berlin. tonight at the united nations, palestinians liver angry rejection of donald trump middle east peace plan. the palestinian president tells the u.n. the proposals would be a gift to israel. the palestinians he says are being offered a fragmented swiss cheeeese of a state. on the way to face charges of ms -- of genocide and charges of crimes against humanity.

the sudan government agrees to hand over -- to the criminal court. hong kong's pro-democracy protesters suspend demonstrations to help combat the spread of the coronavirus. the campaign for greater independence from mainland china is far from over. i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states, welcome. the palestinian authority has reaffirmed the world already knew, rejecting the peace plan of her by the united states, saying it would not be accepted by the palestinian people. speaking today at the un security council, he said it would strengthen what he called israel's apartheid regime and would award is really occupation

rather than holding them accountable for crimes against palestinians. this -- here is mahmoud abbas speaking today at the u.n. >> this plan will not bring peace or stability to the region. therefore, we will not accept this plan. we will confront its application on the ground. this is the summary of the project that was presented to us. this is the state they will give us. it is like swiss cheese. really, who among you will accept a similar state and similar conditions? brent: critics of this plan by the trump administration say it would grant israel several of

its long-held wishes, some of which could violate international law. >> the occupied westgate -- west bank, trump's plan could lead to the territory. annexation of territory was condemned after world war ii by the united nations charter. critics warmed -- warneded the proposal could violate principles of international law. >> this is not a peace plan. this is a plan for purple -- for perpetuating the oppression and dispositionn of palestinians, nt giving them statehood or rights, but a permanent statate of apartheid. >> de facto annexation has already occurred. when we are talkiking about annenexation, especicially withh regard to the trump plan,n, we e talkining about annexation. israel already controls all of the land from the jordan river to the mediterranean sea.

>> if f one looks carefefully ae proposal, , they are not proposg israel will l act unilaterally r are theyey demanding the palestininians accepted as such. theyey are saying, this is our propososal, you paparties negote it. israel would have certain parts of the west bank. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu had promised to swiftly assert sovereignty over the west bank settlements and the jordan valley. the u.s. seems to be pushing for that to happen only after the is rarely elections. a joint u u.s.-israeli cocommite have started working out the details of the map. >> for universal values, it needs to consideder what is happenening in palelestine very seriously. what happens to the palesestinis

could happen elslsewhere. it proves a case in point. we already see moves elsewhere in the world. >> if israel proceeds with such an annexation, it is unclear how the rest of the international community will react. brent: for more, i am joined by michael link. he is a professor in international and human rights law in ontario. it is good to have you on the program. this proposal by the trump administration, do you see parts of it that are clear violations of international law? >> i am afraid so. mumuch of it is in violation of international law. e reason w why we stretch international law is this is the way wn you h have stronger a weaker powerss who are unable to negotiate a fair settttlement because of the ammmmetrical balance of power, ininternationl

lalaw is meant to come in and establish rights by which people arare meant to establish -- --- which h israel hasas over the paleststinians. the question youou have asked i, whatat international l law windp staying on thesessssues? onee a as y your previousus spes jujust mentitioned, internatioil law since the creation of the uniteded nations this would samanantha annexatatn of east jejerusalem byby israeld and ask up to 30% of the west bank. it wouldld also legalize and gie to israel the land of which the joindeder 40 settlements are. the civilian settlements have bebeen declared d by t the inteternational commmmunity assg illegall since the e early 197'. they are a purported w war crime

ununder the 199 statutete. yet, n ne of this if recognized in the current peace plan proposal. brent: we know -- it is easy to point to international law and say it is being violated. it is another thing to enforce the law. is there anything the international community can do to stop this peace plan from being enforced?? >> it can withhold d its support for it. we havave heard statements madey the african union, the european union, and a number of other countries that this peace plan falls short of what the international consensus has been and what international law can do. the difficulty always is that the americans have a role in mediating between the israelis and palestinians. in this case where the current

united states administration has excepted much of the political l talking points by te current government. it put its fingers on the scale heavily against the palestinians and for the israelis. more importantly, heavily against the chances of reaching a fair, just and durable solution. brent: what do you think this plan says about the state of international law considering you have a superpower, the united states, which is pressing forward with a plan that as you say y clearly has points thahate in violalation of inteternationa law? >> there is probably no conflict in the modern world as s the israeleli-palestiniann c conflit wherere on the onene h hand, yoe had more i internationonal law created d over the l last 75 yes with resespect to thvavarious impoportant conflilict points betwtween israeliss andnd

lelestiniansns. it is rare to find a c conflictn the world where therere has such been long -- hass been such a little application of standards dedealing witith low. the trumump plan changnges everything and chaes n nothing. ifif it was accepteted, it would the conflict, but it would also confirm thee inequality on the ground. with the world has to do is stick byy its declarations madee by hundreds of u.n. resolutioios at the security cououil, the general assembly and the human rirights counc o on annexation, settlements, and occupation anad say, this is a bright red line which the international community will not accept a change over. brent: we will be waiting to see if i'd happens. professor michael link joining us from ontario. thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines. the democratic presidential hopefuls in the unit states

facing a crucial test in new hampshire, which is holding the first primary of the election season. senator party's -- senator bernie sanders and mary pete buttigieg are seen as front runners. at least six people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the afghan capital kabul. it ends a recent lull as the u.s. talks with the taliban. a vote of confidence in parliament. the move also endorsed a plan to end the financial crisis. outside the parliament building, security forces clashed with antigovernment protesters who were trying to prevent the vote. sudan's transitional government and rebel groups in the door for region have agreed to hand over the rmrmer presisident to the

international criminal court. the cocourt in the hague issued warrantsts for his arresest ove0 years ago. he is charged with committing crimes against humanity and genocide in relation to the door for rebels. the military ousted him last year amid mass protests against his dictatorship. his lawyer says the former president has denounced the court as political and is refusing to have any dealings with it. a sudanese government negotiator announced the agreement with rebel groups in darfur for to hand over those wanted by the icc. let's hear what he had to say. >> we have agreed upon four primary y mechanisms too achieve justice inin dark for a. we have agagreed upon the appearance for those who faced arrest warrarants.

i am saying this clearly. weweannot achihieve justice unls we heal ththwound usining justie itself. we cannot run away at all from facing those who havave committd crimes against humananity and wr crimes committed against instant -- against innocent people in darfur. brent: here at the table is my colleague. this sounds like it is incredibly important. why is it so significant? >> one should not downplay the historical moment this is if it does end up happening. the negotiator did not name him by name. he just said the government would be prepared to present the sudanese officials that have warrants on him. if he did, this would be a long path. sudan has not ratified their own statute. the icc would need to do that so there would be a legal framework for him to appear.

on top of that, just to give some background, sudan has been governed by a transitional government made up of military and civilian rulers since august of last year. this agreement was the result of monthshs of intensnse political violence. i was there in april. it is unclear if everyone on this transitional government is on board with the move. they have not all given statements yet. there have been actions in the past where the civilian leaders and the military leaders in the transitional government have not seen i tie. -- have not seen eye to eye. some of the military leaders are former allies of bashir. they may not be wanted by the icc. there are strong accusations against them they are complicit in these crimes. brent: let's talk about the

charges that are being alleged against bashir. >> this is a man who has two arrest warrants issued by the icc on his name. this goes back to an insurgency that broke out in 2003 when ethnic tribes claimed they were oppressed by the government started an insurgency. the government crackeded down on them in the most brutal ways. carpet bombings, scorched-earth policies. almost 400,000 people killed. 2.7 million people displaced. i was in door for in -- i was in darfur in 2017. have people displaced for decades. even if this is a symbolic move, it is such a vindication for victims who for decades toldd me they felt voiceless. brent: it is important their

suffering be acknowledged. if we do see him at the criminal court, what would that mean for this current transitional government? >> it would definitely signal their might. sudan is a country that is full of internal conflicts. this transitional government has put as a top priority to reconcile these internal conflicts in an effort to get the country back on its feet whether it is to be accepted in the international scene or get its economy started again. it seems the rebels in darfur -- this was not a .4 negotiation. they managed to secure this without ruffling the feathers. you have to wait and see. brent: as always, we appreciate it. thank you for putting it into context. here in germany, chancellor

angela merkel's government is in crisis mode as her conservative party picks up the pieces from a disastrous week that saw a political taboo broken. the party flirted with a far-right party last week to win a regional election. now, the party is looking for a new leader and guidance while the government is facing a raft of international challenges. >> e.u. member states are concerned committee might be politically unstable when it takes over the presidency later this year. chancellor angela merkel's conservatives are in crisis mode after the resignation of the party leader. it is not clear who will replace her and what kind of relationship the party might resume. polls suggest most germans do not want to see the party shift to the right. >> i think this is dangerous for the christian democrats. if they move to the right, they

could form a coalition with the afd. that is more than just breaking a taboo. that is making a pact with the far-right. >> i hope the party will not move to the right. they cannot afford to. >> the cd you cannot go on being so stubborn. it is not sustainable. they cannot ignore voters. >> the crisis was triggered by a cdu politician's decision to cooperate with the far-right party and the pro-business fdp. this was against the wishes of the cdu national leadership and was seen as political taboo in germany. >> what we learned from what happened is the powers within the cdu want to move the party to the political rate. the backlash has been so massive a party is now taking this very seriously. >> if the cdu does move further

to the right, that could threaten angela merkel's coalition government. members of parliament are appealing for calm. >> a leadership battle in the party is surely something thatt is not helpful right now, but we members of parliamament will continue to provide stability. >> this governing coalition is able and willing to work. it has been a tough couple of months for the social democrats, but i do not one-time make the job anymore difficult for the cdu at the moment. >> now, will most likely be up to chancellor merkel to resolve the crisis. her government cannot afford such turmoil when it takes over the presidency of the european union. brent: the world health organization has named the coronavirus, the new strain, responsible for the current outbreak cobit 19. the agency says no other names

should be used to describe it. there are no licensed drugs or vaccines to fight the virus. scientists agreed in geneva it could take 18 months to develop a vaccine. 43,000 people have been infected. i am joined by a virologist at lancaster university. it is good to see you again. the who's director general told a news conference vaccines could be ready in 18 months. it sounds like a long time, but it is also superfast. how w realistic is t this? >> it is realllly complicated because whenever w we talk about availability of a vaccine f for human applilication, we talk abt two compoponents. first isis the construction and second is the validation. construcuction is not t a big i.

within a month, a vaccine canane made. the validation part is the main thing. animal testing is required to test efficacy. if we talk about the ebola virus, it was started na 2014. in november 2019, the first virus -- that is the timeframe we are talking about. with cobit 19, the nand that is proposed today, it is a little differenent because we have some information on the virus. that information can be exploited to shorten the duration for the construction of this vaccine. we have some advantages. let's hope we can make it possible. brent: loeb we are waiting, if we have to wait these 18 months, what needs to be done to contain the virus? >> in the end time,e, the onlyy

popossibilityy we have a'a's adaptation of t the controlled majors as being applied at the moment. if we met the spread of the infection from one person to another community, slowly, we are intervening with the transmission possible of this. eventually, the virus will peter out. the major emphasis could be on the control. brent: we know there is fear this epidemic could become a pandemic and cross borders easily. if that were to happen and we were to see an outbreak outside of china, is there anywhere to predict where the next outbreak would occur? >> i thinknk the most important thing is to understand how the virus is being transmitted. how it started from the epicenter and spread all over the world. a major issue is the transition between human to human. until that human to human transmission wououldarry out.

the potential was to reach the developing countries where the countries where the health care system is poor. that is where the virus will get a gain and the outcome will be devastating. we are also hoping the virus, if the controls being put in place at this moment, if they are carried out consistently, we will reduce and intervene the transmission between the people. slowly, the virus go down. that is where the strategy will come in place. brent: joining us tonight as efforts advance to find a vaccine for this virus. thank you. the chinese territory of hong kong has more than 40 confirmed cases. pro-democracy protesters have agreed to suspend their demonstrations to help curb the spread of this virus. >> the facemask, an emblem of

hong kong's large from one crisis to another. once an icon of the pro-democracy demonstrations, now it offers protection against the new coronavirus. with the street protests largely at an end, hong kong's focus has shifted should were images of violent street battles ones cover these walls, it is the battle against the virus that dominates withth one common thrd , distrust of the government and the chief executive, carrie lam. the posters on the wall may have changed. it is clear the anger which fueled months of protest cannot be papered over quite as easily. as the death toll in china mounds, many havee slammed hong kong for keeping borders open. while there is a shortage of facemask and hand sanitizer, it's part panic buying. one voice is the vast community of pro-democracy activists. during the protest, campaigners

used this space to make props for the demonstrations. when the virus hit, they swapped helmets for hand sanitizer, using their network to source donations and ingredients. filling in they say were authorities have failed. proof while they may have pushed pause on the protest, the movement is j just as focused as ever. >> i am confident we will go to the street again because this governrnment will upset all hong kong people, not just our political belief, and also the old people in the community. normally, they are the supporter of the establishment, but you can see they are quiet. but they are very angry. >> altruism goes hand-in-hand with political pragmatism. they believe as the virus spreads, so will antigovernment sentiment. it is that they hope to harness to push for democratic change. >> a strong movement and why i

haveve confidence is because of the failure of the system. people understand f from all was of life. the virus becomes so fierce and fear because of the system. >> to activists like simon, it has been clear their battle would not be fought and won with street protest alone. the campaign has proven it can adapt. it is actions like this that can become a new phase of the movement as anger over the government's handling of the virus reaches discontent. brent: all right, sports news now. in football, the coach of --

the former germany and unit states coach was a big win. the team has new big money backers and had hoped of turning itself into challengers, but they have won only one of their last five league games. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following. palestinian president mike mota bus has angrily rejected donald trump's middle east peace plan. he told the u.n. that the u.s. proposals would be a gift to israel. sudan's transitional govovernmet has a agreed to hand over former president omar al-bashir to the international court who was wanted on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. the world health organization has warned the coronavirus poses a grave global threat. 43,000 people are now infected. you can always get dw news on the go. just download our app from

google play or the app store. that will give you the latest access to news from all over the world. you can use the dwdw app to send us photos and videos when you see news happening. this is dw news live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around for that. ♪

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twenty four and france twenty four .com. family to see watching fronts twenty fufu linine from paris son marco in these are the headlines. countdown to the democrat primary new hampshire ets biden's race already run yes already somee this i included judgment more more might make it simple trace analysis to count. clashes between turkish and syrian troops in it in the province of a hundred about such forces have been killed in retaliation for the deaths of fiveve turkish soldiers. meanwhile the refugee numbers rise to nearly a million fleeing the fighting. around forty one years on iran marks the overthrow of the shah. on the return of the ayatollah in nineteen seventy nine among the ch