Global News Podcast - Venezuelans' anger over slow earthquake response

Episode Date: June 29, 2026

More international support has been pledged for disaster response efforts in Venezuela in the wake of last week's massive earthquakes, but with tens of thousands still missing, hopes for finding more survivors are fading. Also, the Democratic Republic of Congo is still struggling to contain the Ebola outbreak, recording 47 new infections and 12 deaths on Saturday. Australia and Vanuatu sign a sweeping economic and security agreement in the face of growing concerns over Chinese influence in the region. Tennis great Serena Williams makes her singles comeback at Wimbledon. We hear from the 23-time singles Grand Slam winner. And, a fossil ignored for 40 years is identified as the first dinosaur bone ever found in Antarctica. 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] Photo: A member of a rescue team walks over the rubble of a building in La Guaira, Venezuela, 29 June 2026. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock, Ronald Pena R

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I'm Alex Ritson and at 5th 15 hours GMT on Monday the 29th of June, these are our main stories. The Venezuelan earthquake death toll climbs as anger grows over the slow response by the authorities. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo worsens with 47 new infections and 12 deaths on Saturday alone. Britain's Prime Minister in waiting, Andy Burnham, sets out his plans for running the UK. Also in this podcast, The main fear is that we will see towns and villages which are half empty.

If only half the population is left in a village, the infrastructure suffers. Germany's population crisis in the east. We begin in Venezuela, where more international support has been pledged for disaster response efforts in the wake of last week's massive earthquakes. The Netherlands says it's sending a naval vessel to the country with emergency supplies, while China has promised almost $15 million in assistance. Almost 1,500 people are now known to have died, and tens of thousands more are still believed to be missing.

While international rescue teams are undertaking large-scale searches for survivors with equipment and sniffer dogs, anger has been growing against Venezuela's government for what people say is a lack of action. Our senior international correspondent, Ola Geren, is in a northern coastal town which has badly hit. Daybreak in Katya Lamar, the heart of the disaster. zone. But where is the response? We reach the area easily. State agencies seemed in no rush. Inside a shredded building, a faithful friend still waits. Relatives looking on. These women know their sister is under the rubble. For the newly homeless, time to face another day. Wilmer lost eight

of his loved ones. Most are still a little. entombed by their homes. We have only recovered three. This is what hurts the most, that we won't have the chance to give them a proper burial as they deserve. On top of everything, the government decided to close the streets,

making it harder to bring help. Yesterday, we waited from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. to get a permission to come here. We wasted hours. Local people are here waiting as they have been for days and for nights, hoping that the bodies of their loved ones will be found. On top of this mound of rubble, there are some more residents from the area. One man has located the body of his father beneath all of that crushed wreckage,

but he has no way, nothing except his own hands, to try to recover the body. What's really striking here is not just the scale of the destruction, but the complete lack of any large-scale, organized, official assistance. There's no sign of the state here. People tell us they've gone through the pain of losing their loved ones, and now they have to try to rescue them themselves. And in the midst of all this, a newborn baby boy, Gael Garcia, tended by his grandmother, lady,

on a mattress in the dirt. His mum, Eliana, delivered him on the street 11 hours after the quake. Lady has had no word from her other daughter, Angelis, and her three children. And nearby, 79-year-old Yvonne gives us a warm welcome as she waits patiently for help to come. How do you think about what the government has done or failed to do

since all of this happened. Listen to me. I don't like to make comments that I know might have consequences later. I survived and I am still here, all by the will of God. But I am surprised that our governor

hasn't shown his face around here. It's been five days now. This afternoon, a few members of Venezuela, but Gila's National Guard appeared with precious little help. But for this young boy, help came in time today. Rescue workers gently carrying his weakened body prized from under the ground. Recovered with him, his father.

The two had been buried alive since Thursday. These scenes will bring hope to many desperate families here. but miracles are few. Ola Geren, the BBC's Will Grant is in Caracas and told me about wider search and rescue efforts. It's hard to get a complete picture because, you know, it's so many states on that northern coastline. But what I can say is in Caracas,

the neighbourhoods that have been damaged are in very, very poor state. There are buildings down to the tune of about 150 across the capital. But it's also the... the degree to which those that haven't been brought down completely have been so cracked and damaged that they're going to be uninhabitable. And then you think about places like where I've been over the weekend, Cathy Al-A-Mar and La Guaida state, where the devastation is genuinely hard to describe.

You walk down certain streets or you drive down certain parts of the town, and there are more buildings completely collapsed than they are still standing, and there are teams working on them. But then you realize they're not necessarily, especially official rescuers or teams sent from abroad. They're just neighbours with pickaxe and hands. I spoke to one man who was a mechanic from Canacas and figured he could help,

so got on a motorbike and head his way down there. So that's the sort of picture of what's going on, and people are well aware that they're probably basically looking to pull out bodies at this stage rather than find any more survivors. What about the more organised rescue efforts? Because there are teams coming in from overseas. Yes, and their support has been hugely appreciated by the Venezuelan people and the families. I think that the basic score, though, is that there simply hasn't been enough of it,

and that people who are desperately waiting, not just for their family members to be fine, but for the buildings where they know their family members were, to be properly searched, that they feel that no attention has been turned onto their buildings and that they've been left on their own. And that, I think, is the biggest frustration. That frustration is beginning to turn into much clearer anger towards, to the government. But I think there is also a recognition that the scale of this disaster is one that would be a challenge for any nation, particularly in Latin America, and that for Venezuela

that's been through so much in recent years, it is a Herculean task. Yes, because we're told the death toll officially is what, 1,500 people approaching, but there are tens of thousands of people believed to be missing. That's right. I'm at a hospital in Karaka. at the moment, there was just quite a sizable aftershock, and apparently the children in the pediatric ward began to scream saying it's happening again, it's happening again. You can imagine the trauma there. And on the walls of this hospital are the names of the missing.

So, of course, those who are inside the hospitals, particularly the ones who've been reunited with their families, really are the lucky ones. And that picture that I try to paint for you in Katya Lama is really just how bad and difficult things. are for so many in Venezuela. It's no surprise that there's been earthquakes in Venezuela. Why weren't the buildings constructed in a way that they didn't fall down?

Well, there are earthquakes in Venezuela, and obviously a lot of the buildings have been built to code. But over the years, for whatever reason it may be, lack of infrastructure, lack of investment, poor building codes in the first place, or simply corruption to sort of cut corners. There are swathes of the country that are simply not up to building code. That's true across Latin America.

Mexico, which I know very well and where I live, is a country that has improved its building codes over time to bring it up to earthquake code. All the schools, for example, are going through that experience now, but Venezuela, it lags behind in that regard has been made abundantly clear by this event. BBC's Will Grant in Venezuela. containing the Ebola outbreak in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo

remains a huge crisis for the country and the rest of Africa. According to the latest official figures, 47 new infections and 12 deaths were recorded in the DRC on Saturday alone. The outbreak was declared last month with more than 1,200 confirmed cases and 360 deaths. Earlier I spoke to the BBC's Emery Macomino, who's in the capital of the DRC, Kinshasa, and he told me more about the figures. They haven't reached a plateau where they will stabilize the cases of new infections and death

before expecting a decrease in numbers. And this is in the seventh week into the response where authorities are still catching up with the Ebola virus that has been spreading. They are coping with movement restrictions and also a change in their way of practice. a send-off of a loved one. And these restrictions have been even extended to Kunchasa, where authorities have actually banned any protest or any sort of rally just to prevent the spread of the virus.

But despite the restrictions, the geographic area where the disease is now killing people is just getting bigger and bigger. Yes, unfortunately. When you take North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, we are speaking of 15 million people in that area. And within the three provinces, we started here with three health zones affected by the virus. But now within the seven weeks here, it has increased from three to 35 health districts now that have notified cases of Ebola.

Should people outside the DRC be concerned? Well, according to the World Health Organization and also the Africa Central, for disease and prevention. They are saying that the risk of further spread is high in the country and also in 11 other countries here in the Central Africa and East Africa region. That's a risk of cross-border is still very high, but it is low when it comes to global spread or transmission. But these are things which are evolving. Last Wednesday, we saw that France notified a case of Ebola from Kinshasa here. So authorities are vigilant

and they are trying to contain at least the disease in the three provinces and not have it spread to additional provinces. Emery Macumino. Here in Britain, we've had six prime ministers in the last ten years. The man who's widely expected to be the seventh, Andy Burnham, has been setting out his plans to be Prime Minister a week after the incumbent

from the governing Labour Party, Kirstama, said that he would resign. Mr Burnham is currently the only candidate to replace him. He pledged to take power from the centre and put it in the hands of people and places that he said could use it best. Even the Prime Minister's residence, Ten Downing Street, would see a partial move from London to the north of England. Number 10 north will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain. It will be the conduit through which,

we redistribute power and resources across the UK. It will coordinate all parts of government at national and local level to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions. Our political correspondent Rob Watson told me more about number 10 North. Well, we now know, don't we, Alex, what Andy Burnham's big idea is. How is he going to be different from Kirstama? It's the idea of devolution, sending power from Westminster to all parts of the country. And it's an interesting one because Britain is one of the most centralized states in the whole of the developed world. So the idea is, and he says it's based on his experience in Manchester, that if you really want growth, you need to kind of devolve the power down to

local government, to local businesses, local people, and get cracking. And so the idea of the number 10 of the north, which will be based in Manchester, is to force that through to make sure that power and resources are indeed taken from where I'm sitting here in Westminster. Haven't other leaders promised similar ideas though before? They have indeed, Alex. And it's interesting. When I was listening to him, I was remembering sitting in Manchester myself listening to David Cameron, anyone remember him, in 2015 saying that it was incredibly important after their election victory

that the wealth of the southeast of England needed to be spread to places like Manchester. and no doubt everybody will remember Boris Johnson, anyone remember him, Mayor of London, his big plan after Brexit that Britain needed to be levelled up. So yes, these sort of promises have been made before and that's why it's going to be all about delivery for Mr Burnham. Maybe that's one reason why Alex. He said this was a 10-year plan to tell everyone to be patient. What are the financial markets going to make of it all? Well, the financial markets will be pleased that he said he was going to live within the existing fiscal rules set by the current Labour government that he's taking over from, basically, you know, not to be increasing the major taxes or borrowing or spending. But I think more broadly, the markets and private sector more generally would want to know, you know,

as a person of the centre left, does Mr. Burnham get it as they would see that what industry, what you really need for growth in Britain, is not just sort of things like devolution, but essentially to make it easier, cheaper for businesses to set up in Britain and to invest here from overseas. And is this going to tackle the real realisation? problems that Britain faces? Well, I guess the answer to that is, Alex, that it would if it works, right? I mean, his promise at the end was, what was it, to bring growth to every postcode and hope to every heart.

It's, you know, that's what we'll be looking at over the next two, three, four, or as Mr. Burnham would like, 10 years, Alex. And briefly, his colleagues, any reaction? Well, you know, they love it. They love the hopeful message, that, you know, hope in every heart, giving a more sort of joyful picture of Britain and the idea that people all over the country and their representatives can take back control, and that sort of stuff goes down well. But again, you know, it's details, delivery.

Rob Watson. A fossil which has been ignored for 40 years has turned out to be the first dinosaur bone ever found in Antarctica. The specimen belongs to the British Antarctic Survey based in the English city of Cambridge. It's now been identified by experts from the Natural History Museum in London, as our science editor Rebecca Morel explains.

The 10 centimetre wide fossil, was unearthed during an expedition to James Ross Island four decades ago. Its discovery was recorded in a filled notebook with a tiny sketch of the fossil and a note saying vertebra from a large reptile. But that was as far as the identification went, until the fossil was spotted amongst the thousands of specimens stored at the British Antarctic Survey. Its distinctive shape revealed it was part of the tail of a titanosaur, the largest dinosaurs ever to roam the earth. It dates to 82 million years ago when Antarctica was very different to how it is today. It would have been covered in lush forest, providing ample food for this four-legged long-necked dinosaur. Professor Paul Barrett, a paleontologist from the Natural History Museum, helped to identify the bone.

So it's significant in being the first dinosaur that was found on the continents. We know that these are really big animals. They require lots of food, so at least we know that there's a lot of things there that are growing for them to feed on. They're animals that also find their way into New Zealand and Australia, so it helps link those landmasses together with the sorts of dinosaurs that are around on them at this time and shows that an area that we now think is really uninhabitable was once actually very habitable and had this huge cast of characters living on it. The scientists think the dinosaur this fossil came from was about seven metres long,

which is small for a titanosaur, suggesting it was a young animal or even a dwarf species. Rebecca Morell. Still to come in this podcast. I definitely have a lot of experience on my side and I have a lot of championships where I don't feel the pressure to do anything. As Wimbledon gets underway, we speak to a returning champion, Serena Williams, who's making her singles come back. How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world

with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story Podcasts from the BBC To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99% invisible. This soft power, this influence, was an incredible invention. For more, listen to the global story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The 26 World Cup started with 48 teams and we've now reached the knockout stage. Records have been broken. The way that Messi has been able to score all these goals later.

in his career. He's happy to play football and broken records is the consequence for him. And new heroes have emerged. This country's caught the fever. Casual fans are now die-hard fans. And The More Than the Score podcast is bringing you the stories beyond the score lines. More than the score from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

The United States is about to mark its 250th, anniversary. And so on the Global Story podcast from the BBC, we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story and a lot of people have bought it. I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. From the BBC, it's the United States at 250. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News podcast.

In Germany, large parts of the country's east are forecast to see their population drop over the coming decades, as deaths in the country outpace births, and at the same time immigration levels are falling. But why is Germany's former communist east so affected? Our Berlin correspondent Jessica Parker reports. I'm in the town of Oshersleben, in the state of Saxon-Hanhout. Of the five states that were once part of Germany's communist east, this one has seen the most. drastic population drop, around a 26% full since 1990. We're here to meet a guy who came back to his hometown after years away, Jan Nicholas.

You were born in 1989, so when the Berlin Wall fell. Yes. A vendekind, yes. Turning point child, as it were. You were obviously a baby in 1989, but growing up here, what did you see change in the local area? There was a big change because obviously lots of... of people left after the reunification. People needed to look for new jobs, for new opportunities.

And obviously, lots of people left because the opportunities were in the West. This is the middle of the checkpoint. The police are making no attempt to stop people. The gates have been thrown open. There was euphoria when the Berlin Wall fell. ...horring over to take a look at a West. In some cases, their first look. But for the East, it would also lead to a huge sense of loss. Many firms suddenly extend. exposed to capitalism, struggled or collapsed. There was an exodus west. Birth rates in the east plunged.

They later picked up, but remained low as part of a wider trend. So we were really happy to get a place in the kindergarten. It's something Jan Nicholas is noticing. Now our kindergarten asks us if we know other families with children. So actually in the newspaper, there are now articles where kindergartens need children. So what specifically are you doing to try and get children? people into Osher Slobin? I want to bring this topic back on the kitchen tables that people start talking about demographic change more. We have to talk to everyone to come back. We're driving past

forests and fields and it's across large parts of the more rural east where further big population falls are forecast, regions that have seen way less immigration than the big cities or the west. And when When it comes to those who left after the wall fell, there's something else that's important to understand. The second wave of out migration peaked around 2005. Dr. Katchez-Salemo is a sociologist. It was highly selective. Young people, highly educated people, and especially women, were more likely to leave.

But the women left, they left ages ago. I mean, there must be... New women now. They must be new women, exactly, yeah. So if you look at the current marriage population, the 18 to 40 year old, you will see that in the older age group of that population, you still have this imbalance. But the children that whenever born continue to be amiss and they will also not have children. So this is how population the client works.

It gets worse and worse and worse. Begrushes the next minister-presidenten Ulrich Siegmund. A campaign video by the far-rights. Alternative for Deutsche Land. Saxon Anhalt may be the epicenter of a political earthquake. In upcoming elections, the AFD has a real shot at winning power. Research shows that electoral support for the right parties, including the AFD, tends to be higher in the regions most affected by population decline and its consequences. There's a strong sense of loss in stagnation accordingly, as we know from surveys,

along with the feeling of not receiving a fair share of what society is. There are initiatives to try and pull people to the east. Kati Lüver runs one of them from Halberstadt, a town nestled near the Hart's mountains. She works to promote the area and match people with jobs. The main fear is that we will see towns and villages, which are half empty. If only half the population is left in a village, the infrastructure suffers. We already see school closures in many parts of the region. And I think we have to fight.

against that to maintain a certain quality of life in our rural areas. Gatti Louvre ending that report by Jessica Parker. The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed for calm ahead of planned anti-immigration protests on Tuesday. He says while people have the right to demonstrate, intimidation and violence will not be tolerated. Richard Kegoy reports. In his weekly newsletter, President Sil Ramaphosa adds South Africans to protest peacefully,

warning that freedom comes with responsibility. He acknowledged public concerns about illegal immigration, saying the government would respond with effective action. Police are preparing a nationwide security operation after anti-migrant groups said the 30th of June as the unofficial deadline from documented foreigners to leave, fearing violence, thousands of migrants from neighboring countries are camping outside their consulates in Johannesburg, Cape Town,

and at transit centers in Durban waiting to be repatriated. Nearly 300 Nigerians are expected to leave on Monday evening. Richard Kegoy. As China's influence in the Pacific grows, other countries in the region are watching warily and trying to strengthen their positions. To that end, Australia and Vanuatu

have signed a sweeping economic and security agreement that bars any foreign military base on the Pacific Island nation. Australia correspondent Katie Watson told me more. It was meant to have been signs nearly 10 months ago, but at the signing ceremony last September, Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat pulled out citing concerns about sovereignty. So this agreement, it's a watered down version of the original. It still sets out that critical infrastructure

in Vanuatu won't become militarised and in exchange Australia will provide greater economic support. Now, there have been concern previously raised about China's funding of a war from Vanuatu's Luggenville, which is the second largest city. My understanding is that this kind of new, slightly watered-down agreement won't veto any foreign investment in certain infrastructure projects. But yes, when it comes to foreign military bases, this basically gives, you know, Australia a much stronger position as the country's most important security and policing partner. So what will this mean for the growing might of China? Well, I mean, it certainly puts, as I said, you know, it puts Australia in this good position

in Vanuatu. This is, it's a time when there's growing concern over China's influence, in the Pacific region. Certainly, it was back in 2022 when Beijing struck a security deal with the Solomon Islands. That definitely caused a great concern here in Canberra. There are several Pacific Island nations that have changed their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in recent years. So it's a bit of a tussle. Certainly it is a concern here in Australia that growing influence, but the fact that you've got this security deal in Vanuatu is going to be seen as a big win for Australia. Katie Watson. Tennis, Wimbledon started a few hours ago and a familiar face will return to the centre court on Tuesday. Serena Williams will make her singles comeback there after four years. She's been champion at Wimbledon

14 times, seven singles and six doubles titles, as well as one mixed doubles. but in recent years, the 44-year-old has been focusing on her family life and her daughters. The BBC's Claire Boulding has been speaking to Serena Williams and asked if she felt nervous ahead of her return. I've felt a lot of things where I haven't felt the butterflies yet. Do you think you will? Soon, I'm sure. I absolutely will.

100%. I just haven't felt it yet. I would love to ask you about what Serena Williams' 2026 hats that maybe Serena Williams 2000 didn't have, that maybe Serena Williams 2016 didn't have. What are the best things about being you right now? Well, I have two amazing kids. I think that's the best thing that I have that I didn't have then.

I would have totally taken them then as well. I definitely have a lot of experience on my side, and I have a lot of championships where I don't feel the pressure to do anything, except for have fun and enjoy myself and enjoy the moment. So is that what makes it most different walking in here this year, that you can be totally free? There is nothing to... I don't know.

I think so. I'm never a free person. In general, you see me play. I don't play. I play like a maniac. So we'll see. I mean, as of now, I'm calm, but I might change in a matter of minutes, who knows. And what does success look like for you? What do you want it to be? I think success is just walking out there. I never expected to be here. I mean, I expected to play doubles, but I didn't even expect that three, four months ago. So success is just enjoying myself for me. and sticking to my game plan that my coach gives me being disciplined. Being disciplined. So that's what I'm trying to do. Have you been back in the village yet? And have you got your house set up and all that?

Yeah, everything is back. I'm back in the house that I stayed in several years. So it's like it's been a very easy re-transition. So it's like nothing too new. And at the same time, it's everything new. I don't know my way around here. I'm like, wait, what? Where am I?

couldn't get here. I was lost. But it's still fun. Change is good. It's going to be a blast to see you on court again. You think? I do. But there is a bigger message here. And what do you want the big message to be? That is such a big question for me right now. I don't know. I just want to, anything is possible, I guess, but also sometimes it's good to just enjoy yourself. So that's what I'm planning to do. Serena Williams. 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. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Martin Baker and the producer was Daniel Mann.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye. How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars. of 99% invisible.

This soft power, this influence, was an incredible invention. For more, listen to The Global Story on BBC.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.