Western hemisphere. Mexicos western coast braces for Hurricane Patricia. Tens of thousands of palestinians are allowed into prayers. Israel eases restrictions on access to the al asqa mosque. Were counting down to the Rugby World Cup semifinals that get underway in 24 hours time. Its the world champions on saturday. Well hear them from later in the program. South africas president zuma will freeze a rise in fees proposed for University Students next year. It came after massive demonstrations in the capital city of pretoria. Here thousands of University Students. This is what they think of the proposed increase. Some of them tried to storm the seat of government but were held back by riot police that fired stun grenades and used water cannons. Al jazeera was in the middle of that protest. This is what she sent us. Reporter these protests where we are now have been going on for over eight days. Theyve, in fact, spread across the country, and that will explain why students are becoming increasingly impatient. Theyre due to begin exams next week. They say they cant do that if they dont have any answer as to what will happen with the fee increases. They demand that fees not be increased at all. Ultimately wanting government to commit to free education, cursory education in the country. So, of course, weve seen students here increasingly tense and wanting government to come out and respond to them. At the same time, leadership weve spoken to here says they arent necessarily optimistic about what the government will say. As he said, the fees wouldnt, in fact, be going on, zuma appealed for calm. The government understands the difficulties faced by students from poorhouse holds and all affected to allow the process to unfold. To find longterm solutions in order to ensure access do education by our students. We asked for an update from the scene of the protests. Reporter many have dispersed and police are continuing to fire stun grenades trying to get them to leave the grounds after the announcement there will be a 0 fee increase. Many students are angry by the Police Reaction after tear gas was fired as some of the students suffered from the tear gas. Theyre trying to leave the grounds as quickly as they can. A small group still close to the Union Buildings running away from the Union Buildings as well as police try to disperse them. Now to mexico, a country bracing itself for whats described as potentially calf strofk conditions. Its one of the strongest hurricanes on record bears down on the countrys western coastline. According to the World Meteorological organization, Hurricane Patricia is the strongest to ever heat the east or North Pacific region. A state of emergency is declared in a number of mexican states. This is likened to typhoon haiyan. You can take a look here and see where patricia is moves right now. The u. S. National Weather Service says its likely to hit landfall around about 55 minutes time with wind speeds of 325 kilometers an hour. More from al jazeeras patty culhane. Reporter theres little question with this storm. In hours these seas will rage, these buildings will be battered. It would not be possible for tourists to stroll along the beach. Hurricane patricia is on its way. Translator its very probable that this hurricane will effectively be the most intense hurricane that has existed in this part of the pacific in our country since records began in 1949. Reporter this is a historic storm in many ways. The strongest ever recorded in the pacific. The fastest ever to develop. Residents have been given some time to prepare. Translator im doing well here with my mother. They had told us it was going to be category 4, and after monitoring, its been raised to category 5. They told us that there will be protections, special sites where people can stay. Translator we really didnt buy that much because they regularly say that a hurricane will come, but sometimes they dont hit. Thats why i think the majority dont participate that much. Reporter experts say this is not a storm to take lightly. Mexico has a lot of mountains, the terrain is very high. That causes storms to weaken quickly. In turn, that amplifies the rainfall, so typically when they make landfall in mexico, most of the damage and casualties are associated with flooding from rainfall. Reporter its hard to imagine what wind gusts up to 400 Kilometers Per Hour would feel like. The damage it could cause, but meteorologists say hundreds of thousands of people are about to find out as a category 5 hurricane comes ashore. Patty culhane, al jazeera. Were going to bring in ray who researches global tropical cyclones. Not only is it possible this is going to be the biggest storm ever in the pacific but possibly the biggest storm anywhere ever . Yeah. Its certainly looking like it may be at the moment. Its currently the largest measured in the western hemisphere, in the north atlantic and eastern pacific. Recent measurements may show that it may be the strongest ever. That is scary with the intensity of the storm. Its a phrase used more often than not with other events. In the sense we have the perfect storm with the conditions. Certainly. This is known as a category 5 storm, and associated with a category 35 is often a storm surge, which can be of the order of 6 meters. This is a twostory wall of water making its way in land from the ocean. Theres likely to be catastrophic winds reaching up to 200 Miles Per Hour, which can rip the roofs off houses and even damage other properties. Have been been there myself, one of the most Dangerous Things about a hurricane is the winds of 200 Miles Per Hour are ripping the buildings one way as it spins through, but, of course, the back end of the hurricane is going the other way and rips them back in the opposite direction. Thats certainly true. You find whether a hurricane makes laft it can be a prolonged event which can affect the local community. Initially you have the strong storm surge at the coast. You also have devastating winds. With mexico being quite a mountainous region, the winds start to die off. However, the rainfall is likely to last over a large area. As the storm comes in and hits land, it will hit high ground. That is dissipate the effect, but more rain will come down then because it hits mountains . Exactly what you said. As this storm hits landfall, its in a high area. So it would dissipate, the surface friction will increase, in which that kills the wind speed. The rainfall is likely to carry on throughout mexico. I was looking at the pictures of this thing, and it seems to be as far north as Puerto Vallarta and not as far south as acapulco. The width is huge as well, isnt it . Yeah. Its unprecedented for the size of this storm. Often in the eastern pacific you see quite small, localized storms, and they often follow a a northwest track that tracks parallel to the mexican coast. This is large for eastern pacific, and its making its way to the mexican coast, which is quite rare. How will we know before it hits lands, in about 50 minutes from now . Will we get any idea from satellite or aircraft that may be high up enough to see whats happening what its going to do . I believe theres a mission by the hurricane hunters, so this is a group of aircrafts owned by noaa in the u. S. Who fly into hurricanes in the north atlantic and the eastern pacific. These drop measurements from their plane as they fly into the hurricane, and these little measurement devices take measurements to provide us with a best estimate how strong it will be before landfall. Thats certainly the best truth we have, and we have satellites with their eyes on them all throughout their life cycle. Well hear later from the program someone i spoke to in Puerto Vallarta being bussed out. She said it was the calm before the storm. That seems to be the case for a number of storms where a day before the event it can be quite a clear sky. With a Storm Brewing off the coast, its really a revolutionary thing of weather forecasting now which were able to predict events because without that prior knowledge, being located in the coast befo beforehand, you wouldnt have any idea that something so phenomenal is coming. Ray, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Its a story will be monitoring here on al jazeera. Another one weve been following very intently the story out of the middle east. About 30,000 muslims have been allowed to pray at the compound housing the al asqu mosque in eastern jerusalem. Its the first time the restrictions were lifted on who can and cannot enter the site. The al aqsa mosque is at the heart of this. Mike hannah reports now from occupied East Jerusalem. Reporter young and old, male and female arrive for friday prayers. In recent weeks there was no age or gender restriction for worshippers going to the al asqa mosque compound. Those closely checked each identity are now relaxing and watching as the palestinian faithful pass by. The scenes were not as peaceful in many parts of the occupied west bank. Activists groups declared a day of rage and there was sporadic fighting in a number of areas. The wider Israeli Occupation remains in place, a critical context for the easing of restrictions at the al aqsa mosque compound. This must end. This is the only country in the whole world occupied and treating people miserable. We have. Its enough. Palestinians need to be free. Reporter nonetheless the tenuous calm on this day in this place, a hope for the diplomats seeking a reduction in the level of conflict. With the asked the Israeli Prime Ministers Office if theres any connection between the lifting of the restrictions and the meeting Benjamin Netanyahu had with the u. S. Secretary of state. Were told its the situation on the ground that determines the level of security that is enforced, but the question many ask in the light of the calm that has prevailed since the restrictions have been lifted, why were the restrictions imposed in the first place . Mike hannah, al jazeera, in occupied East Jerusalem. The restrictions may have been lifted, but that hasnt improved the lives of many palestinians living in the village. Theyre currently caught in the struggles between Israeli Security force on one side and the Palestinian Protesters on the other. Andrew simmons is in occupied East Jerusalem. Reporter returning from prayers at the al aqsa mosque compound, palestinians found restrictions there have been eased, but life at home here in this village gets harder by the day. Its ruining our lives. Its very hard here. I mean, its more than a siege, you know. Reporter there are three ways in and out, but concrete blocks bar the way to traffic in all but one of them. The Security Forces sealed off the victllage to keep the peace. This is the center of the village and the confrontation point between Israeli Security forces and Palestinian Protesters, for anyone living in the vicinity, its a nightmare. It turned out to be even worse than that five days ago for this family. The 65yearold inhaled large amounts of tear gas in her home. Her husband says in the early hours of tuesday she became seriously ill. Her son set out to drive her to hospital, but he says soldiers held him for half an hour before letting him take her to hospital. By then, he says, it was too late. She died of a heart attack. Translator i was angry as i wanted to save her life. Whatever happened to me didnt matter. If this side of the village wasnt blocked, it would take a couple minutes to reach the hospital and we may have saved her life. Translator the Israeli Police and army say theyre civilized. What kind of civilization is this . The ambulance cannot even come to my house. Reporter the police say priority is always given to humanitarian cases, and there was no delay at this checkpoint. From his balcony this man can see just how close this part of the village is to the hospital. Just beyond the blocked main entrance. He says life is cheap here. Hes moving his children to live nearer to their School Saving up to two hours delays at the roadblock, and its safer there. An andrew simmons, al jazeera. While all this is going on the group thats the yourian union, the united nations, the u. S. And russia, they have been having a meeting in vienna to work out a planful a short while ago we heard from the Eu Foreign Affairs chief calling on all parties to work towards a twostate solution. It calls for significant steps to be taken consistent with the transition contemplated by prior agreements in order to restore confidence and hope in the availability of a negotiated twostate solution that resolves the final state of issues including that of jerusalem and ends the occupation that began in 1967. They reaffirm the strong commitment to act in coordination with regional and International Stakeholders in an effort to stabilize the situation and to assure adjust comprehensive and lasting settlement of the palestinian israeli conflict. Lets go to my colleague Barnaby Phillips live for us in vienna. She says, yeah, twostate solution is something we need to work towards. It would have been a surprise if she hadnt said that. Goodness knows how long that might take. Whether it comes to the more immediate future, she had something to say. Reporter well, she certainly told us, david, that the pace of diplomacy is increasing, because john kerry left vienna and is flying to the region. Hes flying to jordan, and we expect tomorrow he will meet King Abdullah and the palestinian president abbas there. She said after that abbas will travel to brussels to meet her there on monday. Also, there is telephone contact between all these people pretty much all the time. She said that in her meeting yesterday with Benjamin Netanyahu, which took place in berlin, she had received assurances about the status of the holy sites, about that israel having no intention, according to Prime Minister netanyahu, to change their status and also there have been reassurances over the jordanian role in protecting them as well. So what can we say . The International Community is increasing the diplomatic pressure, and it feels clearly that this is a time worth talking, an urgent time, and that these talks could potent l potentially be productive. In terms of concrete results on the ground, im afraid yet again we have not seen them yet. Barnaby, that is the quartet that were talking about. Theres another group of four countries that have been meeting in vienna, two are the same, the u. S. And russia. We have saudi arabia and weve got other parties talking about events in syria. Lets talk about that now. Any progress at all on trying to settle that, particularly the russian involvement, which has disturbed a number of people . Reporter well, it certainly would have been a very interesting confrontation between the foreign minister of russia, the United States, turkey and saudi arabia. All four absolute key players in the syrian disaster. All four militarily involved to different levels, and of course, the russians have really put themselves at the center there with a very bold and decisive intervention in syria, although, of course, an intervention that has caused a great deal of mistrust and suspicion among the other three Foreign Ministers who would be meeting around the table. At the end of it all, well, its constructive, of course, that they did manage to speak for several hours. John kerrys remarks were relatively upbeat. He said it can be a constructive meeting. The Saudi Foreign minister is less positive, i suppose, said that on this crucial issue the future of president assad, the syrian leader and where he would stand in a transition, they had not been able to reach agreement. How many times have we heard that throughout the last four disastrous years of war in syria . Thank you, Barnaby Phillips, from vienna. Youre watching the news hour. Coming up on the program, the latest on the french crash where at least 40 pensioners were killed. Plus, the biggest weekly refugee influx to reach greece since the start of the year. Stay with us if you can here on al jazeera. Thats all coming up in a short while on al jazeera, but first the u. S. Special envoy to yemen says the Yemeni Government and Houthi Rebels have agreed to the latest round of u. N. Backed talks to end the war there. We finally have an agreement between the government and the houthi to start a negotiation, and we are preparing very actively for the process. We will be soon announcing a location and date, but it will happen very soon. We hope that parties will come with optimal conditions and ready to negotiate in good faith and that there will be a representative for the delegation to these talks. At least 20 people have been killed in two bomb attacks in nigeria in borneo state. No one has claimed responsibility, but borneo state is home to the group of boko haram. At least 17,000 have lost their lives at the hands of boko haram, and more than 2. 5 million have lost their homes. Police in the republic of congo face the main Opposition Leader under house arrest ahead of a controversial referendum on sunday. They protest about the plans by the president to keep his hands on power