Your World Tonight - More Epstein files, avalanche risk , the push for raw milk, and more

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

The U.S. Department of Justice releases another 30,000 documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein. Many are heavily redacted. And instead of clarity, the latest file drop is causing more confusion.  And: It's avalanche season and if you’re heading to Alberta’s backcountry – be prepared. Also: It's been illegal to sell it in Canada since the early 90s. Without pasteurization, raw milk can spread harmful bacteria to humans. But there is still a small demand, and some farmers are asking if they can sell it directly from their farms. Plus: Women serving in the Canadian Armed Forces will soon get properly-fitting combat uniforms, Vancouver recommends not giving e-scooters to people under 16, wearable tech, and more.

Welcome to Lilith Fair! In the late 90s, a groundbreaking all-female music festival emerged, led by Canadian artist Sarah McLaughlin. Promoter said, you can't put two women on the same bill. People won't come. And it put a huge fire under my butt to prove them wrong. Representation for women in rock music wasn't there. And worse, you're being pitted against each other.

Lilith became a free train. Catch the documentary that chronicles a pivotal moment in music culture. Watch Lilith Fair, building a mystery. For free on CBC Gem. This is a CBC podcast. It's a little confusing and concerning in the context of what we're really seeing happening and what the DOJ has delivered to us, which is quite frankly a complete mess. More released Epstein files, including court records, emails, providing some details on who

traveled on his private jet to his private island and when. there are lots of redactions and many more questions. Welcome to your world tonight. I'm Angie Seth. It is Tuesday, December 23rd, coming up upon 6 p.m. Eastern, also on the podcast. You stand the risk of triggering an avalanche, and that's when a good day goes to a really bad day quickly. In the Rocky Mountains, a winter of cold temperatures and lots of snow mean the conditions are excellent for outdoor fun and outdoor danger.

The U.S. Department of Justice has released more than 30,000 new documents relating to convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Many of them heavily redacted, and instead of clarity, more confusion. The FBI said this afternoon a card allegedly written by Epstein to another convicted sex offender, former U.S. women's gymnastics doctor Larry Nasser, is fake. Karen Pauls has more. We are not a hope, we are not lying. As Canadian Charlene Rochard digs through the news, new dump of Jeffrey Epstein files, she says all of this further vindicates her and other survivors,

but doesn't give her much hope for justice. We're protecting predators and not children. We were children at this time. One of the files released shows U.S. President Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet at least eight times between 1993 and 96. Speaking from Florida, where he's spending the holidays, Trump again downplayed his alleged connections with Epstein. Everybody was with this guy, either friendly or not friendly, but he was around. He was all over Palm Beach and other places. It is my hope that the Department of Justice is actually going to do their job and follow the evidence wherever it leads. Melba Pearson is an attorney specializing in civil rights and criminal law in Florida. If it leads to the doorstep of the president, so be it. If it

leads to the doorstep of a prior president, so be it. Crimes have been committed and people need to be held accountable. Thousands more files relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This release is also getting attention in Britain, specifically an email from someone with the name, The Invisible Man, and capital A, someone widely believed to be the former British Prince Andrew Mountbatten, Windsor. In it, he asks Epstein co-conspirator Galane Maxwell for some inappropriate friends. He's looking for a bit of action with the girls. And it gives some sense of the relationship he's got with Galane and how he behaved. Andrew Loney is the author of Entitled, the Rise and Fall of the House of York.

Each new disclosure of this drip-trip feed of material lowers not just him in the estimation of the British people, but also the royal family. A document prepared by the DOJ and sent to UK authorities in 2020 also found a connection between Andrew and Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygaard, who was convicted of sexual assault in 2023. It says Andrew traveled at least once to Nygaard's home in the Bahamas, where Nygaard is believed to have trafficked minor and adult female victims. They seem to have actually quite a lot of information about him and his activities,

his knowledge of people like not just Epstein, but Peter Nygaard. Back in the U.S., Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to know why the identities of 10 alleged Epstein co-conspirators have not yet been released. In a social media post, he included screenshots of redacted emails the DOJ sent in 2019, mentioning people who may have helped Epstein in his crimes. Karen Paul's, CBC News, Washington. British police say comedian Russell Brand is facing new charges of rape and sexual assault. Brand has already pleaded not guilty to five other charges,

including rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault in connection to four women. The new charges are related to. two other women. The allegations date back to 2009. Thousands of people were left without power in the cold after Russia launched an overnight attack across Ukraine. At least three people were killed in the strikes, including a child. The attacks happened as diplomatic efforts to end the war continue. But as Carolyn Bargut reports, there's still no peace deal in sight. Firefighters put out flames after hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles blasted Ukraine

overnight Monday into Tuesday morning. According to Ukrainian officials, at least three people were killed in the Russian attacks, including a four-year-old and more injured. Dron struck apartment buildings in the capital Kiev. This father of three was heading to work when he saw a drone hit his apartment building. Cell phone footage he captured afterwards, shows windows blown out, personal items scattered everywhere, the place no longer livable. I ran back to the flat and I saw what happened. The flat was destroyed inside. All the furniture was damaged, he said. We have three children. I don't know what to do next. Another resident says she and her daughter were told to leave. They placed their cats in carriers, got dressed and rushed out. We didn't even have time to process it, she said. The blow was so hard

that everything fell apart. These latest wise-scale strikes by Moscow hit 13 regions in Ukraine, including residential areas, military targets, and energy infrastructure, leaving many without power. In the port city of Odessa, there is darkness. And the sound of generators. It's winter, and thousands are without electricity in below freezing temperatures. Teacher Olena Dolochova is filling empty tins to make candles to hand out to residents. Just when the power is restored, all of our schedules are disrupted again. And we are left without electricity, without stability, sitting in the dark for two or three days, she said.

It is very difficult. In an address Monday, Ukrainian president, Volodemir Zelensky, warned it was in Russia's nature to carry out attacks over the Christmas period. This latest aggression comes a day after a high-ranking Russian general was killed in a car bomb in Moscow. Russian officials have blamed Ukraine, but no one has yet to take responsibility. You know, I've solved eight wars. The U.S. has been trying to broker a peace deal between the two countries. Delegates met in Miami over the weekend to hammer out the details.

Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the talks were going okay. There's tremendous hatred between these two leaders, between President Putin, President Zelensky, tremendous hatred, and I hope we can get it done. And President Zelensky called the plan quite solid. But then on Tuesday, after the deadly strikes, he posted on social media, saying this Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia's priorities. Putin still cannot accept that he must stop killing. And that means that the world is not putting enough pressure on Russia. Amid the devastation and fear, Ukrainians. are trying to prepare for the holidays

as the country spends its fourth Christmas at war. Caroline Bargut, CBC News, London. The United Nations Security Council is holding emergency sessions on Venezuela. Officials in Venezuela called for a meeting over what they say is ongoing U.S. aggression. U.S. forces have seized two oil tankers from the Caribbean nation, including one over the weekend, and have carried out strikes on smaller boats in the region. U.S. ambassador Mike Walsh says his country's actions are lawful and necessary to curb the flow of drugs into its territory because he says Venezuela's president,

Nicholas Maduro, is using oil revenue to finance drug cartels. Not only does Maduro's illegitimate regime openly cooperate and fund terrorist and criminal organizations, but it invites terrorist groups like Hezbollah, like the Iranian regime, militias like the ELN and FARC dissidents, to operate openly within their territory. unimpeded and unencumbered. Maduro's ability to sell Venezuela's oil enables his fraudulent claim to power and his narco-terrorist activities.

Coming right up, lots of snow in the Rocky Mountains means there are great conditions for outdoor fun, but there's also danger with an increased risk of deadly avalanches. Also, a youngster in your life may be asking Santa for an East scooter this year, but many health experts say that vehicle should be on the naughty list. And later, we'll have this story. For decades, women have served in combat roles in the Canadian Armed Forces, and for decades have been doing it, and uniforms primarily designed for men.

We should be ashamed of ourselves. Now a special team is changing that, and designing combat uniforms and body armor systems for women. This isn't a woke issue. a war fighting issue. I'm Ashley Burke in Ottawa. Later on your world tonight, I'll have a story about an initiative many say is long overdue. In Canada, southern Rocky Mountains safety is top of mind this holiday season. Outdoor activities are ramping up. A recent dump of snow has avalanche experts urging anyone heading out into the

mountains to be alert and plan ahead. She had Desjardan reports from Tanmore, Alberta. Tim Ritchie brings hundreds of people to explore the backcountry in the Rocky Mountains every winter. Most, he says, quickly realize there is a lot to learn. You stand the risk of triggering an avalanche, and that's when a good day goes to a really bad day quickly. Before heading out, Ritchie grabs a small shovel, a skinny probe and a beacon that shoots out a signal even through deep walls of snow. It's not much, but in avalanche season, it's pretty well your best bet. Being prepared is how you mitigate your risk when you head out into the backcountry on any given day.

Any way there's snow, if there's deep enough snow to actually ski your snowboard, then there's enough snow to avalanche. Jeremy McKenzie is a mountain rescue specialist with Alberta Parks in the area and knows the Rockies well. We've just had over 100 centimeters of snow in the back country in the last five days. And so when you rapidly load a snowpack like that, you get more dense layers on top to often a little bit of a less dense layer below. And so that just means that there is a slab that's sitting on a weaker layer that can be triggered and cause an avalanche. It's not the worst conditions he's seen, but the risk along the mountain range just outside Canmore is still considerable. That's actually where we see the most accidents over time. And that's because we start to see a tapering of the natural avalanche activity and less happening right in front of your eyes.

but they're still very primed for human triggering. Wendy Lewis with Avalanche Canada says it's forecasting similar conditions in parts of BC ahead of a busy holiday season. So we want to make sure that, you know, when I'm going out to the back country with my friends and touring partners, that they've got my back and I've got theirs. Alberta Snowmobile Association executive director Chris Brooks has witnessed an avalanche firsthand. It's huge and it's all encompassing. Everything in its path is consumed by the avalanche.

So it's very powerful. It's really hard to get your head around. The association already has its own trail map for riders. This year, it added Avalanche Canada's data too. So it's very important that snowmobilers and anybody traveling to high terrain really understand and know the difficulties and the dangers involved in venturing into avalanche terrain. With the winter season just beginning, Alberta Park says the best practice for exploring the back country is proactively checking conditions and being prepared before you head out.

She and Desjardin, CBC News, Canmore, Alberta. While more and more e-s scooters are buzzing around the streets and sidewalks of Canada, they've become popular with kids with the item high on wish lists this season. But health experts say not so fast. Tanya Fletcher has more. While people don't really need a larger scooter, something like this serves the needs of most people. Onyxcala works at EVs in downtown.

Vancouver and says many parents have been coming in this holiday season looking at e-scooters as possible gifts for their kids. But with every sale comes a word of caution. While we do sell devices capable of very high top speeds, we are very, very clear. We tell people just because it goes fast, doesn't mean you need to or should. It's especially not something I would sell to a kid. Some e-scooters can go from zero to 75 kilometers an hour in seconds. Unfortunately, people like to kind of just cruise around high speed. And if they're in a rush, they like to shoot past you at an intersection. Most of the time, it's fine.

There's a few people who get too close for comfort. In many Canadian cities, e-scooter stations are seemingly popping up everywhere as more people use them to commute and simply for fun. Dr. Brandon Yao is medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health. More and more people are using these types of devices to get around because they're convenient and cheap and available. He cites data from the Canadian Institute. of health information that shows a rise in injuries. Over a one-year period, overall

e-scooter hospitalizations increased 32%. The most concerning age group, five to 17-year-olds, with a staggering 61% spike. The more serious ones that we hear about include head injuries like concussions and fractures in your arms and your legs. With more people using e- scooters and more people getting hurt, governments are being forced to confront whether they can be more safely incorporated into transportation networks. In 2024, BC started a four-year pilot project to examine the use of scooters on public roads in 34 communities, province-wide.

Across the country, though, the rules for riding differ. It's a patchwork of laws depending which city you're in. In Toronto, for example, e-scooters are not allowed on public property. Calgary has an outright ban on private e-scooters. In Quebec, you must be at least 14 years old to ride, while Vancouver's age limit is 16 and no faster than 25 kilometers an hour. But no matter where you are, the safety advice stands. Make sure you wear your helmet.

We recommend people travel at speeds below 25 kilometers per hour. Bottom line, he says, e- scooters are a vehicle, not a toy. Tanya Fletcher, CBC News, Vancouver. Modern workouts are high-intensity and high-tech. Wearable devices measure your health constantly, everything from heart rate, calories, and steps, to how many hours you sleep. And that data is big business. Sales of fitness wearables are skyrocketing.

And one of the biggest players in the industry has its roots in small town, Alberta. Paula DeHatchik has that story. You see people flick their wrists all the time, looking at their watches. What's my time? What's my lap time? For runners like Anna DeFries, a fitness watch is pretty much de rigour these days. Market research firm Sir Cona says spending on these devices is up nearly 90, percent compared to last year. And at this Calgary Run Club, there's one brand that's especially

popular. I got here a Garmin Vuactive 3 music watch. I got a Garmin V Nu too. I'm just wearing a very simple garment watch for tracking my runs. Garmin started out making GPS devices for boats and airplanes, but these days the real money is in tracking people. The company's revenue from fitness devices up nearly 30% compared to last year. And the tech that makes those devices, his work developed just down the road in Cochrane, Alberta. Yeah, we started the business with that little foot pod that went on your running shoe. Jim Rooney, who's now managing director of Garman, Canada, started making basic fitness trackers out of his garage in the late 90s. It was the first time you could go out for a run and figure out how fast and how far you went.

Rooney's company was later acquired by Garmin. Now he runs its Canadian office. It's where they figure out how to take biometric data from a person's wrist and plug it into their watch. They're very specific application. David McGregor is an analyst who covers Garmin. He says the company is especially popular with fitness nerds. So for people who are really serious runners and want greater functionality than they can get from an Apple Watch, they're going to go to a Garmin. But not everyone's convinced.

We don't sell Garmin anymore. Nigel Lachlan is with Gord's running store in Calgary. We can sell people the same thing for $400 less. Amid a sluggish economy, analyst McGregor says, says more customers might opt for cheaper alternatives or hold off on buying altogether. They're enjoying very high level of commercial momentum right now at a time when, you know, people are concerned about affordability, but it's just not clear, you know, how far into that experience Garmin could remain resilient. As for Rooney with Garmin Canada, he says the plan is to keep churning

out new technology to keep customers interested. To figure out how we give people more insight into their daily lives and what their health looks like. includes an expansion into the animal kingdom. Real-time health data for your horse. Just Got Real. The brand now offers an $840 fitness tracker for horses. If it sells, there's no telling just how much bigger this trend could get. Paula Duhatchek, CBC News, Cochran, Alberta.

Elections, Alberta has issued three more recall petitions for sitting MPs, two United Conservatives and an opposition new Democrat. There are now 26 active petitions gathering signatures. 24 of them are for UCP politicians, more than half of Premier Daniel Smith's caucus. There's a fresh push to allow sales of raw milk. It's been illegal to sell it in Canada for decades. Lots of people still want it.

Without pasteurization, raw milk can spread harmful bacteria to humans, but some farmers say there are other ways to make it safe and are looking for permission to sell raw milk directly from their farms. Sam Sampson reports. So this is Lou. This is our milk cow. Candice Wiley sold raw milk for years to hundreds of customers in northern Alberta, which is illegal. But since she was fined $50,000 by the province, she now only milks for her family.

The demand for sales, though, hasn't gone away. I would love it. I'd love to be able to do that again. I know they're missing it and I'm missing it. Pasteurization has been mandatory in Canada since 1991. That's the process of here. heating milk to kill off deadly bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, and Listeria. But Wiley still hopes she can sell her product again. She says farmers like her follow rigorous safety standards from the U.S., where some states

allow farms and grocery stores to sell raw milk. Those standards include sanitary housing conditions for the cows, disinfecting the udder before milking, and on-site pathogen testing. Wiley argues a lack of Canadian rules leaves the sales open to the black market. a riskier environment and more risk for health issues, whereas if it were regulated, then it would provide a safer way. Supporters say raw milk can cure lactose intolerance, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refutes.

They also claim pasteurization kills off essential nutrients. Scientists say the process does not significantly alter milk's nutritional value, and that pasteurization is the safest route. But this fall, an organization representing nearly 70. rural areas in Alberta passed a resolution supporting on-farm sales of raw milk. The goal is to lobby Ottawa to change the law and create provincial production rules. There's been a lot more draw to where does my food come from? Local Reeve Ryan Ratzlaff says his constituents want to support the local economy.

And then when you look at the price of milk in the grocery store, if I could give that to my neighbor and support my neighbor, I'd rather do that than give it to the big conglomerates, right? Still, experts warn raw milk is not safe. Sylvia Chekley is a professor in veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary. But some of these pathogens can be transmitted right through the milk, so they might already be in there. And if we don't treat it, then people can still be exposed. The next steps for Alberta advocates include getting the province on board.

But that might be tough. A spokesperson for Alberta's agriculture minister says the province does not support the sale of raw or unpasteurized milk. As Candace Wiley pours herself a glass of raw milk from her fridge, she says she'll never go back to the pasteurized stuff. But I would never have a glass of milk. I didn't enjoy it. Do you know? I could drink a liter a day. A risk, she says, she'll keep taking as she pushes for all Canadian consumers to have that choice.

Sam Sampson, CBC News, near Peace River, Alberta. Canada's military is aiming to add more female recruits, but an extra-large challenge is the uniform. For years, female soldiers have been wearing uniforms designed for men. They've never had combat clothing designed to fit their bodies. But as Ashley Burke tells us, that's about to change. For more than 30 years, women have been serving, in the Canadian Armed Forces in combat roles,

and for more than 30 years had been wearing uniforms primarily designed for men. It sends a message that you are an afterthought. We're accommodating you. Retired major Sandra Perel made history as Canada's first female infantry officer. She wore a men's extra small. Back then, nothing fit.

I was tinier than most men. The parachute was too big. The straps, the webbing, the helmet. the boots. Like many women serving, she made it work. We've had a lot of injuries. We've had a lot of women who have left the military because of that. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

Charlotte Duval-Lantuan with a Canadian Global Affairs Institute says it's an issue senior military leadership has known about for decades. And she says the risk is real. You end up with equipment that is less effective at protecting them against bullets. and that can create a higher rate of casualties in combat. But behind the scenes, a team of defense and military personnel, including Emma Moon, have been working on a solution for five years. It's not as if we have been fielding modern equipment to soldiers and leaving women out.

We haven't been doing it. We haven't modernized our body armor in decades. We're doing it now. Gras of the handles on both sides. Moon and her team have been scanning military members' bodies for measurements, running focus groups and doing extensive testing in the field, too. All to modernize the Army and Air Force's combat uniforms and body armor with versions specifically designed for women's bodies.

It's the first time this has happened for operational clothing. It's a huge statement of support. It's a huge win. So this is what we call the mesh. Serge Coat, the project manager, shows off the new marino wool base layers that started rolling out. And prototypes of the combat uniforms in the works. Room here in for the belly. It includes maternity cuts, too.

For my work with the allies, nobody else has really those cuts that are gender-specific. I'm not fighting the equipment. Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Lake, trit on the uniform and body armor system for women. She said she noticed a big difference in her mobility. There are people who will instantly jump to criticizing that this is just another woke initiative of the military that couldn't be further from the truth. This isn't a woke issue.

This is a war-fighting issue. The new uniforms being made in Canada are expected to start being released in 2027. Officials hope it could help attract and retain more women across the forces. Ashley Burke, CBC News, Ottawa. And finally, art historians in St. John's are asking the public to help solve a centuries-old mystery hidden some of the first paintings ever made of North America on display in Newfoundland for the first time.

Mark Ferguson is with the Rooms Museum. Well, the two star paintings are by a fellow named Gerard von Edema, who was a Dutchman. We believe he came to Newfoundland in around 1680, and probably, wandered around what was then known to the Europeans as the English shore. It's that probably that's at the heart of the mystery. The paintings seem like captured moments in time, with accurate depictions of contemporary fishing huts, rocky cliffs towering over deep coves,

detailed images of people catching, cleaning, and drying fish. As Ferguson says, very Newfoundland. But if they are meant to show real places, where are they? I'm hoping that get people to come in and look at the paintings and say, oh, I think I know where that is, and maybe give us some ideas. We have a little QR code where you can kind of scan and send us your ideas and or if you have photos that you think are the places that are in the paintings, that would be even more amazing.

Ferguson says if there's anyone who can identify the spots, it's the people who fish the same coves and shores, although he admits that he could also be up against artistic license. It's a bit of a mugs game because at the time painters took a lot of liberties, they imagined stuff, they sketch things, and then he went back into studios after the fact and painted, combined elements sometimes. So you don't necessarily get, it may not be a one-to-one correlation to a place. Ferguson says the mystery may never be solved,

but it's still amazing to have the paintings back near the places they do or maybe don't represent. Thanks for being with us. This has been your world tonight for Tuesday, December 23rd. I'm Angie Seth. Chat again soon.