♪ hajj tragedy and saudi arabia begins investigation of a stampede that killed more than 700 people during the muslim pilgrima pilgrimage. ♪ hello, this is al jazeera live from doha, also ahead on the program, pope francis is in new york and will be addressing the u.n. general assembly later. china's president will be holding formal talks with president obama at the white house and on the agenda battling climate change. internet is transforming the

lives of farmers in bangladesh. ♪ saudi arabia has begun an investigation into the stampede that killed more than 700 people during the hajj pilgrimage and it was this a place called nina as huge pilgrims on the move and people moving and surrounded by a structure known as the bridge and was report from nina. >> reporter: second tragedy in weeks, a southern surge among a huge crowd of pilgrims led to a stampede and hundreds died and many more were injured.

>> translator: we were coming back and on the way back i met my husband, the pilgrims began pushing each other and they pushed people to the ground, i was about to die. >> the pilgrims were making their way to take part at the ha hajj. >> translator: after this painful incident i asked the authorities to investigate the cause of it and submit the result as soon as they can, the investigation is not to affect the good job people are doing to keep people safe in the hajj and we asked the authorities to review the plans and all the arrangements to 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 the saudis built a multi story complex to better handle the number of people and more than 1.9 million pilgrims performed in the hajj

this season and without the latest catastrophe for the saudi authorities. this has completely over shadowed the hajj this year and they are in the spotlight and raise serious questions about safety in general but at the same time it highlights the lack of safety awareness of the pilgrims among themselves and have been known to go in the wrong directions and together in wrong places and sleeping and eating in the open on crowded roads. >> translator: from what i can see these are the apparent reasons for the accident, rise in the number of people, over crowding and overlap of krods and adding to that the temperature and the tides that the pilgrims were experiencing due to the journey they had already traveled. >> reporter: the season started with another tragedy at the beginning of hajj, a construction crane landed on the ground killing 107 people and

the mosque and the surrounding area turned into a construction site, site of ambitious plan and reenforcing that hajj would have a serious challenge of people in mecca. >> i'm seeing reports that crowd control this morning at mecca is much improved, what are you seeing? >> yes, i'm seeing a huge number of pilgrims in both directions going to the start of this that is symbolic and i'm going to move out of the shot and zoom in at the camp. this is the tent city, this is where the pilgrims are camped if you see the wide tents and this is more than 160,000 tents and you can see the streets leading to the main complex, it's a

four-story complex including the ground floor so that is a five-story complex and the numbers are picking up with the pilgrims and the tragedy happened somewhere in the streets and i think the far right of this complex and we understand it's the group of pilgrims collided together and it was a narrow road but today things are going really smoothly and i saw also an increasing number of security forces at the site. i can hear now a siren, a police patrol ordering the pilgrims to move quickly and to open the road. i think the tragedy raised the awareness among the pilgrims as well, not only the saudi authorities after the king ordered the review of the hajj plan but i think it also forced the pilgrims to review their own safety awareness and increased

to perform the ritual. >> we have all seen the figures, terrible numbers there of those that died over the last two decades, what more, just looking at it from this point of view what more can the saudis do to improve conditions there at mecca because year on year we hear of extensions, improvements, renovations that they carry out, what exactly is going wrong? >> i think it's the number of issues here. the saudis are really keen on improving the hajj of pilgrimage and this is the holy site for islam and the fifth pillar of islam and the flow of pilgrims will never stop coming to the holly site and that complex was built in 2006 to improve the -- to allow more pilgrims to perform the ritual and i think what is wrong is to do with the organization of the movement of

the pilgrims and that involves two parts. one is that the saudi authorities are open to contractors, if you are coming from any country you have to register with a campaign, with a contractor, that contractor has a counterpart in saudi arabia so when organized the movement of their pilgrims and the saudi ministry of hajj and religious affairs tried to coordinate with contractors and say you need to take the pilgrims at a certain time what happens is neither the construction or the pilgrims stick to the timing and that is why it leads to such tragedy. another important aspect is lack of awareness of the pilgrims and themselves and i believe when i was performing the ritual surrounding the camp i was pushed very heavily of a group of women and i'm a big man and i was yet pushed aside and luckily i stepped aside and took a breath and moved on and awareness of the pilgrims is a big issue and it's not only the

saudi authorities but it's the saudi's responsibility because they are hosting this whole ritual and the two sides is in saudi arabia so i think they will have the model responsibility to improve the ritual in years to come. >> omar thank you very much for that. pope francis will be addressing world leaders at the u.n. headquarters in new york later. it will be his first address to the general assembly, earlier on thursday the pontiff made another first as he addressed a joint meeting of the u.s. congress. kimberly has the report. >> reporter: tens of thousands greeted pope francis as he arrived at capitol hill for his historic address to a joint meeting of the u.s. congress. >> mr. speaker, the pope of the holly sea. [applause] inside the chamber the pope immediately addressed one of the most polarizing issues confronting u.s. lawmakers and

urged members of congress to set aside their political differences and welcome illegal immigrants he says travel north in search of a better life. >> let us have the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. >> reporter: pope francis also urged particularly conservative politicians to use legislative might with coreagous effort. >> this congress has an important role to play. >> reporter: even though most conservatives align with calls from the roman catholic pope to defend life and oppose abortion many republican lawmakers question the science supporting arguments of global warming and despite pole numbers showing most americans believe pope

francis should play a role in world affairs the political and ideological differences can be overcome and 21% say the pope's speak will make congress more likely to pass legislation to fight climate change and 14 say he will make congress more likely to pass abortion restrictions and just 13% say the pope will make congress more likely to pass bills increasing illegal immigration to the united states. >> even a pope can't work miracles in congressional politics especially on an issue like climate change. >> reporter: still pope francis tried as he delivered his message not just to lawmakers but thousands gathered outside the capitol arguing the responsible use of the world's natural resources is not just an environmental issue but a moral one. >> thank you, thank you very much and god bless america. [applause] kimberly with al jazeera,

capitol hill. china is expected to announce plans to limit greenhouse gasses and force industries to buy pollution credits and president xi jinping will be unveiling his climate change strategy later on friday following a summit meeting with u.s. president barack obama at the white house. on thursday mr. obama hosted president for a private dinner and cyber security and disputes in the south china sea are likely to be discussed by the two leaders and patty reports. >> reporter: the white house is talking tough on the eve of president xi jinping visit raising the possibility of the u.s. army going into disputed islands in the south china sea and the security advisor cents this message. >> the united states of america will sale, fly and operate anywhere that international law permits. >> reporter: president barack obama had this warning about cyber attacks on u.s. companies.

>> that we consider an act of aggression, it has to stop. and 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 into u.s. companies and some analysts believe that would be a dangerous move. >> are we going to do that just russian companies, pretty soon are we going to be sanctioning companies all around the world or are we just going to pick on china? this is not well thought through. >> reporter: u.s. has been singling china charging five last year and accusing of stealing the file of millions of 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 is the leading suspect. >> china denies allegations and points out because of the edward snowden leaks we know the u.s. has been doing its own fair share of shying and searching and e-mails and creating backdoors of companies and communication that travels through under sea cables and the obama administration says there is a difference of spying for economic advantage versus national security and it's in the area of national security the two leaders hope to make history and they are working to finalize agreement to ban cyber attacks for the critical structure during peace time and the white house hopes that can be a first step in a rocky road between the partners, patty in

washington. coming up, in the program as rohinga face death in the country they are escaping to. philippines steps up the search for tourists abducted from their yacht as a luxury resort. ♪

welcome back, reminder of the top stories on al jazeera, saudi arabia has begun an investigation into the stampede that killed more than 700 people during the hajj pilgrimage and

hundreds were also injured. china is expected to announce plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and force industries to buy pollution credits. president xi jinping will tackle climate change on friday after a summit meeting with barack obama at the white house. pope francis will address leaders at the u.n. in new york on friday ahead of the first address to the general assembly he was greeted by thousands as he arrived at st. patricks cathedral in manhattan. the u.n. aid chief has called on pro-russia rebels in eastern ukraine to allow agencies to continue their work and separatists told international aid groups to leave the region and earlier the neighboring donetsk region suspended humanitarian operations, the conflict which began in april last year has killed nearly 8,000 people.

scandal hit german car giant volkswagen supervisory board and expected to name a chief executive in the coming hours and facing investigations worldwide after admitting it installed software that falsified admission test results. southeast asia countries expecting a new wave of arrivers of people and fleeing persecution of myanmar and thailand, indonesia where they refuse asylum and where many rohinga face abuse and sometimes even death. >> reporter: a slow, delicate process iseginning in a lab in southern thailand, forensic scientists investigating the deaths of more than 30 people whose remains were found on the border of malaysia in may and completed 10% testing on the bones and have not discovered how they died.

>> translator: the first step was to identify their gender, rough heights and ages, the next step is to identify who the people are and needs dna comparison. >> reporter: that is unlikely to ever happen and they are believes to be rohinga from myanmar and they face persecution by the government. >> translator: to find their family members is not an easy task since we have no idea who the people were and no access to the rohinga in myanmar. >> reporter: the graves were discovered in a thick jungle and more found across the border in malaysia and fell victim to traffickers who may have held them for ran some and he survived a similar journey and born in myanmar but went on a boat looking for a better life and he and thousands others were forced into, once in thailand he was bought and sold by fishermen

and rubber farmers and during two years of forced labor with no pay. now as the wet season nears an end he is trying to convince his family to stay in myanmar. >> translator: i keep telling my family members about my situation and what i experienced and tell them to be patient in the camps and don't try to leave and myanmar will be a better place to leave one day. >> reporter: in connection with the deaths 88 people have been charged with offenses related to trafficking, no one has been charged with murder or manslaughter. this is the final resting place, residents here say that in the days after the remains were found in the jungle most were e reburied here and not much to show and it's an over grown unmarked place at the edge of the cemetery in thailand. it's likely tragedies will happen again unless there is a

strong regional and international response to a problem that is only going to get worse. wayne hay, al jazeera, thailand. the u.n. secretary-general condemned the attack in a mask in yemen and ban ki-moon called for perpetrators to be brought to justice at least 25 people died when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a mosque run by shia houthis during prayers making the holiday of eid and fighters affiliated to i.s.i.l. have claimed responsibility for the attack and while the attack comes two days after yemen's president abd rabbuh mansur hadi returned from a six-month exile he performed eid prayers at his home in aiden. the philippine government says it's doing everything it can to rescue three foreign tourists kidnapped from a luxury resort in southern island. the military says it's looking

at several groups they may have been involved in the abduction and we have more. >> reporter: navy seals are looking for the armed group and the massive search area covers hundreds of kilometers and includes a remote mountain region and military and police resources are stretched but since the abduction monday night they have found nothing. this is where it happened, around 11:00 p.m. monday night a group of about 11 heavily armed men forcibly entered the marina and randomly entered some of the yachts before speeding off with some of the hostages on a boat. close circuit t.v. shows the four hostages being led away and include comedians hall and the resort manager said and the local philippine woman floor thought to be the girlfriend of hall. >> we are sure that the members of the community and the

families of the victims that this case particularly here in the area of the region because this is the first time that has happened for a long time. >> reporter: the president says army scouts are on the trail of the group which was previously unknown. this might be a reference to the army or bama and break away people from the break away liberation front and there are concerns that army may be in the rankings, a group known for its kidnapping and rout -- ruthless tactics and denies involvement. >> we will show you that the organization will keep communication lines open to help with whatever problems. >> he is worried about his daughter and he says she is a single mother who met robert hall less than three moves ago, back at the marina where they were abducted their yachts are

at anchor and guests are tense following the incident and the island has been spared the violence afflicting the region until now, al jazeera, southern philippines. south korean citizen and u.s. resident detained in north korea for five months made an appearance before this and moon read a speech full of praise for north korea and the government, in april the 21-year-old student of new york university admitted to entering north korea illegally. japan's sports minister resigned over planning for tokyo's 2020 olympics and plans for the main stadium was scrapped in july after the estimated cost ballooned over $2 million, that is twice the original figure and they say prime minister has asked him to stay in office until a cabinet reshuffle, that is expected soon.

mexican president says he will appoint a new special prosecutor to search for the country's disappeared but he did not commit to an internationally led probe which has been demanded by the families of the 43 missing students. and we take a look at the events that led to the students' disappearance. it was in late september of last year that 100 mexican teacher trainees had protest for education reform and taken over a number of public buses in the 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 lewis barker denied ordering police and stopped students from disrepresenting a speech his wife was given and 22 police officers were arrested that day. within two weeks of the

students' disappearance the first of many large-scale public demonstrations and he 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. and official investigation blames the student disappearance and said members of a drug gang confessed that corrupt police brought them which executed and burned their bodies and family of the victims said it was a cover up to protect senior politicians and members of the army. in december forensic results found a bone fragment near a dump matched one of the missing students and almost a year after the young men disappeared an independent investigation by international experts cast out on the mexico's government and said the students were killed and burned in a rubbish dump was scientifically impossible.

ten days later remains found in a dump matched a 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 the missing men. in bangladesh 10% of the population is connected to the internet but it's already transforming lives, some farmers are making ten times what they used to and all by selling online, and we have the report. >> reporter: their office is not very impressive and 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 he went online selling fashion products, electronics and anything else he can get his hands on from nearby wholesalers to customers all over bangladesh. >> translator: i didn't have

any capital and it was impossible for me to start a real business and i realized i could sell things online without needing to have a lot of money. >> reporter: a quarter of the sellers on the website he uses to 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 there is a reason behind the fast-growing popularity of online retailing, for most customers coming to a large marketplace in the city center can be a real nightmare because of bangladesh's netorious traffic. they are hoping to beat the traffic and online shopper says he is slowly getting used to

ordering from the internet. >> to be honest i'm not really fond of paying upfront before i get the product because you know it's just beyond my comfort zone but when i can pay cash on delivery i'm very comfortable. >> reporter: he sells his goods on a website set up by a german internet company that is investing in bangladesh with independent analysts estimating the internet penetration here still low at about 10% and he expects the online market here to grow in the next few years. >> potential bangladesh is huge for a variety of reasons. first of all the population of 160, 170 million and that is always something we look at when we decide which countries to expand in. 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 browsing the internet from their mobile phones.

>> reporter: he doesn't need to wait for the future, while not all his neighborhoods are benefitting from this digital revolution he says his life has already been transformed, al jazeera, bangladesh. and don't forget plenty more on the website and the address is al jazeera.com. pope is in town. >> the political football known as the keystone xl got picked up and kicked this week by hillary clinton. the democratic presidential