The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/16 at 15:00 EST

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/16 at 15:00 EST

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Tees and Cs apply. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Canada's largest figure skating organization says it will no longer host national and international level events in Alberta. This comes after the province passed legislation that limits the participation of transgender athletes in sports. Josh McLean has a details. Skate Canada says it made the decision after assessing Alberta's fairness and safety in sports. Act. That act came into effect at the beginning of September and limits participation in female-only sports to athletes whose sex was recorded as female at birth. Under the act, those aged 12 and

older wanting to join girls' teams must declare in writing their assigned sex at birth was female. That declaration is open to challenges by other athletes. The government of Alberta says the act is intended to protect the integrity of female athletic competitions and that it supports the expansion of mixed-sex leagues. Skate Canada says it is unable to host events in the province and maintain its standards for safe and inclusive sport. But Alberta's skaters will still be able to participate in Skate Canada programming and competitions.

The organization says it will watch the legislation in Alberta and reassess hosting events in the province if the situation changes. Josh McLean, CBC News, Calgary. The most complex fire in Toronto's history is finally out more than two weeks after it started. The fire has been burning in a small gap between two residential buildings since November 27th. The smoldering fire forced the evacuation of more than 400 units.

Engineers will now have to inspect the buildings for structural integrity. It's not yet known when residents will be allowed to return. Israel has denied entry to the occupied West Bank to a Canadian delegation that included members of parliament. The trip was sponsored by a non-profit charity, called the Canadian Muslim vote. Rafi Bujiccanian has more. Prior to embarking on this mission, we of course informed the Canadian government, who in turn told the Israeli government. NDPMP, Jenny Kwan, one of the six members of Parliament who were supposed to be in Jerusalem Tuesday afternoon, told it won't be happening.

The entire delegation has been denied access. That delegation, 30 Canadians in total, was to spend time in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday meeting with displaced palest. Palestinians and on Thursday with officials of the Palestinian Authority. The group's unelected members were all handed a forum that lists public security or public safety as the reason for denial. I, for one, rejected that notion that civil societies who's doing humanitarian work on the ground is a security threat. The remaining five MPs are all from the governing liberal caucus. Israel says in a statement, foreign nationals arrived at the border crossing without prior coordination and were denied for security reasons. The surviving gunman in the Bondi Beach attack in Australia has woken from his coma.

His condition is unclear, but police say he will face charges if he survives. On Sunday, 15 people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting targeting a Hanukkah event. Authorities say the suspects were inspired by the terror group Islamic State. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is calling for national unity in light of the attack. What terrorists seek to do is to create division, is to create conflict, is to undermine social cohesion. We're a better country than that, and we can't allow their objective to be successful. A government coalition has started a task force aimed at analyzing the federal response to anti-Semitism and national security weaknesses. The European Union is watering down its plan to ban the sale of government.

gas-powered cars by 2035. Automakers, especially those in Germany, have lobbied against the ban. They argue market demand for electric vehicles is too low. The European Commission says the new goal is to reduce emissions from cars by 90%. That leaves room for gas-powered cars, as well as the use of various technologies that emit less carbon. And that is the world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Stephanie Scandaris. Thank you.