The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2026/01/01 at 16:00 EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

The World This Hour for 2026/01/01 at 16:00 EST

With the Morial app, you can sharpen your French skills in no time. You'll have a blast learning with content from Radio Canada. It's easy as Arndor Trois. Learn French, have fun, repeat. Download the free Morial app now. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Mike Miles. Switzerland's president is calling it one of the worst tragedies in the country's history.

Police confirm about 40 people were killed in a bar fire. in the Swiss Alps New Year's Eve. Another 115 were injured, many, severely. John Northcott has details. Horrific stories of people trying to smash windows to escape from the basement club with a steep, narrow staircase that made escape difficult. But eyewitnesses suggest club staff

carrying sparklers or flares may have ignited the club's ceiling, and then a catastrophic rapid spread of the fire trapped many, most of them, in their early 20s. Frantic parents arrived on the scene looking for their children as victims were laid out in the street and over a hundred emergency personnel scrambled to rescue and treat the injury. This man describes what he saw. We were able to help carrying, I don't want to say corpses. I think everyone who was out and kind of reactive survived, but carrying bodies out of the fire. Officials point out that the

pain's taking process of not only identifying the dead, but officially determining the cause is underway and are asking for the public's patience. John Rothcott, CBC News, London. Manitoba Hydro says it is completed repairs to a downed power line that has affected a remote first nation for days, but it says bringing electricity back to thousands of residents will take time. Power has been out in Pemich, Mack Cray Nation since Sunday night. Those who did not evacuate have dealt with frigid temperatures of around minus 30. Ontario's new labor mobility rules kick in today, They've aimed to make it easier for professionals from other provinces to work in Ontario and attract more talent in critical sectors. Michelle Song reports.

It's common sense legislation. Starting this year, under Ontario's as of right rules, certified professionals like architects and electricians can work in Ontario within 10 business days once a provincial regulator confirms their credentials. Employment lawyer Sandeep Goklay says this legislation helps address the province's labor. shortage. It puts a lot of pressure on some of those regulated authorities who sometimes take longer than others to certify people. It holds their feet to the fire. But for some industries like engineering, this change doesn't make much of a difference, says Sandra Perusa, CEO of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers. It's a form you fill out. Usually was done within 30 days. Now it's within two weeks. Ontario says the changes aim to support Canadian workers and bolstered the

economy amid a U.S. trade war. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto. Standing outside New York City Hall. Today begins a new era. Zoran Mamdani makes history as the new mayor. He was ceremonially inaugurated by Senator Bernie Sanders, becoming the city's first Muslim and South Asian mayor. Momdani took his official oath earlier just after midnight at a historic decommissioned subway station in Manhattan. He's also the youngest mayor to take the job in more. than a century. That is the world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Mike Miles.