Global News Podcast - Mass shooting stuns Canada

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

The Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says the entire country is in mourning after nine people were killed in a mass shooting at a school and nearby home in the province of British Columbia. The presumed attacker was also found dead. Also: police in Arizona release a suspect in the disappearance of the mother of the US news anchor, Samantha Guthrie; how noise linked to humans is negatively affecting birds; and a new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights featuring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi is making headlines for its steamy approach to a British classic. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I've spent the last three decades trying to better understand money across the border room, the newsroom and the trading floor. That's longer than most podcasts hosts have been alive. But even though I've got questions, join me, Maren's Upset Web, every week for my show Meryn Talks Money from Bloomberg Podcasts, where I have in-depth conversations with fund managers, strategists and experts about her markets really work.

And join me for a separate episode where I answer listener questions and how to make those markets work for you. Follow Merrim Talks Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and at 16 hours GMT on Wednesday, the 11th of February, these are our main stories. A rare mass school shooting stuns Canada. Almost two weeks after her disappearance, what has happened to the missing mother?

of the US news anchor. Also in this podcast, what do people living in the home village of Emily Bronte think about the new Wuthering Heights film? Are you prepared, though? It's a bit saucy, I think. Horse whips and bridles. Gosh.

Yes, it might be one of those moments. I might have to take a fan with me. Nine people have been killed, and at least 25. injured in a mass shooting in Canada. Another person, believed to be the attacker, was found dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury. Bodies were found in two locations in Tumblr Ridge in northern British Columbia, a rural community

where residents describe themselves as a big family and say they don't lock their doors. This morning, an emotional Mark Carney arrived at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers. in Tumblridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation boies with you. Canada stands by you. On the advice of the

Clerk of the Ploidary Council in Heritage Canada, I've asked that the flags in the Peace Tower here and across all government buildings be flown at half-mass for the next seven days. We will get through this, we will learn from this, but right now it's a time to come together as Canadians always do

in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together, and to grow together. As we record this podcast, the authorities haven't released the identity of the shooter. But earlier, a police alert described the attacker as a female in a dress with brown hair. The ages and identities of the victims also haven't been confirmed. 17-year-old Darian Quist was inside the school, hiding with his classmates. Our principal goes throughout the halls and she's saying people close your doors, lock down, stuff like that.

I think I thought it was a secure and hold in something like that at first. But once things start circulating, we realized how serious it really was. So we all barricaded up the doors with some iron tables and sat in that room for around two hours as on my phone with my mother the entire time. Trent Earst runs a one-man publication that serves the small community. He's been speaking to Rebecca Kasby. It's been hard. It's not something you expect to happen in your province, let alone your own town.

And it's been devastating. I can imagine. And do we have any updates on the attacker? It does seem as if the law enforcement know who this person is, but they haven't disclosed it yet. Are people speaking locally about what may have been any motive? Yeah, rumors are rampant. People have been sharing pictures of somebody who they presume to be the person who did this, but there has been no confirmation.

So I'm sort of ignoring that chatter until it's official. Right. But presumably lots of people do know people who were affected, injured and killed as well. Yeah. They haven't released the... any information on the people who got shot, although one mother has come forward to say, to put forward a GoFundMe and the person who it was is somebody that I know. It's that sort of town.

She's 12 years old and apparently shot in the head and in the neck and is in emergency, was in emergency surgery as of last night. I'm trying to any updates. I'm very sorry to hear that. I mean, I know this kind of crime is very rare in that part of the country, but can you explain to us a little bit more about the gun laws in Canada? So the gun laws in Canada are, if you're comparing us to the US, they're quite strict. If you're comparing us to Britain, they're probably viewed as quite lax. The current government has been talking about restricting certain firearms. as well. But it's definitely, we live in a place where there's a lot of hunters. So there's a lot of people out who have firearms. They're all licensed, all have certificates, all, right, you know, store their guns and safes. So sports reasons then really, rather than sort of home defense and

that kind of thing. Yeah. Officials have called the shooting one of the worst in the country's history. Shrhti Gandev, a reporter with CBC Vancouver, told us more about the gun culture in Canada's north. This kind of thing just doesn't happen here. I can count kind of on one hand the instances that I recall knowing about, not that have happened necessarily in my lifetime, but certainly this is a rarity and it's something that we, I don't think we're really aware of how to process here. When we think about the way that our neighbors south of the border view guns, were quite a bit stricter up here. Not to say that gun ownership isn't a thing, it isn't a reality,

because especially in places like Tumblr Ridge, which is a very rural community, hunting is quite, it's a prominent part of the way of life, but gun ownership is still strict. There's licenses for everyone. You pretty much only are able to own hunting rifles and not the kind of assault-style rifles you often hear about in cases like this in the United States.

So we don't know. oh, as of yet, what kind of weapon was used, how many weapons were used, anything like that. But generally speaking, hunting rifles would have been something much more common in that part of the province. Next, police in Arizona have released a suspect detained in the disappearance of the mother of a high-profile U.S. television presenter. Nancy Guthrie vanished 10 days ago. She's believed to have been kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Bradley Blackburn from CBS News told us more. This moved quickly overnight, and there was at least initially the hope that this was a break in the case after 10 days of searching.

But then this man who was detained was released, and he did speak to reporters, including one of my CBS News colleagues. We know that he was detained during a traffic stop in that border town. He was initially described as a person of interest, and authorities spent hours searching his vehicle and his home. But after he was released, he told one of my colleagues that he works as a delivery driver, but he has no idea why he was stopped and questioned and that he doesn't know anything at all about Nancy Guthrie. In fact, he said he doesn't even know who Savannah Guthrie is and has never watched the Today Show, Charlotte. And Bradley, what are the police saying at the moment? Because lots of people will have seen those really disturbing images taken from the doorbell camera of Nancy Guthrie's home.

Right. And authorities have said, Charlotte, that they are. finally making some progress in the case. We see that in the form of that doorbell camera footage. We know that they've also been scouring security cameras from Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood, looking for any vehicles in the area at the time of her disappearance. Perhaps that search is what led authorities to this traffic stop. And as for that doorbell camera footage, initially, authorities had thought that it had been overwritten or deleted, but they were able to work with the manufacturer to access those images. It shows a person, wearing a mask and gloves outside of her front door. They're obviously trying to identify that person,

hoping that somebody recognizes that individual, and they're asking for the public's help. And Bradley as well, Savannah Guthrie is a very well-known TV personality in the U.S. What's been the reaction there to this story? Well, it is being so closely followed. Obviously, we're speaking with you at the BBC. And here in the United States, it's leading newscasts on multiple networks. It's so much interest in this case, particularly on social media because of the celebrity aspect and the true mystery that exists here. Many people are trying to figure out what has happened. And this family is still in the dark.

They're still fighting for answers too. Yesterday, Savannah Guthrie did post that doorbell camera footage to social media pleading for anyone who knows that person to contact authorities. And she did say Charlotte about her mom, quote, we believe that she is still alive. Bring her home. That was Bradley Blackburn. For more on one of today's big stories, you can go on YouTube, search for BBC News, click on the logo, then choose podcasts and Global News Podcasts. There's a news story available every weekday. Ever since Donald Trump came back into office a year ago, Ukraine has been under pressure to hold elections. Elections were scheduled for the spring of 2024, but because of the Russian invasion, they've been put on hold.

Now the Financial Times is reporting that elections aren't. planned for May this year, and there could also be a referendum. The FTs Christopher Miller has the exclusive and told Rebecca Kesbby more. The Trump administration has signalled to Zelensky that they want to see the war ended by summer before June. And so what we were reporting today was that since last autumn, when talks really began to sort of pick up steam between the Americans and the Ukrainians, leading to these new trilateral talks in the past few weeks with the Russians involved, is that Zelensky has quietly put into place or gotten the ball rolling on potential national elections, presidential elections that have not been held since before the war,

possibly in line with a referendum in which the Ukrainian population would be meant to vote on a peace deal that is agreed during these talks. And what we reported was not only that this machinery has been put in place, but that the Americans are really pushing it along, saying that they've given this deadline of these votes to be done in Kiev by May 15th when the security guarantees that the United States and Ukraine together bilaterally have agreed on would expire. One big caveat here is that Donald Trump has set numerous deadlines in the past, and we've blown right past several of them. Okay. But I mean, this is a change of direction, a significant change of direction from Kiev, isn't it? Because it has argued that the country is defending itself from a Russian invasion at the moment is not going to be possible to run free and fair elections. And I mean, isn't it even against the rules of the constitution in Ukraine to hold elections?

during a time of war. You're absolutely right about all of that. It's not possible under the current Ukrainian constitution to hold national elections in martial law in wartime. But under this plan, what is being discussed is this timeline that would see March and April spent in the Ukrainian parliament here passing the legislation needed in order to hold these polls in wartime. But of course, this is a change.

change of attack from Zelensky. He has said that elections in the current circumstances and before any kind of ceasefire and peace deal has had should not occur. He's come out today and reiterated that position in some ways saying that, you know, security is key. And guaranteeing the security around a vote is the only way that these elections can be held. So if these elections do go ahead, presumably Zelensky would stand again last time he got a substantial majority, didn't he? Is he likely to win again or has his popularity dimmed? And what's the opposition likely to do? Will they field candidates?

You know, Zelensky has not declared his intention to run for a second term, but our sources indicate that he is very interested in doing so. And certainly they've said he believes that the sooner an election is held, the better chances he has at winning. Here he has some key contenders who would likely vie for the office against him, one of those being the ambassador to the UK and former top commander Valeri Zaluzni. Another was actually just appointed by Zelensky to be his new chief of staff, and that is the former intelligence, defense intelligence chief Kirillo Budanov. Among other numerous candidates, many of them opposition politicians in parliament, possibly even the former president and the predecessor to Zaluzl. I've spent the last three decades trying to better understand money across the border room, the newsroom and the trading floor.

That's longer than most podcasts hosts have been alive. But even though I've got questions, join me, Merrin's Upset Web, every week for my show Merrin Talks Money from Bloomberg Podcasts, where I have in-depth conversations with fund managers, strategists and experts about her markets really work. And join me for a separate episode where I answer listener questions and how to make those markets work for you. Follow Merrington's Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. That was Christopher Miller, the Financial Times, Ukraine correspondent, speaking to us from Kiev. Still to come in this podcast. People are no longer accepting that aging and decay are the same thing.

We'll hear about biohacking. Can it really help keep us young and is it safe? Austin Appleby is the young Australian boy who swam for four hours in waters known for sharks like great whites to save his mum and siblings after they were all swept out to sea. The 13-year-old didn't know if his mother Joanne, brother Bo and sister Grace were still alive when he finally reached the shore. Today, police have released audio of the emergency call Austin made and they say it's a textbook example of what you should do in an emergency. praising his calm and clear communication. Let's hear a little of it now. Police emergency.

What location do you need of the police? Hello. My name's Austin and I'm outside beach. I have two siblings, Bo and Grace. A boat is 12 and Grace is 8. We went out on a kayak trip and a paddleboard trip and we got to see and we got lost out there and now we got lost around about

I don't know what timer was but it was very long time ago you know we couldn't get back to shore and mum told me they're going back to get help and then I haven't seen them since that I think they're kilometres out in sea. I think we need a whole box to go find them.

I'm sitting on the beach right now and I also explain I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia. I'm just talking this in, bear with me. Can you tell me your last name, Austin? Applebee. A-A-W-P-E-L-B-E. So it's Mum is out there with kids as well, is that right?

Yeah, and I don't know what their condition is right now and I'm really scared. That was 13-year-old Austin Appleby speaking to emergency services in Western Australia last week. Biohacking was once a fringe pursuit of Silicon Valley's executives and elite athletes, but it's fast becoming big business. The idea is that precisely measured, often small adjustments to your physical routines and behavior, can lead to major health benefits and even help you live longer. The term can cover everything from quirky things,

therapies to longevity labs. And despite the objections of many in medical science, the biohacking industry is flourishing. Michelle Fleury reports from New York. I'm Anthony. I'm Teresa. I'm legend. I'm love. And we are the biohack yourself family. That's the lollies, a family of four who have turned their own medical crises into a high-gloss multi-platform media brand. This is my gallon of water. Every day I fill it up with ice and BCAs. They're not tinkering in a garage. They're part of a growing movement that treats the human body like software, something that can always be upgraded.

I met them at a high-end biohacking facility. I started by asking the parents, Anthony and Teresa, why they decided to turn their family life into a 24-hour biological experiment. The spark was when my husband got diagnosed with morbid obesity. that really hit us hard. And that's hard to believe today, looking at Anthony now. Yeah, absolutely. We have to really make this information available to others

because you have to biohack yourself. And it's not just the parents. Even their children, 9-year-old love and 7-year-old legend, are in on the optimization. Typical day supplements, PEMF. I want a biohack for the rest of my life because I want to stay healthy, young. And as families like the lollies push the boundary,

A wave of new biohacking businesses is popping up in an industry set to nearly triple by 2030. How are you guys doing? Welcome, welcome. This is Chuck Morris. People are no longer accepting that aging and decay are the same thing. Today he runs Midtown Biohack. He says that what used to be reserved for elite athletes is now for everyone. One of his most popular treatments, a 10-second electric workout. It can make your muscles contract fast. then you can contract by coming up and down. Ready? That was 100 crunches in 10 seconds, and I was just lying here relaxing.

But then why don't I feel the level of pain or exhaustion that I would if I had done 100 crunches? That's the biohack. And business is expanding fast. He says his target customer is the industrial athlete. Anyone glued to a screen for 12 hours a day. It's not a fad anymore. It's actually the reality of human experience.

This is the standard. But not everyone is convinced. I've just got in the elevator and I'm on my way to the apartment of Dr. Near Baselai. What they're doing is not science. It's not based on science and it could be also dangerous. He's the director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. This massive growth is because people wanted, people need it. And eventually it'll become scientific.

based. For now, it's a jungle out there. A multi-billion dollar industry built on hope. And for the Lolly family, a question science has yet to answer. Can it really buy you more time? Michelle Flurry. Unlike many other wild animals, birds are able to live alongside humans, even in big cities. It might not be good for them. A new study has provided evidence of how birds are negatively affected by noise linked to humans. Our global affairs reporter, Sebastian Usher, has been telling me more about the story. Well, I think noise pollution is a problem across the board. But obviously this study focused on birds.

I mean, it drew on for decades of research and findings. So really giving, I think, the strongest picture so far of the impact on, I think, a 160 bird species and across the whole world. This is, as you can imagine, mostly in. in urban areas. And the key to what the church is saying is that this is the man-made noise. So it's the noise of vehicles, there's noise of machinery. It's all those noises that people living in cities have to deal with themselves. But of course, the issue for birds is that they're trying to communicate through this in a very sophisticated way and that's been impacted.

So that makes them particularly vulnerable because they're trying to attract mates, I guess, with their songs. It's all sorts of things. That's one. I mean, the research says that some courtship rituals by birds have changed because of that, but also for parents trying to communicate with chicks. And I think very importantly, trying to watch out through what they hear for any danger and then communicate it to other birds. That's an issue. It also talks about the way that it's changed their habitat, the way that they use the habitat. It makes a distinction between birds who live right down near the ground, how it affects them and ones who live higher saying the ones who are lower down, their reproduction is interfered with, is disrupted while

birds who live higher up. Their level of growth is damaged by this. So it does show, you know, the extreme impact that this noise pollution has had on birds. And as you say, so many of them do live in urban areas. So what can we do? Because obviously cities like London are always going to be noisy. But is anything we can do to mitigate it? Well, I mean, again, the same means that for humans there's an element, you know, to try and mitigate noise, which is to encourage the use of electric cars, things like leaf blow, as I mentioned by the researchers, to stop that. I mean, obviously, that's going to be particularly close to where birds' habitats are, also to have better insulation, better noise cancellation in houses, all of these things we already know about, but with a specific emphasis on how it can improve life for birds. Sebastian Usher. Finally, this week sees the release of a new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights,

featuring Margot Robbie and Jacob Allaudy. And it's been making headlines for its steamy approach to a British classic. And the reinvention has been having an impact on the home of the Bronys, the village of Haworth in West Yorkshire. A place that as David Silato has been finding out, some visitors think is a film set rather than an actual Yorkshire village. It is very, very bleak up here. It is blowing a bit of a wind, pouring with rain.

The sky is every shade of grey you could possibly imagine. And this is what people come for. Welcome to Bronteeland, Haworth. And they're very excited at the moment. Howarth, it needs to Cathy. I've come home now. Howarth, the home of Emily Bronte, and her famous sisters is more than just a tourist attraction. It's a cultural shrine.

And the talk at the moment is all about a new film adaptation. Margot Robbie and Jacob Allaudy have turned the passion up to 11. So kiss me. Let us both be damned. And it's already drawing in a new crop of Bronte pilgrims to the village. Emily Bronte died in this house, thinking Wutheran Heights was a massive flaw. She died on this. them, Katie Kennedy, the history gossip. For someone of your generation, what is the appeal of

bruntiness? I feel like the grittiness, the yearning. Watching that film, I felt like I just wanted to sit and perch by a window and look out and like yearn. That's all I want to do right now. I think the thing for me is this was written 200 years ago and it was such a controversial book of its time and it still carries that controversy like today. Fall in love. All of which raises the question, what does Howarth make of the film? So this is Howarth Parsonage, now the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

Rebecca York, who runs the Bronte Museum, was invited to the premiere. It was just so exciting and emotional as well, seeing Yorkshire and that beautiful landscape and hearing those words. And I did get really emotional. There was one point where my colleague I had to put a hand on my arm and check how it was all right.

Howarth is bracing itself, and it's not as if it's not already a popular destination. I met local historian David Pearson amidst the throng of visitors on the famous steam train that runs up to Howlop. People sometimes say it's like going back 60, 70 years where you get on a train and slowly the modern world leaves you and this world envelopes you. What really disappoints us sometimes is when people think it's not real. So people don't think Howarth is a real town? Well, increasingly, I live in the village, just at the bottom of Main Street, and you get people saying, do people live here? You know, and they think it's some sort of Disneyland.

They think it's a theme park. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, Howarth is a real place, not a film set, but this new film version of their local classic is definitely getting people talking. You want me to stop? I met Louise at Luby Lou's Ice Creams. Are you looking forward to the film? I'm quite excited about it, yeah.

People are coming in and talking about it. So that's good, isn't it? Are you prepared, though? It's a bit saucy, I think. Horse whips and bridles. Gosh, yes, it might be one of those moments. I might have to take a fan with me. Yes, probably.

But whatever anyone makes of the film. It is a Bronte moment for a proud Yorkshire village. That was David's a. reporting from Brontiland, the village of Howeth. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.co.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod.

And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story, available wherever you get your podcasts. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Ron. Russell Newlove and the producer was Stephen Jensen. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time.

Goodbye. I've spent the last three decades trying to better understand money across the border room, the newsroom and the trading floor. That's longer than most podcasts hosts have been alive. But even though I've got questions. Join me, Merrin's subset web, every week for my show Merrin Talks Money from Bloomberg podcasts, where I have in-depth conversations with fund managers, strategists and experts about her markets really work.

And join me for a separate episode where I answer listener questions and how to make those markets work for you. Follow Merrim Talks Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.