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This is a CBC podcast.
If they don't make the right decisions,
the United States will retain multiple levers of leverage
to ensure that our interests are protected.
U.S. officials keep the pressure on Venezuela's acting leadership
a day after taking Nicholas Maduro captive.
While the Venezuelan president sits in a New York jail cell,
his allies in Caracas remain defiant, insisting they are still in charge.
This is your world tonight.
I'm Stephanie Skanderas.
Also on the podcast, what happens now to Venezuela's oil reserves?
Trump says the U.S. is taking control.
You'll hear what that could mean for Venezuela and for Canada.
Plus.
When they do leave, it's because they've tried everything that they could
and they have no other choice because they still have to live
and they still have to support their families.
A new report outlines how many highly skilled immigrants to Canada are leaving.
Captured Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife will appear before a U.S. judge on Monday,
their first court appearance in what will be a long legal battle.
Meanwhile, Maduro's allies now in control of Venezuela say they will not bend to U.S. pressure,
as the Trump administration makes new direct threats.
warning the regime to cooperate with American demands.
Katie Simpson begins tonight's coverage from Washington.
As the sun rose over Caracas, the streets appeared largely quiet
and a sense of unease settled in.
The few who ventured out waited in line for gas or groceries,
including Sherat Hernandez, a mother of several young kids.
I'm anxious because I don't know what's going to happen, Hernandez says,
and that she is trying not to panic.
The calm in the Venezuelan capital, the day after U.S. military forces captured Nicholas Maduro,
was countered by angry calls for defiance coming from the deposed leader's allies.
In a television address, the defense minister announced Delci Rodriguez,
Maduro's longtime supporter and vice president, is now in charge.
He said Venezuela's sovereignty has been violated and breached, rejecting the idea
the regime will cooperate, despite the assertions made by President Donald Trump.
We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.
Trump ratcheted up the pressure even further.
In a phone interview with a journalist from the magazine, The Atlantic,
he threatened Delci Rodriguez to work with the U.S., saying if she doesn't do what's right,
she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.
And so we expect to see more.
compliance and cooperation than we were previously receiving.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the Trump administration will not be involved
in the daily governance of Venezuela. Instead, he described a broad pressure campaign,
an attempt to force the regime to comply with U.S. demands, to stop the flow of illegal drugs,
to push American adversaries out of the Western Hemisphere, and to allow American companies
into Venezuela's oil reserves. And the goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela that
are beneficial to the United States, first and foremost, because that's who we work for,
but also we believe beneficial for the people of Venezuela.
Trump's critics are furious.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says lawmakers should have been involved in the decision-making
process.
It's a violation of the law to do what they did without getting the authorization of Congress.
Trump and his team are dismissing those concerns as they reveal ambitions that go beyond
Venezuela.
Rubio suggesting Cuba could be another target for intervention.
while Trump repeated his desire for the U.S. to control Greenland.
Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington.
In announcing the removal of Maduro,
U.S. President Donald Trump didn't mince words.
He wants U.S. oil companies to play a big role in Venezuela's future.
The country has the world's biggest oil reserves,
but that sector has fallen under mismanagement and decay.
As Evan Dyer reports,
a rebuilt sector in Venezuela could have a major impact on Canada.
So we are all over the world.
You know, most of us who worked in the oil industry,
Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Canada.
Lino Carrillo is one of hundreds of highly trained workers
who were dismissed from their jobs in Venezuela's oil industry
by former socialist leader Hugo Chavez
and found a new life in Alberta's oil sands.
But the infrastructure is pretty much in shambles.
That shambolic infrastructure back home
has caused Venezuela's oil output to crash by about 70%.
Jorge Robles is another Venezuelan Canadian oil engineer who stayed in touch with conditions in the industry back home.
They have not only failed to maintain the infrastructure, but also because they don't follow very strict safety and environmental policies.
In some cases, they have accidents that have destroyed, you know, burn, complete stations and areas.
There are years of work ahead to repair Venezuela's oil fields.
Francisco Monalde is a Venezuelan who heads the Latin American energy program at Houston's
Rice University. For Venezuela to produce, you know, four million barrels in a decade, it will
require north of a hundred billion dollars. And of course, for that to happen, it would
require mostly private investment. It's overall a very kind of politically risky environment.
Oil market analyst Rory Johnston says companies probably won't rush in. Private companies would
need not just to see regime change, but they would need to see a new government installed in Venezuela
and then a track record of that government, you know, behaving well, following contracts.
If Venezuela's crude did begin to flow again, it could pose a problem for Western Canadian oil in U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.
They won't need additional pipelines or anything else.
They basically, you'll just pull a tanker up, unload, and then you're kind of competing directly with Canadian barrels.
Johnston says it would be harder to get Venezuelan oil to the Midwestern refineries where most Canadian crude is processed.
But the risk of a new competitor is another good reason.
to look for new markets outside the U.S.
It's nice to have alternative avenues because then say,
you know, we start getting additional competition from Venezuela and barrels in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
If the prices we're receiving aren't as attractive,
well, then we can increase our flows out west in order to get better prices.
Venezuela won't only need investment to get its oil flowing
and will almost certainly need help from its diaspora of oil industry professionals,
some of whom told CBC News they're ready to go back.
Jorge Robles said he welcomes Maduro's capture,
but was disappointed that Trump didn't recognize the Venezuelan opposition as the legitimate government.
Venezuela, in the new era of a democratic government,
is going to be open for business, but it's not open for sale.
So we are an independent, sovereign country.
We want to get back to be that.
Robles says he's ready to go back and help,
but wants to see real democracy restored
and a guarantee that oil will benefit the people of Venezuela.
not just foreign powers.
Evan Dyer, CBC News, Ottawa.
For the second day in a row, crowds gathered in Canadian cities
against the U.S. actions in Venezuela and the detention of Nicholas Maduro,
while others cheered for his downfall.
Sarah Levitt reports.
Liberte!
In the frigid cold of Montreal,
dozens of Venezuelan Canadians gathered to process the news back home
and celebrate the ousting of President Nicholas Maduro.
Among the crowd, Jose Hildalgo.
Some people from all the countries can disagree with what Trump was doing.
But trust me, we have been a strong in Venezuela for a very long time, being ignored.
Marta Rikone came to Montreal 11 years ago with her parents,
leaving Venezuela over concerns of violence and economic uncertainty.
She thinks the country can finally turn a page, even if there is uncertainty.
It's an opportunity for us to start seeing democracy.
We don't call him President Maduro, will call him dictator.
This is the real name he deserves.
Some, though, are expressing outrage and worry over the intervention by the Trump administration.
Outside the U.S. consulate in Montreal, Maria Cuevo says she came out to make it clear,
Venezuela is a sovereign state.
Around her, others like Joe Romero, says the move to capture Maduro is unprecedented.
The oil is not yours. The people are not yours.
you are not going to be controlling Devanswellins.
In Ottawa, demonstrators took to the U.S. Embassy.
What the U.S. is doing is a flagrant violation of international law.
It's totally against the U.N. Charter in every way, shape or form.
Larry Wasslin is the president of the Canadian Peace Congress.
And this is just another example of gunbolt diplomacy on the part of U.S. imperialism.
And we're sick and tired of this.
Others worry about Trump's next moves.
After all this declarations about as frivolous as they are,
annexing Greenland, annexing Canada,
we have every right to be concerned.
Charles Philippe David is the director of the Center for United States Studies
for the University of Quebec at Montreal.
He says if in the following months we see a successful political transition in Venezuela,
Trump will be encouraged.
To be emboldened means that, yes, he's going to look for
solutions like that if there's any other problem in the hemisphere.
And that's including north and south.
So yes, we have every right to be apprehensive.
These Venezuelans in Montreal say they're apprehensive of what's to come
but say it's about taking one step at a time.
Sarah Levitt, CBC News, Montreal.
Still ahead. Are you still seeing movies,
in theaters. We look at the state of the film business heading into 2026, changes, trends,
and the movies that are still getting people into cinema seats. That conversation is coming up
on your world tonight.
Swiss authorities say they have now identified all of the victims from the devastating fire
at a New Year's celebration near an Alpine ski resort. Police say most of the 40 who died
were young people. As Michelle Allen reports, today the community came together to mourn.
A packed Sunday mass at Chapelle St. Christoph in Cromontana, Switzerland.
mourners spilled outdoors to prey in the streets of the ski town. Some waiting to hear if their
loved ones were among the injured or the dead. Today, police and valets say they've now identified
all of the dead. Fernando Rebouillon is a Swiss citizen living near Cromontana.
He says, I just learned two minutes ago,
one of my son's friends died. Another one is going to the hospital with burns.
Most who died were teenagers, some as young as 14 or 15 years old. Latisha Brodard-Citre
says her 16-year-old son was confirmed among the dead. She says, our Arthur has departed
to party in heaven. The Swiss Boxing Federation says 18-year-old Benjamin Johnson died
while saving a friend. But some are still searching for their injured loved ones.
Victims are dispersed to burn units in different hospitals around Europe.
Authorities say it will be a challenge to determine who the injured are
because their burns are so severe.
After mass, a somber march to the center of the Alpine village.
Burdar Saitre and the other mourners gather at a makeshift vigil.
They lay flowers, teddy bears and candles in front of the burned out bar.
So that was a very, very important moment in this tragedy
and also for all the rescue.
team to thank them because what they did, it's just incredible.
Bruno Hoogler is the CEO of Cromontana Tourism.
It's a tough blow for the tight-knit town in the heart of the Alps.
Charles Andre Bagelow lives nearby.
He says the victims are all young people from families they've known forever.
A team of Italian psychologists is in Cromontana supporting victims and families.
Gwendolyn Grossi says many are reeling from.
the trauma.
We speak to them and we help them understand what their emotion are because there are a lot
of conflict emotion.
For some, grief turns to outrage.
I feel a cold anger rising within me, says Swiss citizen Patricia Mazzoni.
She says all those who held positions of power who failed to take responsibility must be
brought to justice.
Prosecutors say the fire was likely caused by sparkling candles that caught the soundproofing
on the bar's basement ceiling.
Authorities are criminally investigating.
the French couple that owns the bar. They're suspected of homicide by negligence.
Capacity and escape routes will be part of the investigation.
Michelle Allen, CBC News, Toronto.
Residents of a northern Manitoba First Nation are dealing with major damage to homes.
The community saw power restored Friday after a days-long outage.
But residents are reporting burst pipes, leaks, and sewer backups,
and hundreds of homes are now unsafe to live in.
Alexander Silberman reports.
in Pimichikamak Cree Nation, dripping water.
Sprang and gushing out of cracked pipes is making hundreds of homes unlivable.
After power was restored to the northern Manitoba First Nation,
the damage, part of the aftermath of a days-long power outage that continues to strain resources.
We're running out of food. We're running out of water.
Chief David Monius says more than 200 homes are severely damaged.
He estimates repairs will cost at least $44 million.
There's a risk of people can electrocute it if there's water on the ground.
We have windows and cracked, toilets, appliances that are frozen and cracked.
The First Nation, home to 7,000 people, no longer has safe drinking water.
Band counselor Shirley Robinson says the treatment plant is seeing major leaks.
It's pretty much ready to explode.
More than 4,000 people have already been a lot of.
evacuated, many sent to Winnipeg, and the extensive water damage is forcing more residents
to leave their homes. Another 140 people left on Saturday. We miss our homes. Rina Brightnows and
her family are now staying in a Winnipeg hotel. She's waiting for an update on the condition of
their home. I don't know what I'm going to be expecting at my house. Maybe I won't be able to sleep
there. Christopher Ross is the community liaison for evacuees.
Especially the elders, they want to go home.
They are asking me every day, when can we go home, when can we go home?
Indigenous Services Canada says it's working to help make that happen and providing funding.
But as the cleanup begins, the community needs more than money.
Monius, who's been calling for military help, is now putting out a plea for skilled tradespeople.
We need engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters.
We don't have enough in the community.
Officials are continuing to inspect homes in Pimichikamak, warning the cost and scope of the damage may continue to grow,
with no clear timeline on when the thousands of residents evacuated can return home.
Alexander Silberman, CBC News, Edmonton.
A recent report by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship found that one in five immigrants leave within 25 years of landing
and that the most likely to leave are highly skilled people.
Michelle Song reports on some of the causes
and what Canada can do to retain these workers.
Macbub Akhtar is doing the dishes at his home in Regina.
He came to Saskatchewan from Bangladesh almost three years ago
as a highly skilled immigrant.
So when I came here, my idea was I will get a position
or I will start with something
that will actually get me towards the direction
that where I can see that, like, I am achieving something based on my...
He has a master's degree in economics from the University of Melbourne
and 14 years' work experience.
But actor says he ended up working jobs he was overqualified for
and was unemployed for the majority of his time in Canada.
Now, he's considering leaving the country.
My mental test is not, like, as good as I was at the first came here.
Then my technical skills and other stuff are fading away.
So I'm just feeling a bit down.
According to a new report by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship,
one in five immigrants leave Canada within 25 years of landing.
Highly skilled immigrants are more than twice as likely to leave
compared to those with lower skills.
And the report says the country is losing immigrants in critical occupations.
Daniel Bernhardt is the CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
It's a waste of talent for Canada. It's a wasted opportunity for the whole country.
Bernhardt says retaining immigrants should be a priority.
As these highly skilled workers, fill sectors Canada is in dire need of,
like business, engineering, and health care.
Six and a half million Canadians don't have access to a family doctor.
We could graduate 100,000 new doctors tomorrow.
We won't, but we could.
And all of them would have zero years of experience.
We keep hearing, oh, Canada needs doctors, and we're like, we're right here.
Dr. McKinney McGuire-Brown is the chair of internationally trained physicians of Canada.
as foreign trained doctors are facing hurdles getting licenses or positions in Canada,
a major factor driving these doctors away.
When they do leave, it's because they've tried everything that they could
and they have no other choice because they still have to live
and they still have to support their families.
The federal government's immigration levels plan looks to increase economic immigration.
But the report says Ottawa needs to work on its retention strategy
and invest in settlement supports tailored to more highly skilled immigrants
already in Canada. Michelle Song, CBC News, Toronto.
The holiday season is often filled with gifts, food, decorations, all of which can lead to,
when it's over, a lot of waste. Across Canada, cities are now dealing with that,
excess waste from wrapping paper to Christmas trees.
And officials say people have to pay attention
to how to properly get rid of all the extra stuff.
Yasmin Renea reports.
Carrying bags full of beer cans and glass bottles,
it's all hands on deck for Hockey Mom Pam Pinch
and the Cranbrook Minor Hockey Association in Southeast BC
as they hold their annual post-New Year bottle drive.
It is a very long day for the volunteers
and the kids that are out and collecting in the community.
It generally starts anywhere from 8 a.m. and can continue on until late afternoon.
A good bottle drive, I would say nets anywhere from $2,500 to about $5,500.
It's not just a good fundraiser.
They're also benefiting from the surge in post-holiday waste.
According to non-profit organization Zero Waste Canada,
Canadian households produce 25% more waste during the holidays.
That really is a result of all of that packaging, all of that wrapping paper.
Sharon Howland, the leader of program management for the city of Calgary's Waste and Recycling Services,
says recycling facilities are busy and facing a growing problem.
We're starting to see batteries in absolutely everything,
whether it's the little remote control car or toy that you've gotten or cell phones,
any sort of like Christmas lights.
She says there's a common misconception that batteries can go in the recycling bin.
And what happens then is it ends up at our huge recycling facility that is full of wrapping paper and cardboard
and it causes a fire when it gets run over by a piece of equipment or gets jammed into a piece of
equipment. And it puts the lives of the workers at risk.
The city of Toronto says fire sparked by lithium ion batteries, commonly found in e-bikes,
smartphones and laptops have jumped roughly 160% since 2022.
Charlotte Uwettas with the city's solid waste management services.
I encourage everyone to dispose of any old or damaged batteries.
We do accept them at City of Toronto's drop-off depots or at any of our community environment
days and just to make sure that it's safely disposed of.
As for other holiday waste, the advice is to reuse what you can and the gold standard,
Giving gifts that don't leave behind any waste at all.
Yasmin Ganea, CBC News, Vancouver.
The third film in the Avatar franchise, Avatar Fire and Ash,
has crossed $1 billion at the global box office after 18 days.
The series, directed by Canadian James Cameron,
has been a box office powerhouse.
The earlier Avatar films are the first and third highest grossing movies of all time,
shooting past $2 billion in ticket sales,
while another James Cameron directed movie, 1997's Titanic, is the fourth highest grossing.
Despite big successes like Avatar, the magic of the movies is changing, both how they're made and how we watch.
Jackson, joins us with more on what that meant in 2025 and what's to come this year.
So, Jackson, what's the overall state of cinema as we head into the new year?
I mean, it's very much ups and downs.
You have the good news and bad news coming kind of one after.
of the other. We do see a number of hits. Specifically, Warner Bros. Really Turn the Tides. We saw
sinners. We saw, we saw, um, we saw weapons. We saw all of these movies kind of really bringing
people out to the theaters. Although if you look at the actual attendance numbers, it's kind of
harder to track. The more fulsome report we saw at theaters was ending in 2024, in which
attendance was down about two-thirds versus pre-pandemic. So it is kind of, you know, people are
seeing these movies that they're really enamored with. Original stories.
really enamored with, but whether or not they actually
want to spend the money to go to the theaters is
a little bit more difficult. And then we
also see whether or not the future of cinema
in general is in the cards
is kind of up in the air. We have this
gigantic deal between
Warner Bros and Netflix
theoretically, which people are very
worried that if Netflix acquires Warner Bros,
they'll eliminate theatrical exclusivity windows,
which is, you know, you're only able to
see a movie in the theaters, which gives them a
reason for existing. So there's a lot
of things, and I think even outside of that, if you
look at just the kind of anecdotal issue, people aren't worried about theatrical etiquette,
theater etiquette, and people yelling on their phones, et cetera. So it's a very, it's a huge
question mark, I will say, not necessarily totally dower and bad, but a question mark.
So how has that changed the way films are made and watched? Like IMAX, for example. Is it
still popular? I mean, right now, actually, oddly enough, IMAX is a huge player in the game right
now the Canadian company, they are making more cameras than they ever have before.
They're making more movies than they ever have before.
The Odyssey is a big IMAX extravaganza.
People are very excited about it.
There are big question marks in the future about how cinema may proceed in the long term.
I would say at least for the next couple of years, we still have a huge number of really, really big budget and interesting films on the docket.
So cinema is going to stick around for at least a little bit longer, hopefully a long time longer, but we at least have a couple more years of
of boon times.
Award show season will begin soon.
Some changes were announced at the end of last year.
Can you tell us more about that?
Yeah, I mean, the Golden Globes, their announcements are,
they're starting to be a little bit more respected.
We had a few years of controversy when it comes to Golden Globes.
They completely restructured.
They changed how they selected their shortlist and their winners, etc.
They've also changed the different things they're selecting.
We're seeing podcasts now being one of the things they're deciding on.
kind of maybe a conservative list of, of, on their short list, conservative in the sense
of they're not going for really any political, uh, podcast.
They did not, uh, nominate the Joe Rogan experience, despite it being the biggest podcast on
earth.
Oscar shortlist coming up, I mean, I have a few I'm very hopeful for, but they have, uh, they're
spoiled for choice, I would say this year, definitely.
So there's a lot of really amazing, critically well received films and, uh, films that
have really evoked responses in their audiences.
I mean, one battle after another alone has got a lot of conversation going.
And what are some of the big releases to look forward to in 2026?
I have a huge list of things I'm very excited to see.
I mean, one of the ones that I am most excited to actually reach audiences I've already seen.
It's a film called The Plague.
It was one of my favorite movies from this year.
It's a little bit more art-housey.
It's like, imagine if you mix the sandlot with Mean Girls and Lord of the Flies.
It's about this kid at a water polo cap in 2003, and horror ensues fitting in is interpreted as almost like a horror movie that is going to come to theaters.
Well, it's came out in many Canadian theaters in January 2nd, but it's getting a wider release on January 9th.
But if you're looking for more of the big budget things that people are all talking about, one of the first big movies coming out this year, 28 years later, the Bone Temple.
It's the continuation of this larger zombie franchise.
It's part two of the kind of reinvestment in that world.
That's out January 16th.
We've already had a few critics who have been able to see it,
say what they thought about it.
And it's getting, I don't know if rave is the right word,
but it's definitely going to, I think,
satisfy the same audience that liked the previous films.
Any Canadian films on your radar?
Absolutely.
I mean, if you like Canadian film,
you've probably already heard her name, Chandler LeVak.
She was a one-time film critic now.
She had her first debut feature.
I like movies not too long ago.
That was about a kid who is kind of a narcissist
and making choices that destroyed his own life.
This is a new movie about a woman
who's a bit of a narcissist
and making choices that destroy her own life.
It's called Mile End Kicks.
It's about a woman who is a music journalist
moving from Toronto to Montreal in 2011.
She wants to write a book about
Alanis Morissette's jagged the little pill,
but unfortunately she falls in love
with two members of an indie band.
The main character is played by Barbie Ferreira
and one of the love interests is Devin Bostick.
I think it was really good.
I got to see it at Tiff last year,
and there's another film called Montreal, My Beautiful.
This is from a Canadian filmmaker, Jadon Hui,
and it is about a woman
who is a Chinese immigrant in her 50s,
married with children,
decides that she wants to live her truth
as a lesbian woman,
date another woman. And it kind of blows up her family, understandably so. But it is very tender, very beautiful. Joan Chen plays the main character. She already won best lead actor in a Canadian film from the Toronto Film Critics Association. The film itself won best Canadian film at the Windsor International Film Festival. And it won a place in my heart when I got to see it. And it's out. I don't know if I said this already, February 13th, so around Valentine's.
Lots to look forward to. Thank you so much, Jackson.
That's CBC Entertainment Reporter, Jackson Weaver.
The beautiful sound of a tuneless choir.
They're a big thing in England, where they launched in 2016.
Groups of around 100 people gathering together to sing familiar songs,
even if none of them can really carry a tune.
In fact, that's a must to join.
join. Now the phenomenon is coming to Canada. Sharon Marnell is the one bringing it to
BC where she now lives. She told CBC radio is on the island. The choir is open to anyone.
If you love music, if you sing in the shower, if you've been told you sound terrible, you're
exactly who we want. You don't need any musical ability at all. If you can make a noise,
even if it sounds like a dying walrus, and you enjoy singing.
You're it.
Marnel says as long as someone in the group is relatively hitting a note,
it's going to sound great.
Moreover, she's seen the life-changing effects of belting out a song
with no practice and no pressure.
I think when people finally give themselves permission to sing without fear
and they see that joy week after week,
I think it's the energy, the mood, creating a...
instant connection. And it releases, even singing badly, releases endorphins. And the people feel
they feel lighter and happier. The B.C. choirs kick off this coming week. In Sydney, it starts
Wednesday, Langley on Thursday, a $15 fee and the chance to sound as good as this.
We'll leave you with more of that classic. We are.
The Tooneless on your world tonight.
I'm Stephanie Skanderas.
Thank you for listening.
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