[ gunfire ] macedonian police fire stun grenades to stop thousands of refugees crossing the border from greece. ♪ hello, i'm martine dennis in doha, also to come on the program, north korea's leader orders troops along the border with the south to be ready for war. the terror, the confusion, it was something unbearable. >> it's two years since chemical attacks in syria killed hundreds. we speak to survivors still

waiting for just advertise. i'm bernard smith in istanbul, and that red brick building is the former ruin of communist revolutionary trot ski. it's on the market for $4.5 million. we start in macedonia, where police have fired stun grenades to drive back a huge crowd of refugees trying to get into the country. but the border has just opened and some refugees have managed to get through. on thursday it declared a state of emergency to try to stop people coming in. macedonia is one of the major transit points for refugees who are trying to get from greece to other e.u. countries. the vast majority are syrians escaping the syrian war.

a small town just three kilometers away from the border with greece was the focal point of friday's violence. it's on the main route north. emma hayward reports. >> reporter: they spent a cold night in no man's land waiting to cross the border between greece and macedonia, but their passage was blocked by riot police. rocks were thrown, then this. [ gunfire ] [ screaming ] >> tear gas filling the air with police using stun grenades to try to keep people out. in the ensuing chaos, there was panic. most refugees here have escaped conflict, and few would have expected this. >> [ inaudible ] we was in front

of the place. officers shoot the people. >> reporter: tens of thousands of people have crossed through macedonia's borders heading north during the last month. too many say the authorities who have declared a state of emergency in two border regions. the local train station is a transit point for many. most want to try to reach serbia, hungary, and other parts of europe. the international organization for migration has called for restraint and urgent humanitarian aid in macedonia. by bolstering the borders, macedonia, though, may create a backlog of desperate men, women, and children unsure where they can go next. knowing they can't go home. emma hayward, al jazeera. the south korean defense ministry is urging north korea to stop its provocations. tension has increased between north and south following an

exchange of fire on thursday. both countries say they have put their military on high alert. north korea's leader has held an emergency meeting of the north central military commission. according to state media, he told the army's front line troops to be fully prepared to launch operations. the south korean president says she expects her military to be prepared to immediately respond to any further provocations from the north. harry fawcett has the latest. >> reporter: south korea's president visits a military command post on friday, planked by senior military commanders. her personal command of the situation as north and south korea engage in one of their sporadic military faceoffs. >> translator: the military should be alert for further provocations. if the situation occurs take

action first and report later. >> reporter: it followed a late night meeting in which kim ki-jong ordered front line areas into a quasi war state, and commanders to be ready to launch surprise attacks against the south. >> translator: they send an ultimatum saying the korean people's army would launch a strong military action unless south korea stops broadcasting towards the north within 48 hours. >> reporter: these speakers are the source of that war fair. they restarted broadcasts of propaganda nearly three weeks ago for the first time in 11 years in response to what happened earlier this month. south korea says northern forces planted land mines that maimed two of its soldiers. the village lies just a few kilometers south of the border, it's the closest area to where

south korea says the first projectile was fired. at one point hundreds were told to leave their homes near the border. only here is the advisory still in place. >> the provocation is likely to continue, so we are advising residents to stay in shelters. there are some that went out to carry out their daily business, but we advise them to come back this evening. >> reporter: inside it was mainly the elderly and the young who stayed behind. >> translator: i vo -- have seen many drills and heard explosions, but this time the sound was louder, and there was an announcement asking us to evacuate. compared to the past, i'm more concerned. >> reporter: this is starting to feel like a bit of an uncomfortable habit here. a north korean shell fell right here. they had been firing at propaganda balloons, launched by

activists. south korea says if a military strikes follows, it will counterattack strongly. harry fawcett, al jazeera, south korea. thousands of dead fish have washed up on a river bank six kilometers from the site of last week's huge explosion in china. the government denies the death of the fish is connected to the chemical blast which happened at an industrial area. the thought is that highly toxic chemicals may have leaked from the warehouse. but state media saying tests were negative. greece's ruling syriza party has split. 25 members say they will form their own movement. there has been disscent since the leader accepted a bailout program with e.u. creditors, which will lead eventually to more austerity measures. the split comes hours after

tsipras designed as prime minister and called for new elections. john psaropoulos has more. >> reporter: approximately two dozen members of parliament have broken away from the prime minister's line and have said they are going to form a separate far-left-wing group. they have said this is going to be called the consolidated anti-austerity front, or the united anti-austerity front, and this is a play on words because it is an exco of the communist resistance during world war ii, which after the war, fought a civil war against national forces and that was what caused the national freedom front. there is no coincidence here, the far left wants the name of its new party to sound like the continuation of the communist fighting formations of old. it wants to suggest to voters

that they are the true leftists, the true inherit fors of the world war ii communist generation, and they will carry the torch forward against austerity in the upcoming election. israel's army says it has killed four members of the armed group islamic jihad in an air strike in syria. syrian state tv said a car was targeted, but said five civilians were killed. it was the second straight day of israeli strikes inside syria. it carried out a series of attacks on thursday after rocket from syria lands in israel and the occupied go land heights. the syrian army says one of its soldiers was killed in one of the israeli strikes. in syria, 15 people have been killed in government air raids over eastern aleppo.

the planes targeted a town in the aleppo countryside under isil control and is a regular target, but opposition act vittses they syrian government is deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods. two years ago, up to 1500 people died when rockets filled with sarin gas struck a town. survivors are worried they will never get justice. zana hoda has their story, and a warning that some viewers may find some of the images up setting. >> reporter: the dead and the dying. there was no blood on their bodies, no visible injuries. the attack was different than what syrians had seen before. rockets carrying chemicals landed in the damascus suburb on this morning of august 21, 2013. >> translator: it look like

seconds before i lost my ability to breathe. i wasn't able to breathe or even scream to alert my friends. so i had to pound my chest really hard just to try to take a single breath. i felt like something was standing on my chest with a knife. >> reporter: he survived, and two years later he has another life in the united states. but he remembers that day clearly. >> it was a seen from judgment day. dozens of men, women, and children running, falling on the ground suffocating. it was unbearable. >> reporter: at the time he was a photographer working in syria. he wanted to document the evidence of a crime, he believed the world should see. >> i asked the doctor about what i need to know, so he show me -- he show me the dark -- the

dark blue of the color that had been changed. the eyes and coming out of their mouth. >> reporter: he says he can't forget what he saw that day. >> i'm a war photographer, to me to see a dead body with the blood, it's normal. when you see them, at the first thing, you think they are sleeping. then you realize after like one or two seconds, your reality becomes facing what is really going on. >> reporter: reality faced him years before. he was an activist where he used to film the suffering of people who continued to live under siege. since the attack he has tried to raise awareness, even at the u.n. and u.s. congress, but he says it has all been in vain. >> i feel like after all of this talking the people i met, not just me, but thousands of

syrians here, we feel like there is no hope. >> reporter: the u.n. concluded that sarin gas was used, but said it didn't have the mandate to blame anyone. there is now a new resolution to investigate chemical attacks in syria, but the attacks before 2014 won't be included. zana hoda, al jazeera, beirut. lots more to come here on al jazeera, including low on staff and supplies. we're in iraq where the country's healthcare system is struggling to survive. plus -- i'm in islamabad, coming up, we'll be taking ride on the city's first metro bus system. find out whether it is helping the problem. ♪

♪ hello again, you are with al jazeera. i'm martine dennis, and these are our top stories. police in macedonia have fired stun grenades to try to disperse refugees trying to cross the border. south korea is urging north korea to stop its provocations. the leaders of both countries met their military chiefs within the last 24 hours. tension has increased, following an exchange of fire on thursday. 25 members from greece's ruling party have announced they are forming a new party. the split comes hours after alexis tsipras de -- resigned as

prime minister. let's return to our top story, the case of thousands and thousands of refugees who are trying to leave greece, trying to get into macedonia, most times in order to push further north and get to wealthier european countries, and as we have been hearing, police in macedonia have fired stun grenades to try to disperse these people. we can speak to the spokesman for macedonia's ministry of interior. he joins us on the line from the macedonian capitol. this is not a very humane way to be treating people, is it? who are seeking sanctuary and relief, many of whom are traumatized. it's not a very humane way to be firing stun grenades at them. >> i don't know if you know the situation here, but we were faced with a huge problem the last several weeks, because a

large number of immigrants was trying to enter the republic of macedonia, and unfortunately we have limited capacity to help them in most humanitarian way. we were facing the problem to give them enough, you know, food, proper medical care, medical attention [ inaudible ] there were some cases to where the immigrants were practically expelled from greece [ inaudible ] and they werelying here in macedonia. i will say it again, our capacities are not unlimited, but we have decided to declare state of emergency, just to have a better control on our border which is not secure from [ inaudible ] and to let inside

macedonia, only a number of legal imgrants from the vulnerable categories, which could be adequately treated in humanitarian ways. >> okay. okay. i can understand -- i understand what you are saying -- >> -- food and medical care. >> i understand you are facing a very large number of people -- and as i said before, many of whom are desperate and traumatized, and what i would put to you is that this is not the way that you treat people using stun grenades. we're looking at pictures now where people are displaying injuries. many have tear gas in their eyes. this is not the way you treat people who are particularly vulnerable and in need. >> from macedonia's side there wasn't any use of tear gas. the macedonia police was put on the border as any other state to

protect the border, and it is [ inaudible ] to protect the border and to protect themselves, and there were several cases when illegal immigrants were trying to go through the police and the police officers had to take measures to protect themselves. they weren't going offensively to [ inaudible ] they were standing on our territory and defending the border in a way that we could let in macedonia, only a number of legal immigrants that could be treated properly. >> i understand the numbers -- i understand the numbers are huge. what is macedonia's plan to go forward and deal with this vast number of people who are amassing on the border? what is your plan? >> it's our plan to let in

macedonia, only the number of legal immigrants that could be treated according to our capacity, so we're app mre app -- appealing to the european union to try to find a final solution to this problem. because it's not a local problem, regional problem, it is a global problem. we don't have access to e.u. funds like greece has. so we are with limited capacities and we must be trying to deal with the situation, because whatever happens with this terrible crisis here in macedonia, and many [ inaudible ] local population on the greek border. >> okay. thank you very much for talking to us here at al jazeera. all right. let's move on to yemen now, because 43 people in the

third-largest city there have been killed in saudi-lead air strikes. ta'izz has become the focus of cent fighting between houthi rebels after government forces. pro-hadi forces have managed to take back control of parts of the city as they push towards the north. iraq's top shia cleric has warned the country faces possible partition. he says government reform measures need to be introduced immediately. this is one of several calls made by the cleric this month. it is believed he has played a major role in the recent anti-corruption drive by the prime minister. the iraqi government is also under pressure to speed up reforms to help save the economy from freefall. as mohammed jamjoom reports, the

health system is collapsing. >> reporter: at baghdad's hospital, this doctor doles out medical care and dispenses hard truths. >> living in a city with violence -- daily violence, a city with -- living in a city with low infrastructures, and trying your best to give the best to those patients is not easy. >> reporter: while this government-run facility is cleaner and better stocked that many other hospitals and clinics in iraq's capitol, it is certainly not immune to the healthcare crisis spreading. the shortage of supplies and well-trained staff is nothing new in iraq, but things are getting worse. even storing medicines at the right temperature is difficult. the medications stored inside here must stay constantly

refrigerated, that's why these cooling units have to keep working. and during this record heat wave at a time when there are so many power cuts, this hospital and others are relying on backup generators. even on a relatively slow day, wait times are long. >> translator: if i needed immediate surgery, i would have to wait a month to get my turn, and that's not practical at all. >> reporter: going to a private hospital would be far too expensive for this couple. the ministry of health isn't the only institution in the country struggling to deliver aid. the united nations recently announced a funding cap, forcing 80% of front-line health services in iraq to shut down. 1 million are affected. >> it means all of the kids who were going to be immunized, aren't going to be immunized. all of the pregnant women who needed help, they are not going

to receive that assistance. it's painful. it hurts, and the people who need us the most right now, we're walking away from them. when you are in a clinic that yesterday was providing antibiotics, and today it is closed, because we don't have the funding, you have nothing but shame. you are ashamed. >> reporter: another blow to a country who's people need more help, but are receiving less and less. the turkish president is likely to call for snap elections on november 1st. he says he'll meet this parliamentary speaker on monday before formally announcing the poll date. his party failed to get a simple majority in june elections. sri lanka's new prime minister has been sworn in. he has made a deal with the

faction of an opposition group in order to build a coalition. >> reporter: taking orders as prime minister in the building behind me. he has his work cut out for him. he's alliance that won the election with 106 of the 225 seats in parliament are putting forward a five-point plan. all of that includes developing the economy, fighting corruption, ensuring freedom for all, as well as investing in infrastructure and improving education. but before getting on with that, the prime minister will have to stabilize the government. he does have 106 seats, but needs the simple majority, the magic number of 113 in order to make sure his government is safe and stable. he does have the support of the president, and he has been

pivotal and instrumental in bringing over his sri lanka freedom party and the united people's freedom alliance of the former president, who have agreed to create a national government to take this country forward for at least two years to start with. the speaker of brazil's lower house of congress and a former president have been charged in the country's largest corruption skangd l. he is accused of taking a $5 million bribe on contracts linked to the state oil company petrobr petrobras. it is 75 years since one of communism's most famous revolutionaries was mass nated in mexico. he was expelled from the soviet union, and then took refuge in several different countries, but he made his first home in a sprawling mansion near istanbul. it's now on the market for more than $4 million, but it comes

with a catch. >> reporter: surrounded by the mansions of capitalism's mill theirs the crumbling former home of one of communisms great revolutionaries. leon trotsky arrived here in 1929. now his formal refugee on an island near istanbul is up for sale for $4.4 million. but whoever buys this prime real estate won't be able to use it as a private home. >> translator: the owners wanted to restore the house as a private residence, but it was designated a public cultural facility. it's a very difficult restoration for whoever takes it on. >> reporter: it is estimated a restoration would cost around a million dollars. he chose this place because it

give him a sense of security from the assassins he knew moscow was sending. he spent four years in turkey, before traveling into mexico. it was there that trotsky was murdered on orders of moscow. >> translator: trotsky wasn't the kind of person to get sad. we, however, should be upset at the state of this beautiful mansion. trotsy it consider coming back. i'm sure if he did come back and saw it in this state, he would be saddened. >> reporter: the area has changed little since trotsky was here. cars are banned. but elsewhere in the world, life has moved on. like the political philosophy he championed, trotsky's house could soon just disappear.

bernard smith, al jazeera, istanbul. you can always get the very latest on the al jazeera website. there's a lot of analysis, and background, and controversial opinion as well. aljazeera.com is where you'll find it all. ♪ new evacuations in the northwest as fires spread faster than crews can contain them, now international help is on its way. another steep drop for the dow as international woes continue to worry investors. and president obama reassures fellow democrats in hopes of securing a nuclear deal with iran. and his supporters say they have the votes in congress to keep the deal alive. ♪