this is g.w. news live from berlin tonight a major shift in u.s. middle east policy israel approves the palestinians are outraged washington says it no longer considers israeli settlements on palestinian land in the occupied west bank to be a violation of international law all palestinians are condemning the movement calling it another blow to prospects for peace in the region also coming up in hong kong dozens of pro-democracy activists escaped a police siege at a university campus beijing again that warning that it could intervene to end the

crisis that's engulfing the city. i'm bringing off it's good to have you with it it is a major shift in u.s. policy but it is in line with the trump doctrine the united states tonight saying it no longer considers israeli settlements in palestinian territories to be a violation of international law all with that u.s. secretary of states might bump a 0 announced a major shift in policy towards the region he also said that he hoped washington would soon be able to unveil things and israeli palestinian peace plan palestinians have slammed the move on settlements saying it's another blow to the possibility of peace from peo however says that this is a purely legal matter and should and would not affect the peace process. the

establishment of israeli civilian settlements in the west bank is not per se inconsistent with international law the 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. the united states remains deeply committed to helping facilitate peace and i will do everything i can to help this cause for this is a very controversial decision in the united states let's take this story now to gil hoffman the chief political correspondent for the drew slim post he joins me now from jerusalem gil it's good to have you on the program it's controversial not only in the united states but also where you are how is this decision going to be received in israel well as

a noun as political allies are obviously greeted very warmly but some has been against the leader of the opposition the main alternative to to now who's currently trying to build the government here only the politicians in the left wing parties in the arab politicians have condemned it and said it would be harder to achieve peace you've been plenty of politicians who've said it's just recognizing reality and that there can still be a peace process very soon with donald trump's plans expected to be revealed shortly after israel's new government reform what do you think the chances of that peace plan are now now that we have the us saying the us wants to change how it reads international law and at the same time saying we want to unveil a peace plan between israel and the palestinians one of the chances of that now. well no peace plan as seen here or having

a great chance of success or even out of so many chances of peace that if not move forward but the approach of a drop in ministration is different it's thinking outside the box it's more of a regional solution to solving the conflict it involves the saudis and the gulf states in a way that has not been done before and it's an economically focused plan and would improve the lives of the palestinian people which other people of israel support doing. and the saudis are very much beholden to the administration in washington in the they're willing to play a leading role that they've not been willing to make before so it has all that going for it and even if the palestinians aren't willing to participate this plan being on the table really changes everything. for the future no matter who the palestinian leadership will be and who the american ministration in the israeli government will be will still be there afterward and can be used as

a basis for talks in the future. the palestinian or the settlements in the palestinian territories have been considered the major hurdle to any 2 state solution simply because with the settlements it's impossible to draw a contiguous line that could be the border between israel and a future palestine so how is what kind of impact is this decision going to have for the state of israel moving forward considering you still have the palestinian problem right there at your doorstep. the answer is not much if you look back through history and it hasn't been that whether a jew lives on one side of a line or on another side of the line that's prevented a peace plan for moving forward it's been when the international community has been obsessed with condemning every little step you look at the 8 years of the bombing ministration he was obsessed with settlements and that really prevented there from being a peace process during the entire 8 years that he had he tried to stop settlements

and then john kerry when he became secretary of state midway through said you know what this is been the wrong strategy he started a peace process that moved forward that ended up ending with the american administration when obama got in kerry's way and that stopped the peace process when obama started talking about settlements again as you look through those 8 years during the time that israel was actually permitted to build the peace process move forward but israel was not permitted to build the peace process did not move toward. the line of $949.00 the cease fire line there is no was found it is not only it was a cease fire line that was not recognized then and is not going to be the final line yatta line will be decided to go cations between israel and the palestinians in a peace process that israelis hope will happen again. well we will continue to wait for those peace talks between the palestinians in the and israelis if and when they

do ever take place here hoffman chief political correspondent for the jerusalem post joining us tonight thank you roger. well here's some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world u.s. president says that he is strongly considering testifying in his own impeachment investigation tweeted the announcement a day after house speaker nancy pelosi challenged him to appear before the committee to quote speak all the truth that he wants russia has returned in 3 naval ships that they captured last year from ukraine it's the latest move to ease tensions between the 2 countries before a key summit next month the handover took place off the coast of crimea. dramatic scenes in hong kong today pro-democracy protesters made a bold escape from police he would sealed off a university campus that had been occupied by the demonstrators the stakes remain

dangerously high here china's ambassador to britain has mourned that beijing has the power and the resolution to end the unrest which has gripped hong kong for months universities have become just the latest back battleground for protesters and the police. a daring plan students climbing down from a bridge using ropes escaping on to a highway then they're in the clear. but they're only trickling out after police sealed off this university campus the epicenter of the most violent clashes so far in hong kong's political crisis. if court the protestors could be charged with the rioting punishable by up to 10 years in prison. chaos reigns here and police have failed to gain control of the campus clashes continue on the streets to the struggle for democracy has disrupted life in hong kong for 5

months it's had a heavy impact on the economy especially the tourism sector because visitors are often forced to remain in their hotels back at the university some students leave through the front door not everyone can continue the resistance they head towards waiting medics and the police the siege might be facing an end but it's just one of many battles in hong kong's continuing standoff. all the leaders in iran are defending the hike in fuel prices which sparked days of rioting at least 3 people have been killed and more than a 1000 arrested the government insisting that the price rises are necessary to fund social welfare programs the internet in the country has been cut off and they say and the supreme leader as accused the united states of being behind the unrest. the central bank in bay behind in flames police cars and

a billboard of the ayatollah are also involved in places scenes of unrest and destruction in southwestern iran. in the capital tehran demonstrators wish death on their supreme leader. the unrest has left many dead or wounded this footage was recorded on saturday before the government blocked the internet on monday came this statement from the commander of the bus each a militia loyal to the government and. i will only last yesterday the situation was stable throughout the country today things are also under control most of the people behind the riots have been identified and arrested this time the americans did not have any success and they added another defeat to their tally the better part of the mission of. the united states has criticized iranian security forces for using violence against the protesters secretary of state mike pump

a 0 posted in a tweet as i said to the people of iran almost a year and a half ago the united states is with you. because of u.s. sanctions iran's oil trade has collapsed the government is short of funds and is trying to offset its losses by raising gasoline prices 8 payments are planned for 20000000 people a need a quarter of the population. the government has made this decision because it doesn't have any money now it's taking money out of our pockets to plug the gaps here iran hommage everything in iran is connected to petrol prices when they go up so defeated prices rent everything. since the weekend iran has been cut off from the outside world that makes it difficult for the protesters to coordinate their rallies for the regime it's an opportunity to suppress the protests without interference around 1000 people are said to have been arrested so far. for here in europe venice is returning to normal after days of flooding which

caused damage running into hundreds of millions of euros but as the waters in the city recede other parts of northern italy you have been swamped by torrential rain leaving entire villages caught all. the rains have stopped life is getting back to normal but in venice that means assessing the damage after 3 floods within a single week still the waters are receding from public squares and the taxis are working the canals. but it's a different story in land flooded fields as far as the eye can see in central italy . and the field even 8 see a julia region reverse burst their banks flooding a key road and making access to cut off the ledge is difficult we feel as if we just came to a lake and now this if it goes on this way we won't have any prospects for the future with. the situation was even more dire in

a coastal town. city in britain fills up and overflows in the drains. the floodwaters making even the most basic tasks much more difficult but a pivotal day with very limited as you can see when things like this happen we're stuck at home like prisoners has appeared to need it i mean the real manya in central italy was hard hit firefighters rescued stranded residents in boats and helicopters forecasters warned that more flooding could be on the way. or when it comes to dog sledding most people think of snow cover scenes in the frozen arctic but last week in the world of competitive sled dog racing to the united kingdom the helms in their owners had to brave rough conditions as they battled it out but it was all worth it for the treat of winning a world title. if you thought dog sledding only took place on snow and ice you've

been bucking the wrong tree the annual dry land world championships at the weekend so it seems from around the globe descend on the cross and mud of sussex in england the sleds a fitted with wheels to help the hounds race around the bumpy track that combined with the power of between 2 and a canine cohorts allows them to reach for russia speeds i really just want to run so i put them in the hands let them do what they were bred to do in a fog responsible why those dogs enjoy you can enjoy as well as the like a bit of much. indeed mud is an unavoidable part of the proceedings and while that's perfect for the pitches the owners have to take extra precautions. pretty muddy pretty wet come back absolutely had to tarry mud to a good job we were prepared to give changes in place but yeah it was it was really just great and it is super the events are highly competitive organizers keep their

eyes on the clock the most important thing is that it's a fun day out for man's best friend. they find that breaks his bones we wonder you're watching the w. news i'm coming up next to do business with kate ferguson stick around for that. and demand. cast lead which course this. video for you. w. .