The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2026/01/04 at 00:00 EST

Episode Date: January 4, 2026

The World This Hour for 2026/01/04 at 00:00 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. borough.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour, I'm Mike Miles. The U.S. military invaded Venezuela late Friday and says it is now in control. President Donald Trump had long called the Venezuelan president a narco trafficker. But as Karen Paul's reports, Venezuela's vast oil reserves appear to be the real target. But they were completely overwhelmed and incapacitated. U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by officials.

describing the mission in a Florida news conference Saturday morning. Maduro and his wife were arrested and have landed in New York, where they face charges of narco-terrorism and cocaine importation and conspiracy to use weapons against the U.S. Officially, the justification is the war on drugs, but Venezuela has some of the largest reserves of oil in the world. The oil companies are going to go in, they're going to spend money. We're going to take back the oil that, frankly, we should have taken back a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Trump says the U.S. will run the country until a transition can occur. The people that are standing right behind me were going to be running it. Trump was light on specifics, but says Venezuela's opposition leader, Maria Carino Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, doesn't have the respect to rule. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Washington. Though Maduro's removal is bringing some relief for the Venezuelan Biaspora, critics say the way it happened should make other countries extremely worried. Ben Roswell was Canada's ambassador to Venezuela between 2014 and 2017.

He says smaller countries like Canada are especially vulnerable when limits on military force are ignored. The fact that the United States not only will enter the sovereign territory of another country and decapitate its government without any international legal cover but also openly flaunting international law sends a signal to all of us. that every president and every prime minister is potentially a target of U.S. military action. Rouswell says the only path towards a democratic transition would be if the U.S. approves the return of Edmundo Gonzalez, recognized by many countries as the real winner of the 2024 Venezuelan election. Global Affairs Canada says it's monitoring the situation in Venezuela and so far hasn't received any reports of any Canadians injured in the U.S. military action.

775 Canadians are registered with Global Affairs, which calls that figure an estimate since registration is voluntary. Swiss prosecutors say two bar managers are under criminal investigation after the New Year's Eve Inferno at their venue that killed 40 people. Michelle Allen has details. Authorities are now looking at two bar managers after a devastating fire killed 40 people at a bar in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Beatrice Pillow is the Valet Regents Chief Prosecutor. She announced this morning they're investigating the pair for negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and causing fire by negligence. She says, no lead is being abandoned. All leads are being explored. By opening this investigation, it will allow us to move forward in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure. An initial investigation said the fire was likely caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles.

Prosecutors will focus on renovations made to the bar, the fire extinguishing systems, and escape routes. They will also look at the number of people in the building when the fire started. Co-manager Jacques Moretti has been taken in for questioning after the deadly fire. He's insisted to the Swiss press that all safety norms were followed. Michelle Allen, CBC News, Toronto. The chief of the Pimicchicamak Cree Nation says, even with the power back on, hundreds of his people still can't go back home. The First Nation in northern Manitoba was without electricity for four days during an extreme cold snap.

Many homes are unlivable and essential services aren't functioning. David Monias. I declare the state of emergency, and that state of emergency does not enough. They need the Premier to declare a state of emergency before they can send any Canadian armed forces. And we're still working to keep people safe, and we're not sending people home yet. And we're running out of food. We're running out of water.

At least 200 houses have been declared uninhabitable. That is the world this hour. For CBC News, I'm Mike Miles. You know,