>> hurricane patricia due to hit soon. mexico braces itself for the biggest storm in the western hemisphere. hello there. i'm julie mcdonald. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up. [ explosions ] >> student protests as south africa university presidents back down on a student increase. israel eases restrictions on the al-aqsa mosque compound in occupied east jerusalem.

several medical tas facilities have been hit since russia began its aerial campaign there. mexico has been preparing for the strongest hurricane to hit the western coast imminently. the category five storm has been building i in the pacific ocean, and it's expected to make landfall with wind gusts. al jazeera's john holman is in guadalajara mexico. >> these seas are already beginning to rage. these buildings will shortly be battered. it won't be possible for touri tourists to stroll along the beach. hurricane rash is on its way.

>> it's very probably that this hurricane will effectively be the most intense hurricane as committeesed in this part of the pacific in our country since records began in 194,937. >> this is an historic storm in man ways, the strongest ever recorded in the pacific. the fastest ever to develop, but residents have been given some time to prepare. >> i'm doing well here with my mother. they had told us that it would be category four. now it's been raised to category five. now there will be protections, special sides where people can stay. >> we didn't buy that much because they regularly will say that a hurricane will come. i don't think the majority will participate that much. >> mexico has a lot of mountains and the terrain is very dry. in turn that amplifies the rainfall particularly when storms make rainfall in mexico

most of the damage and casualties are associated with flooding from rainfall. >> it's hard to imagine what wind gusts up to 400 per hour will feel like. the taj it can cause. something that hundreds of thousands are go to find out as a category five hurricane comes ashore. >> we're joined live now from guadalajara. they're experienced in dealing with these murks 37 ar hurricanes are they pretty period? >> the interesting thing about this hurricane is that it's getting in--it's at its nearly strongest point at the point that it makes impact at landfall. sometimes they come and by the time they hit the land they're already starting to weaken. this has started to hit the mexican coast.

as you say there has been a lot of storms that have hit that mexican coast over the past two years. this is the biggest in the western hemster that has ever been recorded. it's the biggest beast all together. >> what have they been doing to get prepared. where are people going to be able to get help and support? >> they're already there. people have been evacuated from their hotels, villages and their homes. they're in schools. they're in temporary shelters that have been set up, food, blankets and everything like that are already in those shelters. it's already moved. it should be battened down in those areas where the hurricane is going to hit. in the next couple of hours the mexican military, and they

should be able to deal with it. they say once the hurricane hits everyone should just batten down the hatches and wait for it to pass. once that happens they'll have to look at how much damage this hurricane is going to create. they say it's going to be really substantial. >> john, thank you for that update. >> south africa's president has announced he'll freeze a proposed university fee increase. it follows a massive demonstration in the city of pretoria by thousands of university students who opposed the rise, with many calling for free education. we have reports now from pretoria.

>> a second year student at johannesburg university. higher costs means more students will not be able to fared the university education. >> protests culminate in a march to the building where the country's seat of power. the president met with students and university leadership behind closed doors, but protests quickly turned ugly. >> they are very angry. >> after hours of negotiations, finally a word from the president.

>> under my term at hand we agreed that there will be a zero increase of university fees i in 2016. >> news the agreement trickled through. shortly after the announcement was made that there would be a zero increase fee made in 2016, the police started to disperse the students using stun grenades and tear gas. [ explosions ] students say they're angry at the police response to their demonstrations. >> when you're on the ground they started to shoot us. we had our hands up. we didn't know why they wanted to, but they shot us with tear gas any way. >> i think it's very sad and depressing because we have children, but they're shooting their own children here. >> many hearsay that president zuma's response is a short-term solution with equal education still the ultimate goal. al jazeera, pretoria.

for the first time in six weeks restrictions have been lifted on who is able to enter the site. the al-aqsa mosque counsel lies at the heart of a recent waive of violence. we have reports now from occupied east jerusalem. >> young and old, male and female. there was no age or gender restriction, and no police check points to navigate. those who have been closely checking each identify on past fridays now relaxing and simply watching as the palestinian faithful pass by. the scenes were not as peaceful as many parts of the occupied west banks. activist groups declared a day of rage, and there was sporadic fighting between demonstrators and the israeli army in a number

of areas. the wider occupation remains in place, a critical context for the easing of restrictions at the al-aqsa compound. >> this is the only country in the whole world that is occupied and mistreating people. we've had enough. >> nonetheless this calm on this day in this place, hope for those diplomats who have been seeking a reduction in the level of conflict. we asked the israeli prime minister if there is a connection between of the lifting of the restrictions and the meeting benjamin netanyahu had with the secretary of state. we're told it's the situation on the ground that determines the level of security that is in force. but many ask in the light of the calm that prevails since restrictions have been lifted. why were the restrictions imposed in the first place? mike hanna, al jazeera.

>> human rights groups say seven medical facilities in syria have been hit since russia began its aerial campaign. four people have been killed. the latest facility was hit on tuesday in idlib province. >> they were rushing to rescue victims of an airstrike in of province of aleppo on tuesday. they said they were appealing to people to leave becaus before this happened. [ explosion ] >> rescuers say that the rocket was fired from a russia air draft. activists say that russian jets have hit hospitals of clinics before. >> they probably don't do it deliberately, but they don't care. what they're doing is they have a target that they think they

need to hit. they're not worried about the collateral damage. they're not using as much of their precision decided weapons. they're allowing their aircraft to hit the hospitals because they're hoping to accomplish other objectives to put fear into the heart of the resistence, and hitting the hospitals and killing innocent civilians is something that they've been doing really since they became involved. >> russia denies what it calls a fake accusation. >> syrian and russian jets are targeting a number of villages in the northern countryside. activists say that the town was hit leaving behind untold destruction and fear. many were killed and wounded russian aircraft also struck rebels reported to be in a fierce fight with forces in areas north of homs.

opposition fighters say they've killed the commander of a pro government group. they say that government forces have made game gains. russian planes hit aleppo countryside destroying many homes and forcing their okay could you pants to escape. >> isil's media center published pictures it says shows the result of airstrikes which killed a number of people. al jazeera. >> you're watching al jazeera. still to come. the weekly refugee influx to reach greece since the start of the year. an $18 million deal updates senegal's mode of transport. more after the break.

>> al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been

looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrap-up of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective. weeknights, on al jazeera america. >> welcome back. a quick reminder of our top stories here on al jazeera. mexico is bracing for a potentially catastrophic conditions as one of the strongest hurricanes on record heads towards its coast line. after days of unrest, for the first time in six weeks restrictions of who can enter the al-aqsa mosque compounds has been lifted. >> 22 people have been killed after a suicide-bomb attack.

mourners were attack as they reached the end of the route. >> 530 kilometers happened in a city which is an historic old city named after mid 19th century east even company. that shows you the attacker obviously picking its target carefully. suicide-bomber struck, 20 people were killed, 20 wounded.

the people in the pro significance turned violent. and military forces had to be called in. >> attacks have occurred in borno state, in the same area of boko haram. where 2.5 million people have been displaced. a new video posted online by islamic state in iraq and the levant. it says to show the aftermath of a failed operation by the u.s. u.s. military officials have confirmed it's forces did assist iraqi forces and said it resulted in the freedom of 69 hostages from the prison. u.s. defense secretary ash

carter has been speaking about that operation saying that the joint effort has helped to gather vital intelligence on isil. >> i made the decision to assist our kurdish partners after receiving specific actionabl actionable intelligence that a mass excuse was imminent. we provided airlift support, and dozens of lives were saved in a significant cache of intelligence was collected. we've now heard from rescued hostages. they expect it to be executed that day after morning prayers. their graves is had been prepared. not only did our support provide another mass killing we enabled those partners of ours to deliver isil a clear defeat and prevented them from broadcasting a horrific massacre to the wor

world. >> police in the republic of condo has placed the head opposition leader on house arrest. opposition supporters have been protesting what they say are plans by the president to stay in power. >> there is a tense atmosphere. police try to clear out streets and remove barricades left behind from anti-government protests. the capital seems quieter than usual. some have left the city ahead of sunday ace referendum. there is a heavy police presence in some strongholds. >> i hope they restore peace and the government is there to security people. >> the people are oppressed. we need to find a solution to this problem. >> the opposition is protesting changes to the constitution.

it has an age limit and says a president cannot run for a third term. the president is 72 years old and has already served two seven-year terms. the government officials say that the president has not said anything about staying in power. >> he does not speak about these things i think it will be a subject perhaps in a few months. we're not in election for the president. it will come perhaps in may or june ever 2016. not yet. yet, it is for the constitution of a country. >> more protests are feared. >> government buildings have been destroyed. this was a police station. opposition leaders say they're not giving up. they insist that the referendum will go ahead on sunday. >> the presidential election is due to be held in july of next year. government officials say that

the proposed changes to the constitution will ultimately benefit the poor and strengthen people's rights. but many in the opposition don't believe them. al jazeera. >> more than 40 have been killed in a road crash in france. they were going on a day trip but the bus crashed into a lorrie. >> in dense woodland, the bus and truck, the coach has been entirely burned out. it was carrying a group of elderly people who just left the village a few kilometers away. they were going on a day trip. the crash happened on a bend of the road that people say is tricky to navigate. the bus and timber truck collided leaving some passengers trapped. >> the life of an empty timber

truck lost control of its vehicle. and the bus arrived at that moment. the bus driver saw that the accident was going to happen, he did everything that to avoid it, but he did not manage it. but did he manage to activate the emergency doors. >> more than 40 people are now known to have perished in the fire. the french president called the accident an immense tragedy. the prime minister has traveled to the scene to meet survivors and rescuers. >> it's a terrible oh shock for this area. it's a terrible shock for france. >> this is france's worth road accident for more than 30 years. an investigation into what caused it is now under way. emma hayward,age. >> international organization for migration said that 48,000

refugees have reached greece in the five days to october 21st. that's the highest weekly total so far this year. since january more than 681,000 refugees have arrived in europe villa the mediterranean. meanwhile, slovenia's prime minister has called for closer coordination between e.u. member states on the refugee crisis. as many as 5,000 people have entered the tiny country since last saturday. we have this report. >> another thousand wary refugees. another ending ordeal. >> they make one thing clear. he's not here by choice. >> we're a afraid of militias. >> you can see on the ground

this is a well-worn route, and these are just the latest refugees to arrive in slovenia, and the numbers keep on coming. >> that is a burden that they cannot bear. manpower, mutual agreement. slovenia police have released this video of croatian authorities leading refugees to an illegal border country. >> they've ask people to tell us where they will send these people they just take them to the board, sometimes not in very good condition. this is hard for us. >> the efficiency returns to the camp on friday. refugees were registered and

transport made on for them to continue their journey towards the austrian border. there the system failed again. down came a fence. the controlled exodus continues. al jazeera, slovenia. >> police in sweden say that at attack has left a teacher and student dead. most of the students are from immigrant families and local reports say that the suspect's social media account showed extreme right-whe-wing tendencies. he was shot in the attack and died later in the hospital. >> they have planned the attack, and he has also planned it out of hate crime perspective.

he would consider this his final act. >> in senegal something as simple as getting to work could move to be a mighty task. the government is now hoping to change that, employing an indian carmaker to update its vehicles in at $18 million deal. >> every morning no matter how hard she tries, she's always running late for work. she works in town but lives in the suburbs. finding reliable transportation is not easy. this is the best option. they're called anything but fast. frequent stops and traffic congestion makes this the most unplenty part of he--unpleasant part of her day.

>> i dread this moment. the buses always smell of gasoline. it's such an unpleasant start of the day. >> they have been around since the 1970s. senegalese drivers have added colorful touches to the exteriors, but on the inside the basic--the basic mechanics have not changed. >> these advance are dangerous and not adapted for a modern city. our goal is to replace them to offer more comfort and better service for those working in town. >> they have a say on which manufacturer would replace the vehicle. they chose the indian carmaker to update the entire transport system outbidding chinese car makers the indian carmaker was cleaner, and willing to modify

its vehicles to senegalese driving. the traffic in india is very similar to the traffic you find here. they believe they have the know how an to get people from the suburbs into the city in this growing metropolis. >> we understand the type of vehicles that are required here. we do understand the kind of technology, which is required. >> so they are betting on this. the magic ace. with 1 million sold in india it's a no frills van. there are no windows in the back or electronics, but just a strong engine. it is testing the magic in senegal and already had to make changes. more head room and better suspensions, making abby's

travel home a little less bumpy, an. >> argentina has held it's last rally before sunday's vote. kirchner has already held the role for 12 years. >> now some of the unsung heroes from world war ii known as the monuments men risked their lives to recover 5 million stolen artifacts across europe. 70 years on they are receiving the united states highest honor, that's the congressional gold medal. four of the six surviving group attended the ceremony in the u.s. capital.

you can find out much more about the stories we're following on our website. you can find more on hurricane patricia and mexico bracing itself for the hurricane to come ashore in the next few hours. why don't you take a look at www.aljazeera.com. ♪ ♪ >> first, megamergers created two beer giants. in bev and sab miller. now the two titans want to become one. and produce one of the two brews people consume, brewnanza,