The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2026/01/01 at 18:00 EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

The World This Hour for 2026/01/01 at 18:00 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. From CBC News, the world is our. I'm Wayne Thibodeau. 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 barfire 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 100 emergency personnel scrambled to rescue and treat the injured. 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 patients. John Northcott, CBC News, London.

Officials in Calgary say they're making progress to fix a catastrophic water main break yesterday. the second major rupture in two years. In the meantime, a boil water advisory remains into effect for part of the city, Emergency Management Chief Susan Henry has this plea for residents. Reducing water use right now is critical. Every leader saved helps stabilize the system and speeds up our recovery. Henry is urging people to limit showers to three minutes and flush toilets only when necessary.

The U.S. military says it has conducted more lethal strike, on boats from Venezuela. It says the attacks again targeted what it calls narco terrorists. Willie Lowry reports. Zoran Mamdani doubled down on his campaign promises, telling New Yorkers in his inaugural address that he would aggressively pursue his democratic socialist agenda. The Trump administration ended the year with yet another strike on what it says are alleged drugboats. killing five people. Footage released by the Defense Department shows a boat bobbing in open waters before a fireball engulfs it. The day before that, the Pentagon says it killed three alleged

drug smugglers, part of the Trump administration's stated aim to ramp up pressure on South American drug cartels and the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro. Since September, the U.S. has launched more than 30 strikes on alleged drug boats. Earlier this month, Washington also struck Venezuelan soil, hitting a dock, it says, was being used by cartels. In a New Year's Eve address, Maduro attempted to put a brave face on. Saying the country was in an optimal position to address the current challenges. Willie Lowry, CBC News, Washington. And that is your world this hour.

For CBC News, I'm Wayne Tobito. Thank you.