police confront pro-democracy defenders. the city leaders promise talks on electoral reforms. hello, this is al jazeera, i'm david foster. in the next 30 minutes - 30 hikers feared dead near japan. after being discovered near the peak of a volcano, i.s.i.l. fighters targeted near a turkish town of syria. saudi arabia warns that the violence in yemen could threaten

global security. houthi rebels occupy large parts of the capital. hong kong police have fired tear gas on thousands of activists gathered in the financial center. this is the seventh day of protests. demonstrators holding rallies for the 2017 elections. beijing condemns illegal activities, undermining social stability, and the leading politician says why election reforms will be reconsidered. he didn't say when or how. let's go to scott heidler. you are pretty much on the edge of that we see there. the tear gas fired within the last hour. what is happening now? >> well just up the street from me here, this is one of several

major intersections in the downtown part of hong kong, next to central. the government headquarters is behind us. what happened just before we went on air, down the street was another area where protesters held the street. i counted three or four. they started to walk down here. where the police are now. there were hundreds of protesters. they filed out. the police gave then an avenue out. they were wafting down the street. you have hundreds of... well, we have lost contact with scott heidler at the moment. we'll go back to him in a minute. in the meantime let me talk over

some of the pictures that we see here. scott was saying earlier on that there was a suggestion that authorities wanted to clear the streets before the start of the monday working week. in hong kong, a few hours away now. and he was staying that there'd been confrontations with the police, arriving an hour ago, arriving on force. getting out of their wagons. firing tear gas on the protesters. scott, earlier on, in and amongst that crowd, and he came across a martin lee. many consider him to be the leader of the pro-democracy movement in hong kong. scott was going to explain a little of what he told you. we'll hear what he tried to establish contact with our correspondent. >> as the police tried to block

them. it was calm and peaceful. this is a movement of peace and love. >> a movement of peace and love. he may consider it to be. he doesn't believe it's security forces clearing the demonstrators from the street. ever since there were elections in 2017, we will handpick the candidates for the elections. well, we picture back hydler. no sound yet. as soon as we do that. we will be back, and can go back. it's a confusing situation. i'm not surprised that we are losing contact. you take every care not to get caught up in all of that.

you explained about the notion behind the protest and moved up to a different level, we would say. >> yes, it's been back and forth most of the day. what is interesting is that before this happened, the police and the protesters were, you know a meter or two apart. it was a calm atmosphere. there was word that pepper spray was used. and then it change the. they put on gas masks. a couple of minutes later both sides backed down. they came off, they came down. >> technical problems. it is difficult to keep contact with scott heidler and his crew on the streets of hong kong, on

the edge of that protest. we'll keep an eye on what is happening as the security forces move forward to back the demonstrators, or possibility to make rests. we under the reason behind this is they want to clear the area of pro-democracy before the start of the working week in this hong kong financial center, the working week starting in probably about eight or nine hours time. back with scott heidler and the rest of the crew in hong kong a little later. in other news 30 hikers appear to have died near the peak of a volcano. rescuers found them in cardiac arrest on the peak of mt ontake, which erupted without warning. wayne hay reports now.

when mt ontake roared to life, it caught people by surprise. the eruption happened with hundreds of climbers enjoying a clear out day. for a while i heard the pounding of thunder a number of times, and soon after climbers started descending. they were covered in ash, covered in white. i thought this must be serious. one hiker managed to capture the eruption on camera and realised that he and his group were in trouble. seconds later they were enveloped by the ash cloud as debris rained down on them. it's one of the most topular climbing destinations in japan, some were trapped on the mountain overnight. >> i'm so relieved, i couldn't sleep all night. >> among the workers are defense force personal, ordered to the scene by japan's prime minister

shinzo abe. they are met by a mountain spewing ash. the area surrounding the volcano has been closed. mt ontake is one of 110 active volcanos, and one of 47 under 24 hour civilians. the last time they had an eruption was in 1979. there was an increase in volcanic earth cakes at ontake, but slowed down prior to the eruption, so the alert level was not raised. >> the syrian observe industry for human rights says three makeshift oil refineries happens been hit by the coalition against i.s.i.l. it hit the town. the era include the main oil fields. i.s.i.l. fighters fund their operations in part by selling oil on the black market. coalition air strikes targeted

i.s.i.l. fighters surrounding a kurdish town on syria's northern border with turkey. an i.s.i.l. building and two tanks were destroyed. kurdish fighters attacked the group on the ground. kurds in syria are spread across large parts of the north. i.s.i.l. fighters overran dozens of villages around the up to , trying to take back the -- around the town, trying to take back the - they were pushed back by kurdish fighters from the turkish side of the border. stefanie dekker reports. >> we are outside the town of kobani, and the turkey military were not allowed to cross back in. it wasn't safe because there has been long range artillery. they have been holding out the positions. there's no movement on the front line. if we talk about numbers, they

are 2km to the west, 12km to the east, and 10-12km to the south of this town. it's a very fluid situation. we have been told that there were air strikes. however, coalition air strikes, 60km from here, targetting oil refineries, they buy oil from i.s.i.l. or sell it back or smuggle it. it's an attempt by the coalition to stop the funding, a large amount of money that i.s.i.l. gets from the refineries. people will tell you that it's a straight situation, over 150,000 people have fled. >> stefanie dekker there. saudi arabia's foreign ministry says the crisis in yemen could threaten international security. anti-houthi demonstrators took to the streets of yemen's capital. after the u.n. brokered a deal

with the houthi rebels. the agreement is aspected to restore a semblance of power to the state, but there's little evidence that they'll restore power. our analyst joins us from dubai via skype. there's no surprise that saudi arabia is worried by this. the southern border is yemen's border and if the houthis are in control of large parts of the country. saudi arabia would be concerned. what was the real worry in practical terms? >> in practical terms we have a scenario for civil war building up in yemen. it could turn into a scenario

like we have in iraq and syria. the rebels manage the to take control of the capital, and we have a scenario of a failed estate. we have a strong presentation to al qaeda, and we could see soon al qaeda taking advantage of the failed government in the tap tall, and creating their own state like i.s.i.s. did. from the abdulmalik al-houthi state. then we'd have a scenario of at civil war on the borders. and in yemen, this is a strategically located country on the one side, controlling the strait on one side, and on the other side the entrance to the other strait. this is a serious scenario for a

country to have - like yemen to be in a civil war, while the at the same time, saudi arabia has civil war on the northern border of iraq. >> is it wrong to describe this has a u.n. brokered deal. the one between the government and the houthis. would it be better that describe it as a houthi take over. the u.n. tried to broker a deal. what we saw so far is how things are refusing to adhere to the terms of the deal. we have the militia men roaming the streets. and they still are trying to upsurp control over various parts of yemen, and they want to extend the area of control and other provinces. i don't think we have an

applicable agreement over there, and from what we see as a continuation, and of escalation that would lead to a failed state and a civil war. >> when the saudi arabia foreign minister says help is needed, what is he asking for exactly? >> well, of course, international intervention. there needs - saudis hoping that there would be pressure on iran to get its - the houthi allies, everyone nose about iran's role in building the capability of the houthis, to get them to adhere to their end of the agreement, and to bring - bring about a true national conciliation in yemen that will re-establish the state - the

central government and reduce the chances for a security vacuum, which could take advantage of and create their own state like i.s.i.s. did. >> we'll have to leave it there. talking about the situation in yemen. >> thank you. the indian prime minister gets a rap tu use welcome by indian americans. that in a moment on his first official visit to the u.s. narendra modi talking business and investment. plus... ..waiting to be recognised. the stateless people of thailand who lived in the country before it existed.

you're watching al jazeera, with me david foster, these are the top stories. in hong kong police are firing tear gas on protesters in the city's financial sector. this has been the seventh straight day of demonstrators, the activists are demanding the right to choose the next leader. >> free makeshift oil refineries have been hit by coalition strikes near the i.s.i.l. controlled down in syria. we are receiving reports of air strikes in al-raqqa province, after attacks targetting i.s.i.l. fighters surrounding a kurdish town on the northern border with turkey. saudi arabia's foreign minister says the crisis in yemen could

threaten international community. prince faisal said hopes for an end to the conflict have failed. a military vehicle has been bombed in the afghan capital. nobody died in the explosion, which was near the presidential palace. jennifer glasse reports. >> reporter: the bomb on an army struck exploded outside the presidential palace 24 hours. the attack under lines the security challenges this the new unity government will face. taliban fighters will battle afghan forces. the defense military says the crew suffered their worst loss ever. soldiers and civilians. the foreign minister sounded

optimistic. >> while this is more challenging, we confident that the new government enjoying the full political security and prosperity. and by extension to the region and beyond. >> international support that included u.s. secretary of state john kerry helped to resolve the political impasse, to resolve the impasse. while that has been dealt with, what has not changed is that afghanistan relies on foreign money for his budget. in order to attract the financial commitment. there's three forms, fighting corruption, bringing good governance. >> the fragile economy is hurting because of the political crisis that dragged on the the government asked the islamic state for $557 million to make

up for a budget shortfall to pay for salaries and operating costs. the question on the afghan's mind is whether the two presidential rivals will be able to work together, and can they form a government that will solve problems. pilots from air francaise they are ending their two week strike. let's go to phil lavelle in london. about what happened and why they decided to do this. >> it's a bit of a surprise. no one saw it coming considering this strike has been gong on for 14 das. this is a statement from the s&p that has come to us, saying the conditions of social dialogue were not met, and they decided to meet the responsibilities by lifting the strike, saying they want to lift the discussions. it cost an-france a fortune,

250 million. it's all about budget air line, the lacks of easy jet, ryan air encoxing on the business of france. what it has decided to do is up the game with the airline. it operates a number of low cost roots. they were incensed by the plans to increase the work plan. they want the same perks and salaries for air france pilots. the matter of whether they work for the air france or the subsidiary, demanding the same pay and perks. the pilots start on a salary of $100,000, up to $300,000. they get a dependerous meal allowance. this is one of the things that they were struggling to meet. we understand they have not met an agreement. and a new discussion started on

seat. no agreement. but the s and pl says as far as it is con serment. they are lifting the strike. >> we'll have more later. phil lavelle in london. the indian prime minister is on a visit to the united states. in a few hours, thousands of indian americans are expected to be at the madison square gardens. the indian's visit to the united states is a major visit. >> we welcome him. we are excited to see him. >> patel's father spent seven months in india, campaigning for modi.

they raised expectations continue the indian american community. >> we need a relationship between the u.s. government and the indian government. it helped indians living in america, it helps india living in india. indians make up 1% of the population in the united states. they are an extremely successful bunch of the the average household income of indian americans exceeds that of other americans. many hope better relations between the united states and india will elevate their status here. it's a remarkable turn around for the indian prime minister who arrived in new york to cheering crowds. until recently he was barred from setting foot in the u.s. over accusations he did little to stop riots in the state in

gugarat when he was chief executive in 2002. 2,000 muslims were killed in the violence. this woman is from the south-east collective, starting an online campaign protesting the visit. >> it's got gust about the gugarat, it's an ideology that narendra modi, that this is a hindu nation and muslims come from the outside, when they have been there for thousands of years. >> on friday a u.n. federal court summoned mowedry brought about by -- summoned modi, brought by lawsuits, unlikely to get in the way of business. >> they love a debate about how do they define the indian middle class. it's a vast consumer market. that is what has been tempting to a lot of american investors. >> those investors are hoping the intistment in the indian --

excitement in the indian community is matched in washington. >> okay. as we dom the end of the half hour of news on al jazeera. we'll go back to hong kong, the correspondent pretty close to the scenes you see there. there is scott heidler, and a recap, for those vowers that have not followed this story, this is the 7th straight day of protest. and it's turned ugly. >> it certainly did. it happened in the last 45 minutes. it's a main artery. the cloud of tear gas, something we have not seen. they have been using pepper spray, before confrontations around the area and the government complex.

this is the first time we have seen tear gas used. on this side it was used on other parts of the protest. what happened after that? >> there the a line of protesters, a couple of hundred. there was another line, a bigger one, that is where it came wafting down from. the police provided a channel for the protesters on this side to filter down through this way. down this road here. this is a main artery running perpendicular to the camera. there was a confrontation - a stand off i should say, no confront saying at the moment. police, gas -- confrontations at the moment. police, gas, masks. it has not turned violent. what happened behind us happened elsewhere. and something else that is interesting, they brought down a secondary barricade, the police. what they brought over is

umbrellas over the last week that have wardened off the pepper spray that the police have been using them. huge piles. it will be interesting to see over the next coming hours, what will happen before the work week starts. that's a big concern. there is the stock exchange on the other side of the complex. that is what the police are concerned about. you heard from the main students protest leaders. they say that they are calling - if police go down, demand aren't met, if police don't let them come in to where they are occupied. they say - student strikes are calling for workers to go on strike. it will be a newed situation. >> fill us in on what the top hong kong people have been saying aboutling to the protesters, and going back to

reconsider beijing's idea of imposing a candidate or candidates on the hong kong people. >> the executive director of hong kong came out and made a statement. he did it on camera and issued a paper statement. what he said is he'll continue with the location on this move, a couple of weeks ago, that says there will be one person, one vote. that's for the chief executive ahead of the government. it will be - it will be vetted by officials in beijing. that's why we are seeing what we are seeing. he didn't back down, this is something that is part of the process that has been going on. he went on to say though that police are going to do what they've been doing. they will maintain law and order. they are not going to allow the protesters to occupy some of the important parts of hong kong. initially it sundayed like he said consultations will

continue. it wasn't backing down, he's saying it will go forward as it's been laid out. >> we'll leave it there, back with you later. scott heidler there in hong kong. keep up to date with all the news on the website aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com. another night of violence in ferguson, missouri. a police officer is shot and now there's a massive manhunt for the suspect. and air strikes continue in iraq and syria where a separate rebel group is promising to retaliate against the united states. showdown in hong kong. you are looking at live images as pro-democracy