The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/09/01 at 17:00 EDT

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/09/01 at 17:00 EDT

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Find the latest season wherever you get your podcasts. The World This Hour. I'm Stephanie Skandaris. A desperate search continues in the mountainous eastern region of Afghanistan for survivors of an earthquake. It struck around midnight, flattening houses and killing at least 800 people. And officials are warning this number is likely to grow. Anna Cunningham reports. A young boy cries next to the ruins of his destroyed home. Afghanistan's public health ministry He says entire villages have been wiped out in Kunar province. Blocked roads, landslides, and the remoteness of the area is complicating rescue efforts.

Helicopters are the only way to get the injured to hospital from this mountainous terrain. A lot of the homes are made from just mud and timber. Says to Mindry de Silva, director of the Humanitarian Aid Organization World Fish in Afghanistan. They stood no chance, she says. They just sort of collapse inwards. The earthquake is the latest blowout. to the country following four decades of war. Foreign aid to Afghanistan has been cut since the Taliban's return to power and its ability to respond to this earthquake and the needs of

those affected in such remote areas will prove difficult. Anna Cunningham, CBC News, London. The International Association of Genocide Scholars says Israel's actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide. The Association is an international non-profit committed to research and prevention of genocide. Lauren Komito reports from Amsterdam. Eighty-six percent 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 Ghazins. 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. which says even if governments like the U.S. won't listen, others, like the Dutch, may take action. Lauren Cometo for CBC News, Amsterdam. A huge wildfire threatening Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, is now within a kilometer of the community.

The Hamlet has a population of about 700 people and was ordered to evacuate Sunday. Crews there are hoping favorable weather conditions today will help them. Mike Westwick is the wildfire information officer for Northwest Territories. Still a lot of work to do. But today, no homes lost reported. And our team's going to be looking at additional tactics today with some more favorable wins to be able to hold this fire back and keep that community safe. The fire is so big, it has burned an area larger than the city of Toronto, 89,000 hectares. More than 34,000 public sector workers in B.C. could walk off the job as early as tomorrow. Last week, the BC General Employees Union members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike to back their contract demands. Wages are one of their key issues.

The union says it will be moving forward with the job action, but it has not released details. That's the sound of a big tennis win for a Canadian star. Felix Oger Aliasim is through to the quarter-final. of the U.S. Open. The 25-year-old beat Russian Andre Rublev in straight sets today to advance. Next, Doger Aliasim will face Australia's Alex de Manor for a chance at getting to the final four. Over in women's doubles, a round of 16 match featuring 22-year-old

Canadian Leila Fernandez and her partner, Venus Williams, gets underway this hour. And that is your world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Stephanie Scandaris. Thank you.