hajj tragedy, saudi arabia orders an investigate. the chinese leader will hold formal talks with president obama at the white house. on the agenda combating climated change. also we'll tell you how the internet is transforming the lives of farmers in bangladesh.

♪ ♪ saudi arabia has begun an investigation in to the stampede that killed more than 700 people during the hajj pilgrimage. hundreds more have been injured. it's the worst disaster during the pilgrimage in more than two decades of the crush happened on the outskirts of the holy city of mecca in a place called mina. as huge crowds of pilgrims were on the move. there was a sudden rush of people heading towards the jamarat pillars surrounded by a five-story structure known as the jamarat bridge. omar al saleh reports now from mina. >> reporter: a second tragedy within weeks. saudi authorities say a sudden surge among the huge crowd of pilgrims led to a deadly stampede. hundreds of people died, many more were injured.

>> translator: we were coming back from the jamarat and on the way back i met my husband, the pilgrims began pushing each other and pushed people to the ground. i was about to die. >> reporter: the pilgrims we were making their way to take part in the stoning of the devil ritual which is part of hajj pilgrimage. >> translator: after this painful incident, i ask the authorities to investigate the cause of it. and submit the result as soon as they can. the investigation isn't to affect the good job authorities are doing to keep people safe in the hajj. whatever the result of this, we ask the authorities to review the plans and all the arrangements for the hajj. >> reporter: there have been hundreds of deaths from stampedes in previous years, but this is one of the deadliest in recent years. in 2006, saudis built a multi-story complex to better handle the number of people taking part. more than 1.9 million pilgrims

are performing the hajj this season. even without this latest catastrophe and logistical nightmare for the saudis. this tragedy has completely overshadowed this hajj this year. putting the saudis you were the spotlight and raised serious questions about safety in general, but at the same time, it highlights the lack of safety awareness among the pilgrims themselves. they have been known to go in the wrong directions and to garth never wrong places, some of them sleeping and eating in the open on crowded roads. >> translator: from what i can see, these are the apparent reasons for the accident. a rise in the number of people, overcrowding and an overlap of crowds. adding to that with all certainty a rise in temperatures and the tiredness that the pilgrims were experiencing due to the journey they had already traveled. >> reporter: the season started with another tragedy just days before the beginning of hajj. a construction crane fell on the ground killing 107 people two

weeks ago. the mosque and the surrounding area have turned in to a construction site as part of an ambitious expansion plan. this latest disaster reinforcing the fact that hajj will always be a challenge. >> omar joins us live now from mina. what's the latest? we know an investigation has started. what about the clear up at the site itself? >> reporter: we understand the clear up is already starting and continuing actually for the second day and that indicates how the tragedy is big. i was told by some of the officials here that they are clearing the debris, if you will, the remnants of the bodies. it's very, very crowded area. the ambulances are gathering still there. you have more than several hundred members of the civil defense force at the site.

i asked for permission to go and film there, they told me it would be very difficult. so you can tell that it's quite busy at the site scene. let me add to you earlier about the investigation the king of saudi arabia has order today review all of the hajj plans and to investigate the circumstances that led to this tragedy. he also asked for the improvement of the organization and management of the pilgrims. to me when reading statement, probably the saudi king is not very happy with what happened. the saudis are very sensitive when it comes to the hajj and to be very frank, they already put a lot of effort, however, when tragedies like this happen, they put them under the spot slight so they want to improve as they go forward. >> omark the saudi health minister has been pointing the finger of blame at some of the pilgrims saying they were undoes minuted, not following instruction on his thousand move while little they were at mina,

what else is being said in terms of blame and reasoning behind yet another tragedy at mecca? >> reporter: yes, i think there is now a trade blame and everyone is trying to blame the other. the saudi minister is pointing the finger at pilgrims that triggered some criticism on social media and a also among other pilgrims they were saying they were not instructed not to do so. mina is a big massive at the present time city, it has 160,000 tents full of pilgrims and when you try to control that it's very difficult. how the movement starts it really depends on the contract or, if you have any contractor from any pilgrimage group and that contractor asks to go after the liaison with the saudi authorities. probably he's making a returns to that. a lack of organization between -- or collaboration between the two and that could

be the reasoning behind the blame. but i personally have been to a number of rituals within the hajj and mecca and nina and -- mina and previous places this year and other years, you would be surprised by the unawareness among the pilgrims themselves they do not follow instructions even if they are given those instruction. everyone was trying to get on with their rituals and finish it as soon as possible and it probably that's why it led to that tragedy. final point i would like to make, we understand that the two groups collided at a very narrow street within the at the present time city of mina. probably this tragedy will force perhaps the saudi authorities to try to widen those streets to prevent further tragedies. >> okay, omar, we'll leave it there for now. thank you very much. pope francis arrived in new york on thursday, all part of his three-city u.s. tour. he offered up prayers for the

pilgrim who died in mina as he held mass at st. patrick's cathedral. >> translator: i would like to express two sent little for my muslim brothers and sisters, firstly my greet says as they celebrate the feast of sacrifice, my second sentiment is the closeness to the tragedy your people suffered in mechanic, a i prepray to god our father all powerful and merciful. >> on friday pope francis will address world leaders at the u.n. headquarters in new york. it will be his first address to the general assembly. he was greeted by thousands of people on thursday as he arrived at st. patrick's cathedral in new york. he shook hands and gave blessings to the faithful before leading evening prayers. gabriel elizondo sent us this update from new york. many people lived unhours before he was scheduled to show up to try to get a glimpse of him.

many people were not able to. i would say the overall excitement, but curiosity. it's not only new yorkers that want today get a glimpse of him, especially here in new york tourists in town as well. >> translator: i am happy. even though i have not been able to see him yet. but i have hope tomorrow my friend and i will both be able to see him. >> he's really popular because of his views and trying to welcome some cath likes have been turned away from the church back in and he's the pope of the modern people and says what he means it's really exciting. >> translator: i feel good to be here. it's a great opportunity to see the pope because like when he was in brazil, i wasn't able to see him. so maybe this is my chance. >> reporter: pope francis has a very busy schedule here in new york on friday he'll start his day by giving a speech to world leaders at the united nations

general assembly. it's a very highly anticipated speech. he will be doing many other things lawsuit the day as well. visiting ground zero. but also visiting mostly latino and african american children at a school in harlem while he's there he will also visit immigrants and refugees, it's all part of his broader mission, one of his key themes here on his visit so far to the united states to try to bring attention to the plight of those less fortunate. china is expected to announce plans to limit greenhouse gases and force industries to buy pollution credits. it's unfailing its strategy in order to tackle climate change later on friday after president xxi generax jinping. they met for dinner. cyber security and disputes in the south clean a sear also likely to be discussed by the

two world leaders. >> reporter: the white house is talking tough raising the possibility of the u.s. military going near disputed island in the south clean a sea. the national security adviser sent this message. >> the united states of america will sail, fly, and operate anywhere that international law permits. >> reporter: president obama had this warning about cyber attacks on u.s. company. >> that we consider an act of aggression that has to stop. and you know, we are preparing a number of measures that will indicate to the chinese that this is not just a matter of us being mildly upset. >> reporter: the administration has floated the idea that they will sanction chinese companies and people for hacking in to u.s. companies. some analysts believe that would be a dangerous move. >> are we going do that against russian companies? pretty soon will we be sanking

companies all around the world or are we just going to pick on china? this isn't well thought three. >> reporter: the u.s. has been singling out china for a while, charging five military officers last year and accusing china of stealing the personnel files of millions of federal workers. without offering any proof. >> you have to kind of salute the chinese for what they did. you know, if we had the opportunity to do that, i don't think we would hesitate for a minute. >> just to be clear, are you identifying china as the perpetrator behind the opium attack? >> well, i mean, that's the leading suspect. >> reporter: china denies the allegations and points out because of the edward snowden leaks we now know that the u.s. has been doing eights own fair share of spying, collecting phone records, searching en criminalled e-mails creating back doors with tech companies and siphoning up communication that travels through under sea cables. the obama administration says there is a difference between

spying for economic advantage versus national security. and it's in the area of national secure thasecurity that the twos though make history, they are looking to ban cyber attacks targeting each other's critical infrastructure during peace time. the white house hoping that can be a first step in what has often been a rocky road between two major powers. coming up on the program, as rohingya people flee persecution in myanmar, many face persecution and death this the countries they are escaping to. we have that story coming up. plus, parents of mexico's missing students demands an international probe in to their disappearance.

♪ ♪ a reminder now of the top stories on al jazeera. saudi arabia has begun an investigation in to the stampede that killed more than 700 people during the hajj pilgrimage. hundreds more were injured. china is expected to announce plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and force industries to buy pollution credits. president xi will be unveiling his strategy to tackle climate change late ore friday following his meeting with u.s. president barack obama at the white house. pope francis will address world leaders at the u.n. headquarters in new york on friday. ahead of his first address to the general assembly, he was greeted by thousands as he arrived at st. patrick's cathedral in ma manhattan.

while thousands have been flock to go see the pope in the u.s., the number of people actually attending mass in many catholic churches has fallen as kristen saloomey reports a new movement is trying to bring people back to the pews. >> reporter: buffalo new york is home to 32 catholic perishes. most go back decades to a time when immigrants flocked here for jobs in the steel and grain mills. but while beautiful church buildings remain, many parishioner have moved away, leading behind empty pews and aging congregations. father richard zajac has been affiliated with st. ambrose church for 35 years. >> buffalo was the sixth largest seaport, one of the largest cities in the country. you know, so a lot of people began to come hering the grain mills were at work, had a lot of work here, so, i think our

population gaze was large base t the turn of the century than it was on today. >> reporter: on this sunday however, it's a full house thanks to a group of catholics who started a phenomenon known asthmas mocks, every week they pick a different church. and encourage catholics from near and far to come worship and leave a few dollars in the collection baskets. >> i consider sacred sites in america, especially ones in old rust belt cities are in danger of disappearing. and what we wanted to do is introduce a -- or reintroduce people to a lot of the wonderful and glorious churches that we have throughout the city of buffalo. >> reporter: this is what the organizers of the mass mobs are trying to avoid. churches that were once the folk the point of the communitying a source of important family memoriememories and like weddind baptisms boarded up and forgotten. some come for the history and the architecture, in st. ambrose's case, colorful windows illustrating modern

teachings of the church are a draw. but for many it's about the people. and the spiritual energy that comes with the crowd. >> just so wonderful to see the churches filled. it would be so nice to have them like this every single week. >> i grew up in south buffalo on aldridge which is a few blocks away, went to school at the perish, went to church here. coming back again you just feel welcomed. >> reporter: mass mobs are now taking place in more than 20 cities to preserve what, for many, are cornerstones of the community. kristen saloomey, al jazeera buffalo new york. hungary has started building a new barrier on its border this time with slovenia. the country has already fenced off the borders with serbia and croatia to prevent refugees from entering. laurence lee has the report. >> reporter: it might not seem like it, but in little places like this in southern hungary, the european vision in unity looks like a nightmare come

true. you can see the village from this piece of hungarian military land the government has been investigating whether to set up a semi permanent camp here for a thousand refugees but it's basically a bog and even providing water would cost a fortunate. for the mayor the idea that hundreds of men from the middle east might be dumped here is a more immediate concern. >> translator: the vast majority are young, strong men. on their journey they have some natural needs they haven't been able to satisfy. and there is a strong possibility that through their cultural background that they'll satisfy their needs in hungary or europe, but not in a european way. >> reporter: there are hundreds of little places like this across happen gary and other eastern european countries which have no money and no prospects. expect a daughter soon, and she thinks the refugees could end up being offered more financial help than her baby. >> translator: now suddenly

people are coming from a totally different culture and they are entitled to aid, i understand refugees are in need, but i think a majority of hungarians will be really upset because there will be too many of them. >> reporter: 10 minutes of the road is a much bigger town, those with a long memory might understand why hungary's attitude towards refugees has more than a little irony attached to it. in 1956 when the soviet army invaded hungary, some of the fiercest resistence to them was here and thousands of people were either killed or had to run for their lives as refugees, but, of course, that was 60 years ago, now it's t appears a substantial part of hungarian opinion thinks that the e.u. quota plan would put the wrong sort of refugees in their country. the logic of the quota plan means refugees already vulnerable potentially being placed in many cities in countriecountrycountries like s.

this recent demonstration featured signs saying hang the refugees. we asked the mayor what his opinion is now of the european union? he said it shows and promptly took down the flag from the village hall and stuck it in a had you been board. how ironic this supposed display of european unity could end up helping the far right and hungary's growing friendship with russia. the yo u.n. aid chief has called on pro-russian rebel to his allow u.n. agency to his continues their work. the separatists have told international aid groups to leave the luhansk reason un, early the neighboring donetsk region suspended humanitarian operations the conflict which began in april last year has killed nearly 8,000 people. mexican president enrico neito says he will appoint a new special prosecutor to search for

the country's disappeared. he didn't commit to an internationally led probe which has been demanded by the families of the 43 missing students. mariana takes a look at the event that led to the students' disappearance. >> reporter: it was in late september last year that around 100 mexican teacher trainees joined protests for education reform. they had taken over a number of public buses in the city in guerrero state when local police and armed men reportedly fired on them. two students and three bystanders died, 43 students went missing. two days later mayor ho lay luis denied ordering police to stop the students from disripping a speech his wife was giving. 22 local police officers were arrested that day. within two weeks of the students' disappearance the first of many large-scale public demonstrations. the mayor and his wife were in hiding. but a few weeks later they were

arrested in mexico city and charged with organized crime, kidnapping, and murder. an official investigation blamed the mayor for the students' disappearance, prosecutors says members of a drug gang had confessed they delivered the men to the gang and executed then and burned their bodies. but the family says i said it ws a cover up to protect members of the army and politicians. a bone fragment found near a rubbish dump matched one of the missing students. and then almost a year after the young men disappeared, an independent investigate by international experts cast doubt on the mexican government's official stance. it said the view that the students were killed and burned in a rubbish dump was scientifically impossible. 10 days later remains found in a dump close to iguala match aid second missing student. but the families say it's an

attempt to discredit the independent report. and that they will continue to fight for justice and to find out what happened to their missing men. southeast asian countries are expecting a new wave of arrivals of minority rohingya people fleeing persecution in my myanmar, most land in thailand, malaysia or indonesian where they are refuse ahead sigh lum. wayne hay reports from southern thailand where many rohingya face beus and sometimes even death. >> reporter: a slow, delicate process is only just beginning in a laboratory i in southern thailand, foreign i can scientists of investigating the deaths of more than 30 people whose remains were found buried with the board of malaysia in may. they have only completed 10% of the dna testing on the boned. and haven't discovered how they died. >> translator: the first steph was to identify their gender

height and ages, the next step is to figure out who they are and that requires dn happen. comparison. >> reporter: that's unlikely to happen. the victims are believed to be rohingya from myanmar where they are denied citizenship and face persecution from the government. >> translator: to find their family members is not an easy task, since we have no idea who these people were. we have no access to the rohingya in myanmar 78 the graves were discovered in thick jungle, more were found across the board never malaysia. it seems they fell victim to traffickers who may have held them for ransom. hassan has survived a similar journey, he was born in myanmar, but left by boat three years ago. hoping for a better life away from the camps he and more than 100,000 other rohingya were forced in to. but once in thailand he was bought and sold by fishermen and rubber farmers, enduring two years of forced labor with no pay. now as the wet season nears an

end he's trying to convince his family to stay in myanmar. >> translator: i keep telling my family members who are not now in camps about my situation and may experienced. i tell them to be patient in the cramps and don't try them to leave i tell them myanmar will be a better place to live one day. >> reporter: in deck with the deaths 88 people have been charged with offenses related to trafficking. no one has been charged with murder or manslaughter. this is final resting place residents say most of them were reburies here after the remains were found. there is not much to show for it. it's an overgrown, unmarked grave site on the edge of a muslim cemetery in southern die thathailand. it's likely similar tragedies will happen again unless there is a strong regional and national problem to a problem that will only get worse.

wayne al jazeera, thailand. only about 10% of bangladesh is are connect to the the internet but it is already transforming lives, in some areas, farmers and laborers are making 10 times what they used to by selling things online. here say respect. >> reporter: his office isn't very impressive. he doesn't even have a chair. but it's a big improvement from his previous job, he used to work as a day laborer in the garment accessory industry making $58 a month. then went online selling fashion products, electrics and anything else he can get his hands on to nearby wholesalers to customers all over bangladesh. >> translator: i didn't have any capital so it was impossible for me to start a business, i realized i could sell things online without needing to already have a lot of money. >> reporter: a quarter of the sellers on the website he use to his sell his goods come from

rural areas like him. but his location presents him with his biggest obstacle, getting his orders delivered. it takes him two hours, including a boat ride, to get to the nearest delivery service that he can trust. while logistical problems can be a pain for him, there is also a reason behind the fast-growing popularity of online retailing fork most customers, t coming ta large marketplace in the city center can be a real nightmare because of bangladesh's notorious traffic. some online retailers have started hiring their own motorcycle delivery men hoping to beat the traffic. online shopper says he's slowly getting used to ordering from the internet. >> to be honest am not upon of paying the front before i get the product, because, you know, it's just an beyond by comfort e when i can pay cash on delivery

am very comfort another. >> reporter: he cells his goods on a website set up by i a german internet company that's investigating in bangladesh, with independent analysts estimating the internet penetration here to be still low, at about 10%, he expects the online market here to grow in the next few years. >> potential in bangladesh is huge for a variety of the reasons, first of all a population of one sixer 170 million, that's something that we lack at when we decide which country to his expand in to. we started here in the beginning of 2014, which was kind of on the back of when 3g came here so more and more people are prowsing the internet from their mobile phone. >> reporter: he doesn't need to wait for the future, while not all of his neighbors are benefiting from the digital revolution, he says his life has already been transformed. al jazeera, bangladesh.

well, do stay with us here on al jazeera, plenty more coming up in the meantime, keep up-to-date with all of our top stories online the address is aljazeera.com. you've got the latest reaction to the tragedy that's taken place at hajj. >> it's still months before college football season kicks off, but the team at northwestern university is in the middle of a 40 hour work week. >> they are traveling more than even 10 years ago, they're being asked to sacrifice more they're asked to treat their sport as a year-round endeavor. so the demands on them are so intense that it has put them in a situation where it's like a fight or die situation. >> players earn no pay other