The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/08/16 at 09:00 EDT

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/08/16 at 09:00 EDT

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I'm Claude Faye. A last-minute nudge by the federal jobs minister wasn't enough to get Air Canada and the flight attendants union to hammer out a deal. At just before 1 a.m. Eastern time this morning, 10,000 workers walked off to job, followed by a lockout by the company. Philip Lee Shanik reports.

Jobs minister Patty Heidu met the two sides hours before the deadline and called their lack of progress unacceptable. She urged Cupy flight attendants and Air Canada to return to the bargaining table. While Air Canada requested binding arbitration, Cupy rejected federal intervention and said it wanted a negotiated settlement. Wages and unpaid work, the union says attendance performed prior to takeoff and landing are major issues. The union has called a media conference Saturday morning at a hotel near Pearson Airport in Toronto. Meanwhile, Air Canada says the union's demands are financially unsustainable

and is winding down operations across the globe. As a Friday night, 623 flights have been cancelled, impacting more than 100,000 people. The last time Air Canada flight attendants threatened to strike was in 2011 when the federal government tabled back-to-work legislation. Philip Lyshanock, CBC News, Toronto. U.S. President Donald Trump is back in Washington this morning, after a brief summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Posting on his social media platform, Trump says he doesn't want to ceasefire in Ukraine.

He wants a full peace accord. He'll meet Monday in Washington with Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky. And as Lindsay Duncombe reports, as some say Putin came out ahead at the summit. It's tough to know what U.S. President Donald Trump got out of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both leaders said progress was made towards peace in Ukraine but didn't share any details. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there. Speaking through an interpreter, Putin seemed pleased.

I expect that today's agreements will be the starting point, not only for the solution of the Ukrainian issue, but also will help us bring back business-like and pragmatic relations between Russia and the U.S. I'm just surprised and shocked. Olga Koshalenko is a journalist covering the meeting for Ukraine. Ukrainian TV. She thinks Putin came out a winner and worries that's bad for Ukraine. It's just another one disappointment. Like, you know, one more disappointment. Lindsay Duncombe, CBC News, Anchorage.

To BC now, where the Mount Underwood wildfires continue to burn out of control near the small city of Port Albany on Vancouver Island. Persistent rain is helping with the firefight. But as Julia Wong reports, the city has also been choked with wildfire smoke. You can't really go outside and just enjoy yourself because the smoke is so thick. It isn't nice for Connie Baumgartner to be outside in Port Albany. With thick wildfire smoke in the city, the tourists from Idaho is feeling the effects. After a while, if you're in it, it starts to make me a little nauseous. The Mount Underwood Wildfire is mere kilometers from the city.

The smoke has been so bad, some businesses are shuddering until the skies clear up. In recent days, rain and cooler temperatures have tempered wildfire behavior and growth. Carly DeRosier is with BC Wildfire Service. Ultimately, the amount of rain that we get over this four or five-day period will determine the long-term trajectory of this fire. Crews are making good headway because of the rain, but DeRosier says there's still a lot of work to be done. There's a lot of fire perimeter that needs to get worked by our crews and by heavy equipment.

And while there's this brief reprieve in the weather, she says firefighters are using it to their advantage. Julia Wong, CBC News, Port Albany, British Columbia. Hurricane Aaron has intensified into a category four storm. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Aaron is about 240 kilometers northeast of Anguilla with maximum sustained speed of 215 kilometers an hour. It's not expected to hit land,

but strong winds could bring flooding and landslides to regions in the Caribbean. And that is your world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude. Thank you.