The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/23 at 15:00 EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/23 at 15:00 EST

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from cbc news the world this hour i'm martina fitzgerald the lawyer allegedly connected to suspected drug kingpin ryan wedding has been granted bail ahead of his extradition hearing depac parodkar is accused of advising wedding to kill an fbi witness and of aiding an international drug smuggling network the cbc's michel song was in court today depac parodcar the toronto area lawyer accused of working with alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding has been released on bail as he faces extradition to the U.S. The judge says that although he recognizes that the attorney general argues Pratkar would likely flee if released, he says because of his age and health conditions, the judge believes it will be difficult for Pratkar to be on the run. The judge also says he has the utmost confidence in Pradkar's surety, his wife, Mandy Taylor Pradkar. Bail is set for more than $5 million. Pratkar

will be on house arrest with an electric monitor and will not be able to communicate with anyone outside of his family. Pradkar faces five charges in the U.S., including conspiracy to tamper with a witness. If found guilty, he would face life in prison. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. For the federal government in 2024, deportation costs added up to nearly $80 million. The Canada Border Services Agency says last year it removed more than 18,000 people from the country. Experts say that number will go up as Ottawa tightens immigration targets and limits new study and job permits. Evan Dyer reports. The last fiscal year was the busiest for removal since 2012, part of a steady uptick that followed a lull during the pandemic.

CBSA says the increase reflects the larger numbers of non-citizens allowed into the country in recent years, some of whom made asylum claims that were rejected or failed to comply with the conditions of their entry. It costs between $3,000 and $4,000 to remove a person who's willing to leave the country unescorted. But removals requiring a CBSA escort are more than three times as expensive. CBSA says it's currently deporting 400 people a week and is on track to remove over 20,000 people in the current fiscal year. Evan Dyer, CBC News, Ottawa. Canada's economy shrank by a greater than expected 0.3% in October. It is the biggest slump in almost three years.

The economy was dragged down by the decline in wood manufacturing following new U.S. tariffs in mid-October. But Stats Canada says when the November numbers are released, we should see that the economy made up most of the lost ground. The U.S. Department of Justice has released the latest batch of files involving sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This time, they contain a number of references to U.S. President Donald Trump. As J.P. Tasker reports, the DOJ insists the documents contain untrue and sensational. Nationalist claims against the president who denies all wrongdoing. What this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has. U.S. President Donald Trump says he isn't happy with what authorities have been forced to release in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

New documents posted Tuesday show Trump traveled on the sex offenders' private plane at least eight times. So a lot of people are very angry that this continues. The document dump also includes a jailhouse. letter Epstein wrote to Larry Nassar, a U.S. Olympic doctor convicted of sex crimes. Epstein wrote, Our president also shares our love of young nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by, he loved to grab snatch, whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system. He signed the handwritten card, life is unfair. There's also new material about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Under an alias, the former prince allegedly asked Epstein's co-conspirator,

Gielane Maxwell to find him inappropriate friends. J.P. Tasker, CBC News, Washington. Turkish air traffic controllers lost contact with a plane carrying Libya's military chief. The private jet disappeared 40 minutes after leaving Turkey's capital. It is believed to have crashed. And that is your world this hour. For news anytime, go to cbcnews.ca. For CBC News, I'm Martino Fitzgerald.

Thank you.