President trump is prepared to kick off a visit to colombia where hes expected to call on political leaders and citizens behind peace protests. First, we begin with our top story. A traile irma has left of devastation across several caribbean islands, reducing some to r rubble and leaving nine peopleleead. Dozens others have been injured officials have confirmed eight deaths a and considedeble aftertion in st. Maarten the category five storm tore through the region on wednesday. The death toll could yet rise. This captures the moment of the hurricane knocked power out. Plunging the area into darkness. This is what the port looks like after irmas passage. Just a day before, it still looked calm. The water levels are rising. Island is nowh swamped after being battered by the voracious storm for 10 hours. Similar scenes of devastation in st. O playing out maarten. This footage is enough to show the deadly force of the waves brought on by the storm. In mainland france, the countrys president pledged support. We stand tonight sidebyside with everyone. A few thousand kilometers from hehere, they are helpless s and without ananything. The whole nation is by their side and the entirety of the French Services are mobilized and ready to help them. With most communications cut, it is too difficult to assess the damage. Pictures of the aftermath are coming in. The tarmamac at the largest airport has been turned into a wreckage site. The departure lobby usually buzzing with tourists now looks as if it has been in an explosion. This hotel was known for the beauty offered. Now, this is what one sees from the same window. In addition to the french side, st. Maarten also has a dutch side. To talk more about that side of the island, we crossed live to our correspondent standing by in the netherlands. Good afternoon. What is the latest we know about the damage that has been caused to the dutch side of the islslad by hurricacane irma . A . Theres no running water, no electricity, no gas. 95 of the territory has been destroyed. We still h have no worord on the number of victims. Communications have been very didifficult. The Dutch Military has finished aerial footage that shows the chaos of Hurricane Irma. Houses under water, cars floating in the streets. It is absolute carnage. The worldfamous airport has also been destroyed. For those living on the dutch side, theyve been equally affected by this powerful hurricane. Talk u uthrough how the dutch gogovernment iss responding all this. The dutch p Prime Ministers said t today that they will be concentrating on providing help to t the 40,000 pepeople livingg ere. They will be provididing food ad water for the next fifive days. Support to the airport is. Ompletely inaccessible t they are assessing the damage and helping with vital infrastructure repairs. The dutchch government is currently holding a crisis meeting in hague to discuss and coordinate further aid response. For more on Hurricane Irma, we bring you lets talk about the projected path of Hurricane Irma over the coming hours. If we take a look at the latest map released by the National Hurricane center, they have been updating it every few hours, we can see that the black line we see here is the projected forecast, the trajectory. I hurricane goes hundreds of kilometers in either direction. Which is why we have to Pay Attention to the red and blue lines we see here. The red lines mean hurricane warning. That means the most severe consequences that come with a hurricane. If we look in the coming hours, we can see that its going to be the north of haiti and the Dominican Republic. They are expected to get a hurricane warning. Next up, we have the bahamas. Haiti is of particular concern because of the such poor infrastructure there. We see the blue line, the Tropical Storm warning. Extent,ld mean a lesser lesser damage, but at the same time, quite severe. The southern part of the Dominican Republic and haiti will perhaps suffer to a lesser extent. To meet the most damaging impact. The path can change as we look forwar further ahead. For the moment, we are looking at the u. S. Mainland over the weekend and early monday. By that point come it is expected to be downgraded to a category four, which is still catastrophic. Evincing the devastation all date. We have been seeing the devastation all day. There are two other hurricanes in the region. Is that unusual . Otherhave irma and two storms that have been upgraded overnight to hurricane status. They are jose and katia. They both remain category one for the moment, but they are expected to strengthen in the coming hours. Hurricane experts say its common to seee multiple storms n rapid succession. Particularly given we are in the peak of the hurricane season, which lasts for six months. They had predicted a busy season and thats what we are seeing. Many others asking, did Climate Change play a role . No one really knows for sure yet. The warmer waters seem to be playing a role in making it more intense. It hasnt stopped the leader of barbuda from pointing directly at global warming. He said any leader that denies Climate Change is responsible. Strong words coming from b erbudas Prime Minister. Thank you. Kickoff pope francis will kick off a visit to colombia. The Guerrilla Group accepted a temporary ceasefire earlier this week. He will be meeting with the president at the president ial palace. That will be followed by an outdoor mass in simone boulevard part. Simon bolivar park. A cause for celebration in bogota during a period of great social flux. The pope comes to columbia with a message of unity and peace. Becauauseery important he is filling our hearts with joy. Ththis is a big boost to columb. It is an enormous boost, which is what we need. It can help with all the bitterness weve been dooreendu. We need reconciliation between the colombian people. Hes bringing the message of reconciliation. The president has gone further, dubbing and new ceasefire just three days ago as the first miracle of his visit. 7000 fighters are reintegrated into colombian society. The 50 year conflict has led to the death of 220,000 people. On friday, the pontiff visits the center of violence for many years. Columbias illegal drug trade, the incremental crisis a complex set of issues that many colombians hope the progressive pope will articulate with expertise. The syrian army says israel targeted a military site early on thursday, killing two soldiers and causing damage. The syrian observatory for human near theid the site center syria has warned of dangerous repercussions. After you comes a day and investigators and said at was responsible for thie sarin poison gas attack in april. We e know thehere was an airstrike in syria against a military Research Center which allegedly produces chemical weapons. And have been the early hours of the morning. It happened in the early hours of the morning. The two soldieiers were killed. They blame israel and say they are encouraging isis, who are in a desperate situation at the moment. We havent heard from israel because their policy is to neither confirm nor deny when such attacks take place. We have heard about it on the israeli media today. , they saydiscuss it according to foreign sources. We can presume it was an Israeli Attack against a Syrian Chemical Weapons facility. Regionalnias parliament voted in favor of a referendum to determine the independence of the region. Catalonia has often tried to break away from the central Spanish Power in madrid. On october 1, they will have the chance to vote to bececome their own nation. A green light for the independence referendum. On wednesday evening, the catalonian Regional Parliament answered calls for a referendum. The controversial decision was defended by the regional president. , itccording to spanish law is clear that the government is not perpetrating any crimes here. Conservative Party Members walked out in protest of the referendum. While the Spanish Government has already branded the ballot illegitimate and said it is not democratic but a show of strength. What we have witnessed today in the Catalonian Parliament is an act of strength and not a political debate. A strong act against democracy and the rights of the parliament and the palace of civil servants. In the streets of barcelona, people the number of those inin mbering those against the referendum. That is a dictatorship after doing something shamefeful, forcing rules and regulations and laws to impose a project. Ofthey say the centers Spanish Power have been deteriorating for years. Now come with a will have a chance to vote as to whether or not catalonia will become its own nation. Mps are to debate landmark legislation to allow britains membership of the eu. It will convert 12,000 regulations into british law. The conservative party said the bill is the first concrete step in implementing last years vote for brexit. Opposition parties and say it will allow the government to amend eu laws without proper scrutiny. A quick reminder of the top stories we are following for you. Hurricane irma leaves a trail of devastation across several caribbean islands, reducing some to rubble and leaving nine others dead. Dozens more have been injured. Of 295 wind speeds kilometers per hour, Hurricane Irma leaves most of puerto ricos 3 million residents without power. Those in haiti, the Dominican Republic and cuba are bracing themselves. Planesays israel eai conducted an airstrike. Brian quinn joins me. We are waiting on an announcement from the European Central bank. Some rather important policy decisions. The Ecb Governing Council currently meeting in frankfurt. They are expected to finalize a decision on Interest Rates in an hour. Some big names like the Deutsche Bank ceo calling for rates to rise. Its a decision on when and how to be winding down the Central Banks bond buying program, known as quantitative easing. The program has been pumping tens of billions of euros per month into the european Banking System for years. By purchasing debt from banks and governments. Some predicting the ecb will once again put off that decisions until october. I asked if he thinks that will be the case. First of all, there is no need for the ecb to delay it for that long. If you look at the strength of the eurozone come in has improved. The patient is no longer in the hospital, so the ecb can pull the plug. Only four months left before the program ends. Reticent, theybe will have to make a decision. Markets are keeping a close eye on all of that. How are things looking today . In positiveindex territory, despite the Banking Sector losing some ground. Some relief over a deal between donald trump and Congressional Democrats to avoid default by raising the debt ceiling in america. Dax over 1 . The currency is near its threeyear high. Many investors concerned about the effect on exports and inflation. The ecb meeting to see if mario draghi will address that. Kirin france, the government is expanding and Unusual Program to end o on a plane ini. They raised the age limit for to 30. Iceships now, that program is in place in nine regions. They are training to be butchers, construction workers or i. T. Specialists. They are older than 26. He just started an apprenticeship to become a site supervisor. The 27yearold hopes to get hired on a permanent basis by next year. I dont have any Work Experience in this field. It would have been externally difficult to find something similar. I could have tried to work in something similar, but thats not what i wanted. Having an older apprentice has turned out to be a welcome change. Hes worked before. Hes been assigned to a few projects. Hes not someone fresh out of school. In the paris region, 30 out of 1500 apprentices are over 26. A number they expect grow in the coming years. Second or its like a even third chance. It gives them the opportunity to bounce back or aim for higher posts. The program extending the apprenticeship age limit from 25 to 30 was part of the plan to reduce unemployment. An experiment which is currently being tested in nine regions and which could extend to the rest of france if it proves testable. Proves successful. United airlines has avoided a fine for the april incident in which a passenger was dragged off a plane. The viral video became a pr disaster, prompting multiple apologies from the ceo. Enforcement action against united was not warranted. Gigiorgio moving its headquartes to finland after clashing with the swedish government over taxes and regulations. Puts it under the supervision of the ecb instead of national regulators. From the u. N. , an entire country is getting a wellearned vacation. Recent weeks have been exceptional. Ballistic missiles and Hydrogen Bombs it would all be enough to make you want to take a break. Thats exec with the south korean government is proposing. Ththey have added a onetime holiday on october 2 as a bridge day between two other holidays, giving thehe South Koreans 1 10s to unwind. The president is trying to vacation isying good for mental health. They burned that one. They have earned that one. Time to bring you our press review. Time to take a look at whats grabbing headlinines in france. Good to have you come as a , solange. Liberacion picked the mageddon. This front page reads the hurricane of the century. Moving on to what the papers actually say about the hurricane, there was a short editorial on page three that said if there wasnt so much be likeion, it would Mother Nature was giving the middle finger to donald trump. Papers outside of france also focusing on the storm. Some are worried about whats to come. The haitian paper is covering about how Little Information the government is giving people. They say theres no proper system set up to give warnings or tell people where to go for shelter. The article says the population is angry and scared. They quote people saying they can only rely on wordofmouth and their prayers. Much of the international toss is comparing irma hurricane harvey, the one that hit houston just two weeks ago. Is this the new normal . That is the new title of the guardian article. Scientists say this may be the beginning of superstorm that will become commonplace. They say Greenhouse Gases are not the sole culprit. However, scientists are studying how warming temperatures and rising waters may increase the destructive power of these superstorms. These superstorms. In barcelona, the parliament there succeeded in pushing through a law that would allow them to hold a referendum on whether or not catalonia should be independent from spain. A vote that sent shockwaves across spain. This spanish papers says the separatist movement has imposed its will on parliament. Paper says the ball is now in the Spanish Governments court. Attention has shifted from barcelona to madrid. They were at 11 hours of debate in barcelona. , everyone is looking to he says a boat is never going to happen. It is against the constitution. He wants to prosecute the politicians that have proposed the bill. Theres also an editorial that says this referendum is not the way to go. It presents this antireferendum point of view and says its not the way to go because catalonia is divided on the issue and the spanish constitution says it is illegal. Paper is thean only one published only in catalan, it doesnt have a spanish version. This cartoon shows the divide. One person saying this is a legitimate request. The other side saying sovereign spain, that is it. A Emmanuel Macron is bringing contingent of Business Owners to athens to accompany him as he speaks to the Prime Minister there. The headline of the greek paper has Emmanuel Macron saying i have confidence in the greeks. Importantf support is because this is the first time a french president has brought Business Leaders to greece with him. The paper says it is a sign of how well the franco greek relationship is doing. Moving on to another greek paper , it touches on the idea that this could benefit both countries. They also published a message of support from macron. They also published a cartoon i thought was amusing. You have macron on one side saying these are investors and tsipras on the other side saying these are archaeologists. This article is entitled neonazis on your street. Klowns is ku klux spelled. We can all use humored hi to disarm our enemies. A piece we need to be reading about in this day and age. Dont forget, you can also see more of our press review on our website, france24. Com. We will take a short break. Coming up on the other side, we will bring you the latest on Hurricane Irma and discussing the priorities in helping those affected by the incredibly powerful storm. Do stay tuned. You are watching france 24. Sami in ththe early 2000s,s, te balkan mumusic boom hpepened around the globe. It also hit in my hometowown of new yorork, wherbabands like g gogol bordelo anand balkan beatat box srtededo mix gypsy rhythms with punk, reggae, and world music. Originally, my mind was blown to satuurn in the midnineties by the gypsy soundtracks of emir kusturicas flicks black cat, white cat and underground. My love for this particular kind of music has brbrought me to serbia