al-jazeera. has now declared that settlements are not per se illegal under international law. the u.s. abends its stance on jewish settlements drawing praise from israelis and outrage from palestinians. play watching al-jazeera live from doha with me for the bat also coming up on kong protesters manage a daring escape from a university campus besieged by police who are waiting to arrest those still inside gammons who the rebels seized 2 south korean vessels and another from saudi arabia

in the red sea also food and fuel run short in bolivian cities as supporters of former president evo morales cut off supplies. the u.s. has abandoned its 4 decade old position on israeli settlements in the occupied west bank declaring that it no longer considers them illegal secretary of state mike from pale made the announcement saying u.s. statements on the issue over the past years had been inconsistent says they'll leave the ultimate status of the west bank to israelis and palestinians to negotiate calling the establish of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law hasn't worked as an invents the cause of peace. hard truth is there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict in arguments about who is right and wrong as

a matter of international law will not bring peace this is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians all the announcement has drawn expected praise from israel is the people of israel this is a historic day and another great achievement to our policy after president trouble recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel recognized our sovereignty over the golan heights the u.s. administration has now put an end to the lie that settlements are illegal. but palestinians including chief negotiators say the u.s. decision must be condemned israeli settlements in the occupied palestinian territories including is jerusalem. not only illegal under international law they are war crimes and the statement of mr pompei of the secretary of state of the united states is absolutely. rejected and must be condemned.

because once superpowers once the term of mr asian decide to undermine international law once they become an administration that's pro israel as a patient pro israel war crimes and this is constitute a major threat to international peace and security and this is turning international community from the rules of international law the rules of solving conflict by free support means into the horrors of the jungle the european union meanwhile has been quick to reaffirm its stance on israeli settlements e.u. foreign policy chief he said all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the 2 state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace that speak to shihab rattansi in washington d.c. for as she just how significant a shift is this in u.s. policy and why now. well there's a very interesting question is clearly this is much of

a surprise given past trump policy towards the israelis and the palestinians and this is the kind of argument we've been hearing quite a bit what we just heard there from pump air is that we're just being rational we're taking away impediments to the peace process now we don't even have to think about settlements you know it's very much what we have from jared cushion what he talks about his deal of the sun tree forget about international law forget about land for peace his lots of money everything will be alright there's no sign that it's necessarily actually working for several other interesting things about the justification that we heard from compare that he say again look this is in the history of american policy towards the israelis and palestinians jimmy carter sort of the trouble there by suggesting the settlements were illegal but then reagan said that they were going back to reagan what he fails to say is reagan also called settlements an obstacle to peace and do mounted a settlement freeze and in fact reagan successor george h.w. bush refused to give israel $10000000000.00 in loan guarantees until israel fruit

froze the settlements in fact weirdly the republicans have often been tougher on settlements and international law than the democrats have in fact you never had anything like that of the under clinton or obama obama only in the last few weeks it was 8 years of presidency go involved on settlements and even then simply by abstaining not even joining in but abstaining from a u.n. security council or u.n. resolution on the illegality of settlements that's that's all that what he did in fact he raised funding for israel throughout his his terms and settlement activity expanded and there is one more curious curious thing there about the timing that of course is at and through here bore about this later on in the program clearly israel benjamin netanyahu trying to form his government and clearly donald trump is facing election too and he needs lots of money from his donors. i should have thank you for that shep attending live for us in washington d.c. well let's get more reaction now from the region shortly we'll hear from al-jazeera

in ramallah chris harry fossett. well benjamin netanyahu was in celebration removed after this announcement from the united states he said that it righted historical wrong that of course comes as well at a very sensitive time for him and for israeli politics in general his main rival from the 2nd inconclusive election this year the election back in september he has just 2 days left benny gantz on his his ability his mandate to try to form a coalition government and benjamin netanyahu has been arguing very strongly in recent days against any prospect of benny gantz forming a minority administration with support from the outside of palestinian israeli parties saying that would be a threat to the entire state of israel and the terrorists would celebrate should such a thing take place well now benny gantz has been giving a statement of support for this u.s. announcement the palace an israeli parties have been condemning it so it gives.

another option to try to drive a wedge between those 2 groups and to head off the prospect of that happening which of course would see him leave office now before that election in september that promise to an extent jordan valley and impose israeli sovereignty in a large part of the occupied west bank he said that he would only be able to do that given the mandate from the voters given a clear election victory he didn't get that he also didn't get a clear expression of support for that such a policy from the united states now whatever the motivations of the timing for the statement coming from the u.s. he has got a real indorsement and it's something that is almost certain to use to best advantage in the coming days as we exit and as he tries to cling on to power. what palestinian officials would tell you that these remarks by the u.s. secretary of state where and surprising from an administration that has been siding

with the israeli right wing government they are still nevertheless horrific and outrageous they would say that they are negating all articles of international law the p.l.o. 63 general saw it has issued a statement saying that the u.s. is now replacing international law with the law of the jungle calling upon the international community to deter the u.s. from what he said that repercussions of these remarks on international peace and security and stability for palestinians on the ground israeli settlements have been at the core of this conflict there are around or more than 250 illegal israeli settlements and outposts there around more than 600000 israelis residing in legally in the occupied west bank city as we'll tell you that they've rendered the west bank into a piece of swiss cheese killing any opportunity for

a contiguous future palestinian state. in other world news some hong kong protesters have escaped from a university campus surrounded by police shimmying down plastic housing from a bridge and speeding away in motorbikes officers have warned others still inside that surrender is their only option after some of the worst violence in weeks our reporter give us a live update shortly but 1st this report from rob mcbride in hong kong. a number of streets in the cow loon district of hong kong turned into a riot zone other parts of cow loom brought to a standstill. protesters were called out in support of students besieged in the nearby polytechnic university campus the idea was to stretch police resources to breaking point to take the pressure off the students still barricaded inside.

after a fierce confrontation with police on sunday and monday students who'd been occupying the campus and its surrounding roads for days took refuge in the main college building. during the day groups of protesters emerged from the building to be confronted by police and arrested their treatment sparking anger from some people living nearby you have to give chance to students for those who are reeling to leave the university or of a sinister and a situation is none of these police have threatened to use live ammunition if the students continue to use potentially lethal weapons. most alarming they did weapons were used in a 40 tadic university which has become a 2nd factory as well as a refugee for extremely violent viruses 50 bettman so far as has reached

a critical level righteous. so intention murder officer at all costs for parents of the students the wait for news is particularly fraught or hey mounting for i hope the government and police wake up and stop using violence so the kids can come out safe and sound. adding to their anxiety explosions have been heard from inside the building setting off fires but as darkness fell some students were seen scaling down the campus building and disappearing into the night . their fellow protesters trying to cause diversionary mayhem on the surrounding streets coming under fire from tear gas rubber bullets and water cannon and the protesters have been gradually going to hurt their way forward with maybe they can find most notably these large employers which is simply no match for one

there's more to cannot open up. i. would proceed students represent to some the mob rule that is threatening the city's future for others especially younger protesters they've become a rallying point for further resistance robin bright al jazeera hong kong. and live now to another of our correspondents in hong kong sara clocks our what's the situation this morning outside the university campus. well where we are this is the aftermath of one of those rallies the protests that were held over not the big broad mention in his story this is central kalimantan if i can walk you through it this was where an area was blocked off the roads were blocked one of those protests one of those rallies with thousands on the streets to try and distract the police who had surrounded the polytechnic university and

that's where the protesters at the student protesters was still holed up inside as you can see this is a very busy road but the road is now blocked you've got these burned out cars and we spoke to one of the drivers who got caught up in this and he said there was a road block at the place and the protest is this particular area a lot as a distraction so where we are this is a city in the traffic is disrupted obviously in one of these big this is a 3 line road. and we've got talent on my left and as you can see the traffic can't get sure as for the situation of polytechnic university we did have some dramatic escapes. by some of those protesters but we still believe there is a number of them a still holed up inside so you've shown us the destruction that this is called causing nearby what about in the rest of the city and how much support is. in light of the escalating violence and the confrontation between protesters and security forces how much support is there a sale for this protest movement. well thousands did

come out in the straight of a not to support those protesters again those student protesters caught in the polytechnic university is still widespread support for the general and that is it's an anti government message it was about the extradition bill that was drawn in september but now it's against the police force and against the government on a number of fronts but as for how it's affecting the city this particular site where we are now this is a similar thought we've got scattered across hong kong particularly the color of hong kong and we're on calories in calories and this is essential color and this is a whole way around there are lots of roads big that are being blocked by these protests that were held over not going to take a long time for situations like this to be cleaned up thank you for that update for us in hong kong coming up after the weather of fighting in georgia after the government rejects proposals for electoral reform.

and they're feeling fairly wintry across central regions of china coastal areas enjoying some clear conditions on a cool some hot temperatures a lot of cloud has been streaming in from the west of the last year as it is though mostly dry as we go through choose day it is cooler than shanghai just 14 celsius and we've got 25 degrees in hong kong you'll notice on tuesday we have this mass of rain across the northern philippines that is the typhoon making landfall on choose incited by wednesday when he does fall apart dissipate pushes out into the south china sea but it is still raw the way you have another system just sitting to the east so we could be saying cumulation of about $350.00 millimeters over the next couple of days meanwhile in china it stays fine and dry that means in asia the rains are to the south we've got them pushing a little bit further southwards into south borneo fairly extensive across much of

the. march of the mill a peninsula and we could even see some welcome into the west of java as we head into wednesday india is mostly fine and dry we have got the rain further to the south particularly across into tom and i do what we should see at this time of year sri lanka beget a few showers as well and then as we head into wednesday after a pretty good kid a to the north into it's a british we have got the pushing in so feeling fairly cadel but humid with a high of 25 in new delhi. as a sponsor. and investigation into the real powers that control the world health organization their obligation to their shareholders completely overwhelms any consideration of public health can be trusted with building a healthier future if their loyalty becomes questionable views of the people that are part of each one and one which isn't getting more difficult for you now oh yes those who says don't hear in terms of trust that you trust who's on

al-jazeera. welcome back our top stories on al-jazeera the u.s. has abandoned its longstanding position on israeli settlements in the occupied west bank saying it will no longer consider them illegal science faces and test condemned the move but it's been welcomed by israel's prime minister who says it writes a historical wrong protesters are so charged inside a university campus in hong kong following a prolonged standoff with police doesn't escape the building on monday following a night of violence and fled before they could be arrested and saudi arabia says

moving on to other news now saudi arabia says yemen's who fees have hijacked a ship towing a south korean drilling rig in the red sea the rebels still say they've seized 3 ships including a saudi one the sailors on board have been taken to a who the control port near. the official has told on jazeera they'll release a drilling rig if they can confirm it belongs to saudi a south korea the saudi government is describing the incident as a terrorist operation. has more from some out. according to this press release released that they have captured the 3 vessels one belongs to saudi arabia while the they have been giving more details about the other 2 according to sources that . the other 2 believed to be belong to south korea it's an oil rig but the whole thesis during this press release haven't giving the identical more

details about the other 2 they have mentioned that they have tried to contact the crow on board of the vessels but they haven't received any reply and that's why because they haven't given them any permission to go to go inside the yemeni region waters so they have to target them to the neighbors the yemeni cost line we have captured the 3 vessels. just 3 miles from the yemeni caused line near band island. city a militant center of official houthi in a tweet he says that the staff on board of these vessels. would not be harmed and that the if he received any can frame a confirmation from south korea that this these prisoners belong to them that they will carry out the legal procedures in order to release them. in libya as strikes

have killed at least 7 people and injured more than 30 others in southern areas of the capital tripoli according to government sources was. drones targeted a factory where the victims were working there mostly from bangladesh with some other african countries more than a 1000 people have been killed since have tom began his shipley offensive in april . the un's nuclear watchdog says iran has breached another limits set out in the 2050 nuclear deal the international atomic energy agency says iran stock of heavy water reserves has gone above $130.00 tons heavy water reactors can be used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons and a tentative to enrich uranium iran has been reducing its commitments to the deal since the us abandoned the path and started re-imposing sanctions and still in iran the revolutionary guard says it's arrested $200.00 people during protests against petrol price increases the unrest has been going on since friday often descending

into riots dosage a barrier before some tear on the street go hooligans and thugs that's how rainy and authorities are describing these demonstrators who have come out for 30 in a row. there are no rallies or marches instead petrol stations have been set on fire banks and even police stations attacked. the scenes are not taking place in the capital tehran but in other major cities including shiraz as fond masha. and now a security crackdown has been ordered to make sure they don't happen again. the intelligence ministry the revolutionary guard and local police say they will be out in full force the violence started when the government announced a sudden 3 fold increase in fuel prices a decision which the president says was not made lightly the government says the revenues raised will be used to help poor. we explored all avenues to try and help

those in need we had 3 choices 1st to raise taxes across the country 2nd to increase the size of the oil and further increase the price this fuel we need the revenue to help millions of people who are struggling it was not an easy choice to make despite government reassurances that this fuel price increase want to fecht the price of other goods in the country many iranians are not hopeful for most other members in a matter of course it will affect other prices the press of gasoline has always been important here are we supposed to make up the difference with a small subsidy from the government it was in the kitchen some people's lives lose dependent fuel and this will impact the lives you do in the present fuel goes up it impacts the price of other things. the government defends its decision and maintains that those causing the disturbances are not part of what it considers to be the general public there's almost no more you stop the government recognizes the people's right to protest but a protester is different from

a writer i think today's demonstrations are 80 percent less than yesterday and i think by tomorrow it will all be gone in the capital security forces were highly visible in certain parts of the city on monday aiming to prevent any further unrest it's not just the security forces that have been the poor across the country officials have also announced a complete internet blackout and as nearly $60000000000.00 iranians wait to receive their subsidies many are wondering if the disruptions will be worth it north as a bari teheran. banks are set to reopen in lebanon on tuesday after a week long strike by staff across the country union leaders agreed to a new security measures after employees complained of intimidation from clients demanding access to their money many banks have been restricting the amount that can be withdrawn each day due to an ongoing economic crisis the bank strike follows weeks of anti-government demonstrations demanding improved living conditions. and

political change. in bolivia supporters of praise for president ever have brought supply routes into big cities they say their leader was removed from power in a ko people are being forced to queue for basic foods and wait at empty gas stations . pass. the. race has been waiting for hours to buy chicken she came very early in the morning with her 2 children but 5 hours later she continues to wait. there shortages of everything we've been here since 7 o'clock this morning for one chicken what are we going to do we buy it here because everything has become so expensive that i can't buy it anywhere else this is not alone hundreds of people in the past are lining up to do the same as the political crisis here starts to have an impact on people's daily life protests are all buoying around the country against the interim government and that has made it difficult for some basic food items to reach the capital the prices of chicken beef

and eggs have soared and that's why the local government is trying to distribute it at a price this battle in a louder is a doctor she says road blocks. those who are blocking roads please stop because continue like this there is no gas no there are children here they want to make us look like venezuela. protesters here are hoping to shut down the pass and force the resignation of interim president anyone yes who stepped in after ever more or less left the country. more or less was exiled in mexico has been saying he wants to return. was once able moralists lawyer when he was a coca leaf grower but now he thinks bolivia needs to recover after his time in office is usually the most pro now it was proven that he committed fraud through one body that he brought by. they thought that he would get away with it but it was

so gross that there was no option that made him resign some of his strongest supporters asked him to leave. iraq seen says the only way out of the crisis is through negotiation. the current government should only be seen as transitional it needs to call for clean elections and if you want a clean process you need a role as a party we need mediation because they are trying to destabilize the country. but morally supporters say the problem is much deeper they say they do not trust in the interim president anyone yes. we did trust that woman she doesn't respect us the indigenous women that were she wants to take everything away the rights that we got with this. and that's why they vow to continue protesting they say they want to make sure the future generations won't suffer the discrimination they faced ever again. the trump administration has granted

a 3 month extension for american companies to do business with huawei after placing the chinese tech giant on an economic blacklist back in may it's the 3rd time an exemption has been granted in order to minimize the impact on customers relying on while your products while way denies us allegations that in sec knology poses threats to national security. russia has returned 3 naval ships to ukraine after seizing them last year 2 gunboats and a tugboat were taken in the kurdish straits between mainland russia and crimea which moscow extremely ukraine 5 years ago the handover is a major step in a push to end a 5 year conflict in eastern ukraine where russian backed rebels are fighting the government police in georgia have detained 18 people after clearing anti-government protesters camped outside parliament last week governing party legist. rejected

a bad that would have removed the intellectual system reform drive electoral system from to force a walk of reports i. were under orders to clean the streets outside parliament from protest this was about it wasn't anyone else who happens to be in the way journalists including the police have responded very quickly to listen 24 hours since the blockade started around the fall of the now they simply moving down the street clearing people away some of the things actually sitting down in the hope that the slovaks so was worse but it didn't take long to remove the makeshift camp last week the government lawmaker has rejected a bill on city proportional voting ago it would have made it easier for opposition parties to live in more seats in elections next year or so protesters declared poland's now they accuse the governing party's chairman. of

breaking his promise to reform to which is electric code opposition leaders say even if she really is an unelected oligarch with too much control over the country we have another example where force for you is what is was voted through to the purposes to great comfort for those people were in solving the problem by attracting the problems that you need a very unfortunate all of the culture wars are made government officials say the opposition is deliberately trying to stop the rest not steal my part of the opposition has unfortunately again misled it supporters and what we have seen during the past 2 days went beyond peaceful protest in particular i am talking about the pickets of parliament and other state institutions and those activities that were taking place. there were hopes electoral reform would have defused tensions instead of broken promises his only deepened to which is political crisis

. robin firstly will come out 0 tbilisi. police in italy have broken up across border a criminal gang they say had been smuggling millions of dollars worth of ancient artifacts video from police drone showed illegal acts of a excavations in the southern region of calabria the items on earth were being sold around the world. again i'm fully back to bill with the headlines on al-jazeera the u.s. has abandoned its longstanding position on israeli settlements in the occupied west bank say it will no longer consider them illegal secretary of state my compare says the construction of civilian settlements is not inconsistent with international law science president has condemned the move but it's been welcomed by israel's prime minister who says it writes a historical wrong says he will leave the status of the west bank to israelis and

palestinians to negotiate. calling the establish of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law hasn't worked it hasn't invents the cause of peace the hard truth is there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict in arguments about who is right or wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace this is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians protesters are still holed up inside a university campus in hong kong following a prolonged standoff with police dozens escapes the building on monday after a night of violence and fed before they could be arrested please enter the grounds and face a barrage of petrol bombs and arrows they responded with tear gas and water cannon . saudi arabia says yemen's who fees have hi john to ship towing a soft korean drilling rig in the red sea the rebels will say they have seized 3

ships including a saudi one the sailors on board have been taken to a who controlled port data the official has told they'll release a drilling rig if they can confirm it belongs to south korea the saudi government is describing the instant as a terrorist operation. as strikes have killed at least 7 people and injured more than 30 others in southern areas of libya's capital tripoli according to government sources a warlord highly for have tossed drones targeted a factory where the victims were working most of them off from bangladesh with some other african countries more than a 1000 people have been killed since have tom began his offensive on libya's capital in april those are the headlines more news on our web site as always al jazeera dot com coming up next it's talk to anxious to hear.

you mean war. lucas. he's recognized by many as a symbol of left wing movements in latin america union leader and activist ever more alleys became bolivia's 1st indigenous president off to his party movement to socialism won the 2005 election. during morales's almost 14 years in power believe his economy grew one of the highest rates in latin america and poverty was almost home taking advantage of his popularity morel is decided not to complete his 1st 5 year term and cooled for an early election in 2009 easily secured a 2nd victor.