corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> egypt declares alert, after hundreds of protesters attack the israeli embassy. the country's ambassador is seen at cairo airport waiting to leave the country. this is the scene live in cairo as protesters continue their demonstrations. in libya, anti-gaddafi forces close in on the regime's last stronghold. we report from the front lines. welcome to "bbc news," broadcasting to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. i'm rachel hodges. still to come, as america prepares to remember 9/11, security is stepped up to counter a possible new terror threat. and the u.n.'s world food program delivers a new warning about food shortages in north korea. a state of alert has been declared in egypt after hundreds of protesters broke into the israeli embassy building in cairo using hammers and iron bars to demolish a barrier wall outside. you can see these latest shots live from there now. a group of activists has broken away from a larger demonstration in nearby tahrir square earlier. israel's ambassador to egypt is reported to be at cairo airport waiting to leave the country. a bbc journalist joins me on the line now from cairo. how close are you to these scenes that we're seeing here? >> instead of the -- i am right now in front of hundreds of egyptian protesters. they are protesting and they are trying to invade. i have seen tear gas. they try to separate them. they succeeded to destroy in the front of the embassy. >> the protesters' attack on the embassy has been going on for some hours. it started earlier in the afternoon. would you say that the violence and the scale of the situation is still escalating there? >> it is escalating. not exactly at the embassy, but on one side, they are trying to invade. they are chanting also. they both don't want to rule anymore. they are accusing them of killing. we understand also that more than 100 people have entered, many of them by tear gas and four of them -- [inaudible] this is some gunshots, live shots actually from security forces. they are invading at the moment. >> as far as you can tell, i don't think you had the chance to speak to any of the protesters involved. are you able to ascertain what kind of people they are? there are reports that it's being led by a hardcore of soccer fans there, or are these just ordinary egyptians protesting? >> they are ordinary egyptians. the majority of them are young egyptians. most of the head of the embassy is close. you know, the day looks to be a big protest. all of them participating. thousands of people were participating. in front of the embassy. after the killing of the five egyptian soldiers by the israeli soldiers and a lone deporter. they want to be satisfied. they want us to be happy. now i can see a police group. a little bit of chaos -- a lot of chaos, actually, at the israeli embassy. >> i don't know how close you are to the gates, but the pictures that we're seeing from the live feed here, it appears that protesters have been throwing missiles at those police vans and one of them did look as though it was on fire. are you able to see of that from your point? >> this is where i was searching. at the moment, it seems to me -- at the moment, there are police cars at the moment. there is lots of tear gas on the demonstrators. it's become kind of hideous. it is a disaster. the country is concerned. the demonstrations on the government. >> just remind us exactly what prompted this protest outside the israeli embassy in cairo? >> i can't hear you. >> just remind us of exactly what prompted this protest to begin outside the embassy there. >> the protesters, earlier in the afternoon, they were in front of the embassy. i am now actually in front of the embassy. there is tear gas. there is a tear gas bomb next to me, actually. it is away from the embassy. maybe 50 meters. it is down the stairs. there are three floors in that embassy. i have spoken to the protesters who just entered the third floor. [inaudible] they have taken from them. at the moment in front of me, i can see -- actually, because of the tear gas. lots of chaos at the moment. >> i'm not sure how long you've been there today. earlier on, the protesters were allowed to go about their business and the security forces very much stood back. but now we're seeing just a few moments ago those police vans appearing to drive at the protesters outside the embassy. at what point do you think the situation began to change and become more volatile? i have seen here in the past two hours, 2 1/2 hours, since the moment i have arrived, i can't actually breathe because of the tear gas bombs. these security forces, they come towards the security. the government is there. some kind of village. they are trying to prevent more chaos. i've seen lots of tear gas. lots of people have been attended by balances. the young protesters, they are starting to express their anger. they want to be satisfied from the egyptians and a government towards israeli. they want to hear the voices. this is something we are not used to seeing. the government was mubarak's government. there is no security in the area . [inaudible] the military council -- [inaudible] >> ok. thank you very much indeed. do take care of yourself there. a "bbc world news" journalist talking to us live from outside of the israeli embassy in cairo. we're going to stay on these live pictures now. they're coming from outside the israeli embassies, seeing the latest situation. a number of instances of fires outside the embassy. police vans driven at protesters. we'll keep a watch of events there. we've also seen those police vans firing tear gas at protesters there. we heard our reporter saying that he can hardly breathe for the amount of tear gas that's in the air. we are seeing the numbers of protesters there seem to have diminished in the last few minutes while we've been looking at this shot. the police van is being driven at protesters just a few moments ago. we can see they're still very active in that area at the moment. earlier, president obama spoke to the israeli prime minister by phone. the bbc's marcus george is in washington. a little earlier, he gave me more details about their discussion. >> the white house issued a statement saying that president obama talked to the israeli prime minister. effectively, i have it right here in front of me, expressing his great concern about the situation at the emgasi and the security of the israelis serving there. he was saying he was trying everything he could to get the situation resolved and reminding the egyptian authorities of their international obligations with regard to diplomacy. i think it is of serious concern here amongst american officials, and we have independently also heard from reports from jerusalem that the israelis have indeed been asking for all the american help that they can possibly bring. >> what sort of stat is washington likely to take in response to these requests for help? >> i think at this stage, it's very difficult to tell exactly what's going on. i think effectively, they're powerless, from what we understand about what's going on the ground there. it seems to be a number of groups and rioters effectively laying siege to the embassy. so there's very little that the u.s. can practically do to help. but what it will be doing is reminding egypt of its obligations and saying look, this could lead to all sorts of problems. you need to get this under control as soon as possible before it gets out of hand. we've heard that there is indeed the possibility that there's a state of emergency, which has been declared. >> do you think it's significant and perhaps a sign of how serious the situation is that president obama has spoken out so quickly about the situation there? >> i think certainly he is extremely concerned, because purely because the middle east has been under such unrest recently. there is the potential that these revolutions that we've seen in tunisia and egypt take on a life of their own and effectively get hijacked by special interest groups. perhaps very anti-israeli or have their own particular goals in mind. i think what he's trying to do is to remind egypt that it needs to set itself on the main path. before these kinds of events spiral out of control. >> police didn't intervene. so president obama's words, are they likely to have any effect? sit just for show? >> the issue behind all this is of course the shootinging of a number of egyptian police back in august on the border with israel, and i think that set off a chain of events, which has led to various protests, various riots, including this one today. so i think there's a lot of feeling, even amongst police, that israel has gone beyond what it should be able to do and it's resulted in the deaths of egyptian officials. it's difficult to see exactly how it's going to end up, but i think the u.s. authorities are in aware that the middle east is finally balanced between this 20-year-old peace deal between egypt and israel that actually it's very difficult for them to see how this could possibly move on. >> let's look at these live pictures now. we're not sure exactly where this is in cairo, but the scene of what appears to be quite a volatile and violent protest just a few minutes ago. we can see there now a line of security services and police who have moved in. they moved in behind a number of police vans to disperse those protesters. we saw them firing off tear gas canisters at protesters. we can see there the air is heavy with tear gas. we heard from our own bbc reporter who was just yards away from the scene and said he couldn't breathe when he arrived there. appears from what we can see from these pictures now that the protesters have been dispersed from the area. we don't know where they've gone. a couple of fires still burning in the background. earlier we saw more fires and actually protesters throwing objects that have been set on fire at these police vans. but it would seem that for the moment, security services are taking control of this particular area of cairo. we'll keep you updated on any developments as and when they happen there in cairo. other news now. libyan forces opposed to colonel gaddafi say they've now entered one of just four towns still loyal to the deposed leader. negotiatorings said their forces are only a couple kilometers from the center and could have control of the town within a few hours. richard reports. >> rebel fighters, as the battle gets under way. this use of force coming after days of fruitless negotiations. hardcore gaddafi loyalists holding the town. now these rebels hope to drive gaddafi's men out for good. and in the distance, the signs of battle, plumes of smoke from rockets landing near rebel positions. but it was not long before the rebels were coming back from the front lines having captured this batch of seven of gaddafi's men apparently also included a brigadier. the rebels say there may be more than 600 of their opponents to flush out. >> as far as we know from our experience and from the prisoners which we have, there are fighters, they are very professional, they came from different parts of libya. >> balances have been carrying the injured from the wattle field. -- battlefield. but so far casualty figures have been low. morale seems to be very high. today's rebels taking control of towns are extremely important. their revolution is not complete, and until they've seized control of all four towns which gaddafi loyalists have been holding, only then will they be able to declare victory. >> in syria, thousands of people who have taken part in anti-government demonstrations calling for international protection. near the city of hama, hundreds march with the coffin of a 15-year-old boy. in damascus, activists carried signs demanding that russia and china stop supporting the assad regime. an earthquake has shaken the canadian city of vancouver, but there are no reports of serious damage. the quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and lasted for about half a minute. its epicenter was about 279 kilometers west of the city, just off vancouver island. checks are being made on bridges and other structures. security has been stepped up in new york and washington over a possible bomb threat to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the september 11 attacks on sunday. the american secretary of state hillary clinton said the threat was credible. police have increased patrols at possible target sites, as laura reports. >> at ground zero, america prepares to mourn its dead. in the footprints of the world trade center twin towers, it's the memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who perished on 9/11. the city's somber, reflective mood is now tense. police are searching vans for bombs in response to what u.s. officials call a credible, but unconfirmed threat. the u.s. administration may have weakened al qaeda's leadership, but its ability to inspire others regionally and internationally remains. >> al qaeda, again, is seeking to harm americans, and in particular, to target new york and washington. this should not surprise any of us. it is a continuing reminder of the stakes in our struggle against violent extremism. >> sunday's 10th anniversary of the attacks which altered america and launched two wars is an emotional time for the relatives of the dead. charles wolfe lost his british wife katherine in the north tower of the world trade center. >> i miss my best friend. but you know, after 10 years, you know you have to -- you continually move on. i said that they may have gotten my wife, but they're not getting the rest of my life. i said that shortly after 9/11. i refuse to let these terrorists take over my life in a negative way. >> security alerts like today, a part of the rhythm of new york life. though the city's fear of another catastrophic attack has receded slightly, it's still very real. journalist john recalls seeing the planes never return. he believes the nature of the threat from al qaeda has never returned. >> franchised and fractured is i think a way it would be used in washington. but mind you, here we have 10 years later another threat that's causing the united states to react. >> the city readied itself for sunday's ritual of remembrance, new yorkers are hoping this latest alert comes to nothing. but once the 10th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone, al qaeda's lurking threat will remain. >> a passenger from a jet which crashed into the libyan jungle three days ago has been found alive. the man was discovered on a river bank with injuries to his head and ribs, but otherwise well. he spent 15 hours trapped inside the plane until he managed to escape. eight were killed in the crash. it seems to have happened when the plane flew into smoke created by forests being burned. to return to the latest live pictures that we have from cairo now. this is the scene somewhere near the israeli embassy, where protesters have broken down the security wall a little earlier. a few moments ago, it was in the last half an hour, the situation did seem to escalate. protesters setting fires in that area. also two police vehicles on fire. but since then, the police have moved to disperse that crowd of about 2,000 protesters. those are the latest pictures from cairo. your watching "bbc news." >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank offers unique insight and expertise in a range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.