frustrations boil over into violence as croatia struggles to cope with the refugee crisis. ♪ hello there i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program, talking once more, the u.s. and russian defense chiefs speak on the phone for the first time in a year to discuss the conflict in syria. at least 43 people are dead after a taliban attack on a military base in pakistan. and taking firefighting to a new

level, indonesia deploys troops to tackle massive blazes in the country. ♪ hello there thank you for joining us. another avenue for tens of thousands of refugees heading towards germany and austria was cut off on friday when croatia announced that it will not allow refugees to proceed to slovenia. croatia has closed seven of eight road crossings from serbia after a huge influx of refugees. more than 14,000 have entered in the past 24 hours with tensions high and many of course exhausted. the croatian prime minister said the refugees would be moved on and his country had quote reached its limit. it plans to redirect people towards hungary and slovenia. lawrence lee reports now from southern croatia.

♪ >> reporter: it's all relative and no doubt this miserable line of people looks absolutely desperate. but it's certainly better than being tear gassed by the hungarians and as the day wore on the buses came regularly, shipping them north towards the capitol. and to the untrained eye, the idea of this three year old thinking this could be anything but a nightmare seems impossible, but her iraqi family have told her it is a great big game even if it has lasted for weeks is -- exhausting and a seems to have no end. >> i just want to be peace place. i hope to mind this place.

>> reporter: croatia had said the borders might close yet they continued in from serbia, but just one road border remained open, a pointless exercise when no refugees were there anyway, because they were all here sheltering from 40 degree heat, and dreaming, hoping. >> the boat was sinking two times before, and the third time like reached safety. >> reporter: as he was talking everybody got up and ran to the railway line. a train was coming. could this be salvation? but no, it wasn't, and they went back deflated. and then an indication of just how vulnerable they are to exploitation. a man suddenly lying on the ground in pain surrounded by riot police. the man who was crying on the ground turned to have been taking money from some of the refugees and promising them that they could go to hungary. one of them apparently just looked on his phone and realized

they weren't in hungary at all, that they were in croatia, and somebody punched him in the face. the croatian government says it can't put up with much more but will allow people through who don't want to stay here. and that is basically everybody. as lawrence lee mentioned those refugees are being taken to the croatian capitol. mohammed jamjoom is there waiting for them ahead of the next stage of their journey. >> reporter: the refugees now on these buses have been brought by train to here now what is interesting is that although the border into slovenia has been closed, most of the refugees that i have just spoken with on these buses believe that they will be taken now into slovenia. they say they have not heard that that border has been closed. they expect to be taken.

they don't expect to be taken to any holding facilities or makeshift refugee camp. so it will be interesting situation in the next several hours. many say if they are not bussed to the border, they expect to walk -- or plan to walk, but that on this record hot day will be very difficult. that's a walk that will take at least six to seven hours. ♪ the united nations says it's defense secretary is speaking with his russian counterpart about the military situation in syria. both countries have been at odds for years over the conflict. >> the president believes that military to military conversation is important next

step, and i think hopefully will take place very shortly, and it will help to define some of the different options that are available to us as we consider next steps in syria. >> diplomatic editor james bayes has more now on the timing of this conversation. >> reporter: well, i think one of the factors is of course, the scenes that we're seeing across europe and the refugee crisis. i think everyone has now seen that the scale of what is coming from syria and how far this mass of people is traveling, that i think it's forcing people to look again at the issue, certainly here in new york at the security council. it's back here the top of the agenda after four years of war in syria. i think secretary of state kerry's comments are very interesting. he talks about possible military talks, that's interesting and

controversial, because back in april last year, nato suspended all military dialogue in cooperation with the russians over ukraine and the annexation of crimea, so a controversial step given that backdrop, but i think they feel because of the threat of isil, it's time to start those military talks, but he also talked about political talks on a political transition in syria, and those i think are going to take place here at the united nations. not next week but the week after, when all of the leaders of the world gather here in new york. one of the meetings will be of the five foreign ministers and ban ki-moon and his special envoy, and they will be looking at possible options to move things forward. >> so some potential moves on

the diplomatic front, but inside syria there is no let up in the fighting. the syrian observatory for human rights says air strikes have targeted the city of palmyra, which is controlled by fighters from the islamic state of iraq and the levant. the group says government fighter jets carried out 25 strikes on the city. this video from the syrian city is said to show the aftermath of another government air attack. 30 people were reportedly killed in the strikes, including women and children. saudi-lead coalition air strikes have targeted a yemeni army base in the capitol sana'a. a huge fire broke out at the site following the attack. the building was reportedly being used by houthi rebels to store weapons. at least 43 people have been killed in pakistan after taliban gunmen stormed air force -- an air force base. the army says 21 of its soldiers

were among the dead while 14 taliban fighters were killed. the taliban also attacked a mosque inside the compound. nicole i don't knowston has more. >> reporter: this is the air base behind me where the pakistani taliban launched its attack against the air force. this is in the middle of a residential area where there are many office frers the military living. it's a significant attack because not only did the taliban strike at a guard post they were able to get into this compound, into a mosque, and kill people while they were prayering. the pakistani taliban has been under a lot of pressure since it killed 132 students at a school. since then the military has cracked down on the group all over the country. and specifically in the tribal belt. in the north, and in a nearby

agency which is very close to here. it had appeared as though the group had been forced to dispersed but now it looks like it has regrouped. and has broken a long period of relative calm in the city. thousands of israeli security forces have again been deployed near the al aqsa mosque compound. many muslim men were banned from attending friday prayers. scott heidler reports. >> reporter: at the end of a tense week, mow -- mohammed arrived early to at tend friday prayers. but he is pushed back like many times before. this time muslim men under 40 are banned from going in. 3.5 thousand israeli security

forces have been deployed. this 24 year old was born and raised nearby. >> translator: every friday i come here. they prevent me from entering. every friday. this is a system of the occupation to only prevent muslims from prayering. if they are jewish they will enter with no problem. >> reporter: so dozens of others started their prayers on the street. [ shouting ] >> reporter: minutes into the prayers, shouting -- [ gunfire ] >> reporter: and then a scuffle. israeli security forces chasing a young man who broke through one of the barricades. this sparked reaction from those prayering. the security forces pushed them back, some threw water bottles which lead to a short fight. some came back in smaller groups

to continue with their prayers. now we still see some just on the other side of this barricade preventing them from getting anywhere close to the old city. >> reporter: over in the gaza strip tens of thousands of palestinians protested against the israeli raids on al aqsa mosque earlier in the week. >> translator: the massive crowds have come to say with our blood we will redeem you al aqsa. we'll give up everything for al aqsa. >> reporter: in the occupied west bank hundreds also came out after friday prayers to protest against the raids. so for the hundreds of men who were not allowed into al aqsa mosque, they say if this continues they might be forced to hold next week's friday prayers on the street in front of a bus stop. still lots more to come on the program, including a battle

over japan's security forces why there's huge opposition to a new military bill. i'm lee wellings at the home of football are the rugby world cup is about to get underway. >> i'd sit alone, i'd eat alone, i have no one to talk to. >> some dismiss it as a phase. >> we're trying to pigeon-hole him into "tom boy". >> but is it reallt a crisis? >> when your child wants to die... that's what changes parents. >> meet the families on a life changing journey. >> i finally get to blossom into the beautiful flower i am!

>> millions at stake. shady investments. limited oversight. >> super pacs are part of the wild wild west of campaign finance. >> could actor daniel craig be the latest super pac scam victim? an ali velshi, on target, special investigation. now a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. refugees using croatia as a get away to get to western europe will be redirected after the prime minister said the country had already reached its limit. russian and american defense

chiefs have spoken for the first time in more than a year to discuss their mutual interest in defeating the islamic state of iraq and the levant in syria. and at least 43 people have died after a group of taliban fighters attacked a military base in pakistan, armed with rocket launchers grenades and assault rifles. military leaders who seized power in a coup in burkina faso have reopened the country's reporters. they have reportedly released the interim president and two other ministers captured on wednesday. but the interim prime minister is still being held. gerald tan has the details. uproar on the streets. gunfire rang out as people protested against a coup in burkina faso's capitol. >> translator: people started to come out, in front of us we saw a military vehicle that drove directly into the people and they started shooting, killing people. >> translator: if we're here today it's to standing up

against the interests of the presidential guard which can silling civilians and tlenting theme. >> reporter: it's a dramatic turn of events after a popular uprisings and october ousted the president when he tried to extend his 27-year rule. a traditional government had been preparing for elections next month until the elite presidential guard took over on wednesday. the man in charge now, says the vote will take place but at a later time. >> translator: we have to discuss it with the concerned actors, political parties, and civil society in order to establish a timetable that allows for quick presidential and legislative election. we don't intend to extend our power. we don't intend to stay. we don't intend to do more than what has to be done unlike what some people think. >> reporter: the general was chief of the presidential guard and long time aid of the former president. the president's whereabouts are

unknown, raising speculation of a political plot. many are concerned the presidential guard does not want an election to happen. >> ever since the country became independent in the 1960s, the army has been the main power, and so they feel very threatened that really democracy is coming. they think if they allow good elections to go ahead, they will marginalizelized and they won't play the central role that they play in the politics and the economics. >> reporter: the united nations has strongly condemned the coup, and with the interim prime minister still under house arrest, the democratic transition has been thrown into doubt. japan's government is making a final push to pass a controversial set of security bills. if approved it would allow japanese soldiers to fight overseas for the first time since world war ii. it has triggered heated debate

inside parliament as well as protests on the streets. rob mcbride has the latest from tokyo. >> reporter: as this marathon session drags on so the opposition parties are putting forward a number of no confidence motions in the hope of forcing this crucial debate on the security bill out of time. for his part, abe and his ruling coalition is determined that they will be passed by the end of this session, and he is now up against the clock. the concern is if these bills are not passed in this session, then they are be hanging over into next week, which is a holiday period here in japan. the big concern is that the kind of protests we have seen outside the parliament may well be swelled and may well become angrier, especially if protesters feel as if they have possibility that they could talk these bills out of the present session of parliament. they believe this takes japan a very dangerous step back towards

the kind of militarism that lead it so such dras rousz consequences in the last century. abe and his allies say this merely brings the constitution more up to date in particular when it comes to the control of the self-defense forces, that japan can take a more active operation in security operations abroad and also working alongside american allies. indonesia has deployed an extra 1600 soldiers to put out fires which have spread thick smoke across southeast asia. helicopters are carrying out water-dropping missions. the fires are caused by the illegal slashing and burning of indonesian forests during the dry season. well the bad air quality has lead to an increase in respiratory illnesses in the

area. a hospital says it has treated more than double the amount of patients. well the fires cause a thick smog that has spread over neighboring countries. singapore is worried about the air quality for the up coming brand prix. >> reporter: the situation has immoved enough that schools that were shut in several states have been allowed to reopen. the smog or haze is caused by open burning in indonesia where fire is used to clear land for farming or panation use. it's illegal, but enforcement is weak. this is a problem that not only effects indonesia but also its

neighbors. visibility is reduced to the extent that flights are sometimes delayed or canceled. there is even talk that this weekend's formula 1 race in singapore could be affected. indonesia has held talks with these countries before, but have yet to be able to come up with an effective solution to tackle this problem. but indonesia has promised to step up enforcement. it says it's police have already detained several executives who's companies are alleged to have started some of the fires, while it is investigating more than a hundred others. let's goo to finland where parts of the country were shut down on friday as workers walked out over proposed austerity measures. the country has a strong tradition of organized labor, but it is also in serious economic trouble. >> reporter: 30,000 people rallied in central square in the biggest strike finland has seen

in decades. unions representing more than 2 million called for the protest in response to a proposed austerity package. the government says finland's economy needs to cut the cost of labor by 5% and reduce overtime pay, weekend compensation, sick leave and do away with two annual paid holidays. >> we are very angry about it, yes. >> translator: it would put a big hole in my wallet. >> they are cheating and lying and they want to break down the system we have had here in this country. >> reporter: trains, planes, ships, and public transportation were idoled for the day, and many shops and factories shut down as this country of 5.5 million people came to a stand still. the government has tried to get unions to agree to measures its says would boost competitiven s

competitiveness. finland's timber and technology industries are floundering, and leaders call the economic situation exceptional serious. finland's economy has been in recession for three years and unemployment is over 9%. economists expect things to get worse before they get better. what upsets many of these workers as much as the proposed cuts themselves is what they say is the government's rejection of the traditional finish system of three-way consent house between the state, business and unions, regarding changes to social benefits and pay. >> we usually negotiate, we get solutions by negotiating, and that's why we are so appalled that this government doesn't see the government of that, because we built this country together, and now this government thinks that they know best. >> reporter: but business leaders say the traditional

finish model is out of date. >> we have these new phenomenon like globalization, increased competition all over, so this consensus type is too slow. >> reporter: the government says it will wait until the end of the month for the union to come up with alternatives before passing the measures into law. mexico has arrested a high-ranking drug gang member who is expected of ordering the killings of 43 students. he was captured on wednesday. the students disappeared in september of last year after a protest. >> reporter: the man who has been arrested could be a key part in the puzzle of finding out what happened to 43 students who were abducted last september in mexico nchltd they were kidnapped by the police and

apparently turned over to a gang, and lopez was -- former ak comp ligss and the former lead of that gang who are all behind bars have all testified that he is the person that ordered the killing and burning of those students in a municipal rubbish dump. since then, just over a week ago, a group of independent experts released an over 500-page report, and they said it was scientifically impossible that an open fire in that rubbish dump could have burned those 43 students almost to the fact that they were unidentifiable. so now it will be interesting if the testimony of lopez becomes at any point public, and if he can throw any light on what did happen that night to those students. >> reporter: muhammad ali has made a rare public appearance to receive an award in kentucky.

he was honored for the legacy he has created in and out of the ring. the 73 year old is considered among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport, but was also an outspoken advocate for civil rights and the anti-war movement. he has been out of the public eye in recent years and he battles parkinson's disease. one of the world's biggest sporting events kicks off in just a few hour's time. a total of 20 peoples are taking pafrt over the next six weeks. lee wellings reports. >> reporter: rugby players welcomed royal hampton court palace, nearly 200 years after an english schoolboy picked up a football, ran with it, and invented a sport. they are one of 20 teams who will be running with the ball as rugby has returned to london for

the eighth world cup. >> we're now looking at something like over 2.3 million tickets sold. it is going to be the biggest world cup ever. we're looking at nearly half a million coming from overseas. one of the big objectives is of course a celebration of rugby, but so show it, to be the showcase of it around the world for rugby. >> reporter: but ticket prices suggest this is still a sport for the rich, with fans unhappy about average prices of over $150 per ticket. >> translator: it's silly money. it's just for the rich. >> there should be fans that can get a ticket and go watch the game. >> reporter: the team to beat are new zealand's mighty all blacks. >> first thing is it's not about [ inaudible ]. i think -- you might say it's

silly, but it changes your -- your -- how you approach it, i think. and yeah, the all blacks haven't won outside of new zealand. >> reporter: the opening game is against namibia. it will be played at the olympic stadium. eight of though 13 venues are usually football stadiums. the opening game, semifinals a and final will be played at the home of english rugby. and realistically england are one of the only teams that can win this tournament. but it's the progress of smaller nations like japan, the next tournament hosts that will help determine whether this six-week tournament has been a success. lee wellings, al jazeera, london. remember you can get a lot more information on our website.

there it is, aljazeera.com. if you go to the sports page you can find out more about the report we have just seen. the rugby world cup that kicks off here in about three hour's time. the defense presents its case in the military hearing for sergeant bow bird doll, but it's the witness they are not cooling that is making headlines. plus an historic day for the new era in u.s. and cuba relations. staying silent, republican front runner donald trump is under fire for not stepping in when a supporter called president obama a muslim.