Vehicles at a coastal campsite in australia. With the Syrian Civil War in its 5th year and with refugees continuing to flee to europe to escape the conflict, there is a clear and renewed diplomatic push to bring the fighting to an end. In the last hour, u. S. Secretary of state john kerry had a meeting with the Russian Foreign minister on the sidelines of the u. N. General assembly in new york. According to a u. S. Official, the pair discussed how to move forward on a political transition for syria. Russias already deployed soldiers, weapons and aircraft to the country. President putin has warned that any attempt to overthrow the assad regime could lead to a failed state such as in iraq or libya. There is no other solution to the 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 the rational opposition and conduct reform. As you know, some of the Coalition Partners want to see president assad go first before they will support. Translator i would like to recommend to them the following they should send this mention to the Syrian People its only the Syrian People who are entitled to decide who should govern their country and how. Separately iraq has agreed to share intelligence. Russia says it is part of an effort to coordinate efforts against isil. Al jazeeras glomatic editor james bays has been following developments. He is at the united nations. Reporter you have certainly got all of the key actors with regard to the syrian conflict talking in some shape or form, but not necessarily agreeing on the way forward. Now, one of the key disagreements is on the future role of president assad. Everyone says there needs to be a political solution. Everyone needs says there needs to be a political transition, but what is the role of president assad in this . This was the comment from the eu, high representative of Foreign Affairs when i spoke to her earlier. I think it would be impossible to imagine for the future of syria as many are saying, a role for assad. But its also true that assad is. So, the point is how do we start the change in goverance . How do we make sure that we manage to unite forces within syria and outside syria against d. A. S. H. . The question mark. Reporter all eyes now will be on the opening of the u. N. General Assembly Less than 24 hours from now, all World Leaders get a chance to speak. On monday, we will hear from president obama, president putin, from irans president r haha ni, from the gulf states, the first to speak will be the emir of qatar listening to comments on syria. Could there be some diplomatic movement . After four and a half years of war, 250,000 people dead, most diplomats tell me they are not holding out too much hope. France has launched its first airstrikes against isil in syria. Until now, france had been carrying out strikes on isil fighters but only as parts of the u. S. Led coalition in iraq. In a statement, the french president Francois Hollande said his country had to intervene to protect french citizens from isil and what he called the murderous bombardment of the assad. I am here in new york and together with my minister of Foreign Affairs, i will be meeting with all of the partners and stake holders in what is called the syrian conflict. A conflict that led to some 250,000 deaths and for which Bashar Alassad 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 that all stake holders are involved without excluding anyone. Being said, france considers that the future of syria cannot be with Bashar Alassad. Pope francis in the United States is promising to restore faith in the Catholic Church and to hold perpetrators of sex abuse to account. The Catholic Leader made the pledge during an address in philadelphia just after he had met u. S. Survivors of clerical sex abuse. This is the first time the pontiff has taken the subject up on this u. S. Trip. It comes ahead of his final mass which is expected to draw more than a million followers. Alan fisher reports. Reporter despite the joy and clear ainfection for the pope, there has been a defendant shadow over his visit to the u. S. On his final day and in an address to bishops, he talked about child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. He revealed on this trip he has met victims who offered prayers. I have heard in my heart these stories of suffering, of those youth that were sexually abused, and it continues to be on my mind that people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and it caused them great pain. God weeps. It was 2002 and many allegations about child sex abuse by clerics in the Catholic Church became public. It is estimated there may have been as many as 100,000 victims in the u. S. With many more worldwide and the pope, the leader of the worlds 1. 2 billion cathlics promised there would be no hiding place for the guilty. These things cannot be maintained in secret. I commit to a careful oversight to ensure youth are protected and all responsible will be held accountable. For many victims, they have heard this before. This meeting today protects not a single child. It exposes not a single predator, and it does not deter a single coverup. The Church Continues to hand over all details of any internal investigations to the authorities for financial and legal reasons meaning the guilty go free and the victims continue to suffer. In a christian way, in a loving way, as jesus would do, as god would, you know, forgive. The pope will ends this visit to the u. S. With a mass in the sentencer of philadelphia. It is predicted a million will attend for many, the most important words he spoke were to the bishops. And though they want to see if he follows that with action. Alan fisher joins me now live. This is a pope, a humble man by all accounts, who connects with members of his flock. The disenfranchised. Those people he came to address are certainly the groups representing them, the groups representing the abused do not seem to believe that the pope can do anything about this. The pope, not a long after he was elected pontiff decided he was going to address the child abuse issue, but many of the groups dont believe that he has done enough in his time in. Now, whether thats because he, himself, is reluctant to do it or because bureaucracy doesnt let him do it or because lawyers are advising him he has to go slower, we are not entirely sure but they believe if the pope is serious, particularly in the United States, and in philadelphia being picked is interesting because 24 breasts have either been kicked out of the roman Catholic Church, defrocked, as they call it, or they have resigned. And this is the only city in the United States where someone senior in the Catholic Church has gone to jail for covering up child sex abuse. Its interesting here they really want him to turn over all of the information that the Catholic Church has to the authorities, to stay away from any internal investigations. They believe that they are Holding Back Information for legal and financial reasons. So they want the pope to follow up with what he said to be open and honest and transparent. I think we have just tell us a little bit about what we are seeing behind you, alan, that crowd. I said a Million People. Perhaps not as many as the authorities might be estimating. Its three hours until the mass begins. This is Benjamin Franklin parkway leading up to the art musek. Many people will know from the rocky movie. Thats one of the famous landmarks throughout the world in philadelphia. They are estimating there is somewhere in the region of one Million People going to come. Them expected a huge crowd yesterday. It wasnt nearly as big on saturday as they said. So will they get to the million . Perhaps not. Perhaps people have been put off because of the issues that we are hearing about, transport, about security. It was taking people around an hour to negotiate security checkpoints in the outer area of the city on saturday. So they may just be thinking, i would rather watch this at home on television than risk going in, but there are people who have been here since 1 00, 2 00, 3 00 oclock in the morning, staked out their place, decided they were going to be there for the entire time and they really just want to catch a glimpse of the pope. Thank you very much, alan fisher. Irans Supreme Leader is demanding that saudi arabia apologize for last weeks deadly stampede during the hage. More than 750 people were killed in the crush on thursday and an estimated 140 of those people were from iran. Saudi arabia has opened an investigation and says it is reviewing safety but says the kingdom must do more. Israeli police announced men under the age of 50 will not be allowed to worship at the mosque compound in the next few days. This is after a standoff between Israeli Security forces and worshippers at the site in occupied east jerusalem. Palestinians threw rocks at riot officers who responded with stun grenades and rubber bullets. The u. S. s lead be refugee representative has hit out of the Global Response to the refugee crisis. High commendiissioner says the d took too long to deal with the hundreds of thousands of people travel to go europe. Only now, he says, are richer nations waking up to the crisis. Until we have this Massive Movement into europe, there was no recognition of the developed world about how serious the refugee crisis was. If in the past we have more support of the refugees and more message support to those countries in the developing world that have been receiving them and protecting them, these would not have happened. And, of course, more important than anything else, if the International Community would be able to come together and put an end to the conflict, then there wouldnt even be a refugee crisis. With regard to the refugees in hungary, that country now using military tactics for those trying to get in to hungary, as whether building al second fence down south, the government of hungary deployed heavily armed soldiers to escort people as they wait to continue their journeys to wherever. Lawrence lee reports. Whatever else you might think about the hungarian government, it is nothing if not determined. At this boarder crossing, the refugees dumped on the other side by croatia. From there, hungary takes no chances. They are escorted through in small groups under the gaze of the police and heavilyarmed soldiers. A helicopter plainly combatready as well 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. They waited for hours like this until hungary was ready for its next move. Clearly they would have no where to run even if they wanted to. Its 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 hungarys response to the refugee crisis has got all sorts of other European Union countries worried about the signals it might send out. But from the points of view of the hungarian government, this is simply the most efficient way of handling the crisis, or at least perhaps the most efficient way of ensuring that no refugees actually get in to hungary. Hungary would also argue its a more organized way of dealing with large numbers passing through than the chaos of the serbia croatia border where the facilities are pitiful. But 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 tried 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 bus is all full. The convoy set off at some speed accompanied from behind by the humvees. At no point did they take their eye off of the buses. The convoy went to the nearest rail station where they had to wait again. Children wet themselves on their moth mothers laps but there was no getting off because the police would not let them. Still some people didnt seem to mind the soldiers as long as they were head to go germany. Its like an army. The government country. Not good. Its okay for you here . Its okay. Its okay. Back in line again, police all around. The same on the platform and no doubt all the way to the austrian border and back at the checkpoint with croatia, the soldiers were piling more and more rolls of fence on to their carrier. Others see this as a humanitarian crisis. But here, its a siege. Lawrence lee, al jazeera, on the hungary croatia border. Still to come, do stay with us here on al jazeera. In argentina, where a mother is hoping that the popes visit to the United States will save her sons life. We have the local elections in the north of spain in catalonia which could see the region break away from the rest of spain. Great time for a shiny floor wax, no . Not if you just put the finishing touches on your latest masterpiece. Timings important. Comcast business knows that. Thats why you can schedule an installation at a time that works for you. Even late at night, or on the weekend, if thats what you need. Because you have enough to worry about. I did not see that coming. Dont deal with disruptions. Get Better Internet installed on your schedule. Comcast business. Built for business. What do you want americans to understand . Theres so much injustice. Workers are being injured constantly. These are the global headlines. Russia is warning any attempt to overthrow the government in syria could leads to afailed state t Francois Hollande has been having a meeting with tehrans leader saying tehran can be a facilitator to the solution. The head of the Catholic Church, pope francis has been meeting with vict ims of sex abuse. This is his last day in the United States. Another issue that the pope has been talking about at length during his veisit to the u. S. I capital punishment, the ends of it. A mother in argentina is hoping that the pontiffs me to the u. S. Congress will help to save her son who is on death row in texas. Teresa has the story. Reporter liveia guerra has been fighting for her sons life for almost 20 years. She lives in the province in northern argentina. Her son, victor saldania was accused of murder in texas in 1996. Now, she hopes that pope francis will help get her son off death row. We traveled to rome where we explained to the pope the discrimination my son suffered during the trial and how he has been on death row for almost two decades. We heard from the vatican that he was interested in pushing our case. Saldania who had entered the country legally was accused of killing a man while he was high on crack in 1995. But in 2002, the u. S. Supreme court sent the case back down to a lower court saying there had been rachel discrimination during the trial. When this type of discrimination happens in a trial, it is the worst kind because what is at stake is life and freedom. The Supreme Court said we were right and an you willed the first trial. A second trial took place and saldania was again sentenced to death. His lawyer says there was no due process. There was a new trial but by this time, he had been on death row for nine years and he was crazy. They were judging a mentally unstable man and the reason is the treatment people receive while on death row, which is inhumane and degrading. Reporter saldania spent 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. 30e7 francis is a staunchcritic of the Death Penalty. Like most countries, argentina does not have capital punishment. Death penalty opponents are hoping the pope pressures lawmakers to abolish it when he visits the United States the pope has said that Death Penalty does not help the victims but rather fosters vengeance. And thats why saldanias family is appealing for the popes help. Even though the chances of clemency are small, she hopes it will be enough to save her sons life. Al jazeera. Elections in northern spain, a vote that could see the region break away from the rest of the country, something that the government in madrid says is illegal. Here is jonah hull. Reporter it could well be a good day for independence in catalonia. Voters are turned out in big numbers to elect a Regional Parliament with a coalition of proindependence parties from the left and the right likely to win a majority of seats. They intend their voices to be heard as far away as madrid and brussels. We are absolutely convinced that the democratic mandate that we will get today in the polls will be respected. Whichever its going to be. I hope this is also something that is going to be perceived as such by the european member states. Reporter within 18 months of a win, they say, the coalition will have completed a process of independent institution building. It will have changed the catalan constitution, and they will declare independence. Madrid has been utterly incapable of responding in any positive way to what is obviously a demand of very high proportion of the catalan population. We dont know whether its a majority or not because they refuse to let us hold a refer endsum. Do you not the believe accuratealans should have Self Determination . 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 70s. Okay . So we had to respect that. Its our history. Its our culture. Its our thing. Confronting this popular will to secede is the government in madrid. It said the spanish constitution plea includes you didnt unilateral move to break up the union. It has used the Constitutional Court successful in the past to block such moves and it will continue to do so. Other separatist movements are watching developments here closely. Flem issue flag, catalan flag, back of flag from nevada 234e6. Wales. Scotland, britannia, and we want catalonia to be free. Its up to the catalonians to decide that but we think they at least have the right to do so. Spain so far has 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 crisis in spain and possibly further ter afield. Jonah hull, al jazeera, barcelona. Gender e quality was one of the 17 goals endorsed by World Leaders at the u. N. General assembly with the aim of empowering women globally by 2030. Currently in pakistans tribunal belt less than 3 of women can read or right. As Nicole Johnson discovered, some women are commanding now. Their right to education. Mariana from high bar agency in the tribal buielt. There is one major difference between her and other women who live there. Her father wanted her to be educated, a rare thing from women from the federally administered tribal area. There is no education system. They dont know about their basic rights, that education is their right. Decision making is their right. Reporter for the last few years, pakistans military has been filing 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 peshawara but the tradition of keeping women indoors and uneducated has remained strong. All of these women are living in the regional capitol peshawara, waiting to return to their homes. When we were in the tribal belt, we were blind and didnt know anything but now our eyes are open, and i am trying to educate my daughter as well as my son. Merin says the displacement of more than a Million People from the tribal belt has had one positive benefit. They are seeing the lifestyle of other people of the area and they are seeing that the men families are allowing their daughters to educate and seeing the difference between the educated girl and uneducated girl. As more women speak outed, they are becoming braver and bolder. In the past, some have been killed for demanding rights. My family opposes girls education. I struggled for is it, and they tortured me like hell. I still feel the pain. If there is a chance for education, the boy gets it over the girl. They will send their son to a good school in peshawar and is a no more education to you after five years. Now they found a woman from their own community who has given them the courage to demand more. But its likely to take years of struggle to change centuries of tradition. Nicole johnston, al jazeera, peshwara. In turkey, they are warning visitors that the numbers are down this year because of problems with security. The ageean coast to find out why perception, only perception, is damaging the tourist business. Reporter for tedecades, guaranteed sunshine and beautiful scene ry have drawn tourists to southern turkey. Regional instability is putting people off. For example, the number of british tourists is down 25,000 this year. Toe telliers are feeling the heat. There is alternates to do. First, we have to manage this crisis successfully. Our image isnt good. The world thinks we are notice middle of the war in the middle east being marred by tourist. Look, here on the aegean, everyone is having fun on the beach just like last year and the year before. The Tourism Ministry should be working with us to do something. Reporter the government which wouldnt give al jazeera an interview has launched a t. V. And Online Advertising campaign. Turkish School Holidays were extended by two weeks to try to boost tourism revenues. The Tourism Industry is one of the biggest in the world and a major employer. In 2014, turkey made 24,000,000,000 from foreign foreign tourism. Now ref news are down 14 according to the countrys statistical . Many tourists we spoke to said they had had second thoughts about coming here. We had booked this holiday 10 months ago, havent been to turkey probably 10 times in the last six years. So normally, i didnt have a problem with turkey. This year, had we not booked the holiday, i dont think i would have booked here because the tunisia story happened. And that was concerning. Reporter in istanbul to quote the Tourist Hotels okay passing bookings were down 808 in the summer. The number of visitors is up but thats put down to more people stopping off while in transit on turkish airlines. About security, did you have any concern . No. No. No. Before, at home, i think about it. Bur here, no. No. Politics here in turkey, yes. I feel comfortable. From istanbul to the aegean, Foreign Tourists spending finances more than 50 of turkeys 47 billion deficit. Money this country cant afford to lose. Bernard smith, al jazeera, turkey. Talking of tourists, a surprise here in australia was when a sinkhole the size of a football pitch opened up at a campsite at inskip point in queensland and nobody went down there, but a car, a caravan, a trailer and some tents did. Police say nobody was hurt. Listening post. Among the stories, Syria Television soldiers on. Egypt abdul fatah alsisi intervenes finally in the case of the al jazeera 3. And the kremlin backed news channel in trouble with british broadcasting regulators once again. Into