Global National: June 25, 2026 | Search for survivors in Venezuela after deadly double earthquakes

Disaster strikes twice in Venezuela with back-to-back earthquakes. The race to rescue survivors and fears the Venezuelan government can't cope. We don't even know because we still have a dictatorship. How Canada is responding. Also on this Thursday night, Europe's historic heat wave. It's too hot. The struggle to stay cool as the political debate over air conditioning heats up. 14 hours and counting. Why wait times are getting worse in Canada's emergency rooms and how to fix it. Plus no ashes allowed. Loved ones need to be able to travel with their whole loved ones in cabin. A warning for travelers flying with cremated remains. Global National with Donna Friesen. Reporting tonight, Jeff Semple. A frantic search for survivors in Venezuela after two powerful earthquakes struck late yesterday just seconds apart. This video shows the country's main international airport as its roof started to collapse. The 7.2 and then 7.5 magnitude quakes hit heavily populated areas. At least 188 people have been killed. More than 1,500 others are injured and tens of thousands are still missing. Good evening and thank you for joining us. Those earthquakes are the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Jackson Prosko reports on the rescue efforts being hampered by the country's economic disaster. You can hear the screams of terror as the earthquake struck. The rare twin tremors came less than a minute apart, collapsing dozens of buildings, leaving deep cracks in the walls of the structures that survived. The scene was like a horror movie, says this woman. We had to climb over the rubble and everything. It was like a minute and a half. The entire house shaking and and the windows with the sound of the glasses that you can you can hear them and the house in some moments was like jumping. After the shaking stopped, the scale of destruction came into view. Desperate survivors and a desperate search for the missing. Through the night, rescuers dug through mounds of debris, finding bodies and occasionally small miracles. I was in my building for four hours until I was rescued, says this man. The destruction is expansive. From the air, you can see hundreds of damaged buildings and pancaked high-rise apartments. The quakes struck on a national holiday when many people were at home. A nation decimated by years of dictatorship faces more hardship than it can handle. Venezuela's interim president called the disaster a true tragedy. The U.S., which recently captured the country's former president Nicolas Maduro, is among the nation's vowing swift help. So we have an awful whole of government response. It'll be big, it'll be fast and it'll be effective. In this moment, hope is in short supply. In a country overwhelmed by grief and the scale of this disaster. Jackson Prosko, Global News, Washington. Canada is home to around 30,000 Venezuelans and many are now desperately trying to contact loved ones caught in the quakes. Canada is now providing $5 million in humanitarian aid to support relief efforts. But as Kevin Gallagher reports, delivering that aid could prove challenging. At the Pamarosa Cafe in Toronto, owner Luis Hernandez is concerned for his family in Caracas. They are alive but now living with the uncertainty of what comes next. I'm worried for the big population Caracas has. And it could be thousands of people and we don't even know because we still have a dictatorship regime. Much of the country's infrastructure is devastated, raising questions about the delivery of foreign aid. We understand that there's still widespread needs assessments that are necessary to understand the scale of the damage and the number of people impacted. There are efforts by the federal government and other cultural organizations here to get aid to Venezuelans. But it's complicated by the political situation there and the fact Canada hasn't had an embassy in Venezuela since 2019. That puts us at a disadvantage, first and foremost to helping Canadians that are in these countries. Consular cases, we've had to rely on allies and countries that also who aren't our natural allies to help us. Back at the cafe, Hernandez and other staff with ties to Venezuela hope help can arrive soon for the sake of their families. And now we have to start like, you know, building the country from scratch. Kevin Gallagher, Global News, Toronto. Another powerful earthquake hit off the coast of Japan. The magnitude 7.2 quake shook dozens of towns in the country's north during rush hour. It was even felt as far away as Tokyo. No tsunami warnings were issued and no serious injuries have been reported there. People across Europe are sweltering this week in record-breaking heat. In Spain, more than 200 deaths have been reported linked to the historic heat wave. The UK just recorded its highest June temperature and France just endured its hottest day ever recorded with a daily average temperature of around 30 degrees. Now, many Canadians are used to that kind of summer heat, but in France, like much of Europe, air conditioning is in short supply. And as Redmond Shannon reports, it's all sparking a heated political debate. One thing that is not up for debate in France is that it is just too hot. We are actually going to leave a little early because it's too hot. We're going to leave Paris early. Tourists who stick around and Parisians are finding any way they can to cool off. The city's mayor says emergency call-outs and deaths linked to heat are rising. He says he saw about 100 people out jogging in the extreme heat Wednesday, something he calls irresponsible. But staying home in antiquated French apartments can be almost as brutal. Most French houses, hospitals and care homes do not have air conditioning. That is forcing many to use cooling centres. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen says it's shameful that newborn babies and the vulnerable have to endure extreme heat. She says AC must be rolled out in homes and public spaces. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon calls the widespread use of AC a false solution that uses more energy and makes climate change worse. But his party and the government do now want to see AC in public buildings. Here in the UK, it's almost as hot. A new temperature record for June was broken on Wednesday and again today. Just like France, Britain is not built for this heat. Back home, Canada, where I'm from, we have AC. So that's the one thing. Everywhere we go, all the buildings we go, we all have AC. And over here, that's one thing I noticed. There's no AC. So there's no real way to deal with it other than just a cold shower. Until the weather in Europe cools or infrastructure changes, that may be the best option. Redmond Shannon, Global News, London. School's out for the summer for many Canadian students after this week. And in Ottawa, Parliament is also closing its spring session with MPs now on their summer break. And today, the Prime Minister held a wide-ranging press conference touting his government's progress over the past year. He revealed details of a surprise phone call this week with the US President. And Mark Carney also addressed the upcoming Alberta referendum. Our David Aitken joins us now from Ottawa. So David, let's start with Alberta. What did the Prime Minister have to say? Well, Jeff, Prime Minister Mark Carney will be at the Calgary Stampede next month. And while he's there in Alberta, he's going to be telling those Albertans thinking of voting to leave Canada that that's a bad idea. This is a real referendum. It's not, you know, question about a question, free option. It's a dangerous bluff. Carney was the Bank of England governor as the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. I saw firsthand what gets sold in these referenda. That everything's going to be easy. That you can keep your passport. You can keep the currency. You can stay in the country and leave it at the same time. Brexit would lead to job losses and slowed growth. The opposition leader, who represents an Alberta riding, will take a different tact. Some people say that hope is not a strategy. Well, fear is not a strategy either. We have to give people hope. I'm going to make the case for Canada. Carney also spoke about a phone call he had Wednesday with US President Donald Trump ahead of a NATO leaders summit that they'll both attend next month in Turkey. Carney noted that Canada has exceeded current NATO defense spending targets. We answer first. We answer to Canadians and protecting Canadians. We answer to our allies in terms of fulfilling our roles and protecting our allies. Carney said they did not bring up Canada-US-Mexico trade talks. I hope they had a good call. We need a good relationship between our two countries. I definitely would have raised Kuzma. Finally, Carney looked ahead to the future of the prime minister's official residence, 24 Sussex Drive, which has been vacant and falling apart ever since Stephen Harper left. Will Carney renovate or will he tear it down and build anew? He would not say today, but he did say that he will have another press conference Friday morning, and it's all going to be about 24 Sussex Drive. Jeff. David Aiken in Ottawa. Thanks, David. In that press conference, the prime minister was also asked about gun control in the wake of Monday's shooting in Montreal that left three people dead, including a police officer. This 25-year-old from Alberta has now been identified as the gunman. Investigators haven't confirmed the firearm used, but reports say it was a semi-automatic SKS rifle. It's legal in Canada and commonly used by Indigenous communities for hunting. Over the past decade, the rifle has also been used in several other high-profile shootings, including police killings in Canada. The prime minister noted that the federal government is now reviewing Canada's firearm classification system, including the SKS rifles, with input from the RCMP and Indigenous communities. NASA is now preparing for a spacewalk to repair part of Canada's biggest contribution to the International Space Station, the Canadarm2. Canadarm, as previously mentioned, has been an integral part of the International Space Station. Canadarm2 has helped with the assembly of the space station, supported numerous spacewalks, captured and berthed over 50 visiting vehicles. The spacewalk to repair the robotic arm is scheduled for Tuesday. Astronauts will work to replace a wrist joint that began malfunctioning last month. The robotic arm is made up of several components designed to be replaceable in space. The spare parts are provided by the Canadian Space Agency and are already on board the space station. The potentially deadly delays in Canada's emergency rooms. Coming up, a new report shows wait times are getting longer. The reasons and potential solutions. If you visited a hospital emergency room in this country, you've likely had to wait. And new data shows those wait times are getting worse. The report found around 10% of patients waited for more than 14 hours for care. Experts say the problem and potential solutions can be found outside the hospital. Our health reporter Catherine Ward explains. Our system resources are at risk of being overwhelmed in emergency departments across the country almost every day. A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information highlights how many contributing factors originate outside hospital walls, including a lack of access to primary care. We're seeing patients with more complex needs arriving in the emergency department, as well as downstream, where we're seeing challenges moving patients through hospitals and into the next level of care. The result? Longer wait times. Many Canadians have come to expect. It's always very crowded. That's why I prefer, even if I have an emergency, to go after 4am. It was so crowded and there were even people on the floor. Waiting times for patients who come with relatively minor problems, it might be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 hours. That pales in comparison to the waiting times for patients waiting to get into hospital beds when they need it. They're waiting 10, 20, 50, 100 hours. Trips to the ER increased by 1.7 million since 2018-2019, now totalling roughly 16.1 million visits in 2024-2025, according to the report, about 7.7% left before seeing a doctor. Wait times were varied. About half of patients spent four hours or less in the ED, but one in 10 spent 14 hours or more. Analysts say fixing the problem is not straightforward. Improvements will require system-wide coordinated action across multiple sectors, including primary care, hospital, home and community care and long-term care. Doctors say if nothing is done, patient care will suffer. The problem will continue to worsen. We will continue to have an aging population with greater demand for resources that we can't provide. Catherine Ward, Global News. Prosecutors in New York are dropping a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein. The disgraced Hollywood producer was accused of raping an aspiring actress in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. That case had already been tried three times, resulting in an overturned conviction and two hung juries. Prosecutors said that the accuser did not want to endure the demands of another trial. Weinstein has been convicted of other sex crimes and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. Bafana Bafana, the boys of South Africa, will face Team Canada in the World Cup knockout round. We'll size up the competition next. We'll take a look at this sea of orange today in Kansas City. Thousands of Dutch soccer fans taking the city by storm ahead of a match against Tunisia in the World Cup. And it's now do or die for Canada at the tournament. The Canadian club will play South Africa in the first knockout round in Los Angeles on Sunday. Team Canada is widely considered the favourite against the South African underdogs. Eric Sorensen sets the stage for what's expected to be a fast-paced game. Team Canada's home field advantage has come to an end, but what an experience for the team and the country. I never imagined that I'd get to watch a World Cup game in my own country. Capped off with last-minute thrills, Super Sub promised David's first touch an astonishing redirect for a score. That set the stage for last-minute close calls that were exhilarating and disappointing. Canada fell to second place in their group, but Alistair Johnston knows the team must put that behind them quickly. Knockout rounds of a World Cup, it's a bit of a pinch me moment as a Canadian player, so we're excited about that. Who Canada will face next is the shocker. South Africa, with a stunning shutout over South Korea, the team called Bafana Bafana, the boys, were given a 7% chance by oddsmakers of making it this far. But that's why World Cup soccer is so unpredictably fun. That's a lot of happies. What does Canada expect from South Africa? They're going to give us a big challenge. The team's coach had some good news about Alphonso Davies after telling everyone he'd be available last match, but he wasn't. Will Davies play on Sunday? Yes. Why should we believe you? Nobody's going to take that as anything but hyperbole, he's going to play. Is he going to start? We'll see. There are no easy opponents in the knockout rounds. Still, Canada ranked number 31 in FIFA against South Africa number 54 is favorable for Canada when they play Sunday in LA. Look at the bracket they're in. Morocco ranked 6th, could play the Netherlands ranked 8th if the Dutch win their next match as expected. That's a powerhouse matchup that Canada avoids till the next round on July the 4th. But first, they must play a nation that's on a high and with South Africa, you know football comes with atmosphere. Eric Sorensen, Global News, Toronto. What happened when a Halifax man tried to bring his pet's cremated remains on board a flight? His warning to other travellers, next. I'm so glad you came into my life. That is Canadian David Clayton-Thomas singing You've Made Me So Very Happy, just one of the chart-topping hits from the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas died peacefully in a Toronto hospital on Wednesday. In 1968, he became the band's frontman and went on to win five Grammys before embarking on a solo career. In 1996, he was inducted to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Clayton-Thomas was 84. Airport security can be a hassle. Sometimes you hit a snag for bringing too many liquids or some pocket change sets off the metal detectors. Well, one Halifax man recently ran into trouble when he tried to board with the cremated remains of his dog. Vincent Mass wanted to travel to Winnipeg with his pet's ashes for a special tribute to his furry friend. Heidi Patracik has his unusual cautionary tale. Vincent Mass's dachshund, Balthazar, travelled the world with him. So when the beloved dog died at 16, Mass wanted a way to keep Balthazar with him. I wanted something that was both portable but that cannot be lost. He decided on a cremation tattoo, but the only artist specialized in integrating ashes into tattoo ink is in Winnipeg. He had travelled with the box of Balthazar's ashes before at Christmas No Problem. This time they put it through the CT x-ray scanner at the Halifax airport and it was rejected. What I quickly found out is that even that highest ranked person on the floor does not have the ability to manually bypass the decision of the machine. They said he could put it in his checked baggage, but as a frequent flyer he knew luggage can get lost or damaged and he said no way. Yes, so he called me from the airport very upset. My solution was maybe go home and take out a little bit of ashes because we only need a little bit for the tattoo. Mass got a refund for his flight and booked another for an extra $900. Under tattoo artist Kerry Parnell's guidance, he put a small bit of the ashes into this, then returned to the airport. Thank God the ziplock passed and everyone was relieved. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority says cremated remains are a dense material that can be difficult to screen, but adds ashes may pass if less than 350 milliliters and in a wood or plastic container. Loved ones need to be able to travel with their whole loved ones in cabin. The only fully reliable way that I found out to pass ashes through security is by having it tattooed on your skin. Not everyone can do what he did, Mass says, and shouldn't even have to. Heidi Petrochek, Global News, Halifax. And that is Global National for this Thursday. I'm Jeff Semple. Tonight's your Canada, these patriotic cacti in bloom near Drumheller, Alberta. We love seeing your Canada, so please email it to globalnational at globalnews.ca. Thanks for watching. Hope to see you back here again tomorrow. Have a great night.