>> greeks head to the polls as the country's general elections get under way. >> hello, and welcome to al jazeera. also ahead thousands of refugees are caught in the middle of a spat between croatia and it's neighbors. a deal has been waged and the political crisis in burkina faso after a military coup. and pope francis calls on the u.s. and cuba to continue their reconciliation as he

touches down in havana for a historic visit. >> voting is underway in the greek election. they hope to get a second chance to lead the country. alexis tsipras resigned last month ahead of the elections. he was elected on an anti-austerity ticket. but he was forced to accept measures. >> does he still have some magic? alexialexis tsiypras is still charismatic, but has ban bruising year. he said don't let the old parties back in, the old regimes that created the debt crisis in

the first place. he may have lost to europe, saying to supporters, but at least he went down fighting. >> alexis tsiplas came to power on the anti-austerity measures and to stay within the european union. >> it's the same story 30 years now. >> i met young people who supported the left-wing syriza when it won in january. he says he'll vote for them again. >> but he will vote for another

party. >> disappointment, disillusionment. words that sum up the national mood according to this analyst. >> the spark of hope existed in the last election. eight months back. this is gone now because the spark was part of tsipras's image, this is gone. it's a totally negative vote. when you have this type of negativity it is very difficult to predict the result. >> this man is poised to take advantage if syriza is not the largest party. leader of the center right new democracy, some warm to his down-to-earth style, but his party is part of the discredited political establishment. many greeks want to get away from politics. at an athens cyclel festival they're enjoying the last warm evening before what could be a

long hard winter. some how a new government will have to revive that spark of hope 37. >> thousands of refugees are expected to cross into austria over the next few hours. an estimated 10,000 arrived in austria austria on saturday. the migration along the well-worn path was thrown into disarray after eastern european countries closed borders and blamed each other for the chaos. >> they are moving in the right direction even if the motivations of the countries they are in are far from generous. overnight the croatian authorities put the refugees in buses and told them to get out here in the no man's land between croatia and slovenia. so another closed border emerged. an architect from syria, his children and his wife and a simple explanation, europe hasn't got a clue what to do

with him. >> they don't know what to do. they don't have a clear plan. >> many offer food and clothing, they do this because their government is not, and they're less than impressed. >> it is surprising they're not here. if i was slovenia president, i would know they're coming up. you know that the people would appear. >> they pleaded with the rite police and an arabic speaker to come across. just the occasional family got through, and everybody else said why not us as well.

of course these countries have said they're open to refugees coming through, but in practice it looks a whole lot more like passing a problem on. for all the political differences between many of these countries over the refugees, they have one thing in common, something that could only be called people dumping. eventually buses arrived on the slovenian side. this is the start of the schengen zone, free movement between here and germany, the only country around here prepared to let these exhausted people finally rest. >> turkey's prime minister has asked refugees at the border of greece to end an sit-in. thousands have been gathering at an outdoor sports arena after forces stopped them from

continuing on to greece. >> the u.s. secretary of state is calling for renewed efforts to end the conflict in syria. john kerry insists that the syrian president has to step down. but they said that the timing of the departure should be decided through negotiation. and kerry is concerned about the russian jets in syria. >> a crackling radio transition in russian in homs. the voice asks for permission to begin decreasing altitude and to land. >> after a while it was clear to us that there was a cargo plane in the sky. accompanied by four military jets.

>> these are exclusive a al jazeera pictures of the cargo plane. that's where the russians have sent weapons and support staff they say to help syrian president bashar al-assad in the fight against isil. but u.s. secretary of state john kerry says that there are also air-to-air weapons at the airport, which have little use against isil or rebels. >> clearly the presence of aircraft with air to wear capacity as well as surface-to surface-to-air missiles raise series questions. that's why we're engaged in further conversation about answering those questions, and about deconfrictio deconflicting. >> syria is very important for russia because it is the only ally in the center of the april

world. if assad were to fall, russia would have no beach ahead answers the asia israeli conflict. it would not have a port city in ca car tuesday. . >> to yemen where airstrikes are continue to go bombard the capital of sanaa. the strikes hit controls of the houthi hello. there are heavy airstrikes in the area 37 rebel fighters killed and dozens wounded. the airstrikes have reportedly killed a family of ten. witnesses say eight children are among the dead. the bombing hit the city which is unesco's world heritage site. for than 4,500 people have been killed since the campaign began in march. the deal has been reached to end

the political crisis in burkina faso following a military coup. the country will return to civilian rule and an interim government will be reinstated. the announcement follows a meeting between regional leaders and coup leaders earlier this week, guards stormed the presidential meeting and arrested the president and prime minister. >> this is going to raise a lot of suspension that they want to negotiate sort of favorable exit for themselves. we know that a recommendation was given for the presidential guard to be disbanded after the election. clearly they have found themselves a bargainen chip to allow that to happen for that soft exit to happen for them.

it's clear that burkina faso does not have the system to put a military government in place. there is reason, credible reason to believe that they wanted a favorable exit. at the end of the day they don't want to negotiate with these people still in office until the presidential guards can be guaranteed that they'll have favorable exit and will not allow that exit to happen. this is why the president has been a little cautious about how much information he gives. i think we're looking at a very messy political and economic future. with that said, burkina faso has shown incredible resilience. i think people are willing to wait a for a more years. there is that resilience to wait, but we're looking at 12 to 18 months, i think. >> well, coming up in this

bulletin. thousands march in venezuela to call for the release of a jailed opposition leader. plus. >> i'm on the border between gaza and egypt. these smuggling tunnels once connected the two, but the egyptians may have found a way to permanently close them.

>> 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. >> good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera. hungary and slovenia have criticized croatia for

redirecting refugees to their countries. thousands of people are now head to go austria. european leaders have failed to agree on an unified policy to deal with the refugee crisis. vote something under way in greece's general election. former prime minister alexis tsipras hopes to have another chance to lead the country. he won january's poll on an anti-austerity ticket. and burkina faso will return to civilian rule and reinstatement it's interim country. the decision follows talks between the coup leaders and the president. the first latin american pope credited with helping renewed diplomatic relations between cuba and the united states.

>> i call on political figures in favor of peace, the well-being of the people, of all the americas as an example of reconciliation for the rest of the world. >> well, pope francis will be meeting president raul castro and his ailing brother former president fidel castro. >> they kay once a believer always a believer. he declared he was so impressed with pope francis that he was considering going back to praying. was he joking? >> only he know what he really feels inside. all i can do is refer you to his up bringing.

>> raul castro and his older brother fidel were brought up as catholics educated by jesuits, the same as pope francis. but they would close down catholic schools and declare religion the open yet of the people declaring the cuba state and themselves atheists. a devout catholic remembers how 40 years ago she was afraid to baptize her daughter. >> my husband could have lost his job, but a lot has changed since then. >> surrounded by soviet style housing complex, one of three new churches authorized by the government since the 1959 revolution will be built next to this half-finished jesuit house. >> i think cuba wants to be seen as part of the world, and in the

world the catholic church has an influence. the pope for his heart will reap the benefits of having helped of normalizing u.s. cuban ties. that means extracting concessions from leaders, to allow the catholic church to have greater influence and to play a bigger role in cuban society. for example, something as simple as regular access to the state-controlled mass media. >> if we only had a few hours a week, that would be wonderful. >> the catholic church is still clearly on a short leash in socialist cuba. but whether out of faith or enlightened self interest, the communist president is eagle for embrace this latin american pope who like himself condemns the isil of modern capitalism. lucia newman, al jazeera, hava

havana. >> to venezuela where thousands of people have marched across the country to protest against the conviction of leopold lopez. he was sentenced to 14 years in jail earlier this month for inciting violence at anti-government protests last year. we have this update from carac caracas. >> thousands of people gathered to show their condemnation of what they say is an unjust sentencing of opposition leader in venezuela. there is outrage from the international community. they said that this child was held mainly behind closed doors, and it stands the clear signs here in advantag venezuela lacked independence. they could very well put forth an amnesty law. however, the same amnesty law

would have to be approved by the same judicial system. >> in egypt president el-sisi has replaced its cab be cabinet members. the tunnels that connect the sinai peninsula with gaza. the tunnels were used to smuggle everything from people to basic goods. >> egypt continues to widen the gap between them. the egyptian military said that it's building fish farms. the people say that the

egyptians began flooding the tunnels late on friday. it's the last thing that 73-year-old woman needs. she lost two homes in gaza's long history of conflict. with her husband and daughter now ill she said she just can't lose another one. >> i'm very much scared. now i live in fear of flooding. it could happen any time. that's why i'm always tense an scared. we can't live like other people. >> the hamas government made millions in taxes. hamas is believed to have allowed fighters and weapons to pass through here. a trade that it's neighbors want stopped. this is saltwater pumped into one of the smuggling tunnels from the egyptian side. there are 1200 such tunnels in this area, this is only one of them behind me.

now the people who live here fear that continued flooding to destabilize the ground and cause landslides. but it fears that it would contaminate the water source. there is very little drinking water for the people here as it is. they struggle to get food, petrol, and have to live with daily power blackouts. now they worry about irrigation for their crops, too. >> we home that the city could reflect through commerce. but this makes the siege more difficult. >> people in this border town say they long for a day when there won't an need for underground life lines.

>> with eyes on egypt this woman said she feels helpless and more alone. al jazeera, gaza. >> the elder son of leader of the united emirates has died. there will be three days of mourning. >> define boko haram. it translate western education is forbidden. but these students are eager to learn at the start of the new school year.

most schools will have to improvise. this prison yard has been converted to a temporary school. aisha is determined to be a doctor despite the risks. >> i don't know why they're destroying our schools, all we wanted is to get an education. >> the government has launched an am pishes program to reopen schools. even before victory over boko haram is declared. most schools have been destroyed by boko haram, but the hunger for education remains, and hundreds of children are back in school. a defiance under difficult conditions like this. massive reconstruction work is unway as military continues its campaign against boko haram. the military which claims to have the momentum against the group said that it wants to secure both students and school

infrastructure from further attacks. >> you have to be there to provide security for the inhabit tonights--inhabitants. we have to inconfidence that yes, they are protected from this terrorist group. >> the two-year wait is over. she's 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 victories of violence. [singing] >> after the military successes of boko haram there is much optimism here. for children in the region it's a chance to be a kid again an to chase their dreams. [singing]

al jazeera, maidugari, northeastern niger gentleman. >> hundreds of people have marched through the capital of kathmandu to protest against the new constitution. they opposed the document early yes this week. it is set to be declared in a ceremony on sunday. in india, nine months from a controversial branch of buddhism is on hunger strike. the monks are protesting against the decision by the tibetan government to are for requisition. to the race to the white house now. more than 20 people are running for the u.s. president. and we'll soon find out if there is one more name on the list. there is speculation that vice president joe biden is inching

closer to join the race. patty culhane reports. >> we'll soon know if joe biden feels that the third time is the charm in his decision to run for president of the united states. hillary clinton using and delighting tens of thousands of e-mails she received while in office, she was using a private server that is now being investigated. polls show that the majority of people not only trust her, but they're not excited about her campaign. and that gives biden an opening because he is seen as the exact opposite, trustworthy and honest, in large part because of moments like this one when the president signed his signature healthcare legislation. he is prone to public and often popular gaffes. he's blunt.

>> nor god's sake don't listen to rumsfeld. he doesn't know what the hell he's talking on this. >> his history is one that many americans can relace to. he's born to working class parents, and unlook like clinton, he's not worth millions. >> i have a difficult time imagining that anyone who got in now would be organizationally prepared to win. so if anything those who get in now would be kind of throwing hail mary passes hoping that hillary clinton stumbles further. >> a big factor could be who u.s. barack obama endorses. the white house said he might weigh in. they won't say who he prefers but they volunteered this quote often. >> the president has described selecting vice president biden as his running mate as the smartest political decision he has made in his career in public

service. >> biden has been a very public vp in charge of the economic stimulus during the recession and taking point with congress on budget issues. he was on the lead in the u.s. involvement in iraq. that issue could hurt him along what he did with the senate pushing for stronger prison tenses for drug offenses, now a very unpopular stance. at 72 years old he would be the oldest president-elected. one of the factors he'll have to consider, along with this, the dying wish of his son who reportedly told him that he wanted him to try again to run for president of the united states. patty culhane, al jazeera, washington. >> finally the bulletin the british born author jackie collins has lost her battle to breast cancer. the 77-year-old died in los angeles on saturday. her career spanned four decades. she sold more than 500 million books in 40 countries. many of her novels depictured

the bedrooms and boardrooms of hollywood' elite. collins is the younger sister of actress joan collins. and a reminder you can keep up-to-date with all the news at our website at www.aljazeera.com. this is techknow, a show about innovations that can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wild fire. we're going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity and we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. tonight: technkow in search of the great american prarie. >> we're in the prarie state yet ironically, we have such little of it left. >> farming and overdevelopment killed it, now get ready for