The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/21 at 06:00 EST

Episode Date: December 21, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/21 at 06:00 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. borough.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Claude Faye. To South Africa, where police say at least nine people are dead, after a mass shooting in Becker's Dahl, 40 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg. Ten others were wounded.

It happened overnight in a tavern. Authorities say a pair of vehicles pulled up and ten gunmen got out. One was brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle. The victims were shot. randomly inside and outside the bar. This is the country's second mass shooting this month. Twelve people were killed at a hostel near Pretoria two weeks ago. Well, this is a day of morning in Australia. Vigils were held today in Sydney's Bondi Beach, scene of last weekend's mass shooting that happened on the first night of Hanukkah. 15 people were killed with dozens

more wounded. It's being investigated as an anti-Semitic terrorism. Security is also being probed with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ordering a review of intelligence and law enforcement agencies. He was booed at a ceremony where the eighth candle for Hanukkah was lit, followed by a moment of silence. In Germany, Saturday marked one year since the deadly car ramming attack at a Christmas market. Those bells tolling at a candlelight vigil held at a church near the market, six people were killed, more than 300 others injured when a rented SUV drove through a crowd. A Saudi National is on trial for the attack.

During the memorial, Chancellor Frederick Mertz called for a peaceful coexistence. A musician nominated for seven Grammys this year is a Canadian who isn't a household name. Songwriter and producer Henry Walter goes by the moniker Circuit. For the past decade and a half, he's had a hand in some of music's biggest hits. Richard Woodbury reports. You may not know the name's circuit, but if you know music by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, The Weekend, or Maroon Five, chances are you've heard a song Henry Walter had a hand in. Born in Ottawa, he spent his childhood in Montreal.

Walter says the high school years he spent in Halifax played a key part in his musical development. No real formal training back in that time. I guess a lot of it was just trial and error, you know. Walter's Big Break was his music being used for a 2008, Britney Spears' song. His seven Grammy nominations this year include Album of the Year for Lady Gaga's Mayhem and Song of the Year for Lady Gaga's Abra-Kadabra. She's become just a friend and a close collaborator.

I do often take time to reflect and be like, wow, I can't believe I'm here. The Grammys will be held February 1st. Richard Woodbury, CBC News, Halifax. Many indigenous communities across the country are working to revitalize their languages. And for Lennox Island, a MiGMAW community on Prince Edward Island, a high point in these efforts was their local schools' bilingual Christmas concert. Delaney Kelly was there.

Students loudly and proudly sing classic Christmas carols in Megma. The community school's Christmas concert is almost entirely in their language. And the theme of the concert was Winter Wonderland as a way to honor the land. Edwin Campbell is a grade 6 student. And for him, speaking migma is meaningful. So when I'm saying the words, I think about the people that don't know it. And hoping to them that they were learning. Nancy Peters Doyle is the school's migma teacher.

She says the performance is a way to make sure the land. Language and culture lives on. Sometimes the lines can be difficult. The words can be hard to pronounce. The kids kind of have a moment trying to learn it, but it's like you are so lucky that you get to stand here and sing this. Peters Doyle says students are not just singing for the people in the gym, but their ancestors too.

Delaney Kelly, CBC News, Lennox Island. And that is your world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Claude Fagg.