Global News Podcast - Man arrested after car drives into Vancouver street festival

Episode Date: April 28, 2025

There have been a number of fatalities when a car was driven at high-speed into festivalgoers in the Canadian city of Vancouver. Also: a human chain helps a Michigan bookshop owner move her stock to a new home.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Bernadette Keough and in the early hours of Monday, the 28th of April, these are our main stories. Canadian police say a man arrested after a car was rammed into festival goers in Vancouver, killing 11 people, suffered mental health problems. Israel has carried out its first air strike in about a month on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The authorities in southern Iran have announced three days of mourning for dozens of people who died in a massive explosion at the country's biggest commercial port. Also in this podcast... Three books of the show, you take one down, pass it around.

A heartwarming story. Residents of a small town in the US state of Michigan form a human chain to help a bookshop owner move thousands of items to new premises further down the street. Police in Canada have described an incident that is now known to have killed 11 people at a Filipino street festival as a car ramming attack. More than 20 people were injured in the incident on Saturday in Vancouver. An investigation is ongoing. The driver, a man in his 30s, was arrested at the scene. Yusef Faddeh was selling buns from a food truck at the festival when the attack happened. I barely made it like maybe 20 feet and I just saw that just in that small amount of space how much devastation there was. We're talking bodies were underneath food trucks

that were hit by the car and you know over their loved ones within 20 feet of me. Police say they're not treating the incident as an act of terrorism. Addressing the nation, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, said he was devastated and heartbroken and sent this message of unity. The strength and the resilience of the Filipino Canadian community is exemplified by the Tugalog term by a neon. It captures the Filipino-Canadian community is exemplified by the Tugalag term by neon. It captures the Filipino spirit of community, of cooperation and unity to achieve a common goal. And it's this spirit upon which we must draw in this incredibly difficult time. We will comfort the grieving. We will care for each other. We will unite in common purpose.

grieving. We will care for each other. We will unite in common purpose." Later, the police gave more details about the incident. Our chief international correspondent Lise Doucet was listening. So what more have we learned? We've learned that the numbers keep rising. The first reports were that nine had been killed. Now that number is 11. The police also say there have been dozens of injured. They didn't say how serious the injuries are, but it means that we could still possibly see the death toll rise, which means this is a higher casualty toll than the last incident in Toronto in 2018, where there was also a car ramming incident where 10 people were killed.

We also in that police press conference received more details about the man who was described as being in his 30s who said to have acted alone. He's now described as having had a history of mental health problems which brought him to have interactions with the police that of course may raise questions as to why he was still able to live in the community and be at liberty to carry out this act of violence and of course it comes at a very very sensitive time in Canada just the day before elections which are being described as one of the most consequential in the country's history there's no sense in which it

had anything to do with the elections but it has landed in a very very political charge time. This is a very rare incident in Vancouver, Lise. How are people reacting? Anyone listening who's been to Vancouver or heard about Vancouver, it's a beautiful city with mountains and forests on the west coast of Canada, on the Pacific Ocean. It's known in Canada as one of the country's most densely populated and diverse communities, a history of many strong immigrant communities, and now it's been shattered by this rare violence. And of course, Canadians like to proudly say that they don't have the kind of gun

culture and the frequent gun violence in the United States, but it reminds Canadians that they are not immune from this kind of shocking random violence which takes so many lives and causes such heartbreak in the communities. And it is a heartbreak that's being felt right across Canada and beyond today. We had the leader of the Philippines also expressing his condolences since it was the Canadian Filipino community which was affected although we understand that they weren't targeted, they just happened to be where this man decided to carry out his act. Now you've referred to Monday's general election, might this incident have any bearing on that?

It's so close, it's just hours to go. What we've seen now is statements from all of the party leaders, of course, expressing shock about this devastating event, from the leader of the Conservatives, Pierre Paulyev, who's fighting a very tight race against the man in the lead, Mark Carney, who now heads the Liberal Party. He called for national unity at this hour. Some of the political campaigning has been paused. But this is the kind of issue that the Conservative leader has focused on in his election campaign, accusing the Liberal Party, which has been in power for the last decade, of letting people

go from jail, about not rounding up the criminals, not being tough enough on crime. The question is whether, at this moment of mourning, whether Pierre Prolieve, in order to try to maximise, sadly this tragedy for political gain, whether he would choose to focus on it, because of course it is the day of sadness, and so to try to take political capital from it would be unseemly. But let's see, the last rallies will be held tonight across this country. Lise Doucet in Canada.

The Israeli military has carried out an airstrike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Video footage appears to show three missiles hitting the site. From Beirut, here's Hugo Bachega. It's the first time in almost a month that Israel has struck Beirut's southern suburbs, known as the Dahir, where Hezbollah is based. The attack followed an evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for a building in the area.

This will put further pressure on a ceasefire that came into force five months ago and ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Despite the deal, Israel has struck targets it says are linked to Hezbollah almost every day. The Lebanese president has urged the US and France to put pressure on Israel to stop the attacks. Hugo Bachega in Lebanon. Next to Iran. State media say the number of people killed by a massive explosion at the country's largest commercial port has risen to 40. More than a thousand are now said to have been hurt by the blast near Banda Abbas on

Saturday. The local authorities have declared three days of mourning. Schools and offices were closed on Sunday in Banda Abbas as heavy smoke and fumes spread through the area. Jo Inwood reports. Port CCTV captured the moment a shipping container caught fire. Over the course of 90 seconds, the flames grow in intensity. Workers begin to run. Before it explodes with such ferocity, it cut out the camera feed. Speaking from his hospital bed, one worker told Iranian state TV about the moment of the blast.

The entire warehouse was filled with smoke, dust and ashes, he said. I don't remember if I went under the table or was thrown there by the blast. The authorities fought the flames into the night and the next day. The Iran's president announced an investigation into the blast that all but destroyed Iran's biggest and most advanced port. The contents of the container have not yet been confirmed but one private maritime risk consultancy said it believed it was transporting solid fuel destined for ballistic missiles. Whatever the cause, it has done vast damage to a crucial Iranian port. Jo Inwood. There were long queues on Sunday outside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

in Rome, where Pope Francis was buried the day before. It was his favourite church in the Italian capital and he has become the first pope to be interred outside the Vatican in more than a century. Our religion editor Elie MacBool reports from Rome. Breaking with recent tradition Pope Francis is buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore church in the centre of Rome. Thousands gathered there from the early morning before filing into the basilica. The tomb, a discreet spot in a niche a little way down the left nave was one Pope Francis specified in a plan he left.

It's just next to the entrance of the Pauline Chapel in the Basilica, a place he'd visited hundreds of times, especially before and after trips, to pray in front of a celebrated icon, a historic painting of the Virgin Mary. His marble tomb has just one word inscribed along it, the Latin version of his chosen name, Franciscus. Above it, on the wall of the niche, just a reproduction of the cross Pope Francis

always wore from the chain around his neck. The crowds at Saturday's funeral were testament to the popularity of the late Pope, an energetic reformer who championed the poorest and most vulnerable. The former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, holds a doctorate in canon law and has advocated for greater roles for women in the Church and a change to the Church's position on homosexuality. What does she make of Francis' legacy? My memory of Pope Francis will fall really into two rough spheres. I characterise the

great gift that he was in many ways, not just to the church but to the world. He had a great sense of sacred regard for the human person, all human beings, and in particular of course the poor, the marginalised, the oppressed, the overlooked, those who were victims of violence for whom he had a really big strong heart. Here he had a platform. I think it was Ban Ki-moon who described it as the pulpit of the world, and he used that very effectively and very courageously. But then there was a second sphere. He was the supreme governor of the Catholic Church, the supreme legislator of the Church, and the Church also experiencing a fairly severe existential crisis, particularly in the Western world. Huge problems, not of his making, incidentally, but that

go right back really to the 1960s. He wasn't a strategic man. He was a man who dealt in spontaneity. When he came to Rome, I don't think he had a plan for the advancement of women in the Church. And I'm not just talking about ordination here of women, though that is an issue of course, but I'm talking about the fact that women are completely excluded from formulating any kind of policy within the church. But he had an innate empathy for those who were excluded. And he also was a populist. He liked to say things that pleased people, saying to a young woman who'd had an abortion, who was worried about where was her baby, and he said the baby was in heaven, even though that is absolutely not what the Church teaches. But then behind his desk, with the capacity to change all of that,

to change the terrible language used in relation to homosexuals, the word evil is used, intrinsically disordered is used, some of the language used in relation to women is at the very least paternalistic and of course some of it deeply misogynistic. He had the opportunity to change all of that, change none of it, not one word. What he did do in response to pressure didn't come from him inside himself, he didn't come with an agenda to open up the Curia to women or the church. He was pressured to do that from below. The laity were demanding it, as indeed were quite a number of priests, even the very odd bishop. And so he was responding to the pressure cooker that was ready to explode in the Church.

His job was to hold the line as well as he could, kind of spontaneous plaster sticking rather than a strategy for the future. The former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. Next to Washington. Although President Trump's schedule changed at short notice at the weekend by travelling to Rome for the Pope's funeral, he hadn't been expected to attend the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, which took place on Saturday. The event is a long-standing fixture and he's the only modern President not to attend while in office. The White House Correspondents' Dinner celebrates the First Amendment and the importance of

having a free press. And traditionally a professional comedian criticises the President and he can also sling some jokes back at the guests. So what actually happened at the event this year? Paul Henley spoke to David Smith, The Guardian newspaper's Washington correspondent, who attended the bash. How significant was the president's absence? It certainly was a big deal. Traditionally, the president always attends and makes the biggest headlines and is the

star attraction. And I think pretty much every president historically has come to this dinner going back a century, with the exception, of course, of Donald Trump in his first term. So it is a little bit like Hamlet without the Prince. And that was compounded this time because there was also no after-dinner comedian. Normally you get an entertainer following the president, telling some political satire jokes and things like that, and that was also missing. So it did make for a more serious and sober evening,

and Donald Trump's presence loomed in his absence. And what was the message received, the fact that he didn't come? Well, I think perhaps the most powerful moment of the evening was a montage of video clips of Donald Trump's predecessors, former presidents such as Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan and so on, each of them extolling the importance of freedom of the press and the crucial role that the media plays. And that really drove home the point that Trump is an outlier here and that this was not just journalists saying this, but presidents themselves have celebrated the First Amendment

and protection of freedom of speech. And that message was also driven home by Eugene Daniels, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, who was very careful not to attack Donald Trump directly, but nevertheless talked about the importance of letting journalists get on and do their jobs and not face political interference. All this is supposed to be seen through the prism of humour. Does President Trump do humour, in your opinion? He likes to mock people.

That's a great question. I think many people would say, if you go to a Donald Trump campaign rally and he's riffing for an hour and a half, there's always at least one or two moments when you perhaps catch yourself involuntarily laughing at something, he says. There's always at least one or two moments when you perhaps catch yourself involuntarily laughing at something, he says. There's a certain down-to-earthness at moments. There's a sort of ridicule, there's an absurdity that he brings to it. I've even heard him compared to Shakespeare's Richard III in that sense, in that he combines the comedy with the darkness and the authoritarianism.

And in some ways, that works to his political advantages. It's harder to take the authoritarianism seriously when he's also joking. So, so yeah, I think he's not a man with a great degree of self-awareness. And it's pretty rare that you actually see Donald Trump laughing. And yet at his knockabout rallies, there is some comedy and humour there. And certainly, if you ask any die-hard Donald Trump supporter, they would tell you that they think he's funny and he's an entertainer and an antidote to generations of stiff, professional, overproduced politicians.

David Smith, The Guardian newspaper's Washington correspondent. Still to come. I'm running for headway, the Brain Injury Trust, attempting a world record, unfortunately didn't get it today. Just an incredible day out. I've raised loads of money and I'm really grateful to everybody that has sponsored me

and I'm never doing another marathon again. Tens of thousands of people have taken part in this year's London Marathon. On Sunday, Holocaust survivors joined government officials, soldiers and veterans in northern Germany for a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Tens of thousands of people, most of them Jewish, were killed at the Nazi camp. Our correspondent, Duncan Kennedy, reports from Bergen-Belsen on Sunday's event. The very name is enough to summon demons from history.

name is enough to summon demons from history. Belson, seen of unspeakable horrors, today recalled by those unable to forget them. 450 survivors and their families came to Belson to mark the 80th anniversary of liberation. They included Marla Trippich, now 94, and still able to recount the appalling suffering. You could very easily come across a dead body here, there and everywhere. And the people that were there were like skeletons. They were often just shuffling along and there's just deaths everywhere. When British and Canadian troops entered Belsen in April 1945, they came across scenes of shocking human privation and misery.

The dead were unburied, the living shuffled around, emaciated and spectral-like. The BBC's Richard Dimbleby bore witness in a landmark broadcast. Here, over an acre of ground, lay dead and dying people. You could not see which was which, except perhaps by a convulsive movement or the last quiver of a sigh from a living skeleton too weak to move. Today's anniversary is a commemoration to those who never left here, forever to be a part of a crime that continues to arc its way across history. That report by Duncan Kennedy in Germany.

It's exactly a month since Myanmar was rocked by an earthquake, the most powerful in more than a century. The epicentre was close to Mandalay, Myanmar's second city. Buildings were destroyed, thousands made homeless and lives lost. It would have been a disaster in any country, but more so in Myanmar, where the ruling military hunter is facing an insurgency on several fronts which has complicated the delivery of aid. So what's the situation on the ground four weeks on? Arnaud de Bach is head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation based in Yangon.

Last week he was in Mandalay. He told my colleague Julian Marshall what he saw. A lot of distraction, some buildings, some schools, some individual houses. And then comes the night and you see people sleeping outside, a lot of street food. The typical dishes they're preparing is the Myanmar curry, rice, a bit of meat or potatoes or fish and different vegetables that come with that. I think you see a lot of street food because people, many places can't cook inside. So you have this communal kitchen

that they queue to get the food. And you also have individual family who just prepare and the solidarity is very strong. So they would cook also for the neighbors, for their families coming in. The pavements have become places where they live, trying to sell what they have and to cook for people. And when the night comes, cleaning up, tidying up that area and setting it up for the families to have a sleep. About one third of people have lost their homes. Those who could resume their normal life have done it. The others are just trying to rebuild something. The monsoon is coming soon and that's a big objective to have everybody back in something good enough for the rainy season.

But for the moment, the temperature is very high. It's over 40 degrees during the day. That's really the end of the dry, hot season in Myanmar. But already you've had the episodes of rain and even a couple of tropical storms on top of the aftershocks were very scary for the people. And at night it comes down maybe 30, 28 Celsius, but still quite hot. I mean, Manila was once a royal capital with a palace and pagodas. There were markets where craftsmen worked with silk and gold leaf. It must look very different now.

Yeah, all these ancient buildings, the major pagodas have just crumbled on themselves. Any sign though of official help? Are people having to rebuild their houses themselves? Every system is trying to organize themselves again, but the outcome is still a very challenging situation for most of the people. About one third of the people cannot go back to their hopes. And even these are people with a job and something, others who have lost everything are just with no option but to sleep on the street and try and build a new life but it's definitely not back to normal. Arnaud Back from the International Committee of the Red Cross or ICRC.

Now a heartwarming story about the attachment people can have to their local bookshops. One such bookstore in the small town of Chelsea in the northern US state of Michigan has made headlines after residents formed a human chain to help move more than 9,000 of its books to new premises further down the street. About 300 people grouped themselves into a so-called book brigade to help the staff of Serendipity Books move their stock to a new home. Three books of Michelle, you take one down, press it around. Oh yeah, now we're talking. Michelle Tuplin, the owner of Serendipity Books, is originally from Northern England. Paul Henley asked if the book brigade had been her idea. I would love to take sole credit, but actually I'd seen it before. I'd seen other

bookstores and libraries move this way and so I knew it was something that was in theory at least doable and I just wanted to give it a go. Describe the scene, would you? How many books are being passed along the pavement? How many people are there? What are people saying? So we had 9100 books we needed to move from the old store which was on the middle street to a new one on main street. It was about 400 feet, so a pretty good size block. And I knew that I needed people lined up in the old store, in the store as well, so people would pass from one bookshelf all the way down the street, hand by hand, each individual book until they were placed on the new bookcases

in the new shop. And I put the call out and 300 people showed up. It was just unbelievable. And there was such joy and happiness and excitement, singing, dancing, people telling stories about the books. It was just unbelievable. People must love your bookshop. I think maybe they do. But it says a lot about the place as well, doesn't it? And I know that Chelsea describes itself as a place where neighbours help neighbours. This proves it.

Yes, I think so. I think so. And certainly it also speaks to the important role that independent bookstores play in a community. You know, they really can be the heartbeat of a community. And that seems to be the case here, I think, as well. You know, right now people are feeling very anxious and to be able to just do something that speaks to community and is heartfelt like that was obviously a popular choice right now. Can you paint a picture of Chelsea? What kind of place is it?

It's a pretty small quintessential American small town. My nephew came out to visit recently and he said oh it's just like I imagine on the TV everybody seems to know everybody else there's a farmers market there's a library there's a few shops in the middle of town and yeah it's just one of those places where everybody knows each other. The picture that is being painted to a lot of people of America at the moment is not necessarily of a place where everyone looks out for each other where kindness is every day and where people think of other people first. I mean, either the picture's wrong or you're bucking the trend. What is it?

I think the picture's wrong. I think there is a lot of hate and there's a lot of horrible stories coming out of the United States right now, but that is not representative of everybody and everybody does not feel that way and everybody doesn't act that way. It's very unfortunate and lots of people are fighting hard to remain kind and to remain community focused and to focus on the things that really matter still. How's the new bookshop coming along? Oh, it is gorgeous and I am so excited to be able to welcome everybody. I'm a little bit terrified with all of the attention that we've received as to what is going to actually happen, but we are ready and it's going to be so fun.

Michelle Tuplin the owner of Serendipity Books in Chelsea, Michigan and I wonder how long it took to move all those books. Here in London tens of thousands of people have taken part in the London Marathon which has seen world record and course record times set by the elite athletes. Our sports correspondent, Nestor McGregor, was watching. This year's event saw a world record number of runners on the start line. More than 57,000 people. Warm weather and near perfect marathon conditions meant course records could topple and they did.

Tigist Safa of Kenya set a new women's only world record with a time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 50 seconds. The men's elite race was decided by one runner's decision not to take on Walter, while others headed to a hydration station. Kenya's Sebastian Sawé opened a gap that only grew further. And he's beaten them all. Sebastian Sawé is the 2025 London Marathon champion. He finished in the time of two hours,

two minutes and 27 seconds. Britain's Mohammed Mohammed finished ninth while the triathlon Olympic champion Alex Yee finished a respectable 14th on his marathon debut. Meanwhile the wheelchair races were dominated by the Swiss. Marcel Hoog and Catherine de Brunner crossing the line first in their respective races. For many though today where they finished wasn't important, they were running for someone or for charity. I'm running for Headway, the Brain Injury Trust. Attempting a world record unfortunately didn't get it today, but yeah, just an incredible day out. I've raised loads of money and I'm really grateful to everybody that sponsored me and

I'm never doing another marathon again. People dressed as a Ferris wheel, a pizza and a shark were all seen on the course. Nesta McGregor reporting. Now to an English town, a famous singer, a successful concert and a dreadful journey home. Join us this Sunday at Stockport train station when we will be unveiling a Stockport music story plaque to commemorate David Bowie spending the night on the station platform. The singer David Bowie played at some renowned venues during his long career from Madison Square Garden to Wembley. One of

his lesser-known gigs was in Stockport in North West England in the 1970s. He was booked by a group of school students to play an acoustic set. The gig at the poker club was a sell-out but his travel plans were disrupted when he missed the last train home. Bill Frost was the person behind the booking and was at the station for the unveiling of the plaque to recall the star's extended stay in Stockport. Before that event, Paddy O'Connell spoke to him. When David Bowie arrived at the Poco Poco really, he was quite a diminutive guy and he was a really nice polite guy and he was wearing this huge long second- hand RAF grey trench coat and a guitar over his shoulder and he came into the club when we were trying to get everything sorted out

and he was hungry and he was thirsty so Mike McCormack took him for a pint in a bar in the club and afterwards Tav took him across the road and sorted him out with some food. He came back with his tea in his hand. He had a pork pie in one hand and an egg custard in the other, which was amazing. Everybody was laughing and then I took him down to the dressing room and we talked about the gig and how it was going to work and and it was a really fantastic evening. It really was. I remember going down afterwards when he'd finished the set, and he had to go early, and we had to pay him in like one pound and five pound notes and stuff like that.

And all the money that we'd picked up at the door, that was hilarious. I'm just reading that Stockport has a very proud tradition of touring bands, The Who, The Kinks, Small Faces, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, Elton John. The Beatles played there at Offerton Palace Theatre, The Stones played at the Asoldo cinema in 64. Do you think it was more normal to be able to pull this off in 1970? I mean I suspect it probably was but there again we were a bunch of cheeky kids from

Stockport School and we formed the Students' Union. There were no mobile phones, no technology in those days so everything had to be word of mouth. And I think in a sense somebody said this week that we felt we could do whatever we wanted, we could do anything. And yeah, it maybe probably was a little bit easier then. Bill Frost who organised a music gig in Northern England 55 years ago with the singer David Bowie, resulting in him missing the last train home and having to sleep on the platform overnight. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast

later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co..uk You can also find us on X at BBC World Service Use the hashtag globalnewspod This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll The producer was Liam McShephry The editor is Karen Martin I'm Bernadette Keough Until next time, goodbye!