The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/19 at 16:00 EST

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/19 at 16:00 EST

Hey, I'm Gavin Crawford. Each week I quiz a panel of comedians. All About the News. This week, Steph Tolliv makes her debut. Her Netflix special is just named by The L.A. Times is one of the best comedy specials of the year. She's joined by Miguel Revis and Andrew Fung. The news is pelting us with coal, so we're looking for the candy canes. How are Canadians altering their holiday plans? Does the Prime Minister have a secret plan to turn us all British? And what AI slop do we have to look forward to from Person of the Year?

Follow us on Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts to find out. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Kate McGilfrey. Three men in the Toronto area have been arrested and charged with hate and terrorism-related offenses. Police and RCMP say the men targeted Jewish women in two incidents earlier this year. Philip Lyshanak reports.

Nishandarapa is the chief of Peel region of police near Toronto. He says it started with an attempted abduction. Three masked men armed with firearms and knives tried to force two young women into a vehicle. We were able to link that incident to one that happened in May where the armed suspects attempted to kidnap a woman in Toronto. Toronto police said the victims were members of the Jewish community and the attackers allegedly motivated by extremist ideology.

Noah Shack is with the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. He says these arrests coming after the attacks on Jews in Australia show a growing trend in extremist violence. There's a serious problem in this country of radicalization, of extremism, of the glorification and promotion of terrorism and violence. 18-year-old Osman Azizov and 19-year-old for Hat Sadat face weapons assault and kidnapping charges, while 26-year-old Walid Khan also faces multiple terrorism-related charges. Phil Bishanak, CBC News, Toronto.

Police in Welland, Ontario are asking people to stay inside and away from their windows. They say a suspect has been contained inside a building, after shots were fired earlier this morning. Nearby schools and a hospital have been put into lockdown. Here's Constable Richard Hingley. We have a heavy police presence, quite a big perimeter, given the nature of the attack on our officer. We don't know what weapon was used right now.

However, we are going with a larger perimeter to ensure the safety of the public. An officer was shot as police responded to reports of gunfire, but her injuries are not life-threatening. Police say the disturbance began as a dispute about a fence that was blocking traffic sight lines. Donations to Canadian charities are at a 20-year low. A study by the Fraser Institute found less than 17% of tax-paying Canadians gave to charity in the 2023 tax year. And the amount donated has also fallen.

Of all the provinces, Manitoba has the highest number of donors, and Alberta has the top spot in the average value of donations. With only a few days left to shop before the holidays, gift cards tend to be a popular last-minute choice. But as Anise Hidari explains, they can also be an easy target for scammers. This is happening nationally through every province, these types of scams. Constable Adam Kimber, with the Hamilton Police Service,

says there's an easy way for a thief to use the gift card you buy at the store without having the card. It can be as simple as putting a sticker on top of the gift card while it's on the shopping rack before anyone buys it. So when the customer purchased, say, a $20 gift card, The $20 does not go on the card that they're getting. It actually goes on the card that the person already possesses. And the problem is...

Retail analyst Bruce Winder says preventing this can cost businesses. So if you add packaging to a gift card, it does cost money. And if you do keep them behind the counter, it does require labor dollars to get them behind the counter. And it also may discourage people from buying them. Police say consumers should make sure gift cards don't have stickers on top. And if something happens, make sure you keep the receipt, call both the businesses involved and the police.

And he said already, CBC News, Calgary. And the world's leading monitor on food security says there is no longer famine in Gaza. Since the ceasefire was struck in October, access to humanitarian supplies and food have improved, though UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says the needs are still growing faster than aid can get in. It breaks my heart to see the ongoing scale of human suffering in Gaza. Families are enduring the unendurable. Children are forced to sleep. been flooded tents.

The integrated food security phase classification declared famine in the enclave four months ago for about half a million Palestinians. It says despite some improvement, the situation remains critical. And that is the world this hour. Remember, you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts. We update every hour, seven days a week. For CBC News, I'm Kate McGilfrey. Thank you.