Global News Podcast
Roof collapse at Dominican Republic nightclub kills scores of people
Wed, 09 Apr 2025
Hundreds of people were inside the Jet Set nightclub in the Dominican Republic's capital, Santo Domingo, when the roof collapsed. Also: major David Hockney art exhibition opens in Paris.
Chapter 1: What happened at the Dominican Republic nightclub?
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 9th of April, these are our main stories. Rescuers are searching for survivors after a roof collapse at a music venue in the Dominican Republic kills scores of people.
The Trump administration escalates its trade war with China with tariffs of more than 100% coming into effect today. The UN Secretary General accuses Israel of violating the Geneva Conventions in Gaza by blocking aid supplies. Also in this podcast we talked to the renowned British artist David Hockney about his biggest ever exhibition.
I mean I've always said I want my work to be seen but I don't have to be seen.
We start this podcast in the Dominican Republic, where throughout the day the number of people killed by the sudden collapse of a nightclub roof has been steadily rising. As we record this podcast, at least 66 people are confirmed to have died and more than 150 have been injured. It's thought that many more may be buried alive by the huge mounds of rubble.
Vamos, vamos, vamos, vamos!
Rescueworkers are continuing to search for survivors at the music venue in the capital, Santo Domingo. The president, Luis Abinader, said they weren't giving up hope.
Wir glauben an Gott, dass wir noch mehr Menschen von diesen Ruinen retten werden.
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Chapter 2: Why did the roof collapse at Jet Set nightclub?
I heard more from our America's editor, Leonardo Russia, about what could have caused this disaster.
It's very strange that the whole roof collapsed in one go. That's what people are saying, that there is something wrong, because you might have bits of the roof collapsing, people running the other direction. The building was a 1970s building that began as a disco, as a nightclub, and then became a music event, you know, a venue later.
Es gab viele Leute online, Leute, die ich auf der lokalen TV sah, die Nachbarn, die sagten, was passiert ist, es gab ein Feuer da ein paar Jahre ago, ich weiß nicht, ob es strukturelle Schäden war, es gab Berichte von Wasserlösen.
And also because it was closed during the COVID pandemic, that when it reopened, it reopened with new infrastructure on the roof, air conditioning generators and that might have put a strain on the roof. It's been investigated and what witnesses said, survivors, is that they thought it was an earthquake. It felt like an earthquake, trembling and the whole thing came down on them.
There are dozens of people who are outside, they are praying, they are sharing pictures, asking for people to inform, is my husband, is my daughter, is my brother here or in some hospital.
So the rescue efforts are going on and we have to say that the Dominican Republic has a history of hurricanes and earthquakes and they have a very developed team, very well trained and very well equipped and they are doing all they can to find survivors.
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Chapter 3: How is the trade war between the US and China escalating?
Leonardo Rocha. As we record this podcast, the US President Donald Trump is poised to further escalate his trade war with China in a move that will reverberate around a world still stunned by the past few days of steep stock market falls. The White House says the US is imposing another 50% tariff on Chinese imports from today to punish Beijing for imposing its own reciprocal tariffs on US goods.
This means that Chinese products entering the US will face duties of more than 100%. The White House Press Secretary, Caroline Leavitt, said this could all change if China decided to reach out to Mr. Trump.
He believes that China wants to make a deal with the United States. He believes China has to make a deal with the United States. It was a mistake for China to retaliate. The President, when America is punched, he punches back harder. That's why there will be 104%. Tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight. But the President believes that Xi and China want to make a deal.
They just don't know how to get that started. And the President also wanted me to tell all of you that if China reaches out to make a deal, he'll be incredibly gracious, but he's going to do what's best for the American people.
But while the White House says around 70 countries have contacted it, wanting to negotiate deals before tariffs on them also come into effect, so far the world's second biggest economy has remained defiant, with China vowing to fight to the end in its trade war with the United States. Our Washington correspondent Anthony Zirka reports on the likely fallout.
China is one of America's largest trading partners. And so you can strike deals with Bangladesh, you can strike deals with South Korea, even the EU, Japan. But if there's a trade war with China, that is going to put at risk the global economy and also have a very real domestic impact here in the United States. So while it does seem like Donald Trump is making progress in some areas...
Es scheint, dass es Raum für Abkommunikation gibt. Wenn China nicht Fußball spielt, und China scheint nicht zu wollen, Fußball zu spielen, zumindest für jetzt, wird das wirklich schwierig zu übernehmen. Ich denke, es gibt riesige Unabhängigkeit und man beginnt, es öffentlich zu sehen.
Ted Cruz, ein republikanischer Senator aus Texas, war offensichtlich kritisch zu Donald Trumps Handelspolicy, hat beurteilt, dass es führen könnte. Vielen Dank.
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Chapter 4: What challenges are stockbrokers facing during market turmoil?
Anthony Zirka. So what's it like for stockbrokers on the trading floor who are having to grapple with these head-spinning financial twists and turns? Mark Lowen has been speaking to three of them. Jack Stickley, a stockbroker at Morgan's Financial in Brisbane in Australia. Luca Della Rocca, head of trading at Intermonte in Milan in Italy.
And to Steve Burns, a stockbroker in the US state of Florida. First, Jack Stickley.
Yeah, it's certainly been a busy couple of days. First and foremost, we really try our best to get on the front foot and talk to clients. That's really the best way to communicate how you're seeing things and making sure that each client is comfortable with what they've got in their portfolio. If we're deploying a client's portfolio, we're making sure that we're Yeah, no doubt.
If we get a phone call from a client and given the last couple of days saying, sell the portfolio, I'm really struggling to handle this volatility. We haven't really done our job in that initial onboarding phase. We do spend a fair bit of time running through with each client what their appetite for risk is and really trying to build out a portfolio that is tailored towards their needs.
But obviously that's a perfect world.
I mean, are we talking about some clients losing millions just in a matter of minutes?
Oh, schau, ich will nicht zu weit in die Zahlen reißen, aber ja, schau, die meisten meiner Klienten, es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass sie diese Art von Marktabläufen gesehen haben. Ich meine, es war nicht lange her, dass wir Covid hatten.
Luca, wie ist es für dich in den letzten paar Tagen, all das zu sehen?
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Chapter 5: Is China involved in the Ukraine conflict?
Ja, ich denke, es ist ziemlich ähnlich zu dem, was Jack beschrieben hat. Im Wesentlichen konzentrieren wir uns auf institutionelle Klienten. So yes, indeed, they are very much used to the situation.
They might be, as you mentioned, losing significant chunks of money, but it is part of their business, so they are definitely used to it, which means probably on our side we need to be able to offer also Steve, has it been stressful for you?
I mean, $6 trillion were wiped off the US stock market since the tariff announcement last Wednesday.
Ich habe zwei Drawdowns und zwei Drops gemacht, aber ich hatte eine so hohe Kostenbasis, als ich den ersten Tipp gekauft habe, dass ich nicht so hart wie viele andere Leute getroffen habe. Es war ein guter Lick an einem Tag, aber es war ein Tag, während andere Trend-Follower und Swing-Traders, die ich gesehen habe, für mehrere Tage gehalten haben und sich
Ich habe viele Trauma in der aktiven Handelswelt gesehen, besonders für die langen Bias-Händler, die Stocks kaufen und Stocks für mehrere Tage halten oder die initialen Dips kaufen. Denn das war so traumatisierend, weil es war so, als hätten wir die Deep Seek und wir hatten den AI-Kreis.
Das war die Sicht von Softbrokern auf den aktuellen Markt-Turmoil. Es ist schon lange bekannt, dass Moskau Tausende Nordkorea-Soldaten benutzt hat, um die ukrainischen Kräfte, die in der russischen Region von Kursk besiegt wurden, auszulösen. Und in der Ukraine selbst, mit Attack-Drohnen aus Iran.
Aber jetzt hat der ukrainische Präsident, Wladimir Zelensky, die dramatische Begründung gemacht, dass zwei chinesische Soldaten, die mit russischen Truppen kämpfen, in der österreichischen Donetsk-Region gefangen wurden. Er hat gesagt, sie hatten chinesische Dokumente und Bankkarten, und er hat eine Antwort aus Beijing gefordert.
In einem sozialen Medienpost, das ein Video von einem der Männer, der Mandarin spricht, enthüllte Mr. Zelensky, den Vereinigten Staaten zu intervenieren.
I believe this is an important moment that we need to discuss with our partners, urgently. I understand that we are a strong country, but we cannot fight multiple countries at the same time, all of whom want something on our land. We really hope that after this situation the Americans will talk more with the Ukrainians and then with the Russians. We truly hope the Chinese side will also respond.
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Chapter 6: What is the UN's stance on the situation in Gaza?
I asked our correspondent in Kiev, James Waterhouse, about the significance of this announcement and if it was the first time Ukraine had accused China of supplying troops to Russia.
It is the first kind of claim. I mean, for President Zelensky, he is certainly looking to frame this as... Why? Well, he wants to reiterate what he sees as the widening geopolitical footprint of Russia's invasion. He wants to say to America, and he did so in a press conference, you need to pay attention to what is happening.
You need to consider your response if Beijing is now helping Moscow in its invasion. But... There is no evidence, according to western officials, that Beijing is directly helping Russian troops. And we don't know what those Chinese soldiers may have been doing. They might have been in Ukraine in a mercenary role or they could have simply been mobilized from inside Russia. So there are a lot of...
unanswered questions, but Zelensky did post a video showing an Asian soldier in a Russian uniform, handcuffed, talking to his captors.
So it's a sizable, significant accusation, but at the moment we wait to hear to see what Beijing and Washington say in response, but there's no further evidence, despite Kiev saying there is, and that there may well be more Chinese soldiers fighting on Ukrainian soil.
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Chapter 7: How is South Korea addressing its low birth rate and labor shortage?
And just remind us what Beijing's position is on the war in Ukraine.
Well, they have always stopped short of condemning the invasion, but nor have they spoken publicly in support. Now, before the full-scale invasion, Beijing and Moscow, President Xi and Vielen Dank. Das ist ein Verhältnis, das sich verändert, aber es wird immer mehr für beide bedeutend.
So, for this relationship to spill into direct military involvement like we've seen with North Korea, I don't think there is enough evidence to say that at this stage. And in the case of North Korea, yes, a few thousand troops were deployed, but it was the provision of ammunition which proved to be significant in some areas of the battlefield.
So, of course it would be significant if this was more. And I think what's interesting is how President Zelensky is framing this. He is trying to generate that urgency to keep the pressure on America...
James Waterhouse in Kiev. Let me be clear.
Mit mehr, hier ist Imogen Folks in Geneva, wo mehrere UN-Bodies sind.
No supplies, humanitarian or commercial, have been allowed into Gaza for more than a month. The Fourth Geneva Convention requires Israel as the occupying power to ensure the population has food and medicine. Hospitals and health workers must be protected. Essential services like water and sanitation must be maintained. None of this, Antonio Guterres said, is happening in Gaza.
He urged a renewal of the ceasefire, pointing out that previous pauses in fighting had allowed Israeli hostages to be released. And he paid tribute to aid workers in Gaza, describing them as heroes who were doing all they could to help people. Er beantragte eine unabhängige Untersuchung über die Taten von 15 Arbeiter, die letztes Monat von israelischen Kräften getötet wurden. Imogen, folks.
Now to the country with the world's lowest birth rate, South Korea. With declining fertility rates, businesses there are facing a serious shortage of workers. So the government is now looking at increasing immigration, a move that's not exactly popular with some South Koreans. David Kan visited the country to find out more.
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