Your World Tonight - Venezuela sifts through rubble, ER wait times lengthen, Canada’s World Cup, and more

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Venezuelans are digging through debris after two powerful earthquakes shook the capital and surrounding areas yesterday. Buildings collapsed after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake was followed by an even larger 7.5 tremor west of Caracas. Emergency crews have been scrambling through night and day to try and find survivors.Also: Canadians are waiting even longer in emergency rooms. A new report found 1 in 10 admitted patients waited more than 48 hours. The report blames limited capacity, difficulties with standard care and Canada’s aging population.And: After a disappointing loss to Switzerland, Canada’s World Cup men’s team is looking to their next challenge — South Africa.Plus: Calls for a gun ban, increasing electronics prices, Carney’s update and more.

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This is a... the CBC podcast. I felt the first one, and then it went like getting less movement, and then it started again, and it was even stronger than the first one. Two powerful quakes in a country already battered by political and economic turmoil. Venezuelans are searching for survivors, but the death toll is rising. As other countries, including Canada, pledge their help. There are questions about how long recovery will take.

This is your world tonight. I'm Stephanie Skanderas. It's Thursday, June 25th, coming up to 6 p.m. Eastern. Also on the podcast? Be as a population as Canadian citizens need to hold our leaders to account to provide this and to provide the resources that are necessary for timely, high-quality, delivery of health care. A doctor's plea for more than a Band-Aid fix for Canada's emergency rooms. Weight times are getting longer and tempers are growing shorter as patients miss out on the care they need.

Venezuela is in crisis after the strongest earthquakes in more than a century rocked the country last night. The official number of dead is about 200, but is expected to soar into the thousands. As Evan Dyer reports, this disaster is stretching a country already struggling. Panic struck in El Humquito west of the capital as buildings crashed into the streets and a man searched desperately for his mother. across a broad swath of east central Venezuela, including the cities of Caracas, Valencia, Manacay, Puerto Cabello, and Barquisimento, multi-story buildings collapsed. Two quakes hit 39 seconds apart.

Zerriver Rafael Puncelles says one seemed to be fading when the other began. I fell the first one, and then he went like getting less movement, and then it started again, and he was even stronger than the first one. shallow earthquake, it would occur close to people. William Yek of the U.S. Geological Survey says the location of the two quakes amplified their destructive power. So, you know, it's very worrying and we expect it to be very damaging. USGS predicts the death toll could rise to 10,000 or even higher. The quakes struck in the late afternoon, causing panic at Cimon Bolivar International Airport,

the masonry fell into the terminals. President Delci Rodriguez said some of the worst damage appeared to be in coastal La Guaira, which she called a true tragedy. Social media showed panicked buildings and local residents pleading for heavy equipment to rescue people trapped under massive slabs of concrete. The situation here is critical, said rescue coordinator Jose Pacheco, we lack machinery and we lack personnel. In some places there were successful rescues, like this man who found his daughter. Others like Jose Alberto Gallipoli,

searching for his son in a collapsed building in La Guaira, found only rubble and dust. Yelzmades Blanco barely made it out of her building in La Guaida. She thanked God for her narrow escape, but said there are other people suffering with family members still inside, under the rubble and they can't get them out. The situation Yek fears will be repeated across the earthquake zone. It's not the shaking that kills people, it's buildings that kill people,

and it's really the collapse of those buildings that can lead to the catastrophic loss of life. The U.S. government, which has a tense but cooperative relationship with Venezuela's socialist government, offered help. It would be big, it'll be fast, and it'll be effective. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said search and rescue teams from Virginia and California are on the way. Already, though, Venezuelans were looking ahead to a longer-term crisis. Many buildings that didn't collapse are severely cracked and unsafe. A devastating blow to a country where the economy and much of the infrastructure were already in critical condition.

Evan Dyer, CBC News, Ottawa. That long-term crisis is adding to the worry for Venezuelan Canadians as they watch families and friends back home cope with this tragedy. They're concerned about them and also about how much the country can withstand. Stephanie Cram has more. Venezuelan Canadian Antonio Lobo reacts to video of the earthquake from his home in Montreal. It's hard to me to see that this happening there.

Watching the video Lobo can't help but feel like he should be in Venezuela right now. After all that we are suffering there, now this is happening. Worried about his. his mom who has no way of connecting with. She's 70 years old, so she's alone there and no electricity. In Calgary, Carolina de La Torre, owner of a rapist ranch, is busy preparing for a local Venezuelan festival. But today, she's worried about how her home country can rebuild.

The people is devastated. People are suffering too much. After years of political turmoil, De La Torre says the country is pulled. plagued with a failing healthcare system and crumbling infrastructure, further adding to the barriers of rebuilding the country. Her message to her family back home, In my country, we say when you touch like the end, you have to rise, and we need to rise again. Rebecca Sarfadi with the Canada-Venezuela Democracy Forum says her family back in Venezuela are also safe.

Her worry now is what will happen in the country in the days ahead. It's not only that the building collapsed and we have to rescue this speed, But what would happen with, you know, food, everything that happens when there's a disaster. Oh, my God. It was horrible because... That's Ernesto Goudino, a volunteer with the Venezuelan Canadian Association of Calgary. I have family. I have friends. And thanks to God, they are okay, but not everybody can say they say. Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will offer humanitarian support, but recognizes that the recent political turmoil might make it hard to get Canadians out. We are moving to provide humanitarian aid.

There are a series of countries with whom we have not seen eye to eye, to put it mildly. We've had to rely on allies and help Canadians get Canadians out. For Antonio Lobo, the hope is the government will step up to help the country rebuild. What is the real, real, real situation and how can we, I guess the government can start, I don't know, create a plant or do something to start putting all these people in, in a safe place. Across Canada, the Venezuelan community is rallying, fundraising, doing everything they can to help their families back home as they attempt to comprehend the immense challenges ahead.

Stephanie Kramm, CBC News, Edmonton. Coming right up, the Prime Minister is touting his government's achievements this spring and the big challenges that lie ahead. The official opposition delivers a much harsher review. Also, calls to ban a type of semi-automatic rifle after it was used in the fatal shooting in Montreal. Later, we'll have this story. Memory chips are in high demand from artificial intelligence companies, but that means costs climb up for everyone else. It's making everything from MacBooks to Xbox is more expensive, and the people selling gaming tech aren't feeling high scores.

I don't enjoy increased prices. I don't enjoy high prices because it just hurts the business in general. I'm Nisadari in Calgary. Coming up, why it'll cost more to play on your Super Mario World Tonight. As Canadians look forward to their summer plans, the Prime Minister says he's going to the Calgary Stampede next week. But it doesn't sound like it'll all be pancakes and rodeo. Mark Carney was warning today about the risks of Alberta's upcoming referendum, talking about sticky trade negotiations with the U.S.,

and defending his government's work in the state. spring session of Parliament. Tom Perry has more. Our goal is to transform the Canadian economy into the strongest in the G7. Prime Minister Mark Carney, focusing on his government's priorities and what he sees as its achievements. Law and order legislation to fight hate crime and tighten up rules around bail, a boost in military spending to more than 2% of GDP with more spending to come. And a focus, Carney says on speeding up major infrastructure projects at home while working to diversify trade abroad. We have the right plan. We're on track, but there's much, much more to do. Carney as well, acknowledging potential pitfalls and stubborn challenges, chief among them,

wrangling some kind of trade deal with the U.S. and its president Donald Trump. I mean, we could sign a bad deal this afternoon, right? I could sign a bad deal. year ago. We're not going to sign a bad deal. So it has to be a real deal. The Prime Minister also looking ahead to October and a referendum in Alberta on whether to hold a future vote on separating from Canada. Carney says he'll be in Alberta this summer, making the case to keep the country together. This is a real referendum. It's not, you know, question about a question, free option. It's a dangerous bluff. Conservative leader Pierre Paliév was also out today, talking referendum and trade, but mostly taking aim at Carney, writing off any liberal accomplishments

as a mirage. It's all an illusion. The result of Mark Carney in the lives of ordinary Canadians is more cost, more debt, more recession, more crime, more of the same. Pauliev critiquing the Prime Minister for failing to bring up Kusma in a telephone conversation this week with Donald Trump, in which Carney and the U.S. President discussed and upcoming NATO summit. On Alberta's referendum, the conservative leader says he has no plans for any joint appearances with Carney in the lead up to the vote, but that he will be in Alberta urging voters to stay. At the end of the day, I wish it weren't happening, but it is, and I'm going to make the case for Canada. That support for a United Canada is one of the few areas where Polyev and

Karni see eye to eye going into the summer. On just about every other count, these two leaders are in two different worlds. Tom Perry, CBC News, Ottawa. Long emergency room wait times in Canada are getting even longer, especially for those in need of inpatient beds. Tashana Reid breaks down the data for us and explains what's driving the backlog. But she's second guess is going in because she knows what she's going to be facing when she gets there. On Monday morning, Maureen Armstrong's 81-year-old mother fell. She was taken by ambulance to their local hospital in Windsor. But 48 hours later, she was still waiting in the ER in a curtained off section and then a hallway. We've been dealing with these wait times for a long time and it's only getting worse.

And new Canadian research is backing that up. The Canadian Institute for Health Information analyzed data from more than 16 million ER visits across Canada from 2024 to 2025. Those who required an inpatient bed, roughly 12%, spent nearly 2,000. spent nearly two days waiting, and that's an increase. Cheryl Chui is the Director of Health System Analytics at Kai Hai. So when we compare to fiscal year 2018, 2018, 2019, 1 in 10 would wait 36 hours in the emerge, and now 1 in 10 spend about 48 hours or more. Overall, most people who go to an ER receive timely care and are discharged.

But for 1 in 10 of those visits, patient wait times were up to 14 hours, also an increase compared to seven years ago. Chui says an aging population and the prevalence of chronic conditions all contribute to the problem. What we're seeing is that there are more sicker and more complex patients coming to the emergency department. It's an issue. Ottawa emergency physician Dr. Michael Herman is well aware of. He's also vice chair of public affairs for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. We're putting stretches in unconventional spaces. We're keeping admitted in patients in.

hallways in doubling up in rooms trying to find, you know, any nook or cranny. It's more cramped. It's more chaotic. Herman says evidence shows delays in ERs can be a health risk. We know, for example, that adults over the age of 75, spending overnight in the emergency department actually increases your mortality. Experts say the ER issue also points to wider systemic issues of patients not having access to primary or specialist care and not enough long-term care beds to meet the demand. Problems that are identified in the emergency department are really a reflection of

issues in the health care system as a whole. We're just the ones sort of being the front and center of it. As for Marine Armstrong, her mother is doing better. She's now been discharged. They hope they don't have to come back anytime soon. You know, time can be of the essence when it's, you know, depending on what's going on in a person's body. Tashana Reid, CBC News, Toronto. Calls are growing to stop the sale of a certain kind of long gun in Canada. Radio Canada has confirmed an SKS rifle was used in Monday's deadly shooting in Montreal. But as Alexander Silberman reports, the debate on whether to ban it is far from settled. There's very little controls on this weapon.

In wake of the deadly shooting in Montreal, renewed calls to ban a controversial firearm. According to Radio Canada sources, an SKS was the weapon retrieved at the scene. And a gun control group wants sales to stop. nothing about it is unacceptable. Heidi Rathgen is a survivor of the 1989 at Kul Polytechnic Massacre and coordinator of advocacy group Police Sussuvienne. She says the semi-automatic firearms enable violent attacks. We shouldn't make it easy for potential mass killers to have access to military-style weapons.

Montreal police are continuing to investigate a midday shooting Monday, which left an officer, a civilian and the suspect dead. In video, verified by CBC News, you can see the gunmen chase an officer while holding a long gun. The suspect appears to stop shooting to reload the weapon and is then shot by police. We are in the process of... Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked by reporters if the government would ban the SKS. Carney says the government is currently reviewing firearms classifications. We need to do more.

That's clear, he said in French. Prior attempts to ban the SKS have been met with fierce opposition. Originally a combat weapon, thousands found their way into Canada after the fall of the Soviet Union. The guns are popular due to their low cost. And somehow they've reduced that entire complex, bizarre tragedy down to a making model of firearm. Tracy Wilson is with the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights. She owns an SKS herself and argues zeroing in on. one gun is not the answer.

I think for a lot of hunters and indigenous sustenance hunters, it would have a very negative impact. The Assembly of First Nations is also a vocal opponent. It passed an emergency resolution against federal gun control legislation in 2022. Many First Nations leaders say banning long guns criminalizes tools they use to hunt food for sustenance. Some groups like Paris Sassuvienne say they support and exemption for First Nations. Public safety minister Gary Ananda Sangeri previously committed to consulting indigenous communities. He told reporters Thursday he will closely watch the police investigation. We will review and look at specific things that we need to do. The ministers restrictions on firearms are part of a broader push, including bail reform, to bolster safety

for Canadians. Alexander Sliberman, CBC News, Montreal. Residents in a small town near Pemberton, BC, have been told to evacuate as a glacier melts into a lake nearby. It's expected to overflow its banks and flood the nearby community. The area saw glacial lake outbursts in 2024 and 2025, though no properties were damaged. The regional district says the RCMP will be helping with the evacuation. The UK broke a temperature record for June today as a heat wave continues to bake Europe. Temperatures reached 36.4 degrees Celsius in southwestern England, breaking the heat record set just a day before. France also set records today, and the health ministry raised its alert level to the highest point.

The ministry says there's been an increase in emergency ward visits and cardiac arrests. If you've been eyeing some new electronics, you're not going to like this. Apple and Microsoft are raising prices. on some of their best-known products. They're the latest of the big tech companies to make laptops and gaming consoles more expensive. And they're blaming the AI boom for driving up costs for everyone.

Business reporter Anisei Dari explains. PS5s have gone up, Xbox Series X have gone up, Nintendo Switch has gone up, and even the Switch 2 is getting a price increase. Jordan Legault owns the Calgary Video Game Store, the Gaming Lounge. And he says, no matter what you're buying, you can expect a higher price.

It's all AI, unfortunately. AI companies are buying up more of the world's computer memory. So that's squeezing absolutely everyone else else. So that's what's causing the price increase. Since most consumer tech needs that computer memory to work, prices have been going up for months and keep climbing. I think what happens in times like this is consumers are trying to extend the life of the product that they've got. Jeff Townsend is with Western Canadian technology retailer London drugs.

He says the store is adapting along with its customers. Some of the first areas where we saw price increases would probably not be a surprise, like the small thumb drives, memory cards for cameras. We saw those price increases back in January. We knew at that point in time, it was going to start to trickle down into the other product categories. And that is what's happening.

Earlier today, both Apple and Microsoft announced price hikes. The price of an Xbox, up for the second time in less than a year. But it's not just games. The lowest price MacBook, now 150. $150 more. Apple's cheapest laptop will now be $949. You know, these AI data centers are pulling a whole bunch of resources out of the supply chain. But if I read the tea leaves, this isn't something that's going to go away in a year. We're going to be dealing with this for a little while yet.

So this is very, very unusual. I haven't seen anything quite like this. Willie Shee is a professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School and an expert in what's happening with computer memory. I would say it's very much a temporary problem. The market will do its job here. As memory prices get higher, people will find clever ways to use less of it or maybe hang on to equipment longer. I don't enjoy high prices because it just hurts the business in general.

Back at the Calgary Video Game Store, Jordan Lago doesn't think he'll make more money from higher prices. It's the families with the children and stuff like that. I just want to have fun or some kind of value for entertainment where they're going to second look at a thousand-dollar console price or something like, that's ridiculous. Like, I'm not going to spend that kind of money. Maybe save money the old-fashioned way by telling the kids,

we already have Nintendo at home. Any Sidari, CBC News, Calgary. The United Nations has paused its evacuation of people and ships through the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo ship was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The UN began the initiative earlier this week for ships and crews that have been trapped in the Persian Gulf since the war started. The U.S. says Iran fired on a vessel after it passed through the strait. The ship wasn't part of the evacuation, but the incident was enough to worry the UN Maritime Organization.

Tehran has not commented, but has said safe passage would only be possible through routes designated by Iran. You're listening to Your World Tonight from CBC News. And if you want to make sure you never miss one of our episodes, follow us. on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. There's a bit of Bangaranga by Dara. Bulgaria's winning entry at this year's Eurovision song contest. Pretty soon, Canada could be sending its own musical talent to join in. The CBC is now a full member of the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the popular contest. That makes Canada eligible to participate. There's no word yet on if or when that'll happen, but a CBC spokesperson says there will be more to say on the contest later.

Fans of Canada's men's soccer team are feeling a lot right now. Disappointment over yesterday's fall to Switzerland, but also pride, that despite the loss, the team is going further in the World Cup than ever. Yes, they've lost home ground advantage, but there's hope that history could be made. Jamie Strassion has more on the conflicting emotions. So far, this World Cup has given Canadian soccer fans lots to cheer about. Playing on home turf, the Canadian men's team scored lots of goals, won its first ever World Cup game, and advanced to the knockout stage. But there is a lingering sense of disappointment after Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Switzerland in Vancouver.

We would have loved to stay in Vancouver. There's no doubt about that. A win would have meant Alastair Johnston and his teammates could have stayed in Vancouver for their next game and with a win the game after that. Instead, Canada will travel to Los Angeles to play South Africa on Sunday. We're playing in L.A. We're not playing. To tell me these guys, we're not playing on Mars or Pluto, you know what I mean? I do expect quite a few Canadians to be down there. It's a game Canada is favored in against the team 23 spots beneath Canada in the world rankings. I'm not suggesting that they can beat South Africa by six goals, but, you know, it is a weaker team. Soccer analyst John Mollinaro says it would have been nice to

continue playing in Vancouver, but says this scenario could be Canada's best way forward. They got have drawn a much tougher opponent. South Korea would have given Canada a much tougher test, and I don't necessarily think Canada could have won that game. South Africa, too, is in unprecedented territory playing in its first ever knockout game, and head coach Hugo Bruce says they have no intention of going home. Don't think that we now are going just another game, and then Monday or Tuesday take the flight to Joe Burke again, not at all. We want to stay as long as possible. Ahead of Sunday's game, one storyline persists.

The health of superstar captain Alfonso Davies, who was yet to see the field for Canada. Head coach Jesse Marsh insisted Davies would play against Switzerland, afterwards saying he was just a decoy. As for Sunday? Will Davies play on Sunday? Yes. Nobody's going to take that as anything but hyperbole, but he's going to play. Is it going to start?

We'll see. Whoever is on the field Sunday, Canada has a chance to make history and earn one more game, giving Canadian fans a little more time to enjoy what's being a wild World Cup ride. Jamie Strash in CBC News, Toronto. Finally. You made me so very happy. I'm so glad you can't. David Clayton Thomas, belting out, you've made me so much.

very happy as the frontman for blood, sweat, and tears. The Canadian singer died in Toronto yesterday at age 84. Clayton Thomas catapulted the New York-based jazz rock band to commercial success after auditioning to be their lead singer in 1968. Their self-titled album sold millions of copies, reaching number two on the Billboard Singles chart and winning the Grammy album of the year. There'll be one child born in this world to carry on, carry on. Clayton Thomas had a troubled youth. He wrote in his memoir that his father was abusive. He dropped out of high school after grade nine,

was homeless in Toronto at the age of 14, and spent about four years in Ontario reform schools and correctional facilities for theft, breaking and entering, and vagrancy. In 1997, he told then CBC journalist Pamela Wallin, about how a guitar, given to him by a fellow inmate, changed his life. Within about a year, I had a band in Burwash, and I was playing at the Christmas concerts, and I had organized my own little blues band. And I think that broke the cycle.

We speak of recidivism. That broke the cycle, because the next time I came out, I had more to do with my life other than get in trouble and go back again. Clayton Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 96, The Canadian Walk of Fame in 2010. A few years before that, his mega hit, Spinning Wheel, entered the Canadian Songwriters' Hall of Fame. This has been your world tonight for Thursday, June 25th.

I'm Stephanie Skanderas. Thank you for being with us. Good night. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca. podcasts.