The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/20 at 02:00 EST

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/20 at 02:00 EST

This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over-delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing.

Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. From CBC News, The World This Hour. I'm Mike Miles. A big batch of Jeffrey Epstein files are now public. The U.S. Justice Department was under deadline to unseal all the documents Friday. Some, though, were held back. Sasha Petrissik has details of what's being learned. The release follows months of political pressure and even rebellion by some of U.S. President Donald Trump's own supporters, pushing his administration to release a massive collection of the so-called Epstein files, records of the U.S. Justice Department's investigations into the convicted sex offender. We have been working tirelessly. But U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says there hasn't been enough time to redact sections identifying the many sex abuse victims.

Their name, their identity, their story, to the extent it needs to be protected, is completely protected. The release could continue for weeks, and it may not include everything. Canadian victim Charlene Rochard is nervous about what's revealed and the renewed attention, but says it's important for the truth to be shown. These aren't just headlines. We are real people with real stories, real trauma, real hurt. Sasha Petrusik, CBC News, Toronto. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on targets in Syria Friday.

We hit the ISIS thugs in Syria who were trying to regroup after their decimation by the Trump administration five years ago. We hit them on. Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth calling it a declaration of vengeance. Two members of the Iowa National Guard and an American translator were killed in an ISIS attack in Syria last weekend. Hegseth saying the U.S. targeted ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in response. A standoff in Welland, Ontario is entering its 18th hour. It started with a bylaw dispute about a fence-blocking traffic sight lines. Shots were fired, some hitting a police officer. She was treated and released from hospital, a hospital, and a school were put under lockdown. Nearby residents

are being told to stay inside and away from their windows. Three Toronto men are facing nearly 80 charges with police, alleging they made two separate attempts to kidnap women. They say, the suspects were targeting members of the Jewish community and were fueled by hate-motivated extremism. The RCMP investigation also yielding more charges for one of the men. Here's Assistant Commissioner Matt Peggs. These charges include terrorist financing, participation in the activities of a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, and conspiracy to commit murder. This case demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that those who threaten the safety of communities in Canada will be held accountable. The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs says

it is urging authorities to take the decisive measures to prevent the spread of extrusement. extremism. Devastating floods and deadly windstorms in BC this month are marking more frequent extreme weather. That's also having a lasting impact on trees. Tenure Fletcher explains. It's harder to see in the winter, but you can see dive back in the tree crown. Lori and Nesbitt is an associate professor of urban forestry and environmental justice at UBC. She walks us through Vancouver's Jericho Beach Park, where she points out the climate impact on trees, still wet from the latest storm. Urban trees already grow in a really deep. difficult environment, you know, a lot of gray infrastructure, pavement makes things dry,

makes it hard for them to survive, and then climate change makes that even more difficult for them. You know, we see droughts in the summer, and then we see more extreme rainfall and winds in the winter. Urban tree canopies around here are also declining. About a quarter of Vancouver is covered by tree canopy, according to the city, but it's been decreasing over the last decade, partly caused by the urgent push for new housing. That means more leafy, tree-lined neighborhoods are being threatened by densification. We need to be making sure that we have the right trees in the right place. We need to be making sure they have good soils.

Tanya Fletcher, CBC News, Vancouver. Several artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald have sold for far more than expected at a Detroit auction. The sale highlighting renewed public interest following the shipwreck's 50th anniversary. The longtime owner says financial need drove the decision to sell. That is the world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Mike Miles. Thank you.