The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/25 at 16:00 EST

Episode Date: December 25, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/25 at 16:00 EST

If you want to hear daily news that doesn't hurt your soul and might even be good for your soul, check out As It Happens. I'm Chris Howdy. And I'm Neil Kokesal. Every day we reach people at the center of the most extraordinary stories, like the doctor who restored a patient's eyesight with a tooth. Or a musician in an orchestra that plays instruments made out of vegetables. Take the scenic route through the day's news with As It Happens, and you can find us wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, the world the sour.

I'm Mike Miles. Mexican authorities have conducted raids in an apparent investigation into Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding. The former Olympic snowboarder represented Team Canada in 2002. Now, the U.S. accuses him of heading a drug trafficking empire and committing murder. Wedding, who tops the FBI's most wanted list, is currently believed to be hiding in Mexico. In a statement, the Mexican government says it confiscated 60 high-end motorcycles as well as drugs, artworks, and metals. While Wedding was not specifically named, the statement says police carried out raids related to a former foreign Olympian who was among the most wanted fugitives in the U.S. California is bracing for rain and wind after at least two people died due to severe thunderstorms.

Emergency crews are dealing with widespread floods, mudslides, and debris flow. California has declared a state of emergency for the Los Angeles area and several other counties. Areas devastated by the L.A. fires nearly a year ago are especially vulnerable. Officials say the burnt areas make it more likely for rain to run off due to the lack of vegetation. Authorities in Turkey have detained dozens of suspected ISIS members, claiming the terror group was plotting attacks at holiday events, including Christmas and New Year's. The CBC's John Northcott has details from London. The Turkish prosecutor's office says it ordered the detention of some 137 people associated with ISIS

who allegedly were involved in planning a series of attacks across the country over the holiday season, mainly on non-Muslims. 115 of those named were arrested in a sweep across Istanbul at more than 100 addresses. In addition to those arrested, officials say they also seized firearms, ammunition, and documents. ISIS is newly back in the headlines. Earlier this month, two American servicemen and a civilian were killed in Syria, resulting in a series of massive airstrikes described by the Trump administration as being aimed at dozens of ISIS targets. Turkey shares a 900-kilometer-long border with Syria,

and during the lengthy civil war, as many as 30,000 foreign fighters crossed into Syria to join ISIS. John Northcott, CBC News, London. In his Christmas mass, Pope Leo is urging an end to all of the world's current wars and lamenting the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. It's like not think to the tending of the tides of gaza, the seven months exposed to the pioge, to the vento and to reddo. Leo, making a point of the cold and windy conditions plaguing those in Gaza's tent cities,

left vulnerable after more than two years of war. The Pope's pleading for people of reject hate of hatred and violence and sending greetings to all Christians, especially those in the Middle East. Pache, stability for Lebanon, the Palestine, Israel, the Syria. Leo also expressed regret over the migrant situation in the U.S. That follows his Christmas Eve comments where he is said refusing to help strangers and the poor was like rejecting God. That is the world this hour.

For CBC News, I'm Mike Miles.