our website, aljazeera.com. have a good day. ♪ frustration turns to violence as croatia struggles to cope with the refugee crisis. hello there i'm barbara sarah, this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program, talk once more, the u.s. and russia defense chiefs speak on the phone for the first time in a year to discuss the conflict in syria. taliban fighters kill at least 21 security officers in an attack on a military base in pakistan. and indonesian forces move to put out the fires causing

havoc across the region. ♪ 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 the eight road crossings from serbia after a huge influx of refugees seeking onward passage. more than 14,000 have entered croatia in the past 24 hours with tensions high and many exhausted. the croatian prime minister said the refugees flooding in would have to be moved on and that his country had reached its limit. it plans to redirect people towards hungary and slovenia. lawrence lee reports from southern croatia. >> reporter: it's all relative and no doubt this miserable line

of people waiting for someone to take them further looks absolutely desperate, but in relative terms 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 three year old ronniea thinking this could be anything but a nightmare seems impossible, but her iraq yay family have told her it's a great big game even if the game has lasted for weeks is exhausting and seems to have no end. these european countries that say they don't want you. what do you say to them? >> i don't want them also. >> reporter: which country do you want? >> i don't care. i just -- i told you i want to be -- peace place. i hope to find this place. >> reporter: croatia had said the borders might close yet from first light they continued in from serbia.

but furs one road border remained open, pienthless 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 i reached safety -- >> reporter: as he was talking everything 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 how vulnerable they are to exploitation. a fan on the ground in pain. the man turned out to have been taking money from some of the refugees and promising them that they would go to hungary, one of them apparently just look t at his gps signal and realized they

were in croatia and somebody punched him in the face. welcome to europe, now go away. lawrence lee, al jazeera, southern croatia. >> as lawrence 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 up to here, the capitol. 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 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 camps. so it is going to be an interesting situation in the next several hours.

many say if they are not bussed to the border they 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 on how to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. john kerry says talks with russia are a positive first step. >> 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. rosiland jordan joins us live now from washington, d.c. the best phrase for this is cautious optimism. that is the tone that john kerry was using. tell us more about what the two defense ministers said. what do we know? >> reporter: what we understand, barbara is that ash carter reached out to the russian defense minister on friday morning and they talked about the situation both within the civil war inside syria and the situation in trying to deal with isil, which of course has established a beach head in northern and northeastern syria. the two defense mensteres according to a pentagon spokesperson tried to figure out just the best way forward in continuing what will be a series of conversations, but the actual mechanism, the actual agenda is

very general. they talked a lot about the term, deacon flick shun which would imply that the russians are preparing to engage in a process inside of syria. and the concern is that the americans who are conducting air strikes along with other countries against isil don't cross each other's path. but this is a first conversation. eight months ago, march 2014 is when the u.s. suspended military to military contact because of its extreme displeasure with russia's activities inside ukraine. >> okay. so that's the sort, i guess you would call it military development. what about diplomatically? because of course the issue has always been that russia has been able to block the security council. so what kind of developments do we have on a diplomatic u.n.

side, so to speak? >> reporter: what we are hearing from our colleagues at the united nations, including james bayes is that vladimir putin, the russian president is going to be speaking a week from monday as the underungeneral assembly starts its newest session, and that there is speculation that he may outline some measure in which the russians could assist other countries in ending the civil war inside syria, perhaps even going so far as to suggesting a caretaker role for bashar al-assad, a role that would be short lived so they could move on to a post assad regime. the obama administration is not saying whether or not it would be in support of such a proposal, one given that it is a hypothetical, and two it's long-running opposition to bashar al-assad as the leader of syria for any more time. so we really have to see exactly what is played out, but of

course this does of course also bring back to the table the ongoing u.n.-lead mediation process under the special envoy. we may see more action taking part in that realm as well. but it is really starting to pick up again, and i think largely sparked because of those images we have seen of so many tens of thousands of people trying to escape the civil war inside syria and coming to europe, basically bringing home the urgency of the situation inside of syria. >> absolutely. rosiland jordan with the latest from washington, d.c. thank you. so that was the latest on the diplomacy. inside syria there is no let upin the fighting. the sir says air strikes have targeted the city of palmyra, which is controlled by fighters from the islamic state of iraq and the levant. the london-based monitoring group says government fighter jets carried out 25 air strikes

on the city. palmyra was captured by isil in may. in this video from the syrian city is said to show the aftermaths of another government air attack. 30 people were reportedly killed in the strikes including women and children. a taliban attack on a military base in the northern pakistani city has left 43 people dead. 16 worshippers who were inside a mosque on the compound are among the casualties. nicole johnston has the latest from the air base. >> reporter: it's the type of attack the pakistani taliban is known for, but it hasn't carried out one like this all year. ing early in the morning, fighters attacked a guard post out of an air force base. some wore suicide vests. they forced their way in, entered a mosque and starting shooting. many people were killed most

from the air force who lived inside the base. >> [ inaudible ] they were trying to attack the children, attack the mosque. >> reporter: the fighting between the military and the pakistani taliban continued all day. i was the first major assault since there was a rapid response force designed to respond to attacks like this. >> [ inaudible ] the moment they tried to enter into the area security were very much alert. they engaged them. they allowed them to move from their location. >> reporter: this is a significant attack on the military. the fact that the pakistani taliban was able to get inside the base behind me and into a mocs at a time it is under pressure shows it still as the ability to strike. the last time it tacked here was in december last year. it's fighters killed 150

students and teachers at an army public school. the military then launched a wide-scale operation against the group. since then, people here have enjoyed a long period of calm. but the fighting isn't far away. the city is surrounded by pakistan's tribal belt. the army has been battling fighters in nearby areas. the military says it has broken the back of the taliban, but this attack suggests the armed group is still a serious threat. nicole johnston, al jazeera. saudi coalition air strikes have targeted a yemeni army base in the capitol sana'a. a huge fire broke out at the site following the attacks. the building was reportedly being used by houthi rebels to store weapons. still much more to come on the program, including battle over japan's security forces.

why there is huge opposition to a new military bill. plus . . . thousands of israeli security personnel are deployed around the al aqsa mosque compound in jerusalem. >> business man bill browder. >> if my grandfather was the biggest communist in america, i'm gonna go become the biggest capitalist in eastern europe. >> from communist origins to capitalist tycoon. see why he's now set on taking down vladimir putin. >> the russian government remains determined to ruin me in any way they can, including killing me if they can get away with it. this is a great place to work. not because they have yoga meetings and a juice bar. because they're getting comcast business internet. comcast business offers convenient installation appointments that work around your schedule.

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>> 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. ♪ time now for a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. refugees using croatia as a gateway to get into western europe will be redirected after the prime minister said the country had already reached its

limit. russian and u.s. defense chiefs have discussed the situation in syria. at 43 people died after taliban fighters attacked a base in pakistan. thousands of israeli security forces have again been deployed near the al aqsa mosque compound in east jerusalem. many muslim men were banned from attending friday prayers. scott heidler reports. >> reporter: at the end of a tense week, mohammed arrived early to attend friday prayers at the al aqsa mosque. but he's pushed back like many times before when there's increase tension. this time muslim men under 40 are banned from going in.

3.5 thousand security forces have been deployed. >> translator: every friday i come here, they prevent me from entering. every friday in is a system to prevent muslims from prayers. if they are jewish they will enter with no problem. >> reporter: dozens of others like mohammed started their prayers on the street. [ shouting ] >> only minutes in the prayers there was shouting and then a scuffle. this sparked reaction from those prayering. the security forces pushed them back. some threw water bottles which lead to a short fight. some of those who's prayers were disrupted came back in this

smaller groups to continue with their prayers. there were several of them. there was a bigger one initially, and now they are coming back just on the other side of the barricade. over in the gaza strip, tens of thousands of palestinians protested against the raids on al aqsa mosque earlier in the week. >> translator: the massive crowd thasz you have seen have come to say with our blood with we redeem you al aqsa. the resistance in gaza and everywhere, we'll give up everything for al aqsa. >> reporter: hundreds also came out after friday prayers to protest against the raid. so for the hundreds of men who were not allowed into alabout sa mosque. they say if this continues they might be forced to hold next friday's prayers on the streets in front of a bus stop.

iraq have seen weeks of demonstrations against what they say is a slow response by the prime minister to clean up corruption and improve infrastructure in the country, but the protests appear to be losing momentum. imran khan has more now from the streets of baghdad. >> reporter: for the last seven weeks this square has been packed with protesters. for the last two weeks the numbers have been dwindling. because a lot of people are frustrated with the slow pace of reform. he said he would change the judicial system, that hasn't happened, and people are losing heart in this protest movement. a lot of the organizers have also banned their supporters coming here, saying the prime minister needs to deliver on these problems. let me show you over here. the security presence is quite heavy, but given the amount of protesters. it seems like it is a little bit heavy handed.

the iraqi authorities clearly very worried about this protest movement. but like i said the numbers are dwindling. tabs y-- take you to japan now where voting is taking place on a controversial set of security bills. now if the new security bills are approved they would allow japanese soldiers to fight overseas for the first time since world war ii. the voting was going on, and the bill we just heard now has been passed. it had been very controversial debate in parliament, protests as well outside of parliament. now what it would do is allow japanese soldiers to fight overseas for the first time since world war ii. we'll be speaking so our correspondent as soon as we can to get reaction on this story.

but let me remind you. a controversial set of security bills in japan has passed which would allow japanese soldiers to fight overseas for the first time since world war ii that that can happen. more on that story as we get it here on al jazeera. in other news six mexican tourists who survived an attack in egypt are back home. they were taken off of the presidential plane and driven to finish their recovery. eight other mexican tourists died when egyptian forces mistakenly attacked their convoy. let's get the latest from john holman who is live for us in mexico city. obviously this has been a huge shock for mexico. tell us what the latest is on their arrival. >> reporter: well, as you say they were wheeled off of the

presidential plane, these injured mexicans, they were suffering. the health minister then said from respiratory problems, broken bones and burns, but she said their condition was delicate, but stable, and then after that the mexican foreign minister got on with again, demanding of the egyptian government a thorough investigation on this. she said that not just mexico but also the world was hurt and indeg nant about what she described as an unprecedented and unjustifiable attack. this is a real freak occurrence but one that has the mexican government on the offensive and angry with egypt abu hammam al-shami what happened. >> translator: on thursday a diplomatic note wasn't sent in which we demanded that the egyptian government guarantees that the victims and their families receive compensation for the damage. and to keep the mexican

government permanently informed on the progress of the investigation. >> so john, obviously everyone waiting for the results of that investigation. but what has been the reaction of the mexican public to the story. >> reporter: well, a bit of shock for many mexicans. egypt is a long way, sort of off of the map, and this was a freak occurrence. but after that there has come a sense of questioning from many here, and a sense of double standards perhaps from the mexican government. they sent the presidential plane, the foreign minister traveled and there was a sense of them moving quickly to deal with this. but the country itself has 25,000 missing people in the conflict between the government and drug cartels and organized crime here, and there has really been a sense that the government has resolved very few of those cases and been very slow to act and we're just coming off of the anniversary of 43 students who

disappeared in the southwest of the country, and that has become a case when the government was slow to act and was seen to have botched the investigation after that. and isn't there a sense of double standards here? and she looked a bit uncomfortable and seemed to side step an answer there. >> john holman with the latest from mexico city. thank you. let's go back to our breaking news this hour, and that is japan has just passed a controversial security bill into law that would allow the military forces to fight overseas. the prime minister said that japan needed this change in the security law, needed to change the way it's military could react in light of, i guess, new challenges. what reaction has been there in japan, or what reaction do you expect there to be for this.

>> reporter: that's right. prime minister abe has made this personal mission, if you would like. not purely for the self-defense, the self-defense forces in defense of japan, but to reinterpret the rules of engagement and get them working alongside, for example, american allies in different parts of the world. the vote has just been taken it was in the end passed very comfortably, but this has not been a comfortable passage through parliament. we have seen various filibustering tactics by the opposition trying every way they know to try to stop this vote being taken. it was taken but not before a final round of speeches from all sides, from the opposition leaders, an apology, saying we didn't have the strength in the end to hold up this bill that it has now gone through.

it will also be a big disappointment for the opposition and thousands of protesters who have been night after night outside of the japanese parliament protesting against this, really fearing that it goes against it -- it betrays japan's unique passivist constitution. they fear it could lead to japanese troops getting involved in other people's fight in different parts of the world, and really fearing that it could lead to a return to the sort of militarism that it had with such dras rows -- disastrous consequences. >> rob mcbride with the latest from tokyo. thank you. military leaders who seized power in a coup in burkina faso have reopened the country's borders. they have reportedly released the interim president and two other ministers captured in the takeover on wednesday. but the interim prime minister

is still being held. gerald tan reports. >> reporter: uproar on the streets. gunfire rang out as people protested against the coup in burkina faso's capitol. >> translator: in front of us we saw a military vehicle that starting shooting, killing people. >> reporter: it's a dramatic turn of events after a popular uprising last october ousted the president when he tried to extend his 27-year rule. a transitional government had been preparing for elections next month until the reelite -- elite presidential guard took over on wednesday. the man in charge says the vote will take place but at later time. >> translator: we have to discuss it with the concerned actors, political parties and

sil 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 needs to be done. >> reporter: the general was chief of the presidential guard and long time aid of former president. the president's whereabouts are unknown, recent speculation of a political plot, many people 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 tlented that rel democracy is coming. they think if they allow good elections to go ahead, they will be marginalized and they won't play their central political 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, burkina faso's democratic transition has been thrown into doubt. gerald tan, al jazeera. 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 think illegal slashing and burning of forests during the dry season. they started to clear land for farming and palm oil plantations. the bad air quality has lead to an increase in respiratory illnesses. most of the people suffering breathing difficulties have been children and the elderly. so much more on that story and everything else that we have been covering here on al jazeera

on our website. you can see our top story there that the u.s. is to start military talks with russia over syria and over russia's increased military presence in syria. brand new information just confirmed by al jazeera on russia's military buildup in syria. plus an historic day for the era in u.s., cuban relations, we're in havana has president obama eases a trade embargo that has lasted for decades. staying silent. donald trump under fire for not stepping in when a