The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/08/13 at 18:00 EDT

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/08/13 at 18:00 EDT

Why does the internet suck so much right now? Has online porn changed sex forever? And what's left to know about Bitcoin? These are the kind of questions answered on CBC's Understood, a podcast that bridges business, technology, and culture. Understood looks deeper than the daily headlines. It gives you the big story in just four episodes. Want to know more? Know it now.

Find the latest season wherever you get your podcasts. from cbc news the world this hour i'm gina louise phillips police are investigating a series of arsons in downtown st johns the news comes as out-of-control wildfires continue to burn across newfoundland and labrador nicholas seguin has more the investigation into those fires that we do believe they are suspicious in nature and we suspect that one person is responsible constable james cadigan says the Royal Newfoundland constabulary is investigating at least five suspicious brush fires set overnight in downtown St. John's. This comes as the province continues to grapple without of control fires, including one just kilometers from St. John's. As this continues to get worse

over the last few days, it's very clear that all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians' level of anxiety continues to rise. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier John Hogan issued new evacuation orders yesterday and close to 20,000 people are under evacuation alerts. The province's largest fire, the Kingston fire, continues to grow, keeping more than 3,000 people from their homes and destroying houses. As for the forecast, no rain until Friday at the earliest. Nicholas Sagan, CBC News, Halifax. And a wildfire burning near a Halifax business park remains out of control. The fire broke out yesterday afternoon in the Susie's Lake area, about 10 kilometers west of downtown Halifax. It now covers 15 hectares. Some businesses in the bustling shopping area were evacuated.

Dozens of firefighters are on the scene. Air Canada will begin canceling flights starting tomorrow in anticipation of potential strike action by its flight attendants. Some 10,000 workers could walk off the job as early as Saturday after contract talks stalled. Air Canada has issued a notice of a lockout also starting Saturday. Wesley Lassoski is the president of the Air Canada branch of QP. He says he's holding out hope for a deal before then. Thus far, it's been waves of up and downs, positive and standstill. Hopefully they'll see that the traveling public want to continue traveling and the flight attendants don't want to strike and that they have an opportunity to come to an agreement. The key sticking points are pay increases and unpaid work hours. Manitoba's

Premier is calling on Ottawa to step up and support canola farmers. Wap Canoe says the federal government should provide the same kind of supports it's offered to the steel, auto, and lumber industries because it was a federal government decision that prompted China's retaliation. It is the EV tariffs that the federal government chose to apply to the Chinese producers that got this retaliation put in place. And so that's why we're asking the federal government to use those revenues that they've been collecting, we're looking at $100 million. Let's get some of that money out the door

to support producers during this difficult period. As well, Kanoon is demanding Ottawa to come up with a coherent strategy to get China to lift the tariff on Knolla. The U.S. President says there's a very good chance his meeting with Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will open the door to more talks. The summit in Alaska on Friday is aimed at discussing the end of the war in Ukraine. That country's president, however, was not invited. In a call today, Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed Ukraine's position. Donald Trump says if talks with Putin goes well,

it could pave the way for a second meeting. I would like to do it almost immediately between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself if they'd like to have me there. Certain great things can be gained in the first meeting. It's going to be a very important meeting. But it's setting the table for the second meeting. Trump promised severe consequences if Putin didn't agree to end the war on Friday,

though he didn't specify what that would mean. Scouts Canada is eliminating one-third of its paid staff positions as it attempts to balance its books. The organization is facing a deficit of about $5 million. The pandemic saw the scouts lose about 50% of its participants. And while the numbers have gone up since, they're still down about $12,000. That is The World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Gina Louise Phillips.