Your World Tonight - Searching for survivors in Texas, The Dalai Lama turns 90, making all-Canadian cars, and more

Episode Date: July 6, 2025

Authorities in Texas say -- they are not ready to give up hope. Three days after devastating flash floods, rescue workers are still digging through debris in a desperate attempt to find survivors. There are also questions about how the floods caught officials by surprise - and whether possible warning signs were missed. Also: Today is the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday. He is one of the world's most influential spiritual leaders - and a symbol of hope and freedom for Tibetans. We'll take you to Dharamshala, India - where the Dalai Lama lives in exile - to hear about the festivities, and simmering tensions over how his eventual successor will be selected. And: In the face of trade tensions with the U.S., some auto industry leaders in this country say it's time for Canada to steer our own destiny - by building cars entirely within Canada's borders. But some experts say that task is easier said than done.Plus: Colombia's rebel groups recruit teens through TikTok, Homes in Canada's biggest cities going unsold, and more

I'm Joshua Jackson, and I'm returning for the Audible original series, Oracle, Season 3, Murder at the Grandview. Six forty-somethings took a boat out a few days ago. One of them was found dead. The hotel, the island, something wasn't right about it. Psychic agent Nate Russo is back on the case, and you know when Nate's killer instincts are required, anything's possible.

This world's gonna eat you alive. Listen to Oracle Season 3, Murder at the Grandview, now on Audible. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Nala Ayed. This is your World Tonight. It's a horrible sense of search, right? Because you're searching for something you hope you don't find.

In Texas, the frantic search continues for survivors of this weekend's flash floods. 11 girls from a summer camp are still missing. And with more rain in the forecast, millions of Texans are still under flood watch. Also on the podcast, Texas Hill Country is grimly known as Flash Flood Alley. You'll hear why the area is so flood prone and why officials were so unprepared for this latest disaster. And in the face of U.S. trade tensions, is it time for Canada to build its own car? This car company will have no track record and I'd be concerned that there will not be enough customers to sustain this.

Experts say it's easier said than done. Authorities in Texas say they are not ready to give up hope. Three days after devastating flash floods, searchers are still working through debris in a desperate attempt to find survivors. At least 78 people are now dead, many more still missing. Sam Sampson has our top story tonight. Search and rescue crews fly above Camp Mystic, the Texas Christian summer camp for girls now left in ruins after flash flooding on Friday. Teams in

the air and on the ground combed the area looking for 11 campers and one councillor still missing as the Guadalupe River relentlessly rushes nearby. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Latha says more than 850 people have been rescued but they're not stopping until they find everyone. We have more than a dozen canine working in and near the river. More than 100 air, water and ground vehicles are in the field right now working on this search and rescue. Officials say torrential rains caused the river to unexpectedly rise quickly by as much as eight meters in two hours,

rushing water sweeping everything in its path. Some families have confirmed with American news networks that their daughters are among the casualties, sharing photos of young smiling girls wearing colorful dresses and t-shirts. In another county one family is desperately running its own search team. Over the weekend Ty Baden looked for his daughter and her friends who went missing on their 4th of July trip. The place where all the survivors are brought and we were hoping that we would hear our daughter and friends names called but they never did

call so we said this morning we're gonna come out and try to find them ourselves. Across central Texas volunteers do what they can to search for the missing. Garrett Hugo kept his eyes peeled as he kayaked down the flooded river putting his past experience to use. I just haven't felt the urge to do something like this and felt the fighter flights since I was at war in the military. So we're going to give our efforts and yeah, hopefully it turns out something positive. At the Grape Juice, a restaurant in one of the worst hit zones, volunteers work to feed rescue crews and survivors, slapping mayo, mustard and cold cuts between slices of bread.

Owner Derek Easton says it's the least he can do to help the families of those whose children are dead. My daughter is nine. She's around the age of these girls and so it's like I can't imagine what these parents are going through and I don't need to. I just need to make sandwiches. If I keep making sandwiches people can still be fed. If responders are fed then they can save lives. which is people can still be fed. If responders are fed then they can save lives. Every bit counts as Texas trudges through flood water, mud and grief. Sam Sampson, CBC News, Washington. Texas Hill Country is known as one of the deadliest places in the United States for flash flooding. Even so, the speed and the scale of the deluge caught officials by surprise, leaving residents asking

how that could happen and whether possible warning signs were missed. Alexander Silberman explains. What began as a sudden heavy downpour in central Texas turned into four months worth of rain in mere hours, the surging waters coming as a shock in a region used to flooding. When we have a severe event of this nature, it is never just one factor. Dave Niyogi is a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin who studies extreme weather events. He says drought might have played a part, making the ground less able to absorb

water and also creating heat, fuel for the stormy weather. So this is like a one-two punch that any large system looks for in terms of high moisture and high temperature. And it looks like in this case, both of them were in plenty and for a long time. As scientists look for answers to what caused so much rain, emergency officials are facing tough questions around why people near the river weren't warned faster, despite the Texas Division of Emergency Management's warning days earlier that a storm like this could be coming. The first sign of the disaster came Thursday afternoon with

the National Weather Service issuing a common warning called a flood watch. Then at four in the morning Friday it sent dangerous situation alerts shared on social media and broadcast on television and radio. But most residents were asleep, leaving some wondering if those alerts reached too few people too late. If you don't have the people and the observational capabilities and can't fly the planes or the satellites are not giving you the data, you're gonna suffer. Rick Spinrad is the former administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He says local weather forecasting offices are currently understaffed.

The government agency was recently hit by cuts from the Trump administration. We can assume that the predictions, and not just hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, drought, wildfires are undoubtedly going to degrade. And that means that people's ability to prepare for these storms will be compromised. The U.S. government is defending its response, pledging to upgrade technology used by the National Weather Service. Alexander Silberman, CBC News, Regina. Almost two weeks after an eight-year-old girl was attacked in the woods near

Quadville, a small Ottawa valley town, investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what happened. Ontario Provincial Police were called by a relative who reported the girl missing. Police then found her with serious injuries. As Philip Lee Shanick reports, the rural community is waiting for answers. They told me that the dogs found her. The legal guardian of the eight-year-old girl says he called the Ontario Provincial Police on June 24th when she didn't show up when she was expected. And officers found her badly hurt in a remote area away from town.

We were kept in the dark just as much as anybody else. We still don't know what did it. We still don't know who or why she was even out there. CBC News is not identifying the girl or her guardian in order to protect her privacy. The girl was rushed to a trauma centre and airlifted to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa where he says she's in serious

but stable condition. The OPP say some kind of wild animal might have attacked her and are working with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as well as experts in animal attacks. But almost two weeks later investigators are still not sure what happened. I know that we're working with those experts to help us determine what happened here. OPP Acting Staff Sergeant Jeff Dulgades says they're looking for a man in his 60s. He used to live in the area and could be from the U.S. who was seen riding a motorcycle that day and might have information. If he was a witness to the incident it may help us identify what the cause of the injuries were and what type of animal. We know that the ministry is working in conjunction with our investigators to help solve this. In the meantime,

people gathered over the weekend to raise money for the girl's family and support one another. Wanda Resmer runs the local community center. Only by the grace of God that she's here Wanda Resmer runs the local community center. Only by the grace of God that she's here. Because she could be dead and she's not. He did have his hand upon her. He did save her life. It just seems to be a little bit vague on the reports from the police or MNR or whoever's supposed to be in charge of this sort of thing.

Amos Shiner and his family drove from another rural community to support the fundraiser. He says with little information people aren't sure how to protect themselves. To me when I first heard of it I thought I was a dog. Sure I'd be very surprised it was not. I'd be more than glad to be wrong if somebody says that's a bear come up here and kill them all. Animal traps have been set up near Quadville as a precaution and police have advised the community to remain vigilant and keep a close watch on young children. Philip LeChanoc, CBC News, Toronto.

Police in Quebec and Ontario are searching for a convicted murderer who escaped from prison. 69-year-old Laurie Bill-Germain was serving an indefinite sentence for first-degree murder at the Archambault Institution in the Laurentians. Staff discovered he was missing during an inmate count on Saturday night and police believe he may now be in southwestern Ontario. Germa is the second convicted killer to escape from Archambault in the past few weeks. Another man escaped on June 22nd. He was arrested by police the following day. In 22nd, he was arrested by police the following day. Still ahead, interest rates have fallen, house prices all but flattened. So why are homes sitting around unsold in some of what would normally be Canada's hottest

housing markets? You'll hear about what is keeping buyers away later in the program. The Israeli Prime Minister says he's opposed to any deal that would ultimately leave Hamas in charge of Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Donald Trump in Washington Monday to discuss ending the war in Gaza, something the U.S. president has been pushing for. As Tom Perry reports, the meeting is being watched closely by both Israelis and Palestinians. Each day, the war claims more victims. In Gaza City, Palestinians claw through the rubble

of a residential building levelled by an Israeli strike. Some carry away bodies wrapped in plastic, laying the lifeless forms on the ground before grieving relatives. The strikes now are just like the ones at the start of the war, says Mohammed Asawale. Don't tell me about a truce. it's just like the start of the war. The push to end this war has been slow and fitful but may be gaining new strength. On Friday Hamas delivered what it called a positive response to a US-backed ceasefire proposal.

Israel has dispatched a negotiating team to Qatar for talks. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Sunday evening for Washington, he'll meet Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who's putting pressure on both sides in this conflict to make a deal. I think it's tragic, the tragic reality of the world, that the savior of Israel is Donald Trump. Gershon Baskin has been an advisor to two Israeli prime ministers on the peace process and has worked on negotiations with Hamas for almost two decades. He says right now it's Trump

who will decide more than anyone what comes next in Gaza. The big question is has Trump made a decision to bring this war in Gaza to an end? That's what he's been tweeting, that's what's in his social media. The question is you know the man is unpredictable so he end. That's what he's been tweeting. That's what's in his social media. The question is, you know, the man is unpredictable, so he could do anything. But what he has been saying over the last couple of weeks is that the war has to end and the hostages have to come home. Families of the 50 living and dead hostages still held by Hamas, hope Trump will press Netanyahu to finally make peace and bring home their loved ones. The families, along with thousands of supporters, staged their weekly rally in Tel Aviv Saturday night.

Nurit Benjamani has seen potential ceasefires collapse before, but hopes this time is different. Well, I really cross my fingers, but I don't know. I think it depends on Trump and how much pressure we will put on Bibi because I think if it is dependent on Bibi this will not happen. After 21 months of war, there is much riding on this meeting at the White House

and on the question of whether a president known for being an agent of chaos and division can in this one instance somehow be a force for peace. Tom Perry, CBC News, Jerusalem. Israel has struck three Houthi-controlled ports and a power plant in Yemen because of what it calls military activity from there. Earlier Sunday, crew members aboard a cargo vessel in the Red Sea were forced to abandon ship

after being hit by rocket-propelled grenades and bombs. It was the first major attack in the shipping route in weeks. The UK's military says the Liberian-flagged and Greek-owned ship came under fire Sunday night. Houthi rebels are suspected to be behind the attack, but they have not claimed responsibility. He is one of the world's most influential spiritual leaders, a symbol of hope and freedom for Tibetans. And today, the Dalai Lama is 90 years old. The milestone was marked with a weeks-long celebration.

Our South Asia correspondent Salima Shivji is in Dharamshala, India, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. She has more on the festivities and simmering tensions over how his eventual successor will be selected. A birthday weekend for the Dalai Lama. The crowds in his adopted home in Dharamshala in northern India are in the thousands. The Dalai Lama is 90 years old and yet he walks into his temple with purpose, leaning on his aids with a smile on his face,

defiant in the face of a brewing battle with China over his reincarnation. For many of the devotees here, there's joy. And relief at seeing the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists in person as they pray for his life to last much longer. The Dalai Lama has done so much for us in exile, says Khandotsering. She left her homeland as a young girl in 1959, the same year the Dalai Lama fled and established a base in India for thousands of his fellow exiled Tibetans, after a failed uprising as China tightened its grip on Tibet.

Today, Beijing directly controls Tibet, which it designates as an autonomous region. Human rights groups warn that China is increasingly working to suppress Tibetan culture and language and indoctrinate children. I do worry about China's growing power, Tsering says, but what can I do about it? That uncertainty ripples through the crowd.

The fear that Beijing, after years of trying to crush the Tibetan movement, will now try to crush the Dalai Lama's instructions for how he will be reborn. He says after he's reincarnated, only his inner circle can identify his successor. China begs to differ. Its government will approve the next Dalai Lama, Beijing insists. That all but guarantees there would be two rival Dalai Lamas and competing narratives. There is a precedent. A senior Tibetan figure, the Panchen Lama, disappeared in 1995 when he was six years

old. He was never seen again. China appointed another boy in his place. The leadership vacuum could happen in the case of reincarnation. Penpa Sering, who leads Tibet's government in exile, the central Tibetan administration, is gearing up for that battle. His government is already working on securing more allies. Countries that will firmly say it's up to the Dalai Lama and his inner circle

to choose his successor without interference. But Sering also knows there are limits. We can reach out only to free world, not to authoritarian regimes and not even to Africa and Latin America and the global South countries because they are all so dependent on China economically. But for this devoted crowd, the question is already settled, says Yafal Negi, who travelled from Barcelona for the birthday celebrations. The Chinese Dalai Lama, well, I don't think any of the Tibetans would really accept it as our own.

Even if the future stability of the role is not yet assured. Salima Shivji, CBC News, Dharamshala, India. Social media can help you find new like-minded friends or introduce you to a new hobby or a cause. But in Colombia, the United Nations is warning of a dangerous new social media trend. It says rebel groups there are using apps like TikTok to recruit children and teenagers into their ranks. As freelance reporter Manuel Rueda tells us, kids from rural indigenous villages are especially vulnerable. Teenagers fire machine guns and drive around in expensive SUVs in TikTok videos published by Colombian rebels.

The videos also show young girls in camouflage, lip-syncing and blowing kisses to the camera. Angie Zapata, a human rights worker with Colombia's NASA tribe, says rebel groups like the Farky MC are increasingly using social media to enlist young people. They want our kids to believe that life in a rebel group is glamorous, she says. The rebels are intensifying efforts to recruit children as young as 12, as they try to control more territory ahead of next year's elections. Adolescents from rural areas are targeted because they will work for low wages and can perform a variety of tasks, says Scott Campbell, the UN's top human rights official in Columbia. The kids know the areas really well, and so they're able to be kind of a first line of

intelligence and defense. At times there have been reports we've gotten where they're on the front lines of combat as well, so often they're a way of protecting more experienced armed fighters and they're essentially used as cannon fodder. Colombian authorities recorded 409 cases of minors recruited by armed groups last year. That's twice as many as in 2023, and it's probably an undercount. Because families are often very nervous and scared about reporting this crime for fear of repercussions and retaliation by the armed group.

Elizabeth Dickinson is a security analyst for the International Crisis Group. She says rebel groups have built networks in rural areas to reach children who live in vulnerable families or suffer from abuse. They're told, for example, in the case of boys, that they'll have access to power, to motorcycles, easy cash. In the case of girls, they're often told a story about women's empowerment. And for women particularly caught in a home with domestic abuse, this is a very alluring narrative. To tackle the problem, Colombia's government has established cultural centers in vulnerable communities.

The government also works with private organizations that help children who have escaped from rebel groups. Livia Garzón is a social worker at the CRAN Foundation, an organization that finds foster homes for these kids and helps them to process their emotions through workshops and field trips. We want these kids to trust in adults again, she says, and to develop the life skills that are required for them to study, get jobs and form new families. Colombia's government says that last year it rescued 318 children from armed groups,

but many more are still enlisting. Human rights groups say Colombia has to hire more prosecutors who can go after recruiters, while pressuring rebel groups that are in peace talks with the government to give up this illegal practice. Manuel Rueda for CBC News, Bogota. In major Canadian cities, homes are going unsold. But the major spike in listings isn't translating into sales. As Jessica Chung explains, economic uncertainty may be the reason buyers are staying away. This open kitchen has gas stove and it's so perfect for entertaining.

Walking through a newly renovated turnkey home in a sought-after neighbourhood in South Vancouver, real estate agent Alice Yang says this house would have gone fast two years ago. But now the listing has been sitting on the market for over a month and a half and the price slashed by over a hundred grand. I thought we were, you know, going to have an offer by now but it is just the way the market is. Yang says in Greater Vancouver

only one house is selling for every ten listings. And she's been seeing this trend since the beginning of the year. I'm seeing other listings and some listings are dropping a hundred thousand somewhere like higher priced properties are dropping by two hundred thousand. Some listings I'm seeing them sitting on the market for like three four or five months or longer and some of them are not getting any showings. In June Metro Vancouver saw a 24% spike in the amount of listings on the market compared to the same month last year, but home sales dipped 10%.

It's the same story in Toronto, with listings up 31%, but home sales down around 2.5%. Calgary saw an 83% increase in listings, but sales dropped 16.5%. The big factor is that there just isn't a ton of demand. John Pesalis is a Toronto real estate broker and the president of Realosafi Realty. He says that's partially due to the economic uncertainty amid tensions with the U.S. There's concerns about, of course, the trade war with the U.S., how that might impact employment. So you know, when people are worried about the economy, when they're worried about their job, they're not rushing out to buy a home.

Pesalis says it would help the market if Canada was able to reach a trade deal with the U.S. But Andrei Pavlov, a professor at Simon Fraser University, says even if that were to happen, it won't be enough to drastically bring prices down further. That will remove the tensions with the U.S. but that still doesn't remove the structural issues that we have at home, which are high taxes, a lot of regulation, a lot of red tape. And while interest rates have plateaued after a number of declines, Pavlov says they're still higher than what they were a couple of years ago. The central bank is expected to release its next rate announcement at the end of the month.

Jessica Chung, CBC News, Vancouver. Of all the sectors feeling the tremors from our ever-shifting trade relationship with the U.S., few are trembling as much as the auto industry. After decades of cars being manufactured by crisscrossing the U.S.-Canada border, Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn't want Canadian-made cars. So some industry leaders in this country say it is now time for Canada to steer our own destiny. Nick Perton looks at what it would take to make an all-Canadian car. I'm at one of the most modern auto parts factories in the country. Rob Wildeboer owns the place.

Steel comes in on the press. every hit adds complexity to the park. Wildeboer is the co-founder of Martin Rea International. He believes that Canada needs to become more self-sufficient. So when I was seven years old, we were the third richest country in the world. We just built the St. Lawrence Seaway, which was a monumental project. We built the highest tower in the world we thought big. That's how we gotta be thinking here. Make a car, make a great car.

Now, if you're thinking to yourself, a Canadian car, isn't that a crazy idea? Well, Wildeboer actually kind of agrees with you. When we started this auto parts company, people said, what are you doing? They thought we were nuts. The world's changed by people with crazy ideas. It's not just Wildeborg who believes in the idea. Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturing

Association, which represents 250 companies, is pushing for a feasibility study into making a Canadian car. Now, the Canada can even consider building its own car is because of places like the lab at the Automotive Engineering program at the University of Windsor. The most complicated part of a car aside from the powertrain is the door. Professor Peter Fries teaches here. He has concerns about the viability of a Canadian car. You could design and build a great car and have no customers. This car company will have no track record and I'd be concerned that there will not be enough customers to sustain this. I mean this actually

happened in the mid 1970s in New Brunswick. They built the Bricklin. Back then Premier Richard Hatfield said some things that could apply to Canada today. We in New Brunswick, in the opinion of many, are not supposed to be in the business of producing automobiles. We are supposed to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. The Bricklin was a disaster. Very few cars were sold. A cautionary tale of what can happen if you don't have a market for your car. So, today, would anyone invest in the idea? I am the guy that you would go to to say, I have a Canadian solution. That's venture capitalist John Ruffalo.

He backed Shopify from the very beginning. He tells me Trump's threats to Canada's economy are a wake-up call. President Trump actually gave Canada a gift. It's really the first time that Canadians are looking back and saying, how did we allow ourselves to get into the vulnerable position that we are in? We're now looking at how do we build things for ourselves. I love the idea or the aspiration of a Canadian car. I have never seen more energy in my entire career about Canadians actually building for their own control

and mapping out their own destiny. Ruffalo tells me whether a Canadian car actually gets built or not, dreaming big again is the way forward. Nick Perdon, CBC News, Toronto. Before we leave you tonight, an outsized ode to joy, the largest ever, was performed in Germany today. A total of 1,353 musicians of all ages gathered under the rain in the town of Recklinghausen to play one of Beethoven's best-known pieces.

Shattering the standing record for the world's largest string orchestra to play, owed to joy. for the world's largest string orchestra to play Ode to Joy. It was very exciting and I didn't think we'd be so far above the world record mark, so it was really cool. Ludwig van Beethoven completed his Ninth Symphony in 1824, by which point he was already completely deaf. Ode to Joy was the fourth and final movement, putting music to the words of German poet Friedrich von Schiller's 1785 poem of the same name. Westphalen Philharmonic Orchestra General Music Director Rasmus Baumann. It's the last part of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which has become the European anthem.

And the idea that music connects people is ideal for such an occasion. The European Union formally adopted Ode to Joy as its anthem at a ceremony in Brussels on May 29, 1986, as a musical expression of freedom, peace and solidarity. Today's rendition, a fitting ode to the musician and the piece just over 200 years after he wrote it. You've been listening to Your World Tonight. I'm Nala Eyad. You've been listening to Your World Tonight. I'm Nala Ayaad. Thank you for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.