The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/12/29 at 16:00 EST

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/12/29 at 16:00 EST

When Christy Lee started her podcast, she wanted to avoid the spotlight. But that's kind of become impossible. Canadian True Crime has over 70 million downloads and is constantly at the top of the charts. This week on Crime Story, behind the scenes with Canadian True Crime and Christy Lee. Find Crime Story wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, The World This Hour, I'm Karen Howerlock. U.S. President Donald Trump has just finished talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's Mar-Lago estate in Florida. The meeting focused on the U.S. brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump praised Netanyahu before the talks. He's a wartime prime minister. He's done a phenomenal job. He's taken Israel through a very dangerous period of trauma. Trump says he expects the second phase of the peace plan to take effect soon. It includes rebuilding Gaza. Trump says he doesn't like the alleged drone attack on one of Russian president Vladimir Putin's residences. Russia blames Ukraine.

But Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says it's a lie. It comes a day after Trump and Zelensky met in Florida to discuss a revised peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The two leaders say they made progress. but Moscow now says it will be revising its negotiating position and will launch retaliatory strikes against Ukraine. China is launching major military drills in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan's military is on high alert,

responding to what Taipei calls a large-scale Chinese exercise. Beijing says it's conducting live fire drills in surrounding waters and airspace, deploying warships, aircraft, and long-range rocket launchers. Beijing claims the island as its own and has repeatedly threatened to take it by force. 2026 is coming to an intense close. Weather-wise, a nasty storm is hammering Ontario and Quebec and heading to the Atlantic provinces. It's grounding or delaying flights at several airports, keeping travelers in a holding pattern.

John Eagles has been stuck at Toronto's Pearson Airport since early the morning. Our flight was late leaving Florida yesterday. Got here at 3.30 this morning. No ticket agent. Nobody around. Had to sleep on the floor because there was no place they didn't give me a voucher to go to a hotel or whatever. And it's not much better on the roads. Heavy snow and freezing rain are creating prime conditions for crashes and tens of thousands of people at home are without power. Birders are calling it a once-in-a-generation moment, and dozens of them have been flocking to sunset beach in Vancouver

to catch a glimpse of a migratory bird that has never been recorded in Canada until now. Sharia Shedri has more. If I cannot get it today, I will come tomorrow. David Ricardo is a Vancouver-based ecologist. He's been at Sunset Beach over the last few days, scanning the shoreline for an elusive visitor. The Taiga flycatcher, a small brown bird native to parts of eastern Russia and Mongolia. I might never be where that bird come from.

The excitement began on Christmas Day when a local birder spotted the rare bird near English Bay. He shared photos online with fellow enthusiasts. Word spread fast and within days, dozens of bird watchers had flocked to the beach. Among them, Jen Moses from east of Vancouver. I just love looking at the birds. How the bird ended up in Vancouver, though, remains a mystery. Moses says it could have been blown across the ocean or hitched a ride on a boat. Maybe winds, maybe changes in the climate.

Maybe we're going to see more. This is the first time a taiga flycatcher has been recorded in Canada. Shoriya Chedri, CBC News, Vancouver. Canada's juniors are hoping to improve to 3 and 0 at the World Junior Championship in Minnesota. The Canadians face off against Denmark tonight. Team Canada routed the Danes 13-2 in a pre-tournament game last week. forward Michael Misa, who's from Oakville, Ontario and plays in the HL for the NHL's San Jose Sharks, says that pre-tournament game is a distant

memory now. I don't think anyone on our team should be overconfident right now. I think, you know, they work as hard as any other team. Yeah, I mean, maybe we won 132 in a pre-eliminary, but it's the real tournament now. And, you know, any team that plays us, they're going to give us their best. So, yeah, we've got to do the same. Game time is 8.30 Eastern. And that is the world this hour.

I'm Karen Howerlock.