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it can be very nerve wracking, not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. caitríona: i am caitríony in washington and this is "bbc world news america." president trump said he is finding it more difficult to deal with ukraine than russia on peace talks. the u.s. president said he plans to target canadian lumber and dairy a day after posing sweeping tariffs on canada and mexico.

more than 100 civilians are reportedly killed by syrian security forces in an area that has seen clashes with assad loyalists. ♪ hello. president donald trump said he is finding it difficult to deal with ukraine exactly one week from the heated argument with his ukrainian counterpart, president volodymyr zelenskyy. still, president trump said he believes the path of peace will get back on track. he said if it does didn't, he is considering further sanctions against russia. overnight moscow launched a barrage of at least 58 missiles and 200 drones across eastern ukraine. president trump called the

russian attack and absolute pounding and posted on true social he is strongly considering imposing sanctions and further tariffs on russia unless russia gets to the table with ukraine and reaches a cease-fire agreement. the ukrainian president will travel to saudi arabia on tuesday for talks with u.s. officials. the kremlin said it might be to respond to what it is calling european militarization against russia as dozens of countries have imposed 21,000 sanctions on russia. the main target has been russia's money and oil industry. western nations have banned exports of technology russia might use for making weapons, banned flights from russia and sanctioned diplomats. here is a report from our ukraine correspondent. >> it was a night when russia

launched 70 missiles and 200 drones at ukraine's energy and gas infrastructure. at least 18 people were injured, including four children. the damage was concentrated on odesa and in the northeast. it was the first attack since the u.s. cut off military aid and intelligence for ukraine, which is central to its defense. kyiv said it used french jets to intercept missiles after being delivered last month. it is these attacks on civilian infrastructure that ukraine and europe suggested could be paused in an initial cease-fire along with a naval truth in the black sea and prisoner of war exchanges. as for russia, its position has barely softened. pres. trump: it will be a hard thing to do business like this. >> the damage from the shouting match in the oval office seems to be subsiding but president

trump continues to be softer on moscow. pres. trump: i find that in terms of getting a final settlement, it might be easier dealing with russia. they have all the cards. they are bombing the hell out of them right now. i put in a strong statement, you cannot do that. we are trying to help them. ukraine has to get on the ball. >> president zelenskyy said he will travel to saudi arabia where officials are due to discuss an initial cease-fire with russia. ukraine's leader will not be in the meetings but he said he hopes they will be meaningful. as politicians try to end the war, soldiers will keep fighting and dying. russia's invasion and ukraine's defense has been a never ending endeavor for some time. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. caitríona: let's talk about the latest developments. i am joined by the former

secretary assisted to europe. ambassador daniel freed. thank you for being with us. we have seen president trump talk about sanctions on russia after a couple of weeks of softening up the u.s. position toward russia. is he trying to return to more traditional foreign policy? daniel: i hope so. he is talking about sanctions on russia but actually hitting the ukrainians, pulling support and cooperation's. this is not a balanced position. president trump's outline of a plan could work. a cease-fire in place, security for ukraine. the french have said they can lead a force inside ukraine with american backing. this could work and trump could be the person who ends the war. instead he continues to pound

ukraine, he has not lifted restrictions. it will have to be a lot more than talk. president trump said, and your program covered it, it is easier to deal with putin than zelenskyy. no, he has not started to deal with putin yet. he has not asked anything of putin, as far as i can tell. he will find out what it is like to deal with putin. putin will keep saying no. then the question trump will be, what will trump do trump? hopefully trump will push back hard. the u.s. president is pushing the injured party and only talking about pushing back on the aggressor. hopefully this will get fixed. caitríona: we have seen the results of that in the last three days in ukraine. you heard from the governor of eastern ukraine talk about the pummeling they have had, targets

on residential apartment blocks and civilians being killed. is this the price of the u.s. withholding military aid and intelligence? daniel: i have not seen a military analysis that says it is worse because of our withholding of the intelligence. but it would be credible to think so. i can see no u.s. interest, free world interest if i can use the term, withholding support for the ukrainians. zelenskyy has made clear he supports trump's peace plan. he has made clear he wants to work with us. why are we holding back? it does not make any sense. i see no u.s. interests thereby advanced. trump could take the position his plan is getting traction and he is winning. the prime minister last weekend hosted a successful conference and plans seemed to be moving

ahead between the british and the french to get a force on the ground. if the u.s. backs it, that is a big deal. putin should say no and ultimately we should not ask his position. we are getting in our own way -- and the "we" is the united states, not the west. we need to start concentrating on the real problem, putin. maybe we can actually help the ukrainians succeed, by which i mean a free ukraine with a cease-fire and a could be with some western health the west germany of this century, which was pretty rough for a while and turned out to be a great strategic investment. caitríona: when we look at these talks that are due to happen in saudi arabia next week, what incentive is there for russian, president putin, to do nothing? they have done nothing at this point.

it is getting all its occupied land back off the table. why should president putin make any changes when he gets these gains without doing anything? daniel: the u.s. has not quite taken nato membership off the table. they said it will not be part of a negotiated settlement, which is true. what i take your point. at the moment there is no incentive for putin to do anything but fold his arms, wait and enjoy the spectacle of the u.s. beating up on the ukrainians. this could change. president trump is right that additional sanctions against russia could work. russia's economy is in no good shape. . their military is not doing well. their advance on the ground in ukraine had slowed to a crawl and there were reports of the ukrainians pushing them back. the russian position is not all that good.

if we back the ukrainians, we can push back. a decent outcome is achievable. but as i said, we have to get out of our own way and push back on the russians. we can do this. europe has to do more and it seems, finally, ready and able to do more. we have to push back and then putin will understand that you cannot just wait us out -- but we are not there yet. caitríona: a long road ahead. ambassador daniel fried, thank you for joining us on bbc news. daniel: thank you for having me. caitríona: president donald trump hosted the first white house crypto summit with industry leaders a day after announcing a strategic reserve. investors were major supporters of donald trump's presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars toward his victory with hopes of ending the skepticism of former president joe biden's skepticism toward

additional currencies. two dozen -- were in attendance. a day after offering canada and mexico a one-month reprieve on 25% tariffs, president trump has threatened new tariffs on lumbar and dairy products. the u.s. president said canada had been ripping the u.s. off for years on lumbar and promised to match canadian tariffs dollar for dollar. the u.s. president said more adjustments should be expected in the future. that has raised tensions further between justin trudeau and donald trump. justin trudeau leaves his role on sunday. we will talk more about what canada is doing. i am joined by a political correspondent. great to have you with us on the show.

what has been canada's response to these on, off-again tariffs? ed: they are keeping some of the tariffs on. we spoke to the premier of ontario who said he is still planning for 25% tariffs on electricity that gets fed into minnesota, michigan and new york , starting monday, unless or until president trump completely calls off the tariff war. >> he said that before and he switched his mind a few days later or a week later. >> to the american homeowner in minnesota, new york or somewhere else that gets its power from electricity, they will see the bill in a month and see, woah, a lot more expensive. >> there is one person to be blamed and that is president trump. caitríona: you are in toronto at the moment. what has been the reaction of the canadian people? ed: to a person -- anger,

frustration, and in some cases, near tears, describing this complete lack of understanding for why president trump would want to pick a fight with a friendly neighbor, closest trading partner and most loyal customer. canadians are furious with him. they take great pains to distinguish between the american people and the american president and his policies, saying they do not understand why he would want to do this. we are standing outside a supermarket where we spoke with customers who have made changes how they purchase produce and other groceries that they rely on. one guy said if i was making a recipe that called for jalapenos and the jalapenos come from california, we are not buying american anymore in protest because that is one of the few ways they can actually register their protest with president trump for doing this. caitríona: things are getting very personal.

ed, cbs correspondent, thank you for joining us on bbc news. ed: take care. caitríona: we are learning more about the deaths of the actor gene hackman and his wife whose bodies were found in their home in new mexico. the cause of death was revealed, saying mr. hackman died from natural causes a week after his wife died. his wife, betsy arakawa, died of a rare infectious disease. the 65-year-old, ms. arakawa, had contracted hantavirus, which is carried by rodents. her husband, 95, died from heart disease exacerbated by advanced alzheimer's. >> mr. hackman showed evidence of advanced alzheimer's disease. i am not aware of what his normal daily functioning capability was. he was in a very poor state of health.

he had significant heart disease. ultimately, that is what resulted in his death. caitríona: we can get some more details from our correspondent. this would seem like a very sad demise for the couple. what do we know about what happened? emma: a pretty confusing set of circumstances when they initially discover the bodies of gene hackman and his wife, betsy arakawa, and one of their dogs. . they have trying to piece together the couple's movements the week before her death. they were looking at cctv, phone records and they have established they believe she died one week before him and the cause of death for her was she contracted this infectious disease that is pretty rare but it possible to be transmitted

between animals and humans, usually rodents to humans, hantavirus, which can look like flulike symptoms initially. they believe that was the cause of her death. the question about whether he knew about it or try to raise the alarm, they believe his serious alzheimer's might have been the case where he did not know what was happening and was not able to call for help. there was a rather upsetting picture of him spending a week inside the house, alone, not knowing what was happening and then later dying himself. it was a confusing set of circumstances. the investigations have gone some way to answer the circumstances about their deaths. caitríona: one of the issues that confused authorities was one of their dogs was also deceased, but two of them were living. did they address that in the press conference at all? emma: they did. they said betsy arakawa had not

long come back from the vet, where one of the dogs had been, to have a procedure. that might explain why one of the dogs was in a crate -- it has been called a camel -- one of the dogs was found somewhere where he would not have been able to get out and the other dogs were found alive. one of the dogs was recovering from some sort of procedure. that might explain that. on finding this set of circumstances, that increased the mystery. it has taken a bit of time for toxicology reports, autopsies and things like that. you are beginning to get a picture of a perfect storm, a serious infection she presumably did not know about, her death leaving gene hackman, who was perhaps not able to take care of himself well and that led to the outcome. caitríona: emma vardy, thank you for that. three bulgarian nationalists

have been found guilty of spying for russia in a mastermind -- the three who were from london were part of a group of bulgarians who spied between 2020 and 2023. three have pleaded guilty. the full details can be reported for the first time. >> police! police! >> smashing a russian spy cell by raiding a guest house in great yarmouth. the owner is bulgarian. >> stay there! >> this is the wrong place. i think it is the wrong place. >> but the guesthouse is used for spying and officers find thousands ofc hats messages

organizing espionage. he was one of three bulgarians who pleaded guilty for spying for russia. >> are these yours? >> i have purchased them on ebay. >> these are years, aren't they? >> not all of them. >> this year scale was unprecedented. devices that could be taking close to a mobile phone and extract the data from the phone and exploit it. there were 11 drones. 200 mobile phones, 500 sim cards. >> he moved to the u.k. as a businessman over 15 years ago. after being recruited as a russian spy, he recruited other bulgarians working normal jobs to carry out surveillance. including this man and his girlfriend. a couple who ran courses in

london teaching british values. also in the cell for a beautician, mma fighter and a painter-decorator. the spy cell conducted operations in the u.k. and europe, following people targeted by russia and seeking to identify ukrainian troops believed to be training at a u.s. military base in germany. in london, they filmed the kazakhstan embassy, where they planned to stage a protest. they were hoping to get information about protesters to catholic stem intelligence to curry favor for russia. throughout europe they spied on a journalist who exposed russia's role in a nerve agent attack. with the cell deploying the spy glasses to film them. using the glasses to film the

journalist on a plane. sending the footage in real-time to the cell. some members had discussed killing him. some spoke about kidnapping a fellow journalist. >> i am very lucky to be alive. assassination was one of the options that they reviewed. even if it was kidnapping, that does not mean i would be brought to russia and let free. it was about interrogating and then killing. >> the cell leader was directed from abroad by a russian accent wanted in germany for fraud. his whereabouts are unclear. >> he was acting as a middleman between the russian services and this group of bulgarians. a direct line of communications which generated all of this activity. >> who ordered that you should

be targeted? >> i think that it was vladimir putin directly. his dictatorship, you would never take responsibility on your own. you always have direct order from the president. >> from the kremlin to great yarmouth in the unlikely faces of a real threat within. daniel, bbc news, at the old bailey. caitríona: syrian security forces have reportedly killed more than 160 civilians in clashes with loyalists to former president assad. the deadliest fighting since the collapse of the old regime. violence has been escalating in provinces, longtime strongholds of assad. the country's new rulers who ousted assad set a military operation is being launched in the former president's hometown. the governor said all power to the province has been cut.

neuroscientists working with survivors from israel's nova festival after the october 7 hamas attacks say there are early signs of mdma or ecstasy that might provide psychological protection from from a. it is thought to be the first time scientists were able to study a mass-trauma event where people were under the influence of mind altering drugs. ♪ >> the stories of what happened to their lives, their friends, their bodies have largely come to like. scientists are looking at what was happening to their brains. many of those partying at the nova music festival in the moments before hamas gunmen attacked were high on drugs, like mdma and lsd. one of them was this person. >> october 7, i take mdma.

today i know it has helped me. >> she now believes the drug helped save her life. preventing her from freezing in fear. >> i feel like it saved my life because if i did not take i would stop and sit on the floor. >> despite feeling detached from reality at the time, she is still struggling to return to normal life. >> i wake up with this and i go to sleep with this. and people do not understand. every day. >> researchers say there is no hard evidence that drugs helped people escape the attacks but initial research with more than 600 survivors suggests mdma

could have protected them against the effects of trauma. >> people on mdma during the attack, sleeping better, experiencing less mental distress than other people. it seems among all these substances, mdma had a protective effect. they were doing better than people who did not take any substance. >> the study has fueled growing interest from scientists about how mdma might be used to treat psychological trauma. it also helps answering concerns about using it in countries with high risk of attacks or sirens occurring during treatment. >> they have talked about using mdma in ukraine and psychedelics in rwanda. we use psychedelics in an environment that is not safe. mdma opens potential but makes you vulnerable. we have learned if we create the right framework, despite the

fact we are still a country at war, we are able to do this. >> at the nova festival site today, memorials for the dead and perhaps lessons for the world in surviving trauma from those still struggling to live. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. caitríona: you can find out more about that story and all of the day's stories on our website, bbc.com/news. narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming" that's because the free pbs app let's you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight. the u.s. economy added jobs at a solid pace last month but massive federal layoffs and rising unemployment paint an uncertain picture of the near future. amna: a convicted murderer in south carolina chooses to be