A show of support for hong kong protesters as the u. S. Congress threatened sanctions if human rights arent upheld. Not your god he would not let a non. Issue of the world he would defy tradition and raise their voices to demand change. Top story this hour a man once considered an ally of donald trump has publicly stated the president did want to withhold military aid to ukraine in exchange for an investigation into his political rival joe biden americas ambassador to the e. U. Testified before the impeachment inquiry into the u. S. President on weapons day gordon songdo and also implicated other top officials saying quote everyone was in the loop alan fischer is in washington. From the u. S. Ambassador to the e. U. Stunning testimony and said it was abundantly clear to everyone ukraine would not receive military aid from the u. S. Or a meeting at the white house unless it announced an investigation into a Company Connected to the son of political opponent question joe biden was there a quid pro quo as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting the answer is yes. Sunderland previously denied the security it was conditioned on the biden investigation but he told the Impeachment Panel it warts in the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid i later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a Public Statement from ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 elections and for research and he insisted senior figures on the administration knew what was going on including the Vice President and the secretary of state everyone was in the loop the suggestion that we were engaged in some irregular or rogue diplomacy is absolutely false im not sure how someone could characterize something as an irregular channel when youre talking to the president the United States the secretary of state the National Security adviser the chief of staff of the white house the secretary of energy he said trump insisted u. S. Diplomats what with his private attorney Rudy Giuliani on handling ukraine so we followed the president s orders sundin says giulianis direction on ukraine became more insidious with time in early july a coveted white house visit for ukrainian president let him use the lenski was dangled as an award for ukraines cooperation which but later saw england testified we came upon the 400000000. 00 in security aid was also on the line someone testified that in a phone call with the oval office he asked trump an open ended question what did the president won from ukraine the answer he wanted nothing and republicans and the president claims that proves the impeachment hearing is a waste of time its over and some of the fair friends of which there is a deal mike said this thing is over nancy pelosi isnt complicated shes gotten nothing done in congress and now with their big star witness is going to be their star witness ned. So you know i dont know very well from a little witness confirmation the ukrainians asked why it was being held up as i think quality coming sooner than previously reported my staff showed me to unclassified emails that they received from the state Department One was received on july 25th at 2 31 pm that email said that the Ukrainian Embassy and House Foreign Affairs committee are asking about Security Assistance democrats called sunderlands testimony a seminal moment it goes right to the heart of the issue of bribery as well as other potential high crimes or misdemeanors but we also have heard for the 1st time that that knowledge of this scheme was pervasive. Republicans continue to insist the president did nothing wrong that the hearings are a waste of time and money the latest attempt to remove an elected president. But this testimony from the trump loyalists remain democrats moving closer to impeachment and republicans rethinking how to defend the president alan fischer aljazeera washington. Democratic president ial hopefuls to spend more time and condemning President Trump than each other during the debate in the city of atlanta with the impeachment inquiry an unavoidable backdrop 10 candidates took to the stage they included the front runners job by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren each heatedly making accusations against ms to trump all that Bernie Sanders said they shouldnt become obsessed. We have a president who is not only a pathological liar he is likely the most corrupt president in the modern history of america but we cannot simply be consumed by donald trump because if we are going to watch were going to lose the election American People understand is that the congress can walk and should bubble gum at the same god put other words we can deal with trumps corruption but we also have to stand up for the working families of this country. The u. S. Congress is threatening sanctions against china if human rights held in hong kong house of representatives has approved a bill to support human rights in the territory just 24 hours after the Senate Passed it but chinas accused washington of interfering in its internal affairs and summoned u. S. Diplomats in beijing on weapons day in hong kong itself about 100. 00 student protesters are still inside a University Campus surrounded by the police the standoff began on sunday so a clock with the latest. Police have sealed off this entire area around Polytechnic University and we believe up to 100. 00 people are still barricaded up inside overnight we had a few people the 1st who left voluntarily surrendered and were arrested as a result of the last few days weve had more than 1000 people leave this campus and of course face arrest now at the moment round this particular area we have huge Traffic Congestion here is the tunnel its being closed since last wednesday and its a major tunnel connecting Hong Kong Island and callan there also weve had in the u. S. The passage of the hong kong human rights and democracy active past the senate you know yesterday and today it was the house of representatives now the Hong Kong Government has responded to that its told the u. S. To stop meddling in hong kong if it is it also says that this particular passage of this bill since the wrong message to call them the violent protests is now this bill requires the state department and the u. S. To certify that hong kong is protecting and respecting human rights in hong kong and also if this bill does get passed by donald trump it could also introduce sanctions on the Hong Kong Government. Both in Hong Kong Chinas online giant alibaba has now begun this years biggest share sale raising the only 13000000000. 00 u. S. Dollars in a landmark listing on the citys Stock Exchange the auction marks the biggest shift in hong kong for 9 years and it will be seen as a boost for the territories economy falling more than 5 months of unrest the retailer is selling 500000000. 00 shares but will issue more depending upon demand. Lets go back to our top story now the democratic criticism and condemnation of President Donald Trump just once each mitchell is assistant professor at the Northwestern University in castle she joins us here in the studio in just in such wilson who won the democratic debate thank you for having me well you know one of the biggest questions was will biden finally win a democratic debate you know hes the National Poll front runner and considered to be the main candidate right now and yet the perceived weaknesses of his candidacy have created not only opportunities for the moderates in the race currently but also moderates to enter the race late we see Michael Bloomberg and patrick for example entering because of perceived weakness of bidens candidacy so its very important for him to have a strong debate tonight he did have strong moments he was able to talk about the respect for the rule of law and on the importance of civility in our politics as well as an interesting and critical take on saudi arabias Human Rights Violations including bringing up Jamal Khashoggi so that was quite interesting for me but he was relatively weak still and shaky on some of the core issues of the Democratic Party such as gender equality with the need to movement and the question of drug policies and general authenticity regarding race in the black community in america so in some biden how did that relatively strong debate but it wasnt a slam dunk for him and theyll still be some some question marks around his candidacy Going ForwardGoing Forward to those individual candidates have to kind of refocus what theyre doing if only because they spent so much time talking about the impeachment inquiry its almost as if the democratic process is being defined as a function of donald trump. Yes well i agree with you that there was a focus on the impeachment especially at the beginning i actually thought it was a really good move on the part of the debate organizers to start with the question because its the elephant in the room or the circus in washington d. C. You might say but at the same time i dont think they dwelt on it because the candidates really dont have any daylight between them on this issue or virtually everyone on that stage agrees that President Trump may have committed impeachable offenses and that its important for congress to take seriously their their constitutional duty to protect our democracy so after that original question we we seem to move forward in to actually quite a substantive and strong debate for many candidates you know it was interesting the speculation at the beginning of this of this debate previous was that people may get a lot of attacks by his fellow candidates and this is because he has just had a very strong polling in the state of iowa and the reason why iowa is important is because its the 1st state for the primaries in in february of this next year and he was the top the top candidate in that recent poll but we didnt actually see this huge ganging up on people we did see Elizabeth Warren once again have an extremely strong debate the main focus was on her from the start she dominated the 1st to our finish strongly ended up with the most speaking time but actually all 4 of the top tier candidates including Bernie Sanders joe biden and people. Had strong debates and so did the 2nd tier candidates cory Booker Harris and. And also which are and the most important thing here was that the message in tone overall was this message of civility and unity its very clear that the democrats are trying to portray themselves as the adults in the room and in direct contrast to the circus that is the Trump White House in a time of social media. In a time with spin doctors and spin and twitter and just to be clear politicians telling lawyers on social media platforms how long until the Democratic Candidates the democrat candidates choose to allow. Themselves based on the bread and butter issues you know how much money youve got in the bank how much tax youre paying with your job to secure the kind of things that people really want to vote on. Like i said you know there were a lot of substantive issues covered in this particular debate there could still have been so much more i mean we we we didnt discuss economic inequality at all we didnt discuss issues in the Public Education system we didnt discuss gun violence and these are important issues that Americans Care about and they want to hear more about these issues but we did discuss very important issues including what i appreciated was a focus on Climate Change that was a very important thing to do to focus on we had it we had a good set of remarks on that ends and certain candidates cant keep coming back to that we also had some really interesting things brought up for example about child care and paid family leave the importance of military and other types of service to our country. So there are a lot of issues on the minds of americans and in each of these debates we were trying to touch on them well see what happens with the december debate ok we have to leave it there just in sage mitchell from northwestern here and counsel thank you so much thank you. Principal ground still to cover for you here on aljazeera including as a Family Affair sri lankas newly elected president is set to swear in his brother as Prime Minister but enough grip on the familys power and months of pressure on colombias government as a National Strike is about to head off. How the weather is looking pretty quiet across eastern parts of you are very different story for the central parts of the mediterranean still some showers the longest spells of rain foundry downpours just around the adriatic now wheezing over towards greece towards the balkans and it will continue to drive its way east was coming in behind because more cloud and right to western parts as well poor School Getting a real dousing over the next couple of days actually Western Areas of france on up towards the British Isles you can see that speckling of shout out which will roll its way in over the next 24 hours or so so that was the rattlin across western parts of europe temperatures not great nines intends all the way down to madrid central areas again 10 degrees celsius there for vienna atlanta right nothing its way over towards the black sea towards rumania next area cloud will slide and not quite as wet this system which will push in across see a dramatic as we go on into the next couple of days but some of the shot was a possibility just around northern parts of grey some very heavy rain then as we go into friday for those western parts of europe and temperatures in madrid and around 13 degrees in the cloud and the rain some like out of the rain will affect northern parts of africa norm areas of morocco seeing some wet weather with parts of libya to lift a little damp for a time and its all making its way further east. Aljazeera is Investigative Unit goes under cover in the caribbean we dont. If they were bribed with if you are talking of a piece of shit exposing trade and diplomatic passports today. Then the press will go to war over not involving some of the regions highest officials. Call aljazeera investigations diplomats for sale. Recapping our top stories for you so far this golden someone once and i lived on the front has told the impeachment inquiry in washington into the president that he wanted to withhold military aid to ukraine in exchange for an investigation into his political rival job by the u. S. Ambassador to the e. U. Also implicated other top officials. Democratic president ial hopefuls have criticized donald trump during their debate in atlanta senator Bernie Sanders called him the most corrupt president in u. S. History but he also won democrats not to get too obsessed with mr trump. Staying in the states the u. S. House of representatives has approved a bill to support human rights in hong kong 24 hours after the Senate Passed it in hong kong itself around a 100 student protesters remain surrounded by the police and the University Campus for a 5th day. The israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is main rival benny gantz has been unable to form a new Coalition Government he had until 22 hours g. M. T. On weapons day israels been through 2 inconclusive elections in april and september neither mr ganns nor mr netanyahu got a majority earlier the israeli Prime Minister tried to put together a coalition himself but he too failed another election now looking likely or a force it is in west jerusalem. Well for hours before the expiration of the deadline for benny gantz to make a Coalition Government he came to the microphones to admit what had been coming increasingly clear throughout the course of the day that he had failed but he put the blame for that squarely at the feet of the Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu saying he had been fortifying himself inside a Transitional Government against the will of the israeli people just to try to avoid prosecution in impending Corruption Cases and he used particularly personal language in a very strong attack against netanyahu saying that no party leader was above the nation no person had the right to deny the people their vote no Prime Minister own leader could say that my interests are more important than yours and he said that netanyahu had been putting poison into the israeli political process through hatred and incitement and he said that israel now faced its greatest democratic test in its history as now the 21 day period begins where any member of the Israeli Parliament the knesset could theoretically try to form a Coalition Government if they have enough support otherwise israel is off to a 3rd round of elections within less than a year because our would so usually score. Netanyahu needs to remember israel still has a democracy even if it doesnt appeal to him and he should have come to terms with the fact that the outcome of the elections required him to negotiate directly with no blocks or barriers of. Well earlier the right wing politician of a door lieberman whod been seen as the kingmaker in this process said that he hadnt been able to convince either netanyahu or gantz to compromise enough to form a joint unity government the only kind of government that he said he would support with his crucial seats in the Israeli Parliament so what comes next for the only way really that a 3rd election could be avoided is if the threat of that election which is so unpopular with the electorate is enough in itself to try to pressure key players to compromise more or if when netanyahu and we do think it is when theyre finally gets charged by the attorney general in the coming days in his 3 Corruption Cases whether that changes the calculus within his own party enough to try to splinter support away from him theres been no sign of that in the run up to those charges coming in the support has so far been rock solid behind him and so for now this grinding political crisis goes on with no sign of an end perhaps it will only end and maybe not even then if a 3rd round of elections happens in the early part of next year. Later today sri lankas new president go to buy a rajapaksa will be swearing in his elder brother mahinda as the next Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa who was also president between 252015 will replace runa wickramasinghe in else on those reports from the capital colombo. Running the vicar missing who went on television to address sri lankans about his decision to step down by about 3 operative people not even though we had a majority in parliament we accept the mandate received by mr rajapaksa decided to allow him to form a new government as he wishes but. His announcement came after he called his cabinet to a meeting at his official residence on wednesday for some members of his party its high time for change even the United Russia Party needs new leadership to move forward new people need to come and take responsibility and particularly because the general election will be coming closely because missing has led the United National party for 25 years drawing increasing criticism for not handing over the leadership hes body had defeat the government of law in the rajapaksa brother of the new president in 2015 but lost support when he trailed to keep election promises to bring change and stamp out corruption he was sacked by prison mighty palace it is seen in october last year only to be reinstated by the Supreme Court which ruled the move was unconstitutional. On thursday president rajapaksa will swear in mind as Prime Minister. Leaves temper trees his official residence that you see behind me he and his United National party now look at regrouping to ensure they mount a strong opposition in parliament to counter the power of the rajapakse. Aljazeera. At least 27 antigovernment protesters have been injured during confrontations with Iraqi Security forces in the capital baghdad the Police Used Tear Gas to disperse people getting too close to the green zone which is home to government buildings demonstrators are still occupying the main bridge leading to the area and 2 other key bridges also in the capital there also disrupting access to the southern port of little 300 people have been killed since protests began 7 weeks ago. Iraqi women have turned out in huge numbers at the recent demonstrations a significant difference from past years mohammed met some of them at a protest in fact that. This is a moment the could not be missed. As she accompanies her 3 daughters to Freedom Square the epicenter of antigovernment demonstrations in baghdad and tells us how it was a sense of patriotism the compelled her to come out and show her support but not see him next to syria my daughters feel exactly the same and i say mom we have to go out this is our country while we staying home or going to school while the other a rockies a sacrificing themselves this is the 4th time theyve visited it likely wont be the last in my it will spoil our generation is strong they have the pioneers now there will be a change god willing. Antigovernment protests in iraq which have been massive began in early october since the start women have joined in large numbers now you know without me were not going to im not an activist Nadia Mahmood makes regular appearances and tahir square urging her audiences to demand equal rights and opportunities for everyone she tells me seeing so many women out here has been encouraging and inspiring this is something new it is absolutely new and its so refreshing and so doesnt think to see because the reason why women didnt participate before because pamela hayes you know prevented them from taking part in the most races but this time i think some of these as well where what is to end the quotas they were meant to come down and up here many of the women protesters also volunteer as medics treating the wounded even as they call for change. But in other parts of the outer square a more creative form of dissent. Murals paying tribute to the spirit and strength of the women created by women admired by them to the presence of so many female protesters here women who represent virtually every segment of it off the society is remarkable not only here they continue to come out day after day but they insist theyll keep on doing so no matter how dangerous the situation may become until the government meets their demands. Paint isnt only going up on the walls almost stuff her face covered in the colors of the iraqi flag wants to make sure everyone can see clearly how proud she is of this movement. The law will stay out here for the sake of the young men and women and im not afraid not from Political Parties not from infiltrate has long live iraq long live iraq. Around me and cry the traverses gender lines and transcends the generational divide by iraqi women but for all. But that. At least 11 people have been killed in a missile strike on a camp for displaced people in syria it hit close to the Turkish Border in rebel controlled province activists are blaming the Syrian Government under running a militia Syrian Regime airstrikes of also hit the city on numa in southern italy. The government of colombia is mounting a massive security operation in preparation for what could be the countrys biggest National Strike in years riot police and soldiers have been deployed to the capital bogota and the countrys land borders have been shut to prevent foreigners from joining the protests. Ive it has been a tough 1st year for colombian president. But the last 30 days of been worse. Is the center party suffered heavy losses in Regional Elections feeling even in areas that had once been strongholds. In 5 Indigenous Leaders were killed by an armed group that happened at the army struggles to contain violence in areas where the implementation of a peace deal with rebels has been delayed by government opposition to the agreement your finally his defense minister was forced to resign after it was revealed that at least 8 children have been killed in a near attack against the dissidents faction of the fark the president s response to that. What are you talking about dude normally the 1st year he said good year for the president to have this holiday with that Public Opinion and people are not convinced at this point of the story that this is a Good Government that they are at best in the country they dont think that the hatha an overall d project for the country. Support for the president in polls is falling to 26 percent with growing discontent over government actions and proposed Economic Reforms opposition parties unions and students have called for a National Strike thats expected to be the largest in years. That said this is why we are the 3rd most unequal country in the world the 6th worst in education and with the protests across south america from ecuador to colombians have been emboldened people are asking if we are worse off why dont we also do it the biggest fear for president and the government is that this strike could spark in colombia the same kind of breast that is seriously stabilised the number of countries in the region i know. For president has accused foreign agents of inciting violence some critics say that could be a way to criminalize the protest but government representatives say thats not the case and i believe every comment has a right to protest it whether it is wonderful spread under the right. But at the same time we have to question those who ask or people who want a National Strike even if theyre really if they really have the columbus interests in mind or if they have political benefit in mind. Despite such comments many colombian say theyre ready to join people across south america in the mending social in economy. They feel theyve been denied for too long i listen. Libyas interim president. Congress to approve a new law allowing new elections theres been deadly unrest since last months poll with supporters of the former president. Demanding his return he fled to mexico 10 days ago after allegations of voting irregularities the 1st time around. Ethiopians in the saddam a region have voted on the creation of a new federal states initial results are expected later on thursday the Initiative Aims to give ethnic groups more autonomy but some feel the vote could cause more fragmentation the referendum was delayed in july triggering days of unrest that left dozens of people dead. Ok lets just recap your top stories for you so far here on aljazeera gold and some blood has told the impeachment inquiry into donald trump that the president wanted to withhold military or to ukraine in exchange for an investigation into his political rival the u. S. Ambassador to the e. U. Who was once an ally of mr trump also implicated other top officials saying quote everyone was in the loop. Was there a quid pro quo as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting the answer is yes mr giuliani conveyed to secretary perry ambassador volker and others that President Trump wanted a Public Statement from president selenski committing to investigations of reese and the 2016 election democratic president ial hopefuls have criticized mr trump maturing their debate in atlanta senator Bernie Sanders called him the most corrupt president in u. S. History but also one democrats not to get too obsessed with mr trump the u. S. House of representatives has approved a bill to support human rights in hong kong 24 hours after the Senate Passed the same legislation in hong kong around 100 student protesters remain surrounded by the police in the University Campus for a 5th day the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is main rival benny gantz has been unable to form a Coalition Government after a deadline lapsed on wednesday israels been through 2 inconclusive elections in april and september neither mr ganns nor mr netanyahu got a majority earlier the israeli Prime Minister trying to put together a coalition but he too failed another election is now looking likely. At least 27 antigovernment protesters have been injured during confrontations with Iraqi Security forces in the capital baghdad the Police Used Tear Gas to disperse people getting too close to the green zone which is home to government buildings demonstrators are still occupying the main bridge leading to the area and to other key bridges in the capital. At least 11 people have been killed in a missile strike on a camp for displaced people in syria it hit near the Turkish Border in rebel controlled italy province activists are blaming the Syrian Government and iran the militia up next its inside story im back just after that see that of a white supremacist violence is on the rise in america he was involved in this whole underground network 8 full time speaks to the victims of recent attacks when he shot i turned around and he would kill my daughter and asks how an ideology of loathing has found its way into the mainstream can you draw a through line between the rhetoric of President Trump and the conservative media in america to what happened here in el paso license to hate on aljazeera how can the situation in hong kong be resolved police are accused of intensifying attracts many protesters are holding out and china says Foreign Countries are now involved so if thats right how does it complicate an already tough situation in the territory this is inside story. Welcome to the program on how he had seen the protests which began 8 home