♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... brett: you know as somebody coming out of college,

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. anchor: live from londo'm kasia madera. service from europe's busiest railway station in paris has been suspended as experts work to defuse a world war ii bomb found in the middle of the tracks. ukraine says its energy and gas infrastructure has again come under widespread missile and drone attacks from russia. the uk's defense secretary's do to hold more talks with his u.s.

counterpart today. he says america has not abandon europe. syrian security forces has launched operations against by a dollars -- against fighters loyal to the ousted bashar al-assad. torrential rain and high winds hit australia's east coast ahead of the arrival of the first cyclone in decades. and the all-female country trio remember monday has been chosen to represent the u.k. at this year's eurovision song contest in switzerland. ♪ anchor: all trains to and from europe's busiest train station, the gare du nord in paris, have been halted after an unexploded world war ii bomb was found on the tracks in a nearby suburb. police blocked rail traffic to and from the station after the bomb was found.

the terminal handles nearly six hundred thousand passengers daily, serving high-speed, national and international services via eurostar. eurostar is saying services between london and paris are currently suspended, but the trains are running between london and brussels and amsterdam as normal. in a statement, they wrote, due to an incident on the tracks near paris gare du nord, we are expecting disruptions to our services this morning. please change your journey for a different date of travel. let's speak to a freelance journalist who joins us from paris. welcome to bbc news. a developing story, but bring us up to date on what you know. this bomb was found very early in the morning. correspondent: that's right. workers doing usual maintenance work at 4:00 a.m. were doing earthmoving work. they discovered this unexploded

bomb from world war ii. in it self, this is not very unusual because bombs such as this are found fairly regularly throughout france, but it is quite unusual to be in such a densely populated area such as the gare du nord area. as you said, a very busy station, one of europe's busiest. there are images of hundreds of people stuck at the station, not knowing where to go. all services pretty much in and out mostly have been canceled. that includes eurostars to london. but at gare du nord, it also has the metro as well. i think there will be a lot of people around that area very confused, not knowing what to do. the transport minister says it is not dangerous, but they do have to follow procedure. and he also says they expect some services might be up and running by the afternoon, but that remains to be seen. anchor: i think we are expecting

around midday local time. another statement from eurostar. when it comes to gare du nord itself, a eurostar terminal, but you mentioned the metro as well. but the trains from gare du nord go to other parts of france as well. correspondent: yes. actually, they go to the airport at charles de gaulle, which is france's main airport. they also go to amsterdam, brussels, different parts of france as well. it is a major station in paris and europe. it is also paris fashion week at the minute, so there's lots of people coming in and out for that. even today, you have big shows. so, it is a major station and this will cause commuters a lot of problems. anchor: for paris fashion week as well, particularly busy in the french capital. in terms of when you say these unexploded second world war devices, they do come up every

now and again in paris because, of course, during the second world war, the allies were targeting those rail routes while paris was occupied by the nazi germany regime, the vichy regime. how often does something like this, these kinds of unexploded armaments, how often does not happen? correspondent: it is fairly regularly. as you said, france was occupied during the war, so it happens every now and then. but it is not in an area that is so busy as paris gare du nord. but they do come up. as i said earlier, the transport minister says they have a very wide security perimeter to deal with this safely and efficiently. they have police bomb disposal units on hand dealing with the situation. anchor: joining us live from paris, thank you very much for bringing us up to date. just for our audience as well, to let you know we do have a live page when it comes to what

is happening in the french capital. we are expecting an update from eurostar. but it is not just eurostar, it is also local train services at gare du nord in paris also feeding into shards a goal -- schaal de gaulle airport. a lot of disruption. it is paris fashion well. we will bring you up-to-date and we are expecting an update from the eurostar spokespeople shortly as well. but to let you know, it is the london to paris trains that have been canceled on eurostar when it comes to london and brussels and to amsterdam. that is still running. but much more on our website. now to ukraine. the country says its energy and gas infrastructure has again come under widespread air attack from russia involving at least 67 missiles and 194 drones.

the energy minister says russia was trying to harm the civilian population by targeting energy production. officials in odessa and kharkiv say that waves of attacks left infrastructure damaged and homes on fire. several injuries have been reported in hark eve. elsewhere, the administration in don't ask says -- donetsk says that russian dive bombs injured several people, including two children. kyiv says for the first time, ukraine has used french jets to repel a russian attack. the latest attacks come as president volodymyr zelenskyy says he will travel to saudi arabia next week where it ukrainian and u.s. officials are set to discuss initial cease-fire with russia. mr. zelinski, who will not attend those discussions, said kyiv was working constructively for a fast and lasting peace. this news comes as european leaders held emergency talks in brussels on boosting defense

spending and support for kyiv. president zelenskyy says he is thankful his country is not alone after president trump cut military aid and intelligence sharing with ukraine. at the summit in brussels, eu leaders agreed unanimously that both russia and its ally belarus posed a threat. the european commission president urszula von the lion said they were determined -- urszula mondo leyen said they were determined. she had this message for mr. trump. >> we all want a peaceful strength, a lasting peace, but peace from the position of strength. this is also in the interest of president trump to have a peaceful strength. and if you wants to achieve this, it is only possible with the support of the european union and its member states because preconditions have to be met. we have been the ones who have

secured the economic survival of ukraine for the year 2025. we are the ones who now invest a lot in ukrainian defense industry and are providing the military capabilities that ukraine needs. anchor: ursula von der leyen at the close of the summit. our correspondent has this analysis from brussels. correspondent: we keep hearing that europe is in an historic and unprecedented moment, and at their emergency summit today, eu leaders have come up with something quite exceptional, means of producing unprecedented amounts of funds for defense spending, and that includes germany, which is normally so debt shy, pushing for the bloc to take on more debt. all of this with the view of europe becoming less reliant on the united states for its defense, which it has been since the second world war.

what has not been the aim of the meeting is to thumb their nose at washington and say we don't need you anymore, neither in ukraine or in europe. what they have been hoping is by showing they will take more responsibility for their own defense, they can persuade donald trump to keep the capabilities in place in europe that they so really need. anchor: those meetings in europe are being followed closely in washington. our north american correspondent merlin thomas gave us her thoughts on where the transatlantic relationship, and in particular the u.s. relationship with ukraine, now stands. correspondent: this is the first high-level meeting we know of between the two countries since that very public shouting match that took place in the oval office between president trump and president zelenskyy. president trump's senior aide and envoy steven witkoff said this meeting will take place in saudi arabia next week. president zelenskyy has said he

will be meeting with the crown prince as well on monday. mr. witkoff says this meeting is to work for a piece. he says president zelenskyy had acknowledged how much the u.s. had done for ukraine and also apologized. this is a significant moment, but it should be taken day by day because it was just last week that president trump had said he wanted a deal with ukraine, and since then we have seen the u.s. withdraw military support from ukraine and also stop intelligence sharing with ukraine. and many have said those moves are a way for the u.s. to bring ukraine to the negotiating table and possibly get it to make some concessions when brokering that peace deal. president zelenskyy has made clear his ukrainian delegation will be in saudi arabia to work on peace. he said ukrainians truly do want peace, but not at the cost of giving up ukraine. remember, it was just last month

that it was russian officials meeting with american officials in saudi arabia, and it was ukraine feeling sidelined. now it is ukraine that is meeting with american officials in saudi arabia, and this may be that lifeline that ukraine is really looking for in order to find that way to peace and end this war. anchor: much more on the situation in ukraine coming up on bbc news. for now, we will turn to the middle east because syrian security forces are carrying out what they say is a large operation against fighters who are loyal to the ousted president bashar al-assad in coastal areas of the country. a monitoring group, the british based syrian observatory for human rights, says more than 70 people have been killed. syria's interim government have sent reinforcements to the area dominated by the a la white community, and a strong supporter of president assad

before he was overthrown. let's get an update with our middle east correspondent. you have been monitoring the developments from beirut. bring us up to date with what these supporters of assad, who is no longer in syria, what they have been up to. correspondent: as you mentioned, this is the heartland of the community and a stronghold of the assad family. what we saw yesterday is there was a huge security operation by forces linked to this new government in damascus. the target was unofficial from the assad regime. there was an ambush, a local security official described it as a well-planned attack, an ambush carried out by forces loyal to the assad regime. there were clashes, then confrontations spread to other parts of the area. very heavy gunfire last night. what we are seeing this morning

is there is a huge military operation by security forces against these of sod loyalists, especially -- a sod loyalists, especially in these cities on the coast of the country. there are convoys with dozens of vehicles being sent from other parts of the country, possibly hundreds of fighters linked to the security forces being sent to coastal areas of the country. this is a snapshot of the deep divisions in the country. obviously, the community, they have been complaining they have been targeted by security forces, by these new authorities since the ouster of the president in december. anchor: that is a fascinating point because obviously this interim government that took control after that advance on damascus, how are they coping when it comes to day to day running of syria? correspondent: it has always

been a very difficult situation for them and i don't think it is a surprise we are seeing these clashes on the coast because i was in damascus earlier this year. i met a number of high-level security officials. they said one of the main challenges was to control this resistance being led by assad loyalists against the new authorities in the country. i think they were preparing for a situation where clashes would happen. i think this is a big challenge for the entering president. he does not control the entire country. he is trying to expand his authority. this is a fractured country. parts of syria are controlled by different factions with different interests. his forces don't have a presence in the entire country. i think a lot of people will be paying attention to this response to the government because i think any kind of heavy-handed root -- heavy-handed response will drive support for some kind of violent insurgency against the new

authorities in syria. this is a country that has already suffered so much in recent years because of the civil war. so, a very tense situation as these clashes appear to continue in syria. anchor: hugo bachega there. always good to see you. we will update you with more development's, but we will take a short break now. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. ♪

anchor: we will go to australia, where weather experts say cyclone alfred is expected to make landfall in queensland saturday. heavy winds and intense rain have already caused damage in southeastern queensland, with a number of homes around the gold coast left without power. some 4 million people could be affected. in the city of brisbane, train, bus, and ferry service has been

suspended. it is the first tropical cycle and to hit this part of australia in more than 50 years. let's cross over to the gold coast because tom dockerty joins us live now. tom, you live there, your home is there. how have you been impacted? guest: i live on the gold coast at the moment. like you said, this is the first cyclone we have ever experienced. there is not a lot to expect. it has been tame today. tonight, it has really picked up. i don't how much you can see behind me but the weather is getting real spicy. the winds have picked up. the rain is constant. we are all a bit unsure of what is going to happen. last night was really rough so we are expecting the worst tonight. anchor: we can see at your place the lights are on, so at least you have power. have you had any warnings there could be outages? guest: yeah. i checked the app and the suburbs around us have started to lose power. there are so many people with power outages. we have been lucky.

i am in the city. but all the suburbs around us have started to lose power today and tonight. so i guess we will wait to see. anchor: you mentioned it has been a while since this area has had this level of weather, this intense severity of weather. have there been warnings? have you been stocking up on the usual provisions? food, batteries, stuff like that? guest: we usually get storms that come through and go within a few hours, so this long-lasting cyclone is unusual for us. the government has told everyone to stock up on food, batteries, and be prepared to have no power or water for about three days, so we have all gone and done that. but hopefully three days worth. anchor: were you told to evacuate? is that something you would consider had you been? guest: me personally, no. i have not been told to evacuate. but i know a lot of people at the southern end of the gold coast and other places are prone to flooding.

they have been told today to start to evacuate. the cyclone has not hit land yet but those areas are starting to flood, so there's a lot of people who have evacuated. anchor: we get the picture that it is going to be pretty intense. do you have any idea of when this will eventually calm down? guest: well, it has been so uncertain at the moment. when it first started happening, i thought it would be thursday. it is now friday night. they reckon it will make landfall tonight or early tomorrow morning, saturday morning. from there, they say the winds will start to ease into the rain will keep hammering down. i think that is the main thing people will be worried about because it will last for a few days. anchor: stay safe. thank you for talking to us, and we hope those three days worth of supplies will get you through. tom dockerty, thank you for joining us from the gold coast. thank you. let's cross over to red cliff, an area just north of brisbane

in queensland, because our correspondent katy watson joins us. we have just been speaking to somebody on the gold coast. really intense weather, winds picking up. just talk us through the weather conditions there. correspondent: the gold coast has been hit hard in the last few days with huge waves, as we heard from tom just there. brisbane has had a bit of an airy calm -- ererie calm, but now the wind is picking up. elective surgeries have been suspended, schools are closed. it is not expected to make landfall now until midday on saturday. that has been pushed back constantly because of the slow march towards queensland. the cyclone is moving around eight kilometers an hour. that is the concern, because of this slow move on to land. there is worry it could bring

more intense winds and more prolonged rainfall. it may not be a part of australia who is used to cyclones. it is a part of australia that is used to flooding. there is a lot of concern that low-lying areas will see flash flooding, rivers bursting their banks. so, there's a lot of precautions over that. anchor: thank you for bringing us up-to-date. katy watson in redcliffe, just north of brisbane. we are keeping and i on that. breaking news update on the situation when it comes to eurostar, and we've got an update. eurostar saying services from london to paris will be suspended for the rest of today after the discovery of that unexploded world war ii bomb in the french capital. so, we were expecting an update from eurostar about it services,

london to paris services. they will be suspended for the rest of the day. i believe we can join tom simons. just that breaking news from eurostar. correspondent: that is going to be a blow to anybody heading out to this station to paris today. i can tell you that the queue inside this building, eurostar have turned down our request to go inside and show you what is happening either live or recorded, but the queue inside of 2.5 hours is going to grow, i think. i spoke to one group of young men looking to book their tickets. they had waited since 7:00. there train had been canceled at 7:00 a.m. and they were there for 2.5 hours. they were trying to get a ticket to lille. from there, they were going to get a bus all the way to paris, about three hours. that was going to be a very long journey for them.

generally, the advice this morning that eurostar has been giving people that have arrived at the station is simply try another day. before they made that statement, you just heard that services were going to be canceled for the rest of the day. they were saying that they sincerely apologize for the disruption. they understand the inconvenience it causes, and if possible, try to seek a different day to travel to paris. but many people will be disrupted by this. the problem is that with something like an unexploded device on the railroad tracks, there is a need to maintain safety, so it is the time to get that sorted out and the need to maintain the valuable infrastructure, the tracks themselves heading into gare du nord. anchor: of course. obviously, they are working when it comes to recovery and diffusing or looking into that unexploded bomb. it is interesting you say that the track to lille is unaffected. also amsterdam and brussels,

which eurostar services as well from sir pancras, where you are. some passengers able to still do their journeys. those going to paris, not so much. correspondent: exactly. it seems to be at the other end here, the line that goes from here to east of london under some tunnels through north kent, through the channel tunnel, and across northern france into gare du nord station. the blockage seems to be at that point. so, many other tracks from here go to other stations, for example, lille and amsterdam. we have seen trains on the departure boards. those are leaving fine. to give you another example of disruption, a woman i spoke to earlier who was going to visit her elderly mother in northern france it was heading out on the train to paris. doubly affected by this blockage. she said she had been told to

rebook her ticket. she waited in that queue.she got to the ticket machine and tried to get the same fare she previously booked, but the discount she had was not available, so she gave up, headed home, booked online for three weeks time. anchor: super annoying when that happens. as always, thank you for bringing us up-to-date. eurostar saying 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

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... brett: you know as somebody coming out of college,