>> eu states argue with each other over the worsening refugee crisis leaving thousands of people stranded. hello i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. >> we're prepared to negotiate. is assad prepared to negotiate? >> the u.s. is urging nations to unite and end syria's war. rebels say they have gained ground on the east.

and we'll meet nigerian children getting a chance to rebuild their lives. plus. >> i'm lucia newman, in havana, coming up, i'll tell you here why politics and religion will mix. >> hello, yet more bickering and confusion from eu states about how to handle the refugee crisis. more than 14,000 have entered the croatia. now sending thousands back not only to hungary but also north to slovenia. germany their bid for asylum will be assessed. lawrence lee reports from

northern croatia. >> they are moving in the right direction even though the motivations of the countries they're are in are far from generous. no man's land between croatia and slovenia, another closed border for this architect and his family. europe hasn't got a clue what to do with them. >> they don't know what to do. they don't have a clear plan. that's what i recognize. >> the best thing that happened to them was the arrival of volunteers from slovenia and croatia, who offered food to shivering refugees, and food to hungry. they are less than impressed. >> it is no surprise that they are here. everyone, if i would like, if i would be the slovenian president

and returning a household i would know they are coming now. if you have some kind of common sense you know the people will appear. >> and right at the fence they pleaded with the riot police, an arabic speaker to come across. just an occasional family got through and then everyone else said, why not us too? >> i have family of 12 with me. >> of course these families have saicountrieshave said they are o refugees coming through. but they have one thing in common: a policy of what you can only call people-dumping. macedonia dumps them on the serbian border, serbia dumps them on the croatian border and croatia dumps them on the

slovenian border. >> free movement from here to germany which remains the only country around here prepared to let these exhausted people finally rest. lawrence lee, al jazeera on the croatia-slovenia border. >> lawrence lee has more now. >> this border crossing between croatia and slovenia last become the best place as ever to demonstrate, the movement and dispersal and separation of all the refugees moving up from greece via macedonia and serbia into croatian territory. since the razor wire went up, croatia has had no alternative but to disperse them. they've been moving them up to the border with austria by the thousands. thousands towards slovenia as well. a countr custom couple hundred ,

separated into parcels of a few thousand dotted around, a variety of different border crossings. so what does it mean on the immediate situation here? well, it's not very organized frankly and the only good thing can you see that happened today is the presence of all these volunteers and members of the public who have come in large numbers offering food and water and clothing and a wash for the refugees. but night's falling now, the weather is going to break and very heavy rain is forecast, they're not going to get shelter for these people. it's proved too difficult for the slovenian or croatian governments to provide any tents so they're going to have to sleep presumably in the pouring rain, next to a motor way. some 3,000 refugees stuck on the border with the board with

serbia. they are on the way up here as well, and past that, as this group of 25,000 is being split out another wave of 40,000 are on the way through macedonia and serbia. so some of it is ending here. crisis actually is getting worse rather than better. >> many people seeking safety in europe has fled from syria civil war. speaking in london, u.s. secretary of state john kerry maind that president bashar al-assad must go. however what seems to be a softening stance, kerry stated the condition should be decided by negotiation. >> reporter: phillip hamed had in central london and pushing for ways to end the syrian

conflict, where russia appears to be more committed to doing more against i.s.i.l. a reference to what kerry believes is a common aim between the west and rufer russia, defeg i.s.i.l, particularly with air strikes. the prospect of russia increasing its military assistance with fighter jets already in the country. he might have made a small concession when he said president assad didn't have to go on day one or month one but he still insisted assad did not form part of syria's political future. that's something that's always been a sticking poirnt when peoplsticking point whenpeople h the syrian opposition for john kerry the ball is clearly in the other court. >> we're prepared to negotiate. is assad prepared to negotiate really negotiate, is russia prepared to bring him to the

table and find a solution? those are the pregnant questions. we have been clear, we've made it clear we are not being doctrinaire about the specific date or time. we're open. but right now assad has refused to have a serious discussion and russia has refused to help bring him to the table in order to do that. that's why we are where we are. >> the team discussed the refugee crisis something john kerry called a humanitarian catastrophe. his shorter talk with chancellor merkel about what her country has already done and whether other countries can take in more refugees themselves perhaps backing this idea of a quota system something merkel is very keen on to take the pressure off herself. but at the same time, kerry stressed the ultimate solution isn't about dividing people up in terms of numbers or giving them more assistance in europe

but solving the core problem which he says is the conflict, the violence in syria and the lack of help for young people in the region. he is clearly very, very concerned about getting things speeded up politically in syria. >> syrian rebels say they've made significant gains in their advance on key villages in idlib province in the northeast. dozens of fighters were killed in the offensive. jerald tan has the latest. >> in the rebel held syrian province of idlib the fight is on for two villages still under government control, the fatah army ds hoped to brea hope to bf defense. rebels fired a barrage of shells and were able to take over several checkpoints. but the national defense committees of the villages say the attacks were successfully repelled. this isn't the first time foa

and kafrea had been targeted, mostly shia and supporters of president bashar al-assad. the government has tried to negotiate for their transfer osafe areas, itosafe areas, bute repeatedly broken down. their new reports also from idlib, that forces captured from an air base captured earlier this month. elsewhere fighter jets launched strikes on the divided city of aleppo. under rebel control, but the british based monitoring group the syrian observatory for human rights says all those killed in the latest campaign were civilians, many of them children. >> translator: we want all muslims to see this, look at this. there are bodies scattered.everywhere.

scattered everywhere. >> it is a scene across the country, four and a half years of war have killed roughly a quarter of a million people. 11 million more have been driven from their homes. jerald tan, al jazeera. >> the saudi led coalition has carried out air strikes on several sites across yemen's capital sanaa. ministry of trade was targeted at least 29 people killed. earlier houthi rebels and troops loyal to former president sally sal attacked southern city of ta'izz and 37 rebels were reportedly killed. troops from the government

coalition are gathering in the mareb area to provide tactical support to the rebels. oxfam's head of programs, tell us how civilians are being affected by the conflict. >> i think what is really most astonishing is the level of destruction wrought one by the ground fighting that we're seeing in places like ta'izz and previously in aden but the air strikes which have been relentless for almost six months now and targeted civilian infrastructure including hospital he roads markets sea ports airports, water systems, et cetera. so we're seeing a devastation of the country which is basically being broad to its knees. >> egypt's president abdel fatah al-sisi has sphwhorn a new government that includes 16 new

ministers. tasked with forming anew cabinet within the next week. resigned after egypt's agriculture minister was accused of corruption. coming up in the next 15 minutes: more chaos in burkina faso. after a military led coup. and a battle over japan's military forces, why the government's accused of turning its back on pacifism angering china. i

>> as the global refugee crisis intensifies... >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> and the e.u. struggles to cope... >> we don't know, they stop us here. >> what's being done while lives hang in the balance? >> we need help now.

>> hello again, a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. hungary accuses croatia of breaking international law as eu states continue to argue about how to handle the refugee crisis. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has called for a global approach to bring an end to the war in syria. which causes refugees to rush to europe. saudi led coalition has carried out air strikes on several sites across the yemeni capital sa that. the lead of the roman catholic church is due to arrive in havana soon. attributed to bringing about a thaw in relation he between the former latin american rivals.

lucia newman has more. >> rehearsing for pope francis's mass on sunday, under the gaze of revolutionary icon che guevara. the pope will leave here very pleased he says. this is the third visit in 17 years, by a pope to cuba. a disproportionately large amount, considering the relatively small number of catholics in this country. but cuba's size is in inverse proportion to its political presence in latin america. and regional politics is something that the art in time born pope clearly wants to play a role. pope francis has offered to mediate in peace talks to mediate colombia's ongoing crisis and is expected to meet with farc representatives here

in havana. >> this papal visit while pastoral has a clear direction. >> historic restoration of diplomatic ties between the united states and cuba and the expectation here is that when he continues on to the united states from cuba next week he will again weigh in >> translator: his visit will convince the americans to lift the u.s. embargo once and for all. the pope will speak to the president of the united states. >> but will the pope delve into internal politics? watching francis's message to the cuban people, the leaders of the ladies in white the most dissident group seemed uncertain. >> translator: we want and we think he should speak out against the violence against those who are marginalized by

the regime but we will continue regardless even if he does not receive us, even if he says nothing we want to hear. >> for more than two centuries the vatican has linked religion and politics. how pope francis will play his cards here in cuba is something everyone is waiting to see. lucia newman, al jazeera, havana.. wife of the opposition leader in venezuela, leopoldo lopez, led to violence and the deaths of more than 40 people. let's go to al jazeera's virginia lopez in cracks, can cn you tell us what the reaction was to the sentence? >> when the sentence came out two weeks ago, people in the streets were angered about what they felt was a very unjust

decision. very few people were surprised fair to say. there are currently more than 40 political prisoners behind bars here in venezuela. so the fact that somebody like leopoldo lopez who is the fiercest critic of maduro administration was sentenced came as no surprise. internationally there was a great deal of condemnation, saying it came as the clearest indication that the judicial power in venezuela was not acting independently. and that the judicial power like many others had been sequestered by the government. >> he's a widely known figure do you think 14 years is realistic? >> reporter: we spoke to the defense team and basically what they said is that their one glimmer of hope at this point is if the opposition were to win a majority during december's parliamentary elections and their control of the congress until now the congress has been

dominated 5 by the government ruled party. if the opposition were to gain a majority they could put forth an amnesty law, to free lopez and the other political prisoners. even though it were passed it would still need to be approved by the judicial system, and the opposition believes the judicial system is not acting independently. so at the moment it's uncertain whether lopez could be released before these 14 years. >> how big is the turnout compared to previous demonstrations qums. demonstrations? >> the turnout has been small compared to the thousands of people we saw last year. this is probably when what we have been hearing in the streets due to the fact that a lo lot of people are afraid of opposition. close to 43 people died during

the month long protest and also i think it's important to say that lopez is very much the opposition leader in international circles. but here domestically there are several opposition leaders in an opposition that is fragmented. so until they can probably unite and rally around a common goal you won't be seeing the hundreds of thousands of people that took to the streets last year. >> virginia lopez, thank you very much indeed. china is expressed concerns after japan's parliament passed new laws that mark a dramatic shift in the country's military policy. it means that the japanese soldiers will be allowed to fight overseas for the first time since world war ii. rob mcbride is in tokyo. >> after this historic vote japan is coming to terms with potentially its new role in the world. more engaged with an assertive military to match which makes

many here uncomfortable. >> i'm infewe infuriated. we have a constitution that renounces war and it's been undermined. >> it's a hard decision. volunteering troops to go overseas is different than defending ourselves. >> the security situation around the world is changing. that's why this is necessary. >> reporter: this controversial legislation will change how japan's self defense force he are allowed to operate overseas. from being purely a defensive force. it's a move prime minister shinzo abe says is long overdue. >> translator: this peace security bill is necessary to protect people's life and peace and to prevent war. i understand we have managed to install the legal foundation necessary for our children, children in the future generation, and for their peace. >> the vote came after a marathon session in both houses of japan's parliament.

opposition parties inside and the thousands of protesters outside, have promised to fight the legislation in the courts and at the next election. >> pacifism is not dead in japan. we have seen millions of people in the streets over the last few months, demonstrating exactly how attached to the constitution and pass fix japanese people are. >> while the u.s. welcomes no change, china has condemned what it sees as an aggressive gesture. coming so soon after the 70th anniversary of the endrld of wo war ii. directly role in the war which makes it a divisive issue for many japanese. the purity of the pacifism japan mass followed for the past 17 p0

years has wherever that leads. rob mcbride, al jazeera, tokyo. burkina faso's capital in a third day of unrest after the interim president has been released but the african union is threatening to impose sanctions on the coup leaders. paul tradergian reports. >> we have come to see the sick, to identify all those who have been injured in this deplorable situation, we have seen bullet wounds and crush injuries. we have been taking information. >> coup leaders opened fire, to disperse protesters. >> coup was led by members of

the presidential guard whoer still loyal to blaise compaore. after attempting to prolong his 27 year rule. >> we will resist with our bare hands. we will give the general 24 hours and bury his corpse in burkina faso. >> coup leaders are calling the situation unfair, coup leaders say the vote will take place but at a later time. >> translator: 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 other than what some people think. >> the united nations has strongly condemned the coup and the african union as giving coup leaders until tuesday to restore the transitional government or

institute travel bans. paul tradergian al jazeera. teachers strike, more than 280,000 teachers have walked out since the beginning of the academic year in august. the supreme court had given theming a pay raise but the state says it simply doesn't have the money. students are due to sit exam next month. u.n. figures suggest the armed group boko haram has displaced more than a million children in the north of the country. encouraging families to return. ahmed idris reports from maigd maiduguri. >> boko haram, the translation, western education is forbidden. only afew schools are left

standing. most schools will now have to improvise. ayesha studies in this old prison yard. transformed into a temporary school. >> i don't know why they are destroying our schools or what is going into them. all we wanted was to get an education. >> the government has launched an ambitious ra progra program e victory has been declared. the hunger for education remains and hundreds of children are back in school, a defiance under difficult conditions like this. massive reconstruction work is underway as the nigerian military continues its campaign against boko haram, the military who claims to have the upper hand against the group, wants to

protect the group from further attacks. >> you have to be there to provide confidence this them that yes, they are now protected from in the eventing in you know froevent of anything inthis gro. >> trying to catch up with her studies before returning to school. but after two years she hardly remembers what she learned. she also wants to be a doctor so that she can help victims of violence. after the military successes over boko haram there is much optimism here. for children in the region it is a chance to be kids again and to chase their dreams.

ahmed idris, al jazeera, northeast nigeria. >> more news any time, and of course the sport is on there. watch now icon. aljazeera.com. >> i'm mei-ling mcnamara in canada here to discover how the great bear rainforest is being protected. >> i'm amanda burrell. i'm in london to find out how to make old houses green. >> and i'm yaara bou melhem in indonesia's south sulawesi looking at how the efforts of local people are restoring this