>> the u.n. chief calls for calm, but it's falling on deaf ears on another day of violence between israelis and palestinians hello from doha. this is the world news from al jazeera. slovenia sends riot teams to control its border. thousands of refugees continue to arriving. the government says it can't cope. britain pulls out all the stops for china's president, but now it's time to get down to business. all of that plus... [ ♪ ] ..first note of fame. a 21-year-old wins the restage

use fredrik chopin piano competition. breaking news from russia - a kremlin spokesperson confirmed serious president bashar al-assad has met with vladimir putin in moscow. rory challands on the line in moscow. what do you have on this, rorie? >> well, this has come as a bolt from the blue, hasn't it. it was an unannounced visit from president bashar al-assad in moscow, tuesday evening. no one new about it before it happened. and, of course, we are only finding out about it now. i mean, as i was leaving work yesterday evening. i noticed that moscow traffic was pretty much on a lock down, and a presidential helicopter moved overhead. it didn't seem likely that the

president was in the end helicopter. what did vladimir putin and bashar al-assad talk about. according to the kremlin, the kremlin spokesperson, they spoke about the usual things, the russian air campaign and the syrian army operation that has been going on. the russian air campaign has been going on since september 30th. the president thanked vladimir putin for the russian support. the kremlin says that the talks were in what they call a limited and an expanded format. what that means, it wasn't just vladimir putin and bashar al-assad having a chat. for some of the discussion, the senior russian leadership team was there to. the ministry of defense, and the foreign ministry involved in that, and they touch on topics, including bilateral relations. that is all quite vague language. the big question is this, did

vladimir putin say anything to bashar al-assad about the transfer of power. the only clue that the kremlin is giving is that vladimir putin told bashar al-assad that is he prepared for the political process, and that a political settlement in syria is possible. with world powers. that's what the kremlin is saying. >> just a couple of lines coming through, first of all syrian tv confirmed this, and we have a kremlin spokesman, dmitry, who said they discussed the fighting against terrorists and the extremist groups and support for the russian syrian army offensive. the were the has been involved about the latest situation in syria, a bland statement saying yes, we talked. one thing i talked about, i wonder in the last four years, if - sorry, bashar al-assad, if

he managed to get out of syria in that time. this could be his first visit. >> as far as i'm aware, it is. as far as i'm aware he hasn't left syria since the uprising began. there may have been other secret visits that we don't know about, he might have visited iran. we don't know of other foreign trips. it's a bit of a milestone. >> exactly, makes it important given russia's recent cooperation with syria. >> that is rory challands on the line from moscow, breaking news about the syrian president bashar al-assad, meeting that man, vladimir putin from russia in moscow, in what we believe would be the syrian president's first trip outside the country since the war began. more on that story as we get the it. we have had confirmation from the kremlin and syrian state television. now, the u.n. chief called for calm across israel and the

palestinian territories, it appears to be having little effect. after a day of violence on tuesday. wednesday a palestinian was shot by the israeli army, happening near the settlement of nablus. the girl was found to be carrying two knives, she was injured and taken to hospital. ban ki-moon is in the region calling for both sides to step back from a dangerous abyss, he held talks and is due to meet the palestinian leader in the coming hours, and requested an urgent video conference with the u.n. security council back in new york. >> israelis and palestinians stand on the brink of a catastrophic period of violence. we need to keep the situation from escalating into religious conflict with a potential regional implication. we must create conditions for meaningful negotiations that will end the occupation, and

realise the aspiration of both peoples. >> in the face of terrorism, israel and acting as any democracy would to defend citizens, we are not - i repeat - we are not using excessive force. if the international community wants to help end the bloodshed and the violence. i believe it must affirm israel's proven commitment to the status quo on the temple mount. it must support israel's right to self-defence, and must hold mahmoud abbas accountable for his dangerous words. >> fatah called a general strike in hebron, and rollies are expected in gaza and the occupied west bank. 50 palestinians and nine israelis died since the beginning of the month. there's little sign that the tension is easing. >> the grim aftermath of another shooting in hebron after what the israeli army says was an attack on soldiers.

two people believed to be palestinians were shot dead after the knife attack. one soldiers is said by the army to be injured. this on a day of other attacks and protest action on the streets of the west bank. >> 10 minutes drive from ramallah, where ban ki-moon is visiting the president. going each other on. it's long been a potentially lethal cat and mouse game. soldiers versus protestor in the occupied west bank. >> and this woman who left her children to come here says throwing stones is the only way she could express herself. >> this is not life any more. it's a life only for israelis, for if you are palestinians, you have no right to live or move. you have no right. you have no right to even have any hope in this life.

>> in bethlehem, israeli soldiers clashed with a larger crowd of demonstrators, driven back from the separation line into the distance. >> so with a barrage of tear gas, the israeli army holds its ground, and this is the spot they were trying to get to. it's bethlehem, the separation war, a landmark occupation. the tear gas barrages were relentless. you plastic-coated steel bullets, baton rounds were the main cause of injuries. protesters hit back, but couldn't get as far as the separation wall. a few broke through. one with a molotov cocktail. it landed besides the al jazeera tripod. we managed to move a meter away before it ignited. the man responsible made a run

for it. soldiers fired rounds, one hitting a leg. these young palestinians continue their protest every day and every night. they say they'll never give up the u.n. refugee agencies says more than ahalf a million refugees reached greece. and described it has a milestone and a spike in the numbers arriving. total number who crossed the mediterranean to reach europe is 643,000. more than 3,000 of them have died meanwhile slovenia's parliament passed legislation giving the army more power to guard the border. it's struggling with a huge influx of refugees, more than 20,000 arriving since saturday. let's go to paul brennan. live in the nearby slovenia. tell us about the army decision.

>> yes, we spoke about if yesterday. it came overnight. parliament sat until 1:30 in the morning to discuss this, and the motion was passed. 66 votes in favour, for the army of slovenia to get a border region. the powers they have will be similar. they'll warn, direct or temporarily restrict the movement of people, and it appears they'll be deployed to areas where there's not enough police personal to cover the border region, so it's a matter of putting more manpower and resources into an area where the existing resources are too thinly stretched from a slovenian point of view. indeed, the interior minister, as part of the debate that led to that vote said unless better control can be found, the sloughenians will reshort to

barriers, restricting the flow. tensions chaotic and badly organised process of moving the refugees through slovenia on to the desired border - we witnessed that yesterday. where a large group made their own bid for the border. >> their progress has been ampered by bad weather and official restrictions. pressures of numbers reached critical mass. from the refugee camp from the slovenian side, more than 2,000 men, women and children gave up waiting and came streaming down the hill towards the austrian frontier. >> we told them we can't to go. we don't want anything. just we want to go, to complete our journey. >> austrian soldiers and police

strung a barrier across the road. translators used megaphones to appeal for calm. the atmosphere was anything but calm. as the pressure grows, so does the impatience. this group behind me came walking down the street from the slovenian side. they are not registered. they are trying to push their way through. clearly it is not going to see, but you can see the authorities have difficulty maintaining order. the breaking point, an arrival on tuesday, of hundreds of refugees to a border camp hosting 2,500 people. until then the camp was orderly with police, charities, and combined to provide food and warm clothes. >> these people came to my heart. i emptied my closet. i took all the children's stuff. i have a small child. and bring them here, bought them here to help people because they are wet.

>> slovenia, a country of 2 million people says it cannot cope as the numbers arriving from croatia outstrip the numbers allowed onward to austria. in response, slovenian police reinforced their capabilities. and brought riot vehicles to patrol along the croatian boarder. austria denied restricting numbers. and police say they are protesting refugees as quickly as the system allows. >> we want them to have aid, food, so that they can sleep somewhere in austria, and there's no limitation of the presence we get from slovenia. we need a correct - all the correct form. >> correct procedure. >> correct procedure to get them. this is the problem. >> the police don't lack compassion, but it seems the system cannot keep up with the reality. . >> small, small country

slovenia, can it cope on its own with this number, a huge influx. >> well certainly the government doesn't believe so, and, in fact, the president is in brussels today, to make a formal official request from the e.u. not just for financial assistance, but also for police assistance. the difficulty is they struggle to have the resource, and the sloughenians want the e.u. to step up to the plate. the difficulty is although promises have been made by the european union, it's difficult to put them into reality. for example, front ex, overnight said that despite promises made for more border guards to be sent. in the front line states, barely a quarter of the manpower has made it to the states.

there's a lag between the promises and reality. it's lagging behind. lagging far behind the reality of the situation. >> paul brennan in involvenia for us. >> building housing asylum seekers in western sweden has burnt down, it's the fourth suspected arson attack. all 14 in the building. they are treating the fire as arson. more than 150,000 arrive in sweden this year alone. >> in the news ahead. we are in the philippines where people are starting to return home. plus. >> i'm in baghdad, where for the first time since 2008. iraq has not been named the world's most dangerous place for journalists, but the move from the top spot is far from encouraging. coming up, we'll explain why.

>> governments secretly paying ransoms. >> we were told never to disclose that they actually paid. >> are they saving lives or putting more at risk? back with the headlines on al jazeera. syria's president has met vladimir putin in moscow. the spokesman has discussed the fight against terrorist and extremist groups, and the question of russian support for the syrian army offensive. there are growing diplomatic efforts to end weeks of violence in the palestinian territories. ban ki-moon held talks with israel's prime minister. and is due to meet the

palestinian president as well. >> slovenia is sending the army to patrol its border as it struggles to deal with a growing refugee crisis. more than 25,000 arrived since saturday. they are planning to ask the e.u. for more help as well. >> clean-up begins in areas hit by tropical storm koppu. 26 people were killed and a million forced to leave their homes. wayne hay has more. >> reporter: the storm is off the northern most of the island of luzon. but the affects are felt in many areas, in the form of heavy rain. it is lighter, less intense some areas still experiencing the rain fall. here, the rainfall was huge. in a 20 hour period, it received two months worth of rain. remarkably it coped very well. there was some flooding, but the water has receded.

while the effects of the storm are diminishing the danger level is there, and the biggest danger at the moment is the threat of landslides. this is a mountainous part of the country, because so much rain fell. there's a danger that we could see the landslides occurring. the government is busy trying to get people in evacuation centers not to rush back to their homes. if they live in the danger areas, rather they stay in the evacuation centers for longer. so they do not go home and put themselves in danger should the landslides occur. . >> mexico says it will relaunch an investigation into the death of 23 students. the original inquiry was criticized by residents. the student disappeared after being held briefly by the police in iguala.

the prosecutor said the student were given over to a drugs gang and then murdered. >> colleagues of a british journalist who was murdered called for an independent inquiry. circumstances are unclear, but the turkish media says she was hung. susan hutchinson was a former colleague and doesn't believe the reports of suicide. >> it's heart-breaking. jacky was a professional, a passionate woman and a dear friend of mine. she's a great loss to advocacy, a human rights defender working on women's rights in wore on conflict. a great loss to human tip. >> i don't believe the statement around her having hanged herself by her shoelaces in a toilet cubicle, in a turkish airport. i don't believe that is it plausible. i hope we can get an independent inquiry into the circumstances

of her death, and that can be transparent cameron sutcliffe worked for the institute for war and peace reporting. a statement from the organization says: well, iraq has long had the poorest record in the world for failing to prosecute the killers of journalists. the recent report says she's not the bors offender, but it is a dangerous place to work in the media. imtiaz tyab reports. >> reporter: for 20 years this man had the task of counting the

number of iraqi journalists killed for doing their job. he runs the journalistic observatory out of the small office in central baghdad. sending up reports of every killing and kidnapping. rarely has he been able to do with details of an arrest. the rise of i.s.i.l. made the danger dramatically worse. >> working in iraq, the threat of i.s.i.l. is the biggest danger iraqi journalists encounter. i.s.i.s. carried out massacres in cities they control like i.s.i.l. >> reporter: the faces of 27 journalists killed in 2007 were shown in the poster. the media advocacy group, the following year, released an impunity index report. the research looks at the unsolved murders of journalists. where attacks go unpunished.

iraq has consistently been at the top of that list. moving down to second place is far from encouraging press freedom in iraq. >> since the 2003 u.s.-led invasion, close to 170 iraqi journalists have been killed in targeted killings. with only one ever resulting in a conviction, which is why press freedom groups say anyone that killed a journalist is getting away with murder. >> reporter: at a time when journalists are facing threats. the iraq media is booming. media was controlled by the state. now there are around 30 newspapers, 35 tv stations and iraqi fresh freedom groups from not militias gaining attention, posing a threat to journalists.

these militias operate under an official cover. and therefore they can target a journalist. they can get away with it. because these armed groups are protected from the government. >> the prime minister's government denies claims that it disaned for press freedom. but for those that practice in iraq. it's serious. the u.k. and china are expected to sign deals of 46 million during the 4-day visit. one of the things china is investing in the u.k. is a generation of nuclear power plants. business deals come after an elaborate deal. we have this report from london.

>> reporter: britain rolled out the red carpet for president xi treating him to a procession through london, and a royal gun salute by tower bridge. at the start of the visit. he was given the rare honour of addressing both houses of parliament. >> parliamentarians are the cream of a society. i bid you well as we chinese say, to skill higher, to see further. i hope you will continue to promote the u.k.'s relations with china, strengthen friendship and support cooperation. i hope you build a bridge of understanding and cooperation to create a brighter and promising future for our bilateral ties. >> a largely ceremonial days before the two sides get down to business. the ministers expect president xi jinping to endorse more than $45 billion in deals. as they look for cash, trail

projects, for high speed transport. and power stations. >> there'll be big announcements, i have no doubt in terms of energy, infrastructure, health and finance. a wide range of sectors, it's a chance for him and a big team of ministers to engage with us at lots of different levels. >> but not everyone wants a closer relationship with china, protesting outside buckingham palace were human rights groups anxious that the u.k. is putting money before morals. >> in the last three years since he came to pass, since he assumed the presidency, there's an alarming deterioration in an already poor human rights situation. there's a crackdown on human rights activists, lawyers, critics. several hundred have been arrested. many do not have access to lawyers. >> rounding off the event on tuesday a banquet in buckingham palace, where talks of human rights is unlikely to be a topic of conversation. >> president xi will visit a football club and make a trip to manchester. where david cameron hopes ta make a joint announcement into a venture.

more investment will make northern britain more competitive. both sides hope that these few days could mark the beginning of a golden era in their relationship . >> finally a south korean pianist won the top honour at the 17th international fredrik chopin competition, a highly acclaimed contest held once every five years in poland's capital, warsaw. gerald tan has more. [ ♪ ] >> reporter: fredrik choepin's piano concerto in e minor, a winning performance for 21-year-old south korean. >> first of all, i couldn't believe it, now i'm a little worried because - about the future concert. i don't want people

disappointed. of course, being a pianist is also good. i want to make good musk. >> 77 other contestants were outplayed to sweep the medal and prize. the prestigious competition is named after the 1927 pianist and composure, one of the few contests where piannists play music by a single composer. a canadian came in second. the only finalist to select the composure in f minor. running since 1927, the chopin competition launched the careers of many young pianist, opening the doors for them to play at the world's leading concert

hauls. >> so much more news online at aljazeera.com. many other video reports and live streaming, and down the left-hand, our social media keeping you up to date, all the news at aljazeera.com. >> the top of the world - the arctic circle. an environment that is at the same time hostile and fragile. warming temperatures are warming ice at historic rates... adding to its distress, man's unquenchable desire for fossil fuel. the quest to retrieve arctic oil is underway, but how prepared is the world to handle a catastrophic spill. are oil and ice a recipe for disaster?