At least 12 dead in Spanish wildfires

Summary

Global News Podcast – July 10, 2026

"At least 12 dead in Spanish wildfires"

Host: Ankur Desai, BBC World Service
Episode Theme:
This episode delivers urgent global news with in-depth reports on the deadly Spanish wildfires, aftermath of Venezuelan earthquakes, aviation safety, Japan’s imperial succession dilemma, groundbreaking medical advances for high-risk pregnancies, and the role of soccer in immigrant integration in the US.

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Key Stories & Insights

1. Deadly Wildfires in Southern Spain

Timestamps: [01:35]–[07:09]

• At least 12 people dead, most foreign tourists, as wildfires sweep through Almeria, Spain.
  • "The fire started and has spread very quickly… we are heading towards the campsite because the wind is blowing from the west and it's going to reach the campsite where we also have four hundred to five hundred people." — Francisco Reyes, Mayor of Almeria [03:08]
• Over 19 missing; death toll may rise.
  • “There are concerns that the death toll could increase further, potentially quite substantially.” — Guy Hedgecoe, BBC Correspondent [03:33]
• Firefighting hampered by extreme heat, dryness, and high winds.
• Suspected cause: Downed power cable.
  • “The cause… may have been a power cable that fell near a road and sparked a fire next to a forested area… then with high winds and dry conditions, it just spread extremely quickly.” — Ankur Desai [04:38]
• Unusual loss of life: Spain is “very used to wildfires… but what people are not used to seeing… is people dying because of fires… eleven people dead, that has really stunned people here.” — Guy Hedgecoe [05:18]
• Weather Perspective:
  • High southeasterly winds “not only fanned the flames but actually… pushed the wildfires up the hills… very, very rapid spread… much more intense as we headed into the evening.” — Chris Fawkes, BBC Weather [06:10]

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2. Aftermath of Venezuelan Earthquakes

Timestamps: [07:09]–[11:28]

• Two weeks after two major quakes: Over 3,800 dead, tens of thousands missing.
  • Massive displacement: Many living in informal tents.
  • “The level of destruction is just immense… People are having to live in the streets… They’ve lost absolutely everything.” — Salah Said, Disasters Emergency Committee [07:47]
• Urgent needs: Clean water, hygiene kits, shelter, mental health support.
• Criticism of official response:
  • “Charities alone and national organizations or international organizations alone cannot simply meet the immense needs out there.” — Salah Said [11:00]
• Strong focus on community resilience and humanitarian aid.

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3. Ryanair Flight Incident: Passenger Partially Sucked Out Window

Timestamps: [11:28]–[14:09]

• Incident on Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany:
  • “One of the windows became detached… a man sitting near the window was… partially sucked out of the plane—his head and shoulders were out.” — Theo Leggett, Transport Correspondent [11:46]
  • Passenger hospitalized with friction burns but survived.
• Suspected cause: Engine debris hitting window (not confirmed).
• Historical precedent: Southwest 737 in 2018, with a fatal outcome.
  • “These incidents are rare… Fortunately nobody seems to have been seriously injured.” — Theo Leggett [13:01]

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4. The Bayeux Tapestry Returns to Britain

Timestamps: [14:09]–[18:21]

• The nearly 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the 1066 Norman conquest, returns for a 10-month UK exhibition.
  • “It probably sounds a bit strange to be that excited about just seeing a lorry reverse into a loading bay… it's really profound.” — Dr. Millie Horton Inch, Curator [16:17]
  • “This reminds us that we are two old nations who have come together to share a history… It’s a more iconic object in the UK than in France.” — Lord Peter Ricketts, British envoy [16:51]
• Controversy in France: Fears about the tapestry’s safety.
  • “We are gambling with a work of art which is one thousand years old and there is no equivalent anywhere in the world… it's a gambling and I don't think you can gamble with such a work.” — Didier Raichone, French art editor [17:34]

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5. Japan’s Imperial Succession Crisis

Timestamps: [20:30]–[23:10]

• Only three male heirs remain; law bars women from succession.
• Proposed reforms: Adopting men from former imperial branches; allowing women to retain royal status after marrying commoners.
  • “The crisis really stems from the lack of male heirs… Only men in the male bloodline can inherit the throne.” — Kurumi Mori, BBC Tokyo Correspondent [20:58]
  • “We saw a princess leave the imperial family after she married a lawyer… they're hoping this bill will help keep more members in the family.” — Kurumi Mori [21:57]
• Female emperor possibility: “Never say never… there's a lot of hope… but conservatives say the male line is essential.” — Kurumi Mori [22:45]

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6. Medical Breakthrough: Non-invasive Treatment for Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome

Timestamps: [23:10]–[25:23]

• New treatment: High-powered ultrasound waves seal placental blood vessels, offering an alternative to invasive laser surgery for high-risk identical twin pregnancies.
  • “The conversation was really directed towards elective abortion… The consultant… was aware of Doctor Lees and the trial and put me forward… thank God that he did.” — Bryony Garrett, mother [23:50]
• “We can target the blood vessels in the placenta… very, very high power focused sound waves… but we need to do a much bigger study to see if it is clinically effective.” — Prof. Christoph Lees, Imperial College [24:38]

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7. Soccer as Sanctuary: Immigrant and Refugee Community in Maine

Timestamps: [25:23]–[30:11]

• In Portland, Maine, Kennedy Park soccer pitch offers immigrants and refugees (many fleeing hardship) a haven.
  • “Soccer is my therapy… when I come here I see people like me… I feel that instant connection.” — George Lusolo, from Congo [26:16]
• Community copes with intensified ICE immigration raids under the current US administration.
  • “A lot of people were just too afraid to leave their home… we organized seventy-one different grocery deliveries to players and their families.” — Anthony Fiore, organizer [28:22]
• The soccer pitch is reshaping local attitudes about immigrants, fostering belonging and hope:
  • “People just passing by and then seeing immigrants… be happy… paints a different picture about immigrants in their mind.” — Deji, Congolese immigrant [29:37]
  • “The world cup may be about finding the world's best football team, but here in Portland the game's greatest victory is measured differently: in friendships, belonging, and the chance to build a new life.” — Celestine Caroni, BBC Sport Africa [30:11]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "What people are not used to seeing here in the summer is people dying because of fires… eleven people dead, that has really stunned people here." — Guy Hedgecoe, [05:18]
• “One of the windows became detached… a man sitting near the window was… partially sucked out of the plane—his head and shoulders were out.” — Theo Leggett, [11:46]
• "It probably sounds a bit strange to be that excited about just seeing a lorry reverse into a loading bay… it's really profound." — Dr. Millie Horton Inch, [16:17]
• “Soccer is my therapy… I feel that instant connection.” — George Lusolo, [26:16]
• “People just passing by and then seeing immigrants… be happy… paints a different picture about immigrants in their mind.” — Deji, [29:37]

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Episode Structure with Key Timestamps

• [01:35] Spanish Wildfires: Eye-witness reports, rescue operations, weather factors, official reactions
• [07:09] Venezuela Earthquakes: Scale of disaster, humanitarian needs, community resilience
• [11:28] Ryanair Incident: Aviation safety, passenger experience, company response
• [14:09] Bayeux Tapestry: Cultural return, historical context, perspective from UK and France
• [20:30] Japan’s Imperial Family: Succession crisis, legal reforms, broader demographic implications
• [23:10] Medical Innovation: New treatment for rare twin pregnancy condition
• [25:23] Soccer in Maine: Refugee experiences, community integration, impact of US immigration policy

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Conclusion

This episode illustrates the human impact of breaking news: from climate catastrophe and political change to innovative science and cultural exchange. Stories of loss, risk, hope, and community perseverance thread through every segment, set in a world marked by environmental, social, and political upheaval.

Transcript

[Ankur Desai]

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[Ankur Desai]

this is the global news podcast from the bbc world service hello i'm ankur desai and at fifteen hours gmt on friday the tenth of july these are our main stories wildfires in spain kill at least twelve people as a heat wave continues across much of europe one of europe's biggest airlines ryanair confirms that a passenger on one of its flights needed medical attention after he was partially sucked out of a window and japan's lower house of parliament passes a bill aimed at averting a succession crisis in the imperial family also in this podcast how high powered sound waves can help save identical twins affected by a rare pregnancy condition and back in britain for the first time in nearly a thousand

[Millie Horton Inch]

years i did well up a little bit seeing it taken off the lorry so i imagine i'll probably be in floods of tears when i actually see

[Ankur Desai]

it the bay of tapestry arrives in london for an exhibition at the british museum at least twelve people have died in a wildfire in southern spain where fire crews are working to bring one of the country's deadliest blazes under control the authorities have said most of the victims appeared to be foreign tourists the fire spread rapidly in a wooded area around the town of los in the province of almeria its mayor francisco reyes said the authorities were working hard to get people in areas still at risk to safety

[Francisco Reyes]

the fire started and has spread very quickly we have had to evacuate residents from al mukaisar and residents from beda and now we are heading towards the campsite because the wind is blowing from the west and it's going to reach the campsite where we also have four hundred to five hundred people we are very concerned because houses are

[Ankur Desai]

burning our correspondent guy hedgco gave us this update as we heard there that

firefighters are struggling to deal with this fire in what are very hot and dry conditions and also with high winds as well which make it extremely difficult but there are concerns that the death toll could increase further potentially quite substantially further because there are still nineteen people unaccounted for we're told by the authorities of those who've confirmed to have died in the fire four are believed to be british people who were traveling in a british car and seemed to have been trapped by the flames last night there are another seven who died when they were trying to escape the flames on foot so there are concerns that the death toll might increase further but several hundred people have been evacuated taken to local sports halls and the firefighters are battling the flames alongside members of the military as well do we know

much about the cause of this i know there's a lot of consequences regarding the heat waves which are blazing across europe at the moment well yes i

mean of course the very hot dry conditions that we've been seeing across southern europe particularly across spain over the last few days will have contributed to this and there has been a heat wave over the last few days we're told by eyewitnesses and the authorities who believe that the cause of this may have been a power cable that fell near a roc road and then that sparked a fire next to a forested area and then with the high winds and the dry conditions it just spread extremely quickly that was yesterday afternoon so that's the theory at the moment as to

the cause of the fire and what's the reaction been as well we had just briefly there from the mayor anybody

else we've heard from officials we've heard from prime minister pedro sanchez and the king and queen of spain who they've all expressed condolences and their sadness at this tragedy i think across spain there is shock because spain is very used to wildfires at this time of year i mean last year we saw a record breaking year in terms of the amount of land that was burned but what people are not used to seeing here in the summer is people dying because of fires that's relatively unusual certainly in these kinds of numbers you know eleven people dead that has really stunned people here i think not just in the south of the country but right

across spain as we've been hearing conditions in southern europe have been particularly hot so far this summer chris fawkes from bbc weather says there were particular conditions that made the spread of this wildfire so fast i was looking at a

[Chris Fawkes]

satellite picture and you can pick up thermal anomalies you can pick up a heat source on these and what i see is that we start to see a wildfire erupting across this part of spain at about two forty spanish time about three forty british summer time and we had southeasterly winds gusting at about twenty five odd miles an hour so that's just been fanning the flames now where that wildfire started you had hills to the west and so those south easterly winds would have not only fanned the flames but actually worse still pushed the wildfires up the hills which would have burnt things a lot more quickly so we see a very very rapid spread of this fire and we see into the evening time that thermal anomaly that heat signal that picked up on satellite pictures becoming much more extensive and much stronger it shows that this wildfire not only spread very rapidly but it also became much much more intense as we headed into the evening time yesterday

[Ankur Desai]

chris fawkes of bbc weather it's been over two weeks since two consecutive earthquakes struck venezuela's capital caracas and the northern coastal town of la guaira killing more than three thousand eight hundred people tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for and responders are continuing to dig bodies out from beneath the rubble health officials have warned that displaced survivors are at risk from overcrowding a lack of drinking water and disruptions to health care salah said is ceo of the disasters emergency committee and spoke to tim franks from the venezuelan capital caracas the level

[Salah Said]

of destruction is just immense it's catastrophic people are having to live in the streets i've witnessed myself an informal shelter of very small camping tents that were camped outside apartment buildings that were simply just not safe for people to return to and these families in order to keep dry from the rains worst putting their tiny mattresses on pallets they just lost absolutely everything they weren't allowed even to go back into their buildings to collect their belongings so they're reliant on humanitarian assistance the very basics we're talking about access to clean water in order to prevent disease hygiene kits so the simple things like soap and toothpaste sanitary towels and the like and also of course shelter the tents may be okay to keep them in the shade and so forth but this is no way for anybody here to live and then and then finally mental health support in particular for the children they've gone through unbearable trauma many of course lost family and there are tens of thousands of people still missing and you know many still have hope that they will find their loved ones but we all know that the search and rescue is more or less effectively over and it won't be long now before that's called to an end so the focus right now is clearly about ensuring that those thousands of families that have been made homeless get the urgent humanitarian support they need

[Tim Franks]

there has been a lot of criticism i mean right from the get go about the level of response from the state it's always a challenge for states to you know ensure that somehow they meet the tremendous need in such short order but there has been real criticism for the state in terms of how much it's been able to muster what's your impression of the sort of job

[Salah Said]

they've been doing this is a hugely immense earthquake that's impacted tens of thousands of people and two million people in the worst affected areas so for any government any state this is always going to be a mammoth task but really what i want to acknowledge is the first responders the people the communities here just incredible spirit incredible resilience despite obviously that many of their families and their friends some are still buried under the rubble and you know hopefully that they will be able to evacuate those corpses but it's just really hard for people just to now survive the current conditions and that's where the focus lies not just for organizations like the disasters and mercy committee but the first responders here the the national organizations the local char and so forth and that's where we want to focus our attention to ensure they have the resources to help these

[Tim Franks]

people survive but are you hearing some expressions of that frustration we're certainly seeing

[Salah Said]

people who are clearly very upset not just as a consequence of the conditions they find themselves in and the loss they've experienced but the needs are immense charities alone and national organizations or international organizations alone cannot simply meet the immense needs out there and that's why it's important important for us as the disasters committee to raise as much money as possible in order to try to fill that gap and meet as much of

[Ankur Desai]

those needs as possible sala said in caracas next to a story that must have been pretty terrifying for a passenger on orion air flight the man was reportedly partially sucked out of a window and needed medical attention i got more details from our transport correspondent theo leggett

[Theo Leggett]

we mainly know what we know from local media reports ryanair has confirmed that a window on an aircraft that was traveling from thessaloniki in greece to memmingham in germany had an incident early in the flight and one of the windows became detached now that's as much as the rather dry statement from ryanair will tell us but local media have been speaking to people who are on the plane and their reports are that there was a loud bang shortly after takeoff when the plane was traveling at about fifteen thousand feet five thousand meters the oxygen mask came down and a man sitting near the window was as they put it partially sucked out of the plane his head and shoulders were out now this was what would happen when the plane depressurizes because the air pressure inside the plane would be higher than the pressure outside so effectively it's all that outrushing air pushing him out fortunately he doesn't appear to have been seriously injured reports state that he's in hospital with friction burns ryanair says that he requested and was given medical attention but it does seem to be a very worrying incident we don't know why the window was broken local reports again suggest that there was an engine failure on the aircraft that it was hit by debris from the engine which caused it to break and there are precedents for that having happened in the past have

[Ankur Desai]

we had a response from ryanair well

[Theo Leggett]

ryanair has simply confirmed the facts that there was an incident a window became detached the plane returned to thessaloniki a passenger was given medical treatment there are images circulating on social media of the aftermath a broken window oxygen devices coming down from the ceiling and so on it's worth bearing in mind that these incidents are rare but it has happened before there was an incident for example with a boeing seven hundred thirty seven operated by southwest airlines in the united states in twenty eighteen there was what was called an uncontained engine failure on that aircraft that's where the engine not only fails but bits of it escape from the shrouding and can penetrate the aircraft or bits of the aircraft on that occasion it broke a window and unfortunately a woman was partially sucked out and she died this seems to have been a much more positive outcome and i think that the fact it occurred early in the flight about six minutes into the flight it looks like the plane was not higher so the passenger was still wearing his seat belt the air pressure differential wasn't so great so he survived it must have been tremendously shocking quite a horrible experience but fortunately nobody seems to have been seriously injured

[Ankur Desai]

theo leggett a special piece of artwork has come back to britain for the first time since it is believed to have been created here nearly one thousand years ago the bayer tapestry depicting the moment in ten sixty six when william the conqueror from france conquered england at the battle of hastings and has arrived now back on british soil it was embroidered in the southern city of canterbury or so it's believed and then taken to bayeux in northern france it's being loaned to britain in a historic agreement signed by the british and the french governments the tapestry all seventy meters of it will be on display at the british museum from september to july the museum expects a million visitors during a ten month run which would make this one of its most popular exhibitions ever our culture and media editor katie razzle spoke to us from outside the british museum where she saw the lorry with the tapestry arrive overnight it's here for

[Katie Razzle]

nine months the reason the practical reason why it's come here at this point is because the bear museum where it is housed well that is being renovated so it shut down the tapestry had to come down and it had to go somewhere but actually this idea of a loan was first mooted when theresa may was our prime minister back in twenty eighteen then covid hit then after theresa may during the boris johnson years relationships between britain and france weren't perhaps as cordial as they are now and so finally all these years on it has happened but there was was some disquiet in france in parts of france amongst certain people about it moving but they made absolute care of this item and all the security protocols and all the dry runs that they did to make sure it was going to be here safely but you know they've taken it inside there it's going to sit there for a few days then they're going to open it out and take a look at it and obviously i think after that once they discover there is no damage if they do that is when people will really be able

[Ankur Desai]

to relax doctor millie horton inch is the project curator for the bayeux tapestry exhibition she was also there it probably

[Millie Horton Inch]

sounds a bit strange to be that excited about just seeing a lorry reverse into a loading bay and a box removed but when you consider the object within it how old it was how close to the events it depicts it was made and by people who live through those events it's really profound i did well up a little bit seeing it taken off the lorry so i imagine i'll probably be in floods of tears when i actually see it lord

[Ankur Desai]

peter ricketts is the british envoy for the loan of the bayeux tapestry and a former british ambassador to france he thinks it's an important moment in the sometimes difficult relationship between britain and france

[Peter Ricketts]

this reminds us that we are two old nations who have come together to share a history together that binds us together and it's a more iconic object in the uk than it is in france because for us it's a sort of it's the foundation story of our modern history you know the normans arrived they changed our language our food our architecture our sovereign in france it wasn't the same impact at all so i think emmanuel macron understood that by lending it to the uk it would be very very powerful here thousands and thousands of children would learn which they probably don't now about the history of that period and therefore it's a way of expanding the relationship beyond the ups and downs of the day to day didier

[Ankur Desai]

raichone who's the editor of an online magazine about art and heritage is totally against the whole project i am against

[ZipRecruiter Advertiser]

this decision you know we are gambling with a work of art which is one thousand years old and there is no equivalent anywhere in the world so it's a gambling and i don't think you can gamble with such a work the point is they don't know how the tapestry which is an embroidery actually they don't know what will happen when they unpack it and after a while there is a return back and they did all they could but they didn't study the way the tapestry react with the vibrations they don't know at all so they did what they could but i repeat it's a grumbling and just

[Ankur Desai]

a reminder if you're passing through london you have from september until july to go and check it out still to come in this podcast soccer is my

[George Lusolo]

therapy i've always played soccer since i was a kid in the streets of kinshasa because when i come here i see people like me i see people from my country i feel home i feel that instant connection the football pitch

[Ankur Desai]

in maine in the us that welcomes immigrants and refugees from around the world

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[Peter Ricketts]

done

[Ankur Desai]

this is the global news podcast japan's imperial family is in crisis it's running out of male heirs currently there are only three the emperor's younger brother and his son and the emperor's uncle who is ninety years old and women aren't allowed to accede to the chrysanthemum throne which is why parliament has been debating a reform of the law so why the crisis i asked our japan correspondent kurumi mori the crisis really stems

[Kurumi Mori]

from the lack of male heirs this really speaks to the broader demographic picture of japan we're having a crisis of the aging population with a shrinking population and it's being reflected here also with the imperial family under japan's nineteen forty seven imperial household law only men in the male bloodline can inherit the throne and take over but as you said there's only one young heir which is prince hisahito he's nineteen years old so this bill they're hoping to try to widen who may be able to join as a member of the imperial family not necessarily to take the throne but to help perform some of the duties there are a lot of duties that the imperial family have to perform a lot of attendances a lot of public events and so this is their way of hopefully kind of expanding the number of people who could take on a role as a representative of the imperial

[Ankur Desai]

family who could be eligible for that

[Kurumi Mori]

then yeah so this bill hopefully they want to make two important changes first to allow the imperial family to adopt men from former imperial branch families there's about eleven imperial branch families and that would really help widen this pool it also would allow female members of the imperial family to stay royals and keep their title after marrying a commoner instead of automatically leaving the family we saw a few years ago a princess leave the imperial family after she married a lawyer a commoner and moved to new york city so we lost her entirely after she got married and they're hoping that this bill will help keep more members in the family we have a

[Ankur Desai]

woman prime minister in japan so is it inconceivable that could be a woman emperor one day why is there not

[Kurumi Mori]

that confidence never say never i would think it's entirely possible but politically it's very difficult we've had about eight female emperors historically but now that we're seeing a female prime minister elected there's a lot of hope that we could have a female emperor but there's a lot of conservatives especially within the ruling lgb party they're saying the male line is essential to the monarchy's tradition which makes it very hard to have a woman

[Ankur Desai]

emperor at the moment kurumi mori reporting from tokyo scientists in britain have developed a new non invasive procedure to treat a serious condition which can affect identical twins during pregnancy twin to twin transfusion syndrome can happen when babies share a placenta with one receiving more nutrients than the other putting the life of both at risk with the potential new treatment high powered ultrasound waves are fired into the placenta to seal the blood vessels instead of laser surgery bryony garrett's identical girls were saved during this treatment she told us how she felt when she was first given the diagnosis of her

[Bryony Garrett]

twin's condition it was devastating it was awful it was the worst moment of my life to be honest with you and being diagnosed i was only at twelve weeks and they were already at stage three so it was very dire and the conversation were really directed towards elective abortion and all these things that just to me sounded horrific and just not something that i was really wanting to go through at all and the laser treatment was also unavailable to me and i was very blessed that the consultant i saw in bristol was aware of doctor lee's and the trial and put me forward and thank god that he did you know the risks were low the worst risk was that nothing was going to work and i was already in that place so for me there was nothing to lose professor christoph

[Ankur Desai]

lees who bryony mentioned there is the head of fetal medicine at imperial college

[Professor Christoph Lees]

we've shown that we can target the blood vessels in the placenta that cause the condition and we can do that safely we haven't yet shown that in all cases it's a treatment that can work so that's the next phase this was a very early phase treatment and in brani's case as she said there were clear signs that it worked after we were able to use it but you know we need to do a much bigger study to see that it is clinically effective the other treatment is laser treatment which of course is invasive so it's a little telescope that pierces into the mother's womb into the amniotic sac but fortunately with this treatment we don't have to do that so it's very very high power focused sound waves ultrasound waves rather that can manage to stop blood flow in a little blood

[Ankur Desai]

vessel professor christoph lees as the fifa world cup brings together nations from across the world one football pitch in new england is proving how the game can change lives far from the spotlight for the immigrants and refugees who make up the kennedy park team in portland and maine football is the common bond but that bond has been tested recently as bbc sport africa's celestine carony reports

[Celestine Caroni]

on an asphalt court in kennedy park in portland maine the sound of an evening kick about fills the air to most it's just another game but for the immigrants who gather here every day it's much more than football george lusolo arrived from the democratic republic of congo in twenty eighteen he says football was the only familiar thing in a country that

[George Lusolo]

wasn't i really didn't know the language i didn't know the people i was still a kid so everything was really difficult for me and my mom soccer is my therapy i've always played soccer since i was a kid in the streets of kinshas because when i come here i see people like me i see people from my country i feel home i feel that instant connection after

[Celestine Caroni]

spending time in a detention center in texas and later a shelter in new york george and his mother arrived in portland while their asylum claim was being processed it was here that he discovered football at kennedy park through social media

[George Lusolo]

so what was really exciting to me was like wow there's people like me playing in this field i have to go check it out and i was like mom today i will not go to church it was sunday i remember that day and it was no you have to come to church i said no i'll not go to church then i came here i played it was

[Celestine Caroni]

really fun what began as an informal gathering in kennedy park in twenty twenty one has grown into a community where people from dozens of countries share a love of the game and according to deji another congolese immigrant who arrived in the us via angola they find their feet through the international language of football

[Deji]

everybody does not need to speak one language just point to your feet at like somewhere part in your body and like ask for the ball it's a really like really cool thing these players

[Celestine Caroni]

have taken different paths to get here some arrived seeking safety others opportunity but the connections built on this pitch extend well beyond the beautiful game that sense of community was put to the test last year when immigrant communities across main were shaken by raids carried out by us immigration and customs enforcement better known as ice since president trump returned to office in twenty twenty five immigration enforcement has increased across the united states prompting protests in several cities the department of homeland security which oversees ice told the bbc that people in the country legally have nothing to worry about but anthony fiore who organizes the kennedy park football game says many players and their families

[Anthony Fiore]

felt otherwise ice just created a lot of fear they were doing a lot of harm here to the community and a lot of people were just too afraid to leave their home so a lot of students they missed a couple weeks of school because of it and so in terms of support that we provided is we organized seventy one different grocery deliveries to players and their families who were too afraid to leave their homes because of the danger that ice

[Celestine Caroni]

created for them when seventeen year old joel andres suddenly stopped attending school and his friends could no longer reach him by phone the community discovered he and his family had been detained and helped lead a campaign for their release joel's lawyer todd pomelo says the family were held in poor conditions and that the experience has had a lasting impact on the aspiring footballer they're in a facility

[Todd Pomelo]

where the food is inadequate you know some of the rooms are ice cold joel is a soccer star he has a lot of hope for his future but you can tell he'll never be the same i don't think anyone that goes through this is ever the same

[Celestine Caroni]

joel was released after four months in detention his family's initial asylum application from drc was denied by the us the case is currently with the federal appeals court back at kennedy park teammates have rallied around him something deji believes is changing how portland sees its immigrant community

[Deji]

some people just like see immigrants as these kind of people that have nowhere else to be and like don't do anything people that watch us like here people just passing by and then seeing like immigrants that talk and be happy i feel like just like paints a different picture about immigrants in their mind

[Celestine Caroni]

the american dream might not be exactly as they hoped but with the world cup being held here some are still allowing themselves to dream big never experienced

[Deji]

something like this before and there's like fire in me like just burning like just that's why one of my dreams is to be on a world stage

[Celestine Caroni]

the world cup may be about finding the world's best football team but here in portland the game's greatest victory is measured differently in friendships belonging and the chance to build a new life celestine

[Ankur Desai]

caroni and if you want more on football and the world cup do listen to the latest episode of the bbc world services sports podcast it's called more than the squad in it manny jasmy looks at the effect a good world cup can have on a player's transfer value and how an influencer made new zealand's tim pain famous and that's all from us for now if you want to get in touch you can just email us at globalpodcastbc dot co dot uk you can also find us on x at bbc world service use the hashtag globalnewspod and don't forget our sister podcast the global story which goes in depth depth and beyond the headlines on one big story this edition of the global news podcast was mixed by jonathan graham and the producers were judy frankel and oliver burlau the editor is karen martin and i'm ankur desai until next time goodbye

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