission Systems. It's very exciting to see it go into space.

And lift off, lift off, 9, go, space, go, transport, 14. The satellite was built here in Canada, but there was no Canadian way to get it to space. We have to launch them elsewhere. That means relying on the United States. So now we're number one in space by a lot. The strained Canada-U.S. relationship has some questioning that reliance.

Steve Metier and his team are building a spaceport in Canso, Nova Scotia. It'll be like an airport for rockets where companies can come to launch in a remote, but well-supported location. And location is perhaps the East Coast's biggest strength. With only ocean in many directions, launches from Nova Scotia or Newfoundland can reach key north-south orbits around the Earth. Brett Ruskin, CBC News, Halifax. Canada's Summer Macintosh had a dominant run at the World Swimming Championships.

She won four gold medals in Singapore. Macintosh now has 13 career medals at the World Championships, including eight gold. And as Kelsey Arnett reports, her international success is also making waves with young swimmers here at home. Amy Yau is a 12-year-old swimmer with Calgary's Cascade Swim Club. Her favorite event is the individual medley, just like Summer Macintosh. She says watching her success at the World Championships is amazing. It gives you motivation to keep going. Jason Pratt manages the swim club. He's also in Singapore

supporting his son and daughter as they compete for the national team. He says watching Macintosh swim is exciting and gives young swimmers someone to look up to. It just shows them that hey you can do it too. Along with his son and daughter, Cascade's very own Ingrid Wilm is competing too. She just won a bronze in the mixed team individual medley with fellow Albertan Oliver Dawson. Pratt says having local athletes compete on the international stage is special for young swimmers. It's very inspiring. Kelsey Yarnett, CBC News, Calgary. The former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Hilary Weston, is dead.

In a statement, her son, businessman Galen Weston Jr., says his mother was devoted to her family and believed in the importance of community. Weston was a philanthropist and also worked in the fashion business. Hilary Weston was 83. And finally, Lonnie Anderson, who played a radio station receptionist on the hit comedy WKRP in Cincinnati died Sunday, just days before her 80th birthday. And that is your World This Hour.