: Worldhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11941453<![CDATA[Canadian teacher in Venezuela describes chaos as earthquakes’ death toll climbs]]>Sat, 27 Jun 2026 16:25:40 +0000
A Canadian teacher from Toronto, living in Venezuela says residents are digging through rubble by hand and sleeping in parks as search efforts continue days after a pair of powerful earthquakes devastated parts of the country.
The death toll from Wednesday’s 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes has climbed to at least 1,420, while more than 51,000 people remain unaccounted for, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Heather McKay, a Canadian who teaches at the British School Caracas, was leaving her apartment to meet a friend for dinner when the first quake struck.
“It was like the ocean, almost just kind of doing this back and forth (motion),” McKay told Global News.
McKay said she rushed away from nearby buildings once she realized what was going on.
“I saw a building and the fire escape… people were just running down,” she said. “There were just holes in so many apartment buildings. It was absolutely intense.”
Her own apartment building was damaged in the earthquake, forcing her to seek shelter with a colleague.
“My building has huge holes in the bottom. An entire wall is missing near the staircase,” she said.
McKay added that many residents are still afraid to return to their homes amid concerns about structural damage and aftershocks.
Authorities announced Friday they would restrict access to La Guaira, the epicentre of the destruction, as rescue crews continue searching for survivors.
More than 14,000 military and police personnel have been deployed to the area.
But McKay said many rescue efforts are being carried out by ordinary citizens.
“People are asking, ‘Do you have hammers? Do you have gloves? Do you have helmets?'” she said. “A lot of the rescue efforts have just been regular citizens wearing motorcycle helmets and digging with their hands.”
McKay said many people escaped with little more than the clothes they were wearing.
“People were on the street in their pyjamas, trying to wrangle their pets, just having no idea,” she said. “So many people will have lost everything…literally everything except the clothes on their backs.”
She warned that forecasted rain could worsen conditions for displaced residents sheltering outdoors.
“There are people camping in plazas and parks. They have nowhere to go,” she said.
Aid organizations generally consider the first 48 to 72 hours after a disaster critical for finding survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings, according to Red Cross VP of international cooperation, Kelsey Lemon.
“We expect a long road to recovery,” Lemon said.
Despite the destruction, McKay said residents have rallied together to help one another.
“Venezuelans are some of the most hardworking and kind people you will ever meet,” she said. “Everyone is trying their best, but we need help.”
McKay said she registered her presence in Venezuela with Global Affairs Canada and received updates following security incidents earlier this year but has “had zero communication from them,” since the earthquakes.
She urged people not to forget about the country as international attention inevitably shifts elsewhere.
Venezuelan authorities said Friday that 861 volunteers from Mexico, the U.S., El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia and beyond were in the country, and more were coming from elsewhere.
“Right now it’s in the news, but in a week, in a month, it’s not going to be fixed,” McKay said. “Please don’t forget about Venezuela.”
]]>: Worldhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11940613<![CDATA[Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue team deploys to Venezuela after deadly earthquakes]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 21:26:34 +0000
Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue team deploys to Venezuela after deadly earthquakes
Burnaby's Urban Search and Rescue team is headed to Venezuela. The country has been hit be two devestating earthquakes. And as Travis Prasad reports, they are going to help in the recovery effort.
Seven members of Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue are now heading to Venezuela to help find and rescue people trapped by the earthquakes.
The death toll is approaching 1,000 after two powerful earthquakes struck the country.
More than 3,000 people were injured in the back-to-back earthquakes, which struck the region on Wednesday.
The Burnaby team includes two firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement officials, along with two dogs.
They received the green light from the Venezuelan government on Wednesday morning and said they will likely spend five to seven days in the country.
The owner of a private plane also donated a flight so the team can have an easier time accessing the danger zone, as commercial airports have been damaged.
“It’s a collaborative effort,” Shawn Mohammed, the Burnaby USAR deployment director, said.
“You definitely can’t do it alone. So we’re very humbled to have great support with us when we deploy.”
Burnaby Search and Rescue team helping save lives in Turkey
Ryan Berry, the president of Burnaby USAR, said they will assess where they are needed when they get on the ground.
“Once we have our feet on the ground, usually what seems to be the biggest priority are the basic necessities of life, food and water, just providing any help we can,” he said.
]]>: Worldhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11940283<![CDATA[An ‘Omega block’ is behind Europe’s heat wave — can it happen in Canada?]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:16:26 +0000
A deadly heat wave slowly boiling western Europe this month is being driven by a weather pattern known as an Omega block, which scientists say could become more common around the world — including in Canada.
The heat wave has pushed temperatures as much as 18 C above their seasonal average, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor. Hundreds of people have died, including at least 40 in France who have drowned while swimming to escape the heat, according to officials.
“Over the region studied, this heat wave is the most severe ever recorded,” the World Weather Attribution group of climate scientists said in an analysis Friday.
Here’s what to know about an Omega block, and whether climate change is to blame.
An Omega block gets its name from how the pressure systems appear on a weather map, which resembles the Greek letter “Ω.”
In Europe’s case, a bulge of warmer high pressure has settled over the affected countries, with low pressures on either side of it — the Atlantic coast to the west, and parts of eastern Europe at the opposite end.
The warmer air gets stuck or “blocked” within that structure, as opposed to normal conditions where the jet stream carries weather systems from west to east.
“Because you’ve got this high pressure system sitting there in the centre, you have a very stable and very warm air mass because the heat is moved northward into that area,” Gordon McBean, a professor emeritus in weather and environmental studies at Western University, said in an interview.
“Then it builds up over time.”
Omega blocks typically last between three and 10 days, but can sometimes persist for weeks.
Map showing the forecast maximum temperatures from June 25-27 in Europe.
Associated Press
Countries including Spain, France and Germany have been seeing hot and dry conditions. Because the high pressure also suppresses the formation of clouds, there’s been little relief from the sun.
France recorded its hottest-ever temperature of 43.8 C in the small southwestern town of Pissos on Wednesday.
That day was the hottest day for the entire country on record, according to the Meteo France weather agency, which said the average temperature measured at 30 French weather stations across day and night reached 30 C for the first time ever.
Saarbruecken, a German city near the French border, broke the national temperature record on Friday at 41.3 C.
Regions in the low-pressure areas flanking the heat wave, meanwhile, are more likely to see cooler, rainy conditions.
Britain has been been caught in the middle of the high and low pressure systems, with intense heat in the south and east and cooler temperatures in the north and west, according to the UK Met Office.
Still, forecasters extended a red alert for heat Friday after the temperature in Suffolk, England, reached 37.3 C, marking the hottest June day the country has ever seen.
From Paris to Rome: Heatwave sparks health concerns and tourist disruptions
Another Omega block was also behind the record-smashing 21 C high that Saskatchewan reported in January 2024, the network said.
McBean said Omega blocks can be predicted with fairly high confidence before they occur, noting it’s one of several extreme weather patterns that are becoming more frequent in recent years.
The World Weather Attribution analysis said the European heat wave would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change.
A similar heat wave in the same month 50 years ago would have been around 3.5 C cooler than this one, the scientists said.
The analysis added the past week’s high nighttime temperatures were 100 times more likely to occur than they would have been two decades ago.
That’s because of the rising baseline of global temperatures made possible by greenhouse gas emissions.
The European heat wave is also occurring around the five-year anniversary of the deadly heat dome that scorched British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. in 2021, which saw more than 600 deaths in the province alone.
McBean said it’s important for people and officials to be aware of the increasing frequency of such heat events and to prepare accordingly.
“These are situations that are leading unfortunately to death (and) economic cost of significant amounts, and these are going to increase in the future,” he said.
“We need to adapt our ways of dealing with them,” he added, from improved warning systems to ensuring homes and buildings are designed with cooling in mind.
]]>: Worldhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11940598<![CDATA[Israel, Lebanon sign framework deal with U.S. seen as ‘first step’ to peace]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:15:12 +0000U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the U.S. Friday to announce a framework agreement that was described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The officials did not share details on the agreement, which does not include Hezbollah and prompted one of the group’s officials in Lebanon to warn of civil war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said that the framework would allow Lebanese forces to eventually take control of territory from Israel’s military.
The agreement was signed in front of Rubio in Washington by Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and Nada Hamadeh, the Lebanese ambassador to the United States.
Hamadeh said the framework “is a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to go back to their land and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security and prosperity.”
Leiter said the final destination of the framework is peace between the two countries.
“Real peace, where both countries will live in security, where Israel’s and Lebanon’s sovereignty will be respected, honored and protected,” Leiter said. “In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out. Hezbollah is out. And the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in.”
The latest conflict began when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the U.S. launched their war on Iran on Feb. 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has expanded its control.
Israel ‘will not withdraw’ from Lebanon even if US demands it, says defence minister Katz
The talks between Israel and Lebanon were separate from the interim deal that was signed last week by the leaders of the U.S. and Iran to end the fighting in the Islamic Republic. That agreement set a 60-day period for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that Iran wants to use it for military purposes, a claim the country denies.
The Lebanese government had been wary of having Iran negotiate on its behalf, and Lebanon launched its own direct negotiations with Israel after the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah was not part of the talks, which resulted in several ceasefire agreements that were never implemented on the ground.
Iran, meanwhile, insisted that its own agreement with the U.S. explicitly include a ceasefire in Lebanon. The first halt in fighting in Lebanon since March coincided with the beginning of U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland.
Hassan Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, reiterated the group’s stance on Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV that it rejects Lebanon’s direct negotiations with Israel and that it will not give up its weapons.
Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities “will not be able to enforce the agreement signed in Washington unless they go, with American support, to civil war.” He also called the agreement in Washington “an attempt to derail the Islamabad process,” referring to the U.S.-Iran negotiations.
In a statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun thanked the Trump administration and the Lebanese negotiating team and said Friday’s agreement will be a “first step” toward allowing the Lebanese displaced by the war “to return to their fully liberated land and to their homes” and to live “with their heads held high, under the sovereignty of a Lebanese state that has no partner in its sovereignty over its land and people.”
He did not share details of the pact.
Fighting in Lebanon threatens to undermine U.S.-Iran peace deal
More than 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since March. At least 37 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel during the fighting.
A lull earlier this week in fire between Israeli and Hezbollah forces began to show cracks after Israel said it targeted Hezbollah militants in several strikes across southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials have said that securing a withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon is a top priority for them in the negotiations, while Israeli officials have prioritized the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Aoun had told a visiting British parliamentary delegation on Wednesday that a proposal for “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army is supposed to take exclusive control of the territory as Israeli troops will withdraw was “under discussion pending approval from the Israeli side.” He reiterated that the Israel-Lebanon negotiations in Washington are separate from what emerged from from the Iran-U.S. talks in Switzerland.
An Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said Israel’s direct negotiations with Lebanon include discussions about the redeployment of Israeli forces after southern Lebanon is cleared of Hezbollah infrastructure and Hezbollah has disarmed.
Hezbollah is unlikely to agree to any plan that would include its disarmament throughout the country. The group has maintained that it is only required by previous agreements and U.N. resolutions to disarm in the area south of the Litani River, near Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire fragile as cracks grow, talks stall in U.S.-Iran deal
Netanyahu, the Israeli leader, said in a video on Friday that the framework is a “great achievement” for Israel.
“The most important thing, first and foremost, is that Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon,” he said. “This is a major achievement, and we will maintain it as long as Hezbollah has not been disarmed and as long as it continues to pose a threat to the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu also said that Israel is allowing the Lebanese army to begin preparing to take control of territory.
“We are establishing two pilot zones, both based on the recommendation of the IDF,” he said. “The first is entirely outside the security zone and south of the Litani River. The second is north of the Litani.”
On Wednesday, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun told a visiting British parliamentary delegation that a proposal for “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army is supposed to take exclusive control of the territory as Israeli troops will withdraw was “under discussion pending approval from the Israeli side.”
Sewell reported from Beirut. Lidman reported from Tel Aviv. Associated Press writers Koral Saeed in Herzliya, Israel, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
]]>: Worldhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11940501<![CDATA[Trump vows 100% tariffs if Europe enacts digital services tax]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 19:35:39 +0000
President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100 per cent tax on imports from any country that imposes a tax on digital services from United States companies.
In a post on social media, Trump took aim at European countries that he said are discussing “imminent” implementation of taxes on American companies. The U.S. president has repeatedly sought to use tariffs as way to deter such taxes, but many countries are looking for revenues as their economies increasingly operate in digital realms that are dominated by American companies.
“Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100 per cent TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
He added that the new tax would supersede any previously negotiated trade deals. Trump said the penalty would apply to any country that moves forward with such a tax, but he singled out European nations in his post.
The move could lead to a larger showdown that could increase prices and hinder economic growth, possibly setting off a larger trade war if the 27-member European Union was compelled to retaliate.
“Unilateral measures targeting such legitimate policies are unjustified. If pursued, the EU will respond swiftly and decisively to defend its rights and regulatory autonomy,” said Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission on Friday.
He defended taxation on technology companies as “non-discriminatory” and applied equally to “all large companies, regardless of their origin.”
Trump has repeatedly pushed against foreign efforts to tax or regulate American tech giants. Last year, he threatened new tariffs on any country that moved to do so. A post from last August said that digital taxes and regulation “are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology.”
Canada kills digital services tax to salvage U.S. trade talks
The threat comes ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline for the European Union and the United States to start implementing a tariff deal that caps tariffs on most EU exports at 15 per cent.
The European Union in May finalized a trade deal with the United States that caps most tariffs on EU exports at 15 per cent. The deal followed months of debate within the EU after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tentatively struck the deal last year while visiting Trump’s golf course in Scotland.
Digital taxes were not part of the agreement and have remained a sticking point between the U.S. and the European bloc.
The U.S. government has previously conducted tariff investigations into digital services taxes under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. But it was unclear how Trump would carry out his threat and whether he would apply the tariffs broadly or initially target certain nations.
Britain, which is no longer part of the EU, has since 2020 levied a two per cent digital services tax on revenues earned by search engines, social media sites and online marketplaces that “derive value” from U.K. users.
The British government said in a policy document at the time that corporate tax rules for digital businesses had “led to a misalignment between the place where profits are taxed and the place where value is created.”
The U.K. tax includes thresholds, so mainly large international companies will pay it. The tax was designed to “ensure the large multinational businesses in-scope make a fair contribution to supporting vital public services,” the document said.
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