>> welcome to another news hour fol jazeera from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes, momentum builds to end the war in syria, but the fate of president bashar al assad divides world leaders. >> offensive ands the issue of sex abuse in the church and his final day of his visit to the u.s.

cat loin i can't has a record turn out on a vote that could head them to independence. >> leading uruguay 64 points to three in rugby. >> hello, russia's president warned has any attempts to overthrow the legitimate government in syria could lead to a failed state like iraq or libya. vladimir putin's comments come as world leaders gather in new york for the general assembly. speaking on u.s. network cbs, vladimir putin said syrians and only syrians could decide the fate of their country. >> there's no other solution to the syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism. but at the same time, urging them to engage in positive dialogue with a rational opposition and conduct reform.

>> as you know, some of the coalition partners want to see president assad go first before they will support. >> i'd like to recommend to them the following. they should send this message to the syrian people. it's only the syrian people who are entitled to decide who should govern their country and how. >> the president of france confirmed airstrikes in syria. he told the media that the future of syria cannot include assad. >> i am here in new york together with my minister of foreign affairs. i will be meeting with all of the partners and stakeholders on what is called the syrian conflict, a conflict that led to some 250,000 deaths and for which bashar al assad is the main person responsible. even though now and for the past

few months, isil has been responsible for terrible atrocities. a political solution requires all stakeholders be involved without excluding anyone. that being said, france considers that the future of syria cannot be with bashar al assad. >> james bays is in new york. there are two differing opinions on the future of bashar al assad. is there any consensus on how to proceed here? >> no, i don't think there is. and there's certainly a debate on which enemy to fight first, particularly among the western countries. most of them say that isil was in effect created by president assad. he created the conditions in syria that allowed isil to flourish. president putin in that u.s. interview making it clear that what he's doing is legal under international law and the u.n. charter because he said russia

sends ships to syria because they are invited in by the legitimate government. the government holds the seat here in the united nations and that is assad's government and the says the troops trained by the u.s. and coalition over the skies of syria bombing isil led by the u.s. does not have that permission, and so is illegal. in that same u.s. t.v. interview president putin is asked about his speech in 24 hours time to the j general assembly. he said he'll talk about the history of the united nations and saying that the united nations was founded following a meeting that took place in his country. i spoke to short time ago to security council diplomat who described that as very cheeky, because it was a part of crimea which was annexed with ukraine.

we'll be listening for his comments on penalty assad, this big question about whether president assad can be part of any transition and that's a question, too, that i put to the e.u. high representative, federico margarini. >> i think it would be impossible to manual for the future of syria -- the point is how do we start the change in government? >> russias foreign minister has said that the purpose of iraqi and iranian intelligence sharing

on syria is to coordinate against islamic state, while the u.s. secretary of state john kerry then comes out and says that anti islamic state, the effort has to be coordinated. you can't have states going off on a separate path. is that going to cause any friction in new york? >> i think it will cause friction. i'm sure you're going to their from mr. hatch recover while you set up your own anti isil coalition and did it in coordination with the syrian government and he'll be making the point the syrian government as you heard mr. putin say in that u.s. interview is a legitimate government as far as the united nation is concerned, the representative of syria is an ambassador who represents the assad government. difficult situation, i think for the u.s., just hours ahead of the big speeches here at the general assembly, the speech by president obama, the speech by

president putin, particularly with regard to the role of iraq, because iraq is central to the u.s. co listen against isil. they are working together very, very closely. now the russians brought out this new intelligence sharing unit in baghdad which will be part of the coalition of the iranians, the russians and bashar al assad's government. iraq seems to be in both camps. that i think is potentially tricky for president obama. >> while we've been speaking, britain's prime minister to muddy the water further said he thinks bashar al assad can be part of a transitional government. you can see the full interview on the talk to al jazeera program. it airs first at 14:30 g.m.t. monday. >> pope francis has met with

clergy on the issue of sex abuse. it comes ahead of his final mass, which is expected to draw more than a million followers. let's go live now to philadelphia. al jazeera's alan fisher is there. what exactly has the pope been saying? >> well, the pope met with survivors early this morning for 30 minutes. he met three women and two men, who were victims of child sex abuse, accompanied my family supporters. the pope listened to their supporters. he asked to pray with them and gave them his blessing. for many survivors, this isn't enough. the pope went to a meeting of bishops. although he's talked about climate change, inequality, immigration, it was really the child sex abuse scandal many wanted to hear him address directly. it was 2002 when the dam on the allegations came to burst.

he has promised to do all he can to find those responsible and bring them to justice. >> i have heard in my hearts these stories of the suffering of the youth that were sexually abused and it continues to be on my mind that people that had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated their trust and caused them great pain. god weeps. these things cannot be contained in secret. i commit to a careful oversight to ensure youth are protected and all responsible will be held accountable. >> many people, though, alan, are still critical of the pope's handling of this issue, aren't they? >> yeah, a number of survivors groups say this was nothing more than a p.r. stunt, that the pope simply isn't doing enough. they say there are 100,000 victims in the united states and if the pope really wanted to do something about it and victims

groups have been around since 2002, they demand he hand over all the documents that would reveal what went on and who was responsible and give them to the authorities so they could do something about it and bring those responsible to justice. without that, this is an empty gesture. the pope wanted to clear the decks for the rest of the day. he'll be celebrating a mass here on benjamin franklin parkway through the center of philadelphia. the catholic church estimates 1 million people will be here. he wanted to make sure that he could address the child sex abuse issue, because it has been a shadow over his visit to the united states and he really wants to leave here with warm memories and people having warm memories of him and the catholic church. >> many thanks. >> here with the news hour on al jazeera, still to come, in hungary refugees are closely monitored by police and even

soldiers. we report on the government's tough tactics. >> desperate for help, the countries overwhelmed, somalia struggles to refugees arriving from yemen. >> we'll tell you why lewis hamilton's win in japan puts him on par with one of the greatest drivers in formula one history. >> voting well underway in elections that could lead to catalonia breaking away from spain. catalan's pro independence party eight victory in region ales would give them a mandate to declare independence. the government in madrid will reward that move as illegal. jonah hull reports. >> it could well be a good day for independence in catalonia. voters have turned out in big numbers to elect a regional parliament with a coalition of pro independence parties from

the left and the right likely to win a majority of seats. that they intend their voices to be heard as far away as madrid an brussels. >> we are absolutely convinced that democratic mandate that we will get today in the polls will be respected, whichever it's going to be. i hope it is also something that will be upheld by the opinions of the member state. >> within 18 months of a win, they say, the coalition will have completed a process of independence institution building. it will have changed the catalan constitution and they'll declare independence. >> madrid has been utterly incapable of responding in any positive way to what is obviously the demand of a very high proportion of the catalan population. we don't know whether it's a majority or not, because they refuse to let us hold a referendum. >> do you not believe that catalans should have the right to self determination? >> i cannot say that's our

family, because i think everyone should have the right to decide its future. >> why not give them a vote on the matter? >> because we have a constitution that the majority of catalans voted in the 70's, ok? so we have to respect that. it's our history. it's our culture. it's our thing. >> confronting this popular will to succeed in the government in madrid. the spanish constitution prohibits any move to break up the union. it has used the constitutional court successfully in the past to block such moves and it will continue to do so. >> other separatist movements are watching developments here closely. >> it's up to the catalans to decide that. we think they at least have the

right to do so. spain has so far only said no, no, no. >> what happens in the coming hours and over the next 18 months here could set the stage for a political and constitutional crise in spain, and possibly further afield. >> jonah joins us live from outside the regional parliament in barcelona. not surprisingly given what's at stake here, turnout is pretty high. >> well, yes, i'll correct you. i'm standing outs a polling station. people keep streaming in to cast a vote. the question of course, who will that favor in this election, it's not a referendum, it is an election, an election which could be decisive on this question of whether catalonia should get independence or not. well, i'm joined noily liz castro of the catalan national assembly, a civil society group dedicated to independence. thanks for joining us.

liz, i wonder what you make of this high turnout. are you worried that a sizeable, perhaps percentage of people here in catalonia who are against independence may be turning out to say so? >> on the contrary. i'm very excited that people are taking this referendum so seriously. in fact, i went this morning to accompany my daughter to vote and we had to stand in line for about an hour. there were people of all colors and sizes and ages, people with families. the move was jovial, happy and there were people from different parties. it wasn't one or the other. i live in a perhaps more pro independence neighborhood, but there were a lot of people and i think people are taking it very seriously. the first information that we had at 1:00 say there is about seven-points higher in pro independence areas, about six points higher maybe in unionist areas and about five in the rest, so, and these are numbers on top of the already the highest turnout that was reported in the last elections in 2012. >> let's talk about those unionist neighborhoods, because there are people who live in

catalonia of course, perhaps an unknown number but large number about those who don't share your idea of independence from spain. what's your message to them? >> eve also tried to be very inclusive and in fact catalonia is situated on a crossroads between the siberian peninsula and the rest of europe. spain has always embraced immigrants from people that came from the other parts of the world in 2010. on top of a population of 6 million. there is no right wing fascist party here. we are welcoming and hope to incident great and figure out a way to include everyone. >> inclusivety is the message. what about the economy when confronted with the question of membership of the european union, of the euro zone an

independent catalonia that could be excluded from these bodies? >> i say don't be afraid. don't listen to fear mongering. we need to solve differences of opinion by voting in democratic proses. the central bank governor said there would be a run on the bank monday and wednesday. he said no, not really. the prime minister said cat loanens will be out of the e.u., out of the world. the foreign minister said out of the universe, they can't think of enough threats to give us. in fact, an on line radio personality explained to him that catalans cannot move their spanish citizenry and won't be out of the e.u. there is a lot of fear mongering that we shouldn't listen to. we should discuss the pros and consist and vote on it. that's the way it has been done for centuries. >> a big turnout then, about three hours of polling left. the question of course, which way will it go, for unless or are there an awful lot of people

coming outs to no. >> jonah, many things. jonah hull in barcelona. 17 syrian refugees have drowned after their boat sank off the coast of turkey in the early hours of sunday morning. the boat carrying 37 people was on the way to the greek island of kos. twenty people she rescued. meanwhile, at least 245 refugees have been rescued from two riverboat in the mediterranean on sunday. so far, the italian navy has rescued 500 people in seven operations since saturday. >> hungary is now close to completing a second fence to close its borders to refugees. the new one is a continuation of the fence with serbia and runs along hungary's border with croatia. it's all part of a much wider militarized strategy to end the refugee crisis. >> whatever else you might think

about the hungarian government, it is nothing if not determined. at this border crossing, the refugees are dumped on the other side by croatia and from there, hungary takes no chances. they are escorted through in small groups under the gazes of the police and heavily armed soldiers. a helicopter claimed to be combat ready circled overhead. those already on buses are guarded by the police. those who need to use the bathroom, regardless of age or sex are escorted there and back. the wait is for hours like this until hungary was ready for its next move. clearly they would have nowhere to run even if they wanted to. it's all open fields and nothing more. but all around, more military vehicles were busy laying more and more fence. of course the military components of hungary's response to the refugee crisis has all other countries worried about the signals it might send out. to the hungarian government, this is the most efficient way

of handling the crisis or ensuring that no refugees actually get into hungary. hungary would also argue it's a more organized way of dealing with large numbers passing through than the croatia border where the facilities are pitiful. do these small children with their parents really need to be confronted by big men with big guns when they have already run from war? >> while they are waiting, we try to cheer them up with fruit, water or sweets. if we really have to, we give them a toy to help ease the tension. >> the convoy sets off at some speed accompanied from behind by the humvees. at no point did they take their eye off the buses. the convoy went to the nearest rail station to wait again. children wet themselves on their mother's laps, but there was no getting off, because the police would not let them. some people didn't seem to mind

the soldiers, as long as they were heading to germany. >> it's like an army government country. not good. >> it's ok, yes? >> it's ok. >> back in line again, police all around. the same on the platform and no doubt all the way to the austrian border and back to the checkpoint, the soldiers are piling more and more rolls of fence on to their carrier. others see this as a humanitarian crisis, but here, it's a siege. al jazeera within the hungary, croatia border. >> people flee hing the war in yemen are crossing the gulf of aden to reach crowded camps in somalia. there are fears somalia could struggle to cope. >> it's meal time in the port city in eastern somalia. dates and biscuit is all they will get today. those here are the latest to arrive. he was injured in fighting in

the yemeni city of aden. >> i was driving an ambulance when i got hit by a mortar. i had three surgeries performed on my leg. i was forced to flee with my family. i couldn't provide for them anymore. >> they are trying to escape the violence. hundreds have been moved about four hours drive away. the town's only university is now their home. an official from the yemeni embassy in somalia comes to check on them. he is unwelcome. the refugees are desperate and tempers are quickly lost here. >> we want to be taken out of this country. somalia isn't safe. we can't live here when we don't feel secure enough. somalia has no capacity to care for us. >> among the refugees are unaccompanied children, separated from their families in

their rush to escape. many still don't know the whereabouts of their families. this 12-year-old is one of them. >> we eat sometimes and other times we don't. we have nothing, no milk, no juice, i'm ready to go back home if possible, but don't know where to find my family. >> the flood of yemeni refugees into somalia is overwhelming aid agencies and communities. thousands of somalis are returning home to escape the war there. >> it's a situation made worse by more than a million people displaced. the u.n. says at least 3 million people in somalia are in need of aid. despite their own problems, the local community continues to give to the refugees. this tribal king has been leading the efforts to feed them. he has just brought them a fresh supply of food. >> what we give the refugees isn't enough.

they require urgent and adequate help and most importantly, shelter. most people here are happy to have survived. they say life in somalia is hard, but it's still better than violence in yemen. yemen. >> iran's supreme leader ayatollah is demanding that saudi arabia apologize for the stampede during the hajj in which more than 750 people were killed. >> the saudi minister said iran is playing politics with this tragedy. he called on the iranian leaders to be more forceful and sensitive to the victims of the stampede. he said the kingdom is investigating the tragedy and will declare all the results.

meanwhile, the health minister in the kingdom of saudi arabia said the process of identifying the dead will continue for a number of days and said it's because the sheer number of the dead people, more than 700 pilgrims died in this stampede, most of them lost their identification when the stampede happened and that is making it hard for the saudi authorities to identify them. in terms of nationalities, there are no official list yet, but we do know that more than 130 regular pilgrims were among the dead and we know pilgrims from pakistan, india and other nationalities have died in the tragedy. >> still to come, a church in crisis. how trouble for a very powerful religious sect in the philippines could impact politics in the country. >> a food security movement that's growing roots with a native american tribe. >> how ill fitting shoes could have cost this runner a new

marathon world record. jo will be here with that a little later in the sport.

>> good to have you have with us. our top stories, vladimir putin warned any attempts to overthrow president assad's regime in syria could lead to a failed state like iraq or libya. the russian president's comments come as word leaders gather for the u.n. general assembly. >> parliamentary election underway in spain's cat lena region, an opinion pole say a coalition could win a majority there and give a mandate to break away from spain. >> pope francis met with victims of church sex abuse. it's the first time he tack would the subject, sake the catholic church would provide careful oversight to protect young believers. let's get a view on that now from the director of snap at the survivor's network of those abused by priests. he joins us live now from st.

louis in missouri. what do you make which what the pope had to say today? >> we've heard it before from this pope and his predecessors. this protects not a single child, exposes a sing predator, nice words, gives comfort to the victims who sat in the room with the pope today. adults, we can heal ourselves with or without church officials, but kids cannot protect themselves without decisive action from this pope and that is missing. >> what action do you hope for from the pope? >> he should turn over every single file about every single predator priest to law enforcement. he should insist his bishops do the same. third, he should instruct every witch shop on the planet to post on their websites the names of

these predator priests so parents can protect their kids from them. thirty bishops in america have posted these names, but that's 30 out of 51 hyundai cease around the world. the pope should order bishops to stop fighting against better child safety laws and start lobbying for better child safety laws. there's many, many steps that this pope could take that would have an meet impact today, not words, not promises, not gestures, not symbolism, but effective steps that he simply has to take if the church is going to be made safer for kids. >> many people, this pope has been a breath of fresh air, he's been pretty outspoken on a number which issues. why do you think he hasn't been quite as bold on this issue of sex abuse by the clergy? >> well, he hasn't been bold at all on this issue and that's a terrific question. i think in part, he comes from the developing world, and in the developing world, this scandal

has barely begun to surface. we in the west, it's been on the front pages of newspapers in the states for more than 30 years, but the pope comes from a country where the power disparity between catholic officials and their congress degree grants is much greater, less independent journalism, less of a civil justice system and outside these practices that expose this corruption. the pope hasn't done more, because he doesn't feel has he to. that's the tragedy of a man arcual system like this. unless there's serious pressure from independent sources, this pope just like the majority of the world's bishops do little or nothing, and continue to get by with it. >> good to talk to you, many thanks indeed for being with us. >> thank you, my pleasure.

>> china has been criticized for imprisoning women's rights activists by the u.s. and how many rights organizations. the condemnation came in advance of chinese president xi jingping sharing a u.n. session on gender inequality. rights groups say that the chinese government is hypocritical and activists in china should be part of the debate. in pakistan said tribal belt, less than 3% of women can read and write. as we report now, some women are demanding a right to education.

>> in pakistan's tribal belt, there's one major difference between this woman and others who live there. her father wanted her to be educated, a rare thing for women from the federally administered tribal area. >> there is no education system. they don't know about their basic rights, that education is their right, decision making is their right. >> for the last few years, pakistan's military has been fighting against the taliban and other groups inside the tribal belt, so tens of thousands of people have fled to camps like this one on the outskirts of peshawar. the tradition of keeping women indoors and uneducated has remained strong. >> all these women are living in the regional capital peshawar, waiting to return to their homes. >> when we were in the tribal belt, we were blind and didn't know anything, but now our eyes are open and i'm trying to educate my daughter, as well as my son. >> she says the displacement of more than a million people from the tribal belt has had one positive benefit. >> we have seen the lifestyle of

other people of a certain area. we are seeing that the men are now seeing the difference between the educated girl and uneducated girl. >> as more women speak out, they are becoming braver and bolder. in the past, some have been killed for demanding rights. >> my family opposes girls' education. i struggled for it and they tortured me like hell. i still feel the pain. >> if there's a chance for education, the boy gets it over the girl. they will send their son to a good school and say to the girl, no more education for you after five years. >> now they found a woman from their own community who has given them the courage to demand more, but it's likely to take years of struggle to change centuries of tradition. nicole johnston, al jazeera, peshawar. june the president of the global fund for women joins us litsch from the u.n. headquarters in

new york. tell us something about the importance of today's event focusing on women and gender inequality at the u.n. >> we have worked really very hard. the women's movement, the social movement connected with several other people to ensure that there is a separate, individual gender equality sustainable development goal. the reason for that is so that we can shine light on the inequalities that continually discriminate women and make girls not go to school and make classes of employment pay women less salaries and places of decision making not have women in decision-making places, so having, being in new york today, where 17 sustainable development goals have been adopted, among which goal number five is on

gender equality. >> how will that sustainable development goal translate into opportunities for women around the world? >> the first important thing as a u.n. contract cool, it shines lights on inequalities that exist, which means that it gives ammunition for activists for government, for others to be held responsible, for ensuring that things which hinder equality in society are addressed and that we can hold governments, such as currently the chinese government, as we talk, is chairing a session where many governments are giving shear own commitment to what they will do to ensure

gender equality. most important, because the gender equality goal has been put out there in the public, we can begin to gather data, data that will show where there are problems and what is happening to those problems and segregated data so when we talk about girls and women, poor girls are more vulnerable. girls in conflict areas are more vulnerable. women who have to take care of sick people are more vulnerable. we will be able to segregate this data and show the world. >> you talked about china and president xi jingping chairing this session on gender inequality which some rights group say is hypocritical. you're a little more positive on that. you don't think that china is just paying lip service here and is determined to do something about it.

>> i do believe if you want to make change, you must be counted. if we continue to condemn china only, but we don't put them on the pedestal to really account for what they do, we will not be able to have them take the responsibility, so i take the opinion that you have to get the people who are both doing good things and offenders into a platform where you can hold all of them accountable, and i believe that we will have more opportunities to ask china to be more accountable because they have put themselves in the front line. >> really good to talk to you. many thanks indeed for being with us. the president of the global fund for women. >> one of the u.n.'s other sustainable development goals is to end hunger and achieve food security by 2030. one native american tribe said it's not going to sit around and wait for outside help. it's using traditional practices and hopes to produce enough food

to feed itself. we report from maine. >> eight, 10, 12, 14, 16, in a, 20, 22 rows of potatoes here. >> the people have had enough of capitalism. >> we got the peas and the spinach, sun flowers. >> the tribe which traces 12,000 years of history here is fighting back with food. >> we've got mounds over there with zucchini, we have basil. >> instead of exporting crops to what they call the newcomers to generate revenue, the tribe shifted the base of its development to food self sufficiency. >> this is more valuable than money. to me, this is whole healing for a community right here. >> they need healing. obesity and diabetes are widespread, average life expectance 30 years lower than americans. the chief thinks he knows what's gone wrong. >> in our culture, if we were say walking along the shore or

whatever, and saw a person collecting canoes, they would be seen as just kind of odd, because there was absolutely no reason for a person to possess that number of canoes. >> you are talking about capitalism. >> exactly. >> it's failed you. >> it's never worked for us. >> the newcomers are the european settlers who began arriving 400 years ago. they steadily limited the tribe's access to the land and sea. the tribe name means those who finish for pollock. it was fed by delivers of canned goods from the u.s. the tribe was growing food, but cash crops for export. the result, food shortages, a poor diet of processed goods and

a diminishing of sovereignty. now the tribe are embasing an economic model that puts the tribe's interests first. >> the other industries that have been brought to native communities, indian country, if you will, all seek to take advantage of our status for the purpose of serving other economic interests. >> in four years, the tribe hopes to be 50% self sufficient. that will put it add an advantage to the surrounding state of maine. >> if there were some sort of natural disaster that occurred that prevented the trucks from rolling, this state only has four days food supply. >> it's a challenge to an economic and nutritional system that even many newcomers in the united states are now questioning. al jazeera, pleasant point reservation. >> the church of christ in the philippines is one of the world's most secretive sects, wielding substantial influence with churches all over the world. for the first time, it's facing

a much. ized crisis, one that could greatly affect filipino politics. we have the details. >> it claims to be the one true church, established in 1914. it is an extremely well organized sect with followers of more than 2.4 million scattered all over the world. it draws powers from its ability to generate enormous revenues. it's reported more than 10% of its people's income goes to feeding the church's coffers. a solid voting block during elections here, politicians compete for the attention of its members. it's code of silence has been broken. on the run after he exposed corruption involving the highest officials of the church, this man spoke to us. >> when it comes to some

ministers, they lead a life of extravagant way of living. you can see it in the cars they are using, the houses that they have built. >> he said armed groups detained him and his family, only they are lucky to escape. >> the hierarchy of the sect demands what it calls a separation of church and the state, organizing a protest rally that lasted for days. >> we were reminding not the entire government, but a certain part of the administration to at least remember that there is a constitutional guarantee concerning the separation of church and state. >> he says the government is meddling in its internal affairs, maintaining that the state that no jurisdiction to intervene. the department of justice will proceed with its preliminary investigation. religious leaders it says are

not immune from criminal prosecution. >> the resistance from the group shouldn't come as a surprise. the sect worked within the structures of philippine politics. >> they operate as a state within a state, therefore, they are self legislating, they don't have to be accountable to the government, so in that sense, resisting d.o.j. investigation has nothing to do with separation of church and state. it has everything to do with maintaining the structures of authority within the church itself. >> as the cracks within its leadership continue to show, many wonder about the future of one of the world's most secretive sects. it may be seen as a strange presence to those outside of it, but it's very much part of the fabric of the country's political culture. >> turkey says tourism industry needs a boost. we'll look at what's putting off

sun seekers. >> in the sport, a disappointing day for the moto g.p. world champion. we'll have the details in around four minutes.

>> the industry is having a very difficult year for tourism. people around spending enough money. the industry is vital to turkey's economy. as bernard smith reports, some tourists are worried about the

security situation there. >> for decades, guaranteed sunshine and beautiful scenery have drown millions of european tourists to southern turkey. regional instability is putting people off. the number of british tourists is down 35,000 this year. hotels are feeling the heat. >> there is a lot to do. first we have to manage this crisis successfully. our image isn't good. the world thinks we are in the middle of a war in the middle east, being fought by terrorists all the time, but look, here on the aegean, everyone is having fun on the beach. the tourist ministry should be working with us to do something. >> the government, which wouldn't give al jazeera an interview, has launched a t.v. and on-line advertising campaign. turkish school holidays were extended by two weeks to try and

boost tourism revenues. >> turkey's tourism industry is one of the biggest in the world and a major employer. in 2014, turkey made $34 billion from foreign tourism. so far this year, revenues are down 14%, according to the country's statistical office. >> many tourists we spoke to said they'd have second thoughts about coming here. >> we have booked this holiday 10 months ago, having been to turkey six times in the last six years. this year, the tunisia story happened and that was concerning. >> in istanbul, hotel occupancy rates were down an alarming 8% in the summer. the number of visitors to the city is actually up, but that's put down to more people stopping

off while in-transit on turkish airlines. >> about security, did you have any concern? >> no, no. before at home, i think about it, but here, no, no. we worry about what happens in politics, but now that i'm here, i'm comfortable. >> from istanbul to the aegean, foreign tourism finances more than 50% of turkeys $47 billion deficit, money this country can't afford to lose. bernard smith, al jazeera. >> title for sport, here's jo. >> australia's rugby team pulled off the biggest win of the world cup, flashing uruguay 63 points to three. the wallabies ran 11 tries. the two time champions who opened their campaign with a win

over fiji wednesday, made hay in the sunshine. australia secured the all important bonus points that helped push them to the toll that pool a ahead of encounters with england and wales. >> the plan is to play well every game and just let the results take care of themselves, so we're not sitting in front of the t.v. for one team or the other, just making assessments and looking at our game and seeing how we can improve. we're going to have to improve to be able to compete with england. >> meanwhile, scotland have gone top of pool b after beating the u.s.a. the americans led 13-6 at the break, but four second half tries gave the scots a 36-16 victory and a bonus point. they now lead pool b. with 10

points from two games just ahead of south africa and s samoa. the romanians are seeking their first points in the tournament. >> south africa dealt a blow to their campaign, ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a broken jaw, the injury happened in the victory over is samoa on saturday. fitness problems overshadowed his last two appearances and ruled him out of the 2003 tournament. >> women rugby players aim for a place at next year's olympic games in rio. seven teams are competing for a single spot at the games. it's the first time women's rugby will be played in the world's top sporting event. >> the rugby seven's team has

been straining in johannesburg for a week to get used to the altitude, hoping to add to their home advantage, it's history in the making. it's history in the making, only a single winning women's team from africa will qualify for the olympics. women's rugby is featuring for the first time, unlike most competitors, the south africans are professional sports women and one of the favorites. >> we are not taking this for granted. we know that every game we approach will be very tough, so the team's coming in. we don't underestimate them at all, so we're going to play every day. >> the tournament organizers say up to 40% of new players taking up rugby in africa are women and girls. the perception that women on the continent are held back by contact sports by cultural and religious reasons is believed to be outdated.

>> a very good start, so ma means no real issues. >> women's teams are underfunded compared to men's sides. zimbabwe's team, the capitals place in the cricket team and holds down a full time job, none of which hampers the precious love of rugby. >> the good game. i like it. >> while it is growing in popularity, it lags far behind the men's side in every way, but regardless of which team qualifies for rio, the fact women's rugby will be there will do a lot to advance the sport. >> for those who don't make the cut, the chance to play against other african teams is one to be relished. they need more opportunities like this tournament to improve their competitiveness not only in africa, but on the world stage. johannesburg, south africa.

>> lewis hamilton has equal would the record of 41 race victories. >> the mercedes driver won in japan. it helped extend his formula one championship lead. >> he may have missed his chance at last week's singapore grand prix but here in japan, hamilton did earn the career tally of 41 race wins. britain is closing in on a third world title. >> i love to watch him drive and to match his wins, it doesn't feel real at the moment. >> starting in pole position, hamilton passed him on the opening lap. his chances of a win were already as good as over. while rossberg couldn't keep pace with hamilton, he was too

quick for ferrari's sebastie >> finishing 19 seconds clear of rossberg, his closest title rival. >> i got a better start. fair play, it was a good battle into turn one. turn two just made a mistake, so that was the end of it there. >> a disappointing race for pole sitter and world champion marquez, who crashed out on lap two. yamaha rider finished two and a half seconds ahead with championship leader rossi in

third, cutting the overall lead to 14 points. >> a kenyan woman narrowly missed out on a win. it was a minute and four seconds from a new word record time. >> that is all the sport for now. >> in soles, they can't do a thing with them. holiday makers in australia put a nasty nighttime surprise, a sinkhole the size of a football field cause be chaos north of brisbane saturday. a car, car van, trailer and some tents, luckily, no human being was reported injured or missing. >> thanks for watching, bye-bye.

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a push to end syria's war although differences remain under the role of the president. >> you are watching al jazeera with me david foster. the pope promises victims of sex abuse by the clergy that the guilty will be punished. regional elections in catalonia could see the region break away from spain. a stand-off