The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/09/01 at 10:00 EDT

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/09/01 at 10:00 EDT

We're in the midst of the dog days of summer. And it's called that because during this period, Sirius, the dog star, rises with the sun in the morning. Not because it feels like several dogs are breathing their humid breath on you all the time. Can you tell he's a cat person? Hello, I'm Neil Kerkstel. And I'm Chris Houghton. We're the co-hosts of As It Happens.

But throughout the summer, some of our wonderful colleagues will be hosting in our place. We will still be bringing you conversations with people at the center of the day's major news stories here in Canada and throughout the world. You can listen to As It Happens wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, The World This Hour. I'm Claw Fagg. A deadly earthquake has rocked eastern Afghanistan. A spokesperson for the Taliban government says at least 800 people are feared dead.

Thousands more were injured in a magnitude 6.0 earthquake. The shallow quake was felt as far away as. is Delhi and Islamabad. It struck in a remote area making rescue efforts complicated. Survivors are pleading for help. The entire village was destroyed, says this man. He says the dead are still buried beneath the debris. Taliban officials are warning the number of victims could go much higher. To the northwest territories, hundreds of people in the hamlet of Fort Providence are being told to get out while it's still safe to do so.

A fire nearby exploded in size this weekend and has grown to over 89,000 hectares. It's now burning near the community. Fort Providence is southwest of Yellowknife. Veronica Gargan lives there, but this morning she's at an evacuation center in Hay River. I came by a bus. It was quite smoky. I mean, that smoke was getting thick, so it's kind of scary, too. So right now we're in a safe place.

Firefighters are in Fort Providence trying to save home. and critical infrastructure. Well, back to school will be anything but normal for some communities affected by wildfires. One community in Newfoundland has no school to go to. In other parts of the country, kids and their parents have been through stressful times related to the fires.

Deanna Suminac Johnson has more. He's really upset because that was the school. He had his friends there. Scott Chandler and Robin Dwyer lost their home in the fires around Western Bay. on top of that, their eight-year-old son's school, Cabot Academy, also burned to the ground. He had great relationships with the teachers. He has a lot of school pride. Even if school buildings are still standing, families in areas affected by this summer's

wildfires may be hard to reach just days before school starts. Alan Campbell is the president of the Canadian School Board's Association. We're hearing from members across the country that the schools are still having a difficult time contacting families who had evacuated at some point over the summer. Campbell says wildfire smoke is also a problem for schools. Forecasting air quality based on the movement of wildfire smoke. That will just as much now become part of planning considerations as is blizzard forecasting. Deanna Suminac Johnson, CBC News, Toronto.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars says Israel's actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide. Hamas welcomed the group's. the resolution, Israel has yet to comment. Lauren Comito reports from Amsterdam. 86% of the International Association of Genocide Scholars agreed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. They called on Israel to immediately stop all internationally criminal acts, including intentionally targeting civilians, starvation, the denial of humanitarian aid, water and fuel, and the forced displacement of Gazins. Such acts, says the association, meet the legal criteria of the 1948 genocide convention.

I mean, if this is not a genocide, then I don't know what genocide is. Netherlands-based genocide scholar Eva Vukasic is a former member of the association. She says with so many basic rights now out of reach, from education and food to arable lands and housing, Gossens are being intentionally wiped out. So even beyond the killings, at the end of the day, it's making life unlivable. Vukesich says even if governments like the U.S. won't live, Listen, others, like the Dutch, may take action. Lauren Kamato for CBC News, Amsterdam.

Canadian Felix Oje Aliasim looks to continue his run at the U.S. Open in New York today. The Montreal native will serve it up to Russia's Andre Rublev in the round of 16. Aliassim, the lone Canadian singles player left in the Grand Slam tournament, is set to play his match at about 11.30 a.m. Eastern time this morning. And that is your world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fagg.