Canada joins Eurovision and digital gaming shift

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I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Thursday the second of July, these are our main stories Warnings that children in Venezuela could fall victim to traffickers as the number of dead from the earthquakes a week ago rises to well over two thousand We look at why millions of travellers in Europe have been suffering long delays and how the powerful opioid fentanyyl is affecting the Somali community in the US Also in this podcast, Canada is joining the Eurovision song contest from next year. I think it's an amazing opportunity in terms of Canada actually presenting how excellent and how exciting Our musical products have been for decades and just really haven't been seen outside of our specific borders A week on from the devastating double earthquake in Venezuela, the number of dead has now risen to two thousand three hundred With tens of thousands more still unaccounted for, the interim President, Delsie Rodriguez, has announced seven days of mourning Local communities frustrated and angry over the government's slow response are working with rescue teams from around the world in the frantic search through the vast piles of rubble againainst hope after the rescue of a three year old boy on Tuesday that more lives can be saved Yiguito Limaye has been speaking to the little boy's aunt and sent this report from one of the worst hit areas Auira Most countries in the world would struggle to respond to such a brutal disaster Venezuela was particularly ill equipped battered by years of political corruption and economic decline But its people are showing up Truckloads of volunteers have been driving into the worst hit areas to offer help These are construction workers who've come from dozens of miles away ne Venezuela is going through a bad moment. We've come to support the people who are trying to dig out survivors to help find the missing however we can Jorpierre Ranhel tells us Are you hopeful that you might still find people alive? Yes, yes, they shouted. Every second is precious Well shah they could help you. therefore And it's moments like these that trigger that belief A three year old boy, Kleibber Moran, was pulled out from under the rubble after six days by a Jordanian rescue team Now stable and in hospital. His aunt, Andreina is by his side. Not even one afadura He doesn't even have a single fracture, just some scratches on his arms and legs. He's giving me little kisses. he's talking to me and telling me where it hurts. She also says she has faith the boy's mother, Anna Lewz, will be found alive For thousands though their worst fears have been confirmed. This is the mother of a forty four year old woman, Tahina Nunu. I'm heartbroken, says Tibizi. I didn't leave the site of the collapse for even one second Her father Cmented us Tahina's body was recovered after sixties When they removed the rubble and brought out the bodies, it was like a horror movie You had to see if the body belonged to your family or not. and you didn't know what to think, whether it was better to find them or not. Dahina, afa and an active member of the community, was also the mother of two children fourourteen year old daughter, Saen twenty one year old Jonathan. In northern Venezuela, tens of thousands are homeless. Even more are reliant on aid for basic needs. This is a cue for a small handout of food. Even before these disasters struck, this was a country grappling with an acute economic crisis with nearly a quarter of the population requiring humanitarian assistance just to survive. It's quite clear that this country cannot even begin to recover without a massive global effort It will take years to rebuild what has been lost Yuita Limaya there with that report on the scale of the destruction caused by last week's earthquakes in Venezuela. Here's one stark figure. The UN's Children's aggency, UNISF, says six hundred eighty thousand youngsters need humanitarian assistance. and it's warning that many of them could fall victim to child traffickers Joe English is from UnNiceEF We're working with Venezuela's National Child Protection Authority on identifying unaccpanied and separated children. We had missions going out in the first days, making sure that we're identifying them, you know strengthening referral pathways, all of these things which are absolutely critical in terms of making sure that children who have been separated can be home with their parents if that's possible or with extended family, if not, you know and making sure that they are safe and this system is the protection against exploitation Our correspond Nk Mil Grant is in the Venezuelan capapital Caracas. I put it to him that on top of the trauma of the earthquakes, it was staggering to think that children in Venezuela are now also in danger from criminal gangs. Can you imagine? I mean, it is beyond belief that there are criminal organisations who see this as an opportunity to bolster their profits, to use the orphans and the missing children from this tragedy in people trafficking. But it is the truth, It is always the truth in Latin America. these are times After major disasters when children are very, very vulnerable. It was true in Haiti in twenty ten. It's true in Venezuela in this moment. and it has been before in Venezuela after very very major disasters like the Varagas Mudsles in nineteen ninety nine But I think it's also very interesting what was said about those statistics, you quote, it's six hundred eighty thousand children at risk with extreme need for humanitarian assistance immediately. and that's everything from blankets to food to shelter, clean drinking water and of course trauma and psychological support for what they've been through. And is the aid getting in All these people need, we talked about the children, There's also millions of adults as well There are. And I think it is better than it was obviously a few days ago with the main airport in Carakas reopening particularly to aid flights. So there has been improvement. We're even still of course seeing the rescue operations going on with international support. So there's international support in different ways, but the aid agencies of different types are here, everything from Food Kitchen to the Catholic agencies and others that already operate in Venezuela. Of course this is happening at a time where international humanitarian aid is being cut by a variety of countries, not least Washington, cutting the US. State Department's aid agency USAID. And yet we're hearing that it's going to take years and a massive global effort to rebuild Venezuela. And the US needs to be at the forefront of that. Is that likely though I mean, if the place where I've just come from and is' anything to go by, it will take years. and that's a place called Cadela Mad right on the northern coastline. You go down certain streets in the car and there are so many buildings that are completely collapsed that it's hard to see how the tower will rebuild. And of course, with this supposed new relationship between Washington and C Koraka One would expect there to be support from Washington. At this stage they are in the thick of the emergency effort. There is a very, very long way to go, but it does remain to be seen whether or not there will be sort of sustained support, sustained partnership between the United States and the Government of Delci Rodriguez if she remains in power for the many years that requires some kind of rebuild and creation of permanent housing, permanent accommodation to the tens, potentially hundreds of thousands of families that need it. will grant in Venezuela Have you ever missed your flight because of long queues at the airport? Well, an airport's lobby group says new border control checks in Europe are making this increasingly common forcing some flights to leave half empty. ACI Europe, which represents hundreds of airports, has written a letter to the European Commission urging it to suspend biometric checks over the busy summer holiday period The group says the new rules are causing long delays for the millions of non EU travellers that pass through Europe's airports. Our transport correspondent, Katie Austin spoke to Anchor Dy about this controversial new system. This is about monitoring who's coming in and out of the Schengen free movement zone, which is EU countries plus a couple more. And it applies to what are called third country nationals. And that includes British travellers, those from the US, and a number of other countries outside Europe as well And the reason it's been causing some problems in some places is, well it's a huge new IT system and it means when all those people I just mentioned go in and out of this area, they are tracked on the system and also they've got to provide biometric details. So you've got to provide your fingerprints and have a photo taken There's been a gradual implementation since October. and it's fair to say there have been some technical problems and where it hasn't worked so well and perhaps there also haven't been enough border staff in some instances, we've seen some quite long delays forming, not only when people arrive in those countries and have to register their information but also that has to be then checked when they're leaving. So some people have not been able to get to their gate in time at airports because theyve got stuck in those passport control queues as they wait to fly home and then they've missed their flight. And I think the concern now is as we come up to the really busy summer peak, how is this system going to cope? Yeah, there will be anxiety. I remember seeing queues of people talking about five hours, you dozens of people missing their flights as well as you mentioned. So there is that anxiety around this. And the ACI Europe What are they calling for exactly and who are they? So it's a big trade body or lobby group representing lots of European airports. I think they've been saying for a while, no problem with this system in theory. It's meant to make things more secure, but they have been quite vocal about the teething problems. and they have been calling for the European Commission, who's really in charge of this do something to ease the problems. The airports are really campaigning for the European Commission to in particular allow more flexibility for the time being for this system to be more easily suspended, if necessary. At the moment, there is a bit of leeway to suspend it if things get bad, if things get busy the airport's kind of lobby is saying that's not enough because as things stand, it's only get worse and we need to be able to proactively or preventatively suspend the system if we know that more passengers are coming through than the border control system can cope with. And actually today the European Commission has said that they hope to meet with the industry. I understand that might be next week and that even though they say they are supporting countries with the implementation, they might be prepared to do more with this summer period coming up Ky Austin. still to come in this podcast We look at why big video games companies are no longer releasing discs and what going digital only means for gamers. This is the story of the One, The onene who keeps multiple buildings running smoothly day after day, pllumbing that flows, HVC that humes, cleaning supplies that keep surfaces sparkling. That's why she counts on Granger. With easy reordering online and twenty four seven support, Granger helps her keep the products she needs on hand. so shelves stay stocked, and buildings stay ready Call one eight hundred Granger, click Granger. com or just stop by. Granger. for the ones who get it done This is the Story of the One. As a maintenance engineer at a beverage manufacturing plant, he starts his day knowing every line is ready to run because Granger delivers the industrial grade products he needs to keep mixers, conveyors, and packaging equipment moving. With Granger's vast selection of bearings, belts, and motors, he keeps operations running smoothly, so nothing grinds to a halt Hall one eight hundred ranger, click ranger. com or just stop by. Ranger. For the ones who get it done Granger knows, when you're a procurement manager for an office park You're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering, and twenty four seven support Call one eight hundred Granger, click Ganger d. com or just stop by Granger. For the ones who get it done Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. policy changes should investors be watching Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now. and how they may affect your finances and portfolio Listen at schwab d. com slash Washington Yise. That's Swab. com slash Washington Wise. This is the Gobal News podcast Drug fentanyl, a synthetic opioid fifty times more powerful than heroin, has devastated many communities, especially in the United States killing hundreds of thousands of people in the past decade or so. White rural populations have been badly affected, but so have metropolitan areas with black and African American populations In the city of Minneapolis, the fentanyl crisis has touched many Somali families. Bushra Mohammad has been speaking to two Somali mothers One lost her son to a fentanyyl overdose The other watched her son survive addiction and rebuild his life I mean to tell you where gagging you I came to the United States looking for peace, but I never found it That's what Maruriam Ahammad Sai tells me I've never felt peace, she says. When I met her in Minneapolis, she sits quietly in her living room In her hands other documents she cannot bring herself to throw away Hanspapers, his tax records and the postmortum report that explains how he died The report concludes that Samatar died from a fentanyl overdose Al when he died, I decided to do a postmotem The community has asked me not to do it, but I had to. And I was told he died because of fentanyyl overdose Mariam fleed S Maria's civil war decades ago after witnessing violence and losing loved ones She hoped the United States would offer safety and a fresh start I was young when the war started in my country, my loved ones were killed in front of me Instead, she says she found another kind of grief You don't Han Balank Death is very painful And I live with it till now. I live with a lot of pain Fentanyl has become a major driver of overdose deaths in the United States Officials say deaths remain high despite recent declines from the peak in twenty twenty two when more than a thousand people died from opioid overidis in Minnesota alone For Mariam, those statistics are personal Ham Samatater is one of them Okay. Okay see I'm Across Minneapolis, another Somali mother told me she once feared she might receive the same devastating news. A san became involved in drugs and street violence as a teenager. She remembers nights when fear took over her home He will come into the house while being chased. He will ask me to close all the curtains, switch off the lights and tell us to lie on the floor. Dka says she often wondered whether her son would survive But with her help, he overcame addiction and the death of his close friend became a turning point One thing I am here to let you know is that anybody can do this Today, he workks with the young people struggling with drugs trying to prevent them from making the same mistakes. These babies who are born in the United States Julie Pouch is the chief strategist for opioid response in Minneapolis, Henneipin County She says cultural differences can play a role in vulnerability to addiction They are being raised Third culture kids but they are now totally surrounded. by American culture and they are being exposed to Drugs, alcohol, music Close all this other stuff. they're Parents never knew about. for Deca There's a relief that has s't survivive So in the end I decided to change a lot about myself because these kids nowadays will challenge you, we don't understand each other This is internity But for Mariam On memories and the papers she keeps close beside her. A mother search for peace that began during Somalia's war continues today Quiet corner from Minneapolis home M we b the Rsian Bushra Mohammed We've now heard from Donald Trump after it was revealed that he made more than a billion dollars last year from various business dealings in cryptocurrency. That's after pledging to make America the crypto capital of the planet during his reelection campaign. A big turnaround from the days when he used to describe a digital currency as a scam Many of Mr. Trump's followers who invested in his cryptocurrency known as a meme coin have suffered Big losses But the president has denied profiteering He says his sons manage the business via a trust and therefore there is no conflict of interest. Speaking next to Air Force One, he claimed he was only getting richer because his policies were making everyone else richer too Well, you know why I'm profiting because the stock market' going up. So we're all profiting. I'm profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash and I give it to institutions. I don't know if they know what they're doing or not So how does this compare to other presidents' business dealings while in office Meghan Gormman, a tax attorney and author of the book, All the President's Money, has been speaking to Rebecca Kesby When you look across the history of the United States, The real precedent was set by George Washington You have to remember, there's always an inherent conflict of interest presidents and their personal finances and being president Out of the gate, Washington wanted to make sure that he could have some armmss length distance And every president since then has followed suit And so what is so shocking about the news of the disclosures is I think that this is completely unprecedented in American history Well, mrter Trump, of course says that his business is in a trust. It's being run by his sons. So he says there's no conflict of interests I mean, he's never apologized about his wealth. He's never hidden it But is that just a stylistic difference with other presidents? The fact that he talks about it, whereas maybe other presidents try and keep it more quiet, don't crow about the wealth that they've already got Yeah, you know, I think it's a little bit of blurring the rules, right and focusing on what he wants to focus on. Let's go back historically, right? When you look at presidents, and I'll take Ronald Reagan, who came into office in nineteen eighty one As he was coming into office We basically sold everything. but his ranch and his personal home. And he put it into a trust that had an independent trustee What's so different here is they in that time period They felt the need to point out to the public that they were not, having a conflict, that they were prioritizing country over personal interest So what's really going on here is not just what Trump is doing But it's a good example The complete erosion in trust that Americans have. So Meghan, on that, let's talk about the issue of cryptocurrency because one of the complaints is the lack of transparency with these currencies because literally anybody could be buying it from any country, any individual, they may not have the best interests of the United States at heart when they invest in these things. Is that part of the issue I think it's one of many issues. I think that what you're seeing here is the idea that the American public is watching someone capitalize on the presidency The idea of making money off of being a prior president is a fairly modern concept It was Gerald Ford who in the seventies when he left office fifty years ago, forty eight years ago It's okay to go into private enterprise and make money. And we've seen that since then You know, this idea of investing in crypto, taking advantage of it, having that influence to allow You know, the cryptocurrency holdings to benefit the Trump family That is incredibly unique. Mean Gorman, a tax attorney and author of the book, All the President's Money The Eurovision song contest has a new competitor Canada, which is joining from next year If you're thinking, but Canada isn't in Europe, you're not alone. William Lee Adams is a BBC journalist and founder of Wewi Blogs, the world's most followed independent Eururovision channel on YouTube He explains why Canada, like Australia before it a decade ago, has been allowed to join despite being nowhere near Europe You're absolutely right, but the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union, they would say this is not a contest between countries, It's a contest between broadcasters. So in this competition, admission to the club isn't defined by borders. It's defined by bureaucracy. So if you have a broadcaster that's a paying member, full member of the European broadcasting Union And you follow certain rules, you're eligible to participate in the contest. That's why we see Australia competing, for instance. We see Israel, which many people don't consider geographically in Europe. And now we're going to have Canada. All eyes will be on Canada's entry at the next Eur Vision contest which will take place in Bulgaria Mattie McLane is a Eurovision super fan and the hosts of a podcast called A Canadian in Eurovision The idea of Canada has always been a country that's trying to prove itself For decades for centuries, even, we have been put up re prettyty much right in proximity to America, which tends to dominate a lot of the entertainment industry Despite that, Canada has actually had quite the musical background, quite the musical legacy. withith some of the best artists that never frankly leave our borders And so with this contest coming up, I think it's an amazing opportunity in terms of Canada actually presenting how excellent and how exciting O musical products have been for decades and that just really haven't been seen outside of our specific borders Zovision is the biggest entertainment stage in the world, arguably. It is artistic, it is incredible. It is something that gives everything from like micronations all the way up to major major players stage and the opportunity to represent themselves for at least three minutes with a song. and that opportunity doesn't come around very often The last country to enter Eurovision and win the first go was Serbia in two thousand eight And technically, they were part of Serbia and Montenegro a couple years before and were consistently doing well. So that's not like such a huge surprise. Australia entered, they came, they did consistently well. The second year they entered, they came in second. A our chances of coming in first excellent out the go I mean, our quality of music is there. so it's possible And I mean, if I'm somewh behind the helm, I have to assume it's going to be better. But apart from that, like, do we stand a chance of winning the first year Honestly, probably not. but will we do extremely well and better than people expect? Absolutely Eurovision suuperfan, Matty McLan. Are we seeing the end of the video game disc? Last week, US developer Rockstar Games said its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto six would come with a download code rather than being a physical copy. And now the tech giant Sony says all new PlayStation games will be digital only from January twenty twenty eight The companies say they're following the way people play now Is this shift really just about convenience Carla Conti reports