this is al jazeera. welcome to the news hour. jane dutton in doha. in the next 60 minutes, thousands rally in london to demand more is done to help refugees. a crane collapsing at mecca's grand mosque killing more than 150 people. >> i'm delighted to declare jerry corbin elected as leader of the labor party. britain's labor party has a controversial new leader. it might not have been

glamour on the red carpet, but it was all grit on screen. we'll look at the themes dominating the venice film festival. we begin this news hour in london where thousands of peechl are marching in support of refugees. they're hoping to convince politicians that britain should welcome more asylum seekers. prime minister cameron this week vowed to take thousands more syrians fleeing the war, but that only applies to those already in designated in camps in countries neighboring syria. so far european countries have failed to come up with a united plan to deal with the influx. let's go to barnaby phillips live at the protests. you've been moving down the streets with them, barnaby. what are people saying about why they're there? >> reporter: they're here, jane, because they feel that britain is not doing enough. they're holding up placards that say refugees welcome here. i saw one person with a placard

that said there is no them and us. we're all human. another person held up a placard that said, germany 1, britain 0. the indication that germany won a moral victory over britain by being more generous to allow refugees in during the crisis. let's hear from a voice from the crowd. we plucked her at random from the people behind me in parliament square. her name is claire disington and she's a lawyer in london. thank you for joining us at short notice. why did you come on this march today? >> i came to send a message to the government and david cameron that refugees are welcome here. having seen the awful photographs of those two young children that lost their lives, but knowing that many thousands are lost their lives, i think it's a shame on this country we're not taking more people in. >> reporter: the prime minister says that britain spends an awful lot more on helping refugees on the ground in syria

and immediately around syria than any other european country. that does show a generosity of spirit, doesn't it, from this government? >> no. there hasn't been any generosity of spirit. david cameron has been forced to change his position by the mood of normal, ordinary people in britain horrified by pictures. they want to welcome people and support what's happened in germany. i think he's been forced into what he's done. he's still not opening the doors and letting people in. there are people trying to flee war, something i'd do. if war cam to london, i'd take my family and son and leave. we should welcome people. >> reporter: do you have a clear idea in your mind how many people britain shut welcome? >> no. we should welcome whoever wants to come here. if people are fleeing war and fleeing those countries, we should welcome them here. there's plenty of room in britain. people say there isn't. there's plenty of room and plenty of jobs people can do and

people will contribute to our economy. >> reporter: that's the view of claire who we picked from the crowd. thank you very much. she's a lawyer based in london, but for now, back to you, jane. >> thank you, barnaby. as the debate about what to do with the refugees rages on in northern europe, thousands are trying to get to the continent from the south. we're live from the border between greece and mass doan that. what's the situation there? >>. >> reporter: well as first it was relatively calm, but over the past few hours you can see behind me there's a lot of refugees arriving. there are people here on the ground that tell us that they're expecting about 50 buses in the coming couple of hours. that would be about 2,000 to 3,000 people crossing today. if you add those to the 7,600 that crossed over the past 24 hours just to give you an indication that the flow of refugees continues to arrive

here in southern europe, i would say, to try to reach western europe as quick as possible. among them you would be surprised about the amount of children that are just walking along these tracks, for example. we spoke to some of them to just understand how they feel about what they're going through. when boats land on greece's shores, children are often crammed in the middle. some are only a few months old. for the others, it's an experience that will mark them as much as the war they fled. >> translator: we were really frightened on the boat. i thought we were going to drown. we were all so, so scared that the coast guard would take us back to turkey. we had life vests, but i was still very scared. i was upset to sleep on the streets of lesbos, but what could i do?

i rolled the sleeping bag out on the street and slept. that's it. >> reporter: she left syria about four weeks ago after his brother was killed by a barrel bomb. along the road he met amen, also syrian, and they became like brothers they say. giving courage to each other as they continue their travels. there is no age limit to be a refugee. entire families are on the move walking on roads, sleeping wherever they can. there's little space for youngsters to be children these days. parents often say it's for their sake that they beg their way through europe, but often it's the kids and their resilience that give them the courage to continue. his parents decided to leave kabul after thiz school was bombed. >> my friend and teacher died. that's not very good. that's very bad. after the bomb we don't have a

school because the school is gone. i stay in home and don't go out because my father said if you go, maybe the taliban will kill you because you are a young girl. we have a difficult life and travel. i wish i -- i wish -- i want a better life without killing, without stress. i want a life, simple life. >> reporter: the children have their own uncertainties and challenges ahead. he doesn't know when he will see his parents again. he hopes as soon as he will get his paperwork done. he's aware that perhaps the road ahead is more difficult. that some in europe don't want him or his friend, amen. >> translator: please, open the borders so we can continue. don't be frightened of us. we're not scary people. we're escaping war.

that's it. we're not here to hurt you. we don't hurt people. we left because we risked dying from barrel bombs sleeping in our bed. we're coming to europe to protect ourselves a little, just a little. >> reporter: worries of an adult felt by a child. now, for the new arrivals, time is of the essence. they know, for example, about the eu meeting that is scheduled to september 14th. they know that hungary has warned that it will close its borders on the next day, september 15th, and they know about these unconfirmed report that maybe macedonia would also put up a fence on one of its borders. so a lot of them will tell you -- they ask us journalists what to do. they would tell you at this moment how tired and exhausted they are, they have to just keep on walking at least as quickly as they can to try to reach their final destinations before there are new changes on the

ground here in europe. >> we're going to leave it there. we will have more on the refugees and their situations in the middle east including countries like lebanon. syrian state media are reporting that two russian planes carrying 80 tons of humanitarian aid have arrived at an airport. u.s. president barack obama has again criticized russia's military support for syria. the obama administration and nato voiced concern that russia won't just be fighting isil but will try to boost the assad regime. >> we're going to be engaging russia to let them know that you can't continue to double-down on a strategy that's doomed to failure. it could prevent us from arriving at the political settlement that is ultimately needed to bring a peace back to syria. >> reporter: the australian air force completed the first operation over syria searching for isil activity in the east of the country. no weapons were used during the

mission, which comes two days after australian prime minister tony abbott expanded the air for force's operation against isil from iraq into syria. egypt's president sisi accepted the resignation of his entire cabinet. the move comes just days after the country's prime minister said there would be no cabinet shake-up despite corruption charges facing the former agriculture minister. he resigned last monday and was arrested. state media are reporting that the former oil minister has been asked to form a new cabinet. he's a professor in modern and contemporary history of the middle east at kalt cat dar university. he said the cap net was forced to resign by sisi. >> in the last three days there was a meeting three days ago. the cabinet, and there was a lot of reports about the responsibility of other, i would say, maybe ministers or maybe

the -- i would say some top management within the ministries related to the agriculture. so the minister of qatar was the core of the corruption story, but there are other people linked to that. it seems it was a heavy legacy to handle to sisi, so the solution was just to get rid of all the government and think of, you know, any option. of course, you have to look at the election coming soon. the parliament and it seems there was a lot of krich criticism about sisi about needing the parliament and ministers to be held accountable. he wants a better environment in egypt so the people can vote for the next parliament. indian police say at least 85 people have been killed in two expositions mroegss. the blasts happened after a cooking gas cylinder exploded at a restaurant and triggered a second explosion.

the restaurant was full of people having breakfast at the time. we have more from the state. >> reporter: the explosion took place inside a residential area about 8:30 this morning local time. police originally suspected the explosion to have happened inside of a busy restaurant whether a gas cylinder exploded, but they're found all over the country in restaurants and people's homes. they don't usually cause this severe damage. police now say they support this explosion actually took place next door in a three-story home storing mining equipment, specifically mining explosives. that with a busy restaurant next door in a residential neighborhood and busy bus stand nearby is why there was so much damage and so many lives were lost. many victims were taken to surrounding areas because it was a small town. they couldn't handle all the wounded. they were taken to neighboring states. the government is promising

compensation to victims and has already launched a full investigation to determine what exactly happened. >> plenty more in the al jazeera news hour. relief among ruling parties supporters in singapore after an election campaign that hinted at political change. plus, pardon for pope. cuba releases thousands of prisoners ahead of the pontiff's visit to the communist island. in sports germany football extends a welcome to the thousands of refugees arriving in their country. britain's opposition labor party has elected a new leader, veteran left-winger jeremy corbin gained 59% of party members' votes. he's got a tough job ahead. it's an increasingly divided labor party. laurence lee reports from london. >> 251. >> reporter: this was the moment

british politics became interesting again, a man derideded as an out-of-date left wing dinosaur comprehensively leading the fight to lead the labor party. his opponents surely have to ask themselves if jeremy corbin is such an old fool, how did he manage to win 60% of the vote? corbin himself offered an answer to that question. >> it was the media and maybe many of us simply didn't understand the views of many young people within our society. they had been written off as a non-political generation who was simply not interested, hence, the relatively low turnout and low level of registration of young people in the last general election. they weren't. they're a very political generation that were turned off by the way in which politics was being conducted and not attracted or interested in it. >> in england entrenched in right wing politics, corbin is

as far to the left azouni political leader in europe. he's against the renewal of british nuclear weapons. he wants a peace conference on syria rather than the government's proposed bombing campaign. eequivocal on the european union and a staunch opponent of the controversial trans-atlantic trade talks and demands that big corporations in london stop avoiding tax. he wants the redistribution of wealth to the poor. his growing band of supporters, this victory was like an oasis of hope in the deserts of bland, corporate politics. >> there's a socialist leading the labor party for the first time in 30 years. what's not to like? >> for the architects of tony blair's supposedly modern labor party, it's a disaster. >> it's unconceivable that he would lead to the party, but a lot of people take a different view and a huge number of people voted for him today. he has a massive mandate as

leader of the party. so he has the right to try to prove people like me wrong. >> reporter: jeremy corbin's supports face months if not years of open warfare from his political enemies, many inside his own army and from a corporate media here which by and large despises everything he stands for. his vision of a popular movement here taking on entrenched corporate interests from the bottom up. that means erode back to relevance for the labor party or potentially the beginning of a funeral procession. laurence lee, london. joins us from london is political commentator david hearst. good to have you with us. some say this is political suicide for labor. what's your response? >> well, i don't think it's political suicide for labor. it's interesting. it's reinvigorated the debate, which has been completely dominated by the stalwarts of the labor party. he was a complete outsider.

he started his campaign basically just trying to put his views on the air. he had no hope of victory. in fact, one of his own campaign team put a bet on him, 20 pounds, to win and they got 100 to 1. the fact he's really reinvigorated the whole debate is a factor of two things. as he said, he found new voters for him, and those voters are young. and the other thing is that the labor party has basically had a debate, a real debate as a result of this campaign that they should have had when blair went. so there wasn't just corbin, and it wasn't just the people he brought to it. it was the labor party itself having a fundamental re-examination of where it wanted to go. >> traditionally rightly in the leaders of the labor party have been successful, so he's going

to overcome that. he has to unite the party. how is he going to do that? >> uniting the party is very, very difficult. as far as right leaning leaders are successful, certainly blair's been the most successful leader by rewinning an election three times. the legacy that he left on the labor party is absolutely incrippling all over iraq and foreign policy. it's not just a question of being power. it's a whole generation of people saying, if you're in power, what are you going to do with it? >> okay. you mentioned the middle east. do you think he'll change foreign policy if he's in a position to do so? >> well, he's anti-war. he's chair of the stop the war coalition, which has been on every demonstration since 2003. he says that he wants to reintroduce the values of human

rights and campaign for human rights across the middle east. he would be against sisi's upcoming visit to london. not necessarily because he's a paid-up member of the muslim brother hood, he's not, but he wanted to give democracy a chance. that's why he's against the ouster of morsecy. the biggest position is in relation with nato and america. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. the ruling people's action party of singapore celebrating a convincing win in the city and state's general election. the p.a.p. has been in power since independence in 1955. the election wasn't a walk-over as we report. >> reporter: victory and relief among p.a.p. supporters after facing the uncertainty of a republic-wide fight against multiple opposition parties. benefitting from an election called in the 50th anniversary of this republic's founding, the

ruling people's action party of singapore sees this as a solid endorsement to take it forward. >> yeah, this for sure. >> we go for 100. we'll do the better job for the last 50 years. >> reporter: for the party's leader, this was a personal victory. the first election was with the presence with his father and the founder of singapore who died earlier this year. he reversed gains made against his party in the last election. >> it's a good result for the p.a.p., but it's an excellent result for singapore. >> reporter: at opposition rallies, especially the main workers party, deflated hopes as the results came in. still believing they are changing singapore into a multi-party system. >> it will be fine. you look around here.

>> no better place to stay. this is what we want. >> i hope we will put more effort to take care of singapore, yes. this is what i want. >> reporter: there is also the wider change that many believe is underway here, not necessaried for open political exchange, people have been gripped by election fever during this campaign insisting that debate does not equal disunity, the opposition party says singapore is the better for it. despite a growing number of new political parties, it's the familiar flag of the ruling one that is after this election flying higher than the rest. >> long live the p.a.p.! >> reporter: rob mcbride, singapore. there's one less republican candidate in the u.s. presidential race. perry was dropped out. he was near the bottom was forced to stop paying campaign staff due to lack of funds. jailed venezuelan opposition

leader lopez has promgs promised to continue his fight against the government. he was sentenced to 14 years in prone and convicted of enciting violence of anti-government protests last year where 40 people were killed. they criticized irregularities in the trial. cuba will release more than 3,500 visitors ahead of pope francis' visit next week. we have the report. >> reporter: another pope is coming to cuba, which means the country's crowded prisons are losing some of their inmates. >> translator: the council of states of the republic of cuba agreed on the occasion of the holiness pope francis' visit to pardon 3,522 visitors taking into account the nature of the crimes they committed, their behavior in prison and time served as well as health considerations. it's similar to what pope john paul ii and benedict visited.

>> reporter: on the streets of havana, many welcomed the announcement. >> translator: many people may think it's a publicity stunt because the pope is coming. it seems it's a reflection of the reality we live in. >> translator: the pope is coming. those pardons have the right to a second opportunity. it could be that miracles are beginning to take place. >> not for vrp. this, quote, gesture of goodwill ahead of the visit excludes prisoners who have committed murder, rape, illegally killed cattle, or committed crimes against state security. in other words, dissidents. although the government denies this has political prisoners, the reconciliation commission estimates there are at least 60 political dissidents imprisoned. 63 others were released in december. during pope john paul ii's

historic visit to cuba cast toe released inmates. the most visible opposition group known as the ladies in white is asking for a meeting with appropriate francis to discuss human rights. a meeting the vatican has apparently ruled out. at least 16 are missing after severe flooding in japan. many have no way to home after their homes were destroyed. we have the report from yossa city. >> the typhoon season in japan isn't over. work is already begun to plug the gap in the flood wall in case the waters rise again. against the weight of a smallen river, it collapsed after two days of heavy rain. the city of josso was immersed. cars and buildings didn't stand a chance. thousands of people fled their homes. they've been staying in evacuation centers set up in schools and other community

buildings. for this extended family, after two nights, it was time to leave. >> translator: we have to clean up. my parents are frail. i have small kids, too, so i don't want to bug other evacuees. >> reporter: first, he took his parents back to check on their home. the water was gone but left behind was a layer of sticky mud. >> translator: i don't think we can use anything inside the house so we ask our children and grand children to help us clean up. >> reporter: inevitably they will find themselves here. the clear skies and receding waters in some places have allowed many to begin the cleanup. here a long line of people waiting to dump their destroyed possessions. the water and mud claimed most of what was left behind. the disaster will have a big impact on the local economy, particularly farming. this farmer and his wife have worked this land for 30 years. on this day they were supposed

to be harvesting their rice, and instead they were clearing debris and seeing if any of their crop can be saved. large parts of josso remain underwater with boats the only transport. it's here that japan's self-defense force is focusing the search for the missing. >> translator: the area is submerged, so we cannot go th e there. we are using boats and going around each house at the time. >> reporter: it won't have been the last major storm of the year. while this part of the country begin to dry out, everyone is looking to the skies hoping the rain stays away from here. wayne hay, al jazeera, josso, japan. lots more coming up. we're in lebanon that is home to almost 2 million syrians that fled the war. police in the united states test the latest equipment as debate continues about where they're too heavy-handed. in sports, a surprise

knockout at the u.s. open. we examine why serena williams is lagging behind when it comes to corporate support.

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again, you're watching the al jazeera news hour. these are up top stories. brita britain. there's a train collapse in saudi arabia that led to the death of 107 people. the accident happened before the annual hajj pilgrimage. members of the labor party have elected jeremy corbin atz the new leader. he won with 59% of the vote. let's get more on the refugee crisis and most of the syrians escaping conflict register as refugees of countries that border syria, but those are countries are struggling to cope. turkey has cloes to 2 million. more than a million are had lebanon in crammed camps near the border while jordan, iraq

and egypt all have refugees in the hundreds of thousands. jamal is at a refugee camp in lebanon. how are they coping with the influx there, jamal? >> reporter: they are coping. how they're doing that is quite remarkable, because these people have been here for three, up to four years in the most dire conditions. the children have been gathered around us all day here, and although they are happy to see people, they are smiling, and they appear to be oblivious, actually, to the suffering that they're in, but as you can see they really are children in europe who the parents take to playgrounds or have playstations at home or things like this, these kids don't have any

education or school and have nowhere to play but outside their tents, if you can call them tent, actually. this is the -- if you look onto the ground, you can see this is the sewage system here. they play in that. you can see there aren't any proper showers or any sanitation here either. this is what's making living here so difficult. that's why when they heard that there was the slightest possibility to travel to the europe they flocked to beirut pleading with authorities there to find them a way to live some sort of normal life. here's our report when we met some of them. behind each face is a different stories. newlyweds here because of the war in syria. fathers that no longer look their children in the eyes because of how helpless they've become. little boys and girls whose

future depends on the generosity of strangers. he tries to comfort her nine-month-old baby girl. she tells us how together with her husband they attempted to cross the sea from turkey to greece. she pulled out at last-minute frightened for her baby's safety. her husband decided to go it alone. he can be seen on this video together with other refugees crammed in a rubber dinghy as they traveled by night trying to get to europe facing possible death at sea in search for a better life. >> translator: he was petrified but he was risking his life for us so we may have a better life. >> reporter: the little girl is called the light of syria. he's from aleppo and has six children and they all laif together with his brother's family in one room. on makes a living by working at a shoe factory, but it's not

stable income. >> translator: all i want is to cure my children's future. if i can go to europe, i don't care if i'm living in a tent. as long as i can send my kids to school. i just want them to have a better life. >> reporter: his daughter is unable to see properly, but he says he can't afford to get her the treatment. >> translator: if the u.n. fails to find me refuge in another country, i might be forced to leave my family and risk it myself because every day here is worse than the one before. >> reporter: the u.n. says it's doing its bess to provide for more than 1 million refugees in lebanon but don't have the money. the international community is not paying up. this year the u.n. has received less than 30% of the money it needs. as a result, families here are living on half a dollar a day per person. >> these journeys are very dangerous, and a lot of refugees as you know are losing their lives. children and women are risking their lives trying to find

better opportunities. of course, this calls for more information for syrian reef gees in lebanon and calls for more burden sharing in lebanon for states to receive more syrian refugees. >> while the refugee crisis has caught the word's attention, the cause of this catastrophe is far from being resolved. the adults here lost hope they see peace or security in their lifetime. the only wish is their children's lives will someday be a little bit better. >> it is a very dire situation indeed, jane, and it's going to get worse when the winter comes in a few months and god knows how the people here are going to be able to survive that. some of the more prus prus countries are criticized not doing enough for syrians fleeing the conflict. the six countries of the gulf cooperation have barely taken any refugees since it began.

saudi arabia has received more than 2 million syrians since the conflict. it has provided $700 million in aid to the syrian people and continues to help refugees stranded in camps in jordan and lebanon. we're a columnist that explains the process? that will allow him to stay even though they are staying illegally. in hospitals and i think the issues are there for syrians to

work. now they have a license to work. they can work if they can find a job. >> is it quite a selective process when it comes to refu e refugees in the country? are certain refugees allowed to come and others not and turned away at the border possibly? >> no. they are allowed to come but no refugees come to the shores across the border to saudi arabia, the same ones coming to you with the same status. i'm sure if some come across the border or to the shores on this boat, they will receive them. they chose to go to europe because they are losing hope with their situation in lebanon and turkey and in jordan. they want a future. >> they're possibly not wanted here and might not get residency status that they deserve. is there a feeling that europe should be taking more? >> no. when a syrian stays in his

refugee camp or a hangar for four years and loses hope while he was thinking he will eventually go back home, now those syrians are looking for a solution. they want to go to europe to settle in europe. you have syrians who are fleeing even damascus because of the situation inside syria. so it's a matter of hope. we need to solve the situation inside syria. it's a month since china's worst ever industrial accident, 164 team died after twin explowses at a warehouse storing dangerous chemical in the port in northeast china. more than 200 others are still being treated for their injuries. our china correspondent adrian brown reports. >> reporter: the epicenter, one month on. the explosions level part of

tianjin port. smoke was rising over the disaster zone on thursday afternoon, another unexplained explosion. nearby we found specialists testing the air quality. they left as soon as we started to ask questions saying they had no information about the latest explosion. despite the danger, those forced to evacuate their homes are returning to collect possessions under the supervision of military police. those possessions in many cases now unfit for use. so you have to throw these away. >> some to the rubbish box. >> because it's contaminated? >> yes, contaminated. >> emotions are still raw. >> translator: i feel so sad my mother is still in the hospital. if my tears could solve owl my problems, i would cry for a year. >> reporter: the new area was a

thriving economic zone. this was the exhibition center. now a showcase for china's worst industrial accident. no one knows for sure, of course, how long the cleanup operation will go on for, but it's fair to assume it could last for months if not years. the air here at the epicenter has a sort of sweet metallic chemical taste, and people nearby say they don't know whether the air even outside of the exclusion zone is safe to breathe right now. environmental groups say this was a manmade disaster, the result of rapid economic development that put profit ahead of safety. >> i would say it's the negligence of the government to hand over this information. we have seen there are a lot of loopholes shortcommings of how ilths managed for now. >> the government moved swiftly on the issue of compensation, offering around $400,000 to each

families of the more than 100 firefighters who perished. a majority of the 6,000 families made homeless have agreed compensation terms, but it's not clear, though, what will happen to the homes they abandoned. we met no one who believed it will ever be safe to return. adrian brown, al jazeera, tianjin northeast china. mother a million people have demonstrated in barcelona to show their support for independence from spain. protests clogged the city on friday, many aarriving by bus and train from across the region. the separatist coalition of parties is leading the polls ahead of catloni a's regional elections this month. the governor in the u.s. state of california declared a state of emergency because of wildfires. thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes because of the approaching flames. dozens of fires burn across six western u.s. states.

police officers from across the united states will hold their biggest training exercise in california this weekend. they will simulate emergency scenarios and test the latest equipment. after a year of debate about whether police forces have become too militarized, we went on to see if tactics are changing. >> step around. >> reporter: even though the focus of urban shield is what the police call tactical emergencies like moss taj situations or terrorist attacks, it's clear some of the weaponry for sale here can be used for other purposes. >> reporter: most of the riot and most of the problems that police have is not the crowd. it's one guy out of 1,000, one guy out of the group causing a problem. >> reporter: the last year has revealed that a striet protest is sufficient to brings out military hardware but there was little controversy here about the use of equipment. >> it provides safety for injuried people like citizens or officers to load them in. >> it has an offensive

capability as well? >> to guns on it at all. it just has a turret. we could open the turret up top and you could fire and provide safety. >> reporter: this is a complex issue. >> the point that you're bringing is does that tend to encite people? it does. >> there's a recognition you encite the situation with use of an armored vehicle bad, right no. >> not necessarily, because what's caused -- what came fe s first, the chicken or egg? >> police fatalities is less than 20 years ago, but the number of people killed by the police this year is higher than any year since 1976 and there's still three months to go. those protesting against urban shield feel their message isn't getting through. >> a lot of reasons why black people are murdered by police is not because of emergency situations and they're too quick to respond to everything like it's an emergency situation. and that's how we end up dead. >> that wasn't the view inside

the conference hall, though on closer inspection there was some awareness with a debate under way outside. at the urban shield tactical exercise in california. >> and still ahead in sports, a poor start to the season for english champions chelsea. it's the worst at everton. the details are next. >> i've been asked t

hundreds of people were inside. some of them were praying. they stood no chance of escape. on the other side these grainy images gave an idea of the stormy weather outside. you can just see how far the crane arm fell. and the panicked people felt even outside the mosque. people inside couldn't have seen it coming. one witness who spoke to al jazeera on the phone shortly after said he almost died. >> nobody had a clue what happened. i just compared the situation like a bomb blast, and then the

bomb blast. >> emergency crews were dealing with the hundreds of dead and injured for hours. >> translator: the incident happened at 5:23 p.m. due to the severe rain and wind speed as high as 83 kilometers. this caused a tower crane to collapse. >> many people have already begun to gather for the annual hajj pilgrimage, the busiest time of year in mecca. saudi authorities say they have launched an investigation. >> translator: i will like to convey the condolences of the custodians and all the officials in the state to the families involved in the painful incident. >> there's construction all around the grand mosque, cranes surround the complex, part of a multi-billion dlar expansion project. the shear number of people on mecca each yore create security and logistical changes. in the past it resulted in deadly stampedes, and safety

measures have been upgraded. this incident may have happened during the high winds and rains, but it could still force a safety review during construction work at islam's holy site. the saudi authorities say this tragic incident very seriously, but at the same time they say hajj is going as blaned. let's move on to sports now. >> we start with football, and saturday seeing one of the biggest games in the english cal dear as they host liverpool on saturday. in the early kickoff the champions chelsea traveled to everton getting off to a great start with steven naismith scoring. chelsea pulled one back before the break, but any thoughts of a chelsea comeback was snuffed off. they consigned chelsea to the third defeat in five games. most of the other matches are finishing shortly in england.

manchester city draws against second place crystal palace. arsenal beating stoke at the emirates. now germany football champions byron munich show their supports for refugees arriving in their city in thousands. ahead of the game, the players walked out holding the hands of one refugee child and one germany child. it was part of a wider push by football clubs and fans across germany to help welcome refugees into the community. the club is setting up a training camp to give them german loss sons and footballs. they welcomed them a fortnight ago. many clubs make hundreds of tickets available for refugees. they have allocated $800,000 to help clubs across the country provide financial assistance to

those that want to play fool. more than 600 clubs to date have received those grants. the italian prime minister has flown to new york for an all-italian women's final on saturday. serena williams shufed a shot defeat, and she'll face panetta in a few hour. in contrast the men's final will be two more familiar names. elise harmons explains. >> reporter: 85 minutes, three dropped games and novak djokovic into his foirt grand slam final of the year. the top seed orchestrated the most one-sided semifinal in new york in the open area. chi chillis ruthlessly dispatched. federer won in straight sets to reach his first final at flushing meadows since 2009.

despite going through years without a grand slam title, federer hasn't lost at this tournament and has dropped serve just twice. >> i hope the crowd is happy to see me in the finals as well again after six years now i haven't been in the finals. it sounds like a big deal. that's not that long ago from my opinion. >> he's always going to perform at a high level. rarely he drops his level, so he always makes you play your best. >> it's the final officials will be happy to have after serena williams shocked them. the completion of the calendar grand slam was considered a mere formality for the world number one, but italian roberta vinci won. >> i don't want to talk about how disappointing it is for me. if you have any other questions,

i'm open for that. >> how well did they play today? >> i thought she played the best tennis in her akeer. she's 33 and going for it at a late age, so it's good to keep going for it and playing so well and actually i guess it's inspiring. >> for the first time two italian women feet feuer in a grand slam final, vinci to face panetta. elise hallman, al jazeera. >> tickets for that final plummeted from $1500 to just $370 in the wake of williams knockout. serena is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats of tennis but she lags behind with endorsement deals. from new york we have the report. >> reporter: the biggest sfar in women's tennis now out in the u.s. open final to relatively unknown names now in.

it's a big hole to fill in terms of marketing and ratings, but by any standard serena williams had a great year. despite the loss, her overall dominance of the sport is not matched in endorsements. she's won 21 grand slam single titles over her career far ahead of maria sharapova that won 50. in 2014 williams had $11 million in sponsorship deals, only half of the 22 million sharapova earned in the same year. "i feel pretty" is the title of this nike commercial that featured the tall and blonde sharapova cementing her place as a tennis player but an advertising sex symbol. serena williams on the other hand is seen first and foremost as an athlete, but that hasn't helped on the "forbes" list on the top paid athletes, she's 47th and of the seven tennis

players on the list, she's dead last in endorsement deals. so the question becomes, why? >> there is an issue of race. there is an issue of sexism in terms of serena williams. she's a very unique xhashth, but she's an amazing tennis player, incredible woman, and i think a beautiful lady. so she's got the goods. >> reporter: with an estimated $50 billion a year spent on sponsorship and celebrity ties advertising, dean says it's also about brands asking themselves business questions. >> don't forget if you bring on a celebrity, you look to develop more customers, but what is that target you're after or profile you're after? potentially serena williams doesn't fit the profile. they don't enter the deal, but they might have researched it. they find our sports people are more relevant to be associated with their brand. >> if williams was hoping a grand slam would gain her more

endorsements and close the gap, friday's defeat likely won't help. on the court williams likely will be back and ranked at the top even if it comes to endorsements she's not. gabriel alonzo, al jazeera new york. real madrid beat hispaniola 4-0. for more on that check out aljazeera.com/sports. we'll have more later. thank you very much. this year's venice film festival screened dozens of films over the past ten days as the award ceremony approaches. we look at the dominant scenes in the movies that are in the running for a prize. >> there's been plenty of glamour on the red carpet, but on screen the scenes have been gritty. the four words that have defined in year's venice film festival inspired by true events. from remember the revenge tale of a holocaust survivor

searching for a former auschwitz commandser. >> you must find him. you must kill him. >> to the african child soldiers drafted into a brutal civil war in beasts of no nation. >> that is your family's blood. >> reality was hard to avoid at the festival with many movies telling stories that seem to come straight from the news. >> just leave! >> i don't think it's a problem of lack of clarity. it's sort of a middle to think about the problem of the individual in our contemporary society. >> the plight of refugees was the backdrop of some films and the focus of many. a favorite was "human" with stories from more than 70 countries. >> he said you have to go back to your country. i said, where is my country? i don't have a country. it's a killing ground.

>> i'm so happy to bring this people without voice, people without plans, people that are suffering. i think this movie is about finding our mission, what is to be human on the planet. >> for millions that means moving with films depicting the dangerous journey thousands of refugees are making to reach the shores of europe. this red carpet will soon be humming with stars, but right now the jury is still deliberating which film to honor with that golden lion prize. as well as tales from reality, documentaries have loomed large this year but the winner is still anyone's guest. al jazeera, venice. from venice back to us here in doha. then i'm going to hand you over to london, barbara is there and she's going to be heading up the next bulletin. from me and the rest of the team, thank you very much for watching.

thousands rally in london and across europe to tell refugees, you are welcome. hello. you're watching al jazeera live from london. all coming up, we join syrian refugees as they struggle to leave hungary to seek safety in germany. saudi authorities blame heavy rain and strong winds for the crane collapse that killed 107 people in mecca. as u.s. police officers attend a special weapons and training program, we examine their