Backs the sudden decision to raise fuel prices even as a wave of violent protests grips the nation. Plus venice underwater again the city suffers its 3rd major flooding in less than a week and the damage could draw into the hundreds of millions of europes. Im called aspen welcome to the Program Police in hong kong have threatened to fire live bullets if rioters do not stop using what they describe as Lethal Weapons and the latest flare up during antigovernment protests the morning followed fire fresh clashes outside the university in the center of hong kong where protesters hunkered down behind makeshift barricades and hurled petrol bombs at Police Authorities said on sunday one officer was treated in hospital. After being hit in the leg by an arrow and another had his visor struck by a metal ball although he was not hurt. Were joined now by our correspondent hes been covering these protests in hong kong for us since the very beginning now mathias the university now the epicenter of these protests whats happening where you are right now. I am now at the polytechnic university. Where police today lays siege so the protesters had occupy d. C. University since a tuesday and have been fortified it with barricades they have producing hundreds if not thousands of bottles of molotov cocktails and this morning they started the police started to move in they have been fighting during the whole day and in the Afternoon Police laid siege they surrounded the University Nobody can get out of here now at some point they said that they would leave let people leave by a certain area but then they arrested those who left including their 1st aiders so what we are seeing here now resembles really a besieged fortress we have people being treated in here for injuries then ammunition being brought to the front and the protesters who do not think mostly that they will get out of here anyway without being arrested throwing everything they have to words the front of it is very dramatic. Some in tears it seems like different weapons being used by the protesters occupying this area near this university is this a change now in a tactics that youre seeing by protesters. Here weve seen this the whole week several universities in hong kong have been occupied and the standoff between police and the protesters were very different from what weve seen before they resembled media of. Battlefields with smoke and fire and these Lethal Weapon mentioned there were there that their bows and arrows and you see cutter poles that are used to throw stones and molotov cocktails at the police and then we also see these. These enduring battles where they stand in front of each other and fire at each other for hours and hours today around this university the lines have all most not moved or be heard something there about those different weapons being used by the protesters now we hear Police Driving to use live bullets how serious of a threat is that especially given the situation how tense things all right now thanks we are seeing that the police is really. Has really shifted also in if you were seeing these martial announcements by the police t. J. I would take this threat very serious they have said if they saw somebody firing one of these bows and arrows for example at the police they would use live rounds we also get reports from other parts of the city that the police have been extremely menacing today that towards protesters are people who come from them believe so if i were a protester i would take this very soon as the tears falling over pouring for us in hong kong thank you very much. Irans Supreme Leader is refusing to reverse a controversial price hike announced as weekend a 50 percent rise in gas prices took many by surprise and led to widespread protests throughout the country the regime responded with a veiled threats of a crackdown saying it would not allow what it called insecurity some of the demonstrations have turned violent at least 2 people have died as a result of the protests with many more injured young chap iranians have taken to the streets in the capital tehran and a number of cities across the country in protest against a government move to hike the price of petrol by 50 percent. The demonstrations started with protesters blocking roads but its collated quickly petrol stations and cars were torched and all manner of public property was badly damaged banks and government buildings were also a focus for peoples rights which failed to sway irans leader Ayatollah Khamenei he stand steadfastly in support of the price hike. So i dont know. Downer made a decision for the country based on expert assessments this decision must be executed. The move is in part of response to the failing economy as a result of u. S. Sanctions money he says nothing justifies the response from protesters. Searching a bank and fire is done not done by the people this is what dogs do. These words were indicative of a strong line being taken by the government in the face of the wrist police have threatened more tough measures and the Communications Minister announced that the internet has been shut down for 24 hours to reimpose control. Or heres a check now of some of the other stories making news around the world russia will return 3 captured naval vessels to ukraine according to Russian Media the boats were seized by russia last year as they try to break through a russian blockade that close access to several ukrainian ports and ships return comes ahead of talks between the 2 nations to discuss the conflict in eastern ukraine. The people of the roots have voted in a parliamentary election the opposition groups say was neither free nor fair president Alexander Book a shango dismissed those allegations after voting in the capital minsk many prominent opposition figures were ruled ineligible as candidates. People in sri lanka have chosen a new president s with an old last name go to by a barrage of pox one resulting victory this weekend his brother my hand up also served as president for a decade from to the. In 5 until 2015 the pair crushed a separatist movement ending the countrys civil war by killing an estimated 40000 people in the process there are also allegations of rape torture and extrajudicial killings so many are celebrating his victory others are uneasy. Its official sri lanka is said to have a dodgy box of beheld him again. Jubilant crowds gathered on the streets of the capital colombo to get a glimpse of their new leader. So im going back on reaction nations. The brother of former president mahinda rajapaksa. Team to landslide victory a day after the president ial vote was held by his supporters reckless with praise and adulation. About a guy hes taking over the country why doesnt a lot of trouble under any other leader even a child wouldnt feel safe on the streets im so happy long live. This week she belongs to the people who have shown their support for him and now i will feel safe and our brand new i look in that you know more than a mere thought that i might have gotten in the words cant explain how happy i am i prefer parks and i want to thank him for saving this country i didnt know about it only heard about the birth of. The dragons brick hes here the camera is as much to get close to my him to dodge fox as it is for the new president. Supporters of the brothers who oversaw the end of sri lanka decades long civil war. But not all the sri lanka is celebrating. There was little of joy on the streets in areas that back rajapakse us open and such a prim about so. They are uneasy about their future. In the past there have been allegations of enforced disappearances and oppression of the sand under the leadership of my hand and what i mean large part minorities are concerned about their rights under the new nationalist dodge apartheid government model of great do it on camera focus on the prize and changes in the countrys leadership are far from over experts point out that as the incumbent Prime Minister donna to become a single is from a Different Party than dodge a parka he could resign to allow for the new president to make his own pick but the last time an attempt was made to move to sri lankan Prime Minister it triggered a constitutional crisis i mean it could have a destabilizing effect if mr rickard missing mr rogers box to the new president cannot agree on what the next step is going to be yeah then of course itll create a question oh look we have to have a lot of no confidence and all of that kind of thing but otherwise its a relatively small transfer of power. Security fees and prosperity that is what sri lankans are seeking its a tall order but good job of euphoric supporters are confident he will deliver. Storms no and rain have continued to hit the italian city of venice residents are facing another high tide shutting the famous a mark square for a 3rd day more than 2 thirds of venice is flooded damaging monuments damaging shops and homes the quien says is expected to cost italy hundreds of millions of euros the city has been under water for days now with strong winds on tuesday bringing venices worst water in more than 50 years. Joining us now from venice is g. W. Correspondent truly julia 3rd major flood in less than a week in venice just give us a sense whats the situation right now how is the city coping with this. This city is coping relatively well all Things Considered but people are starting to become a little tired of all this flooding now so many floods so frequently are really exceptional and people are not prepared theyre trying to clean up their homes again clean up their shops again and theyre staying strong and venice is a resilient city but it is getting to a point where the spirit is starting to go down however everybody thinks that hopefully the worst is behind them and that they can start working towards coming back on their feet again i mean of course venice is a historic city its a unesco World Heritage site i mean do we know how bad the damage is yet were hearing estimates in the hundreds of millions even towards the 1000000000 euro mark. What weve heard is that it will take time to really be able to establish how much damage has been done and what the estimates are going to be that is because not only do they have to wait for the water to dry up but they have to ensure that the salt is not cause that much damage in fact the salt crystallizes and it ruins the structures so it is going to take some time in fact in some buildings today we were inside the each of the big famous theater here in venice the wall the water has crept through the walls and is still dripping so itll take a while for it to dry out. We heard the citys mayor earlier this week citing Climate Change as a contributing factor to these laws and we know water levels are not likely to go lower in the future what are the plans in place right now to prevent more flooding or at least limit the damage in the near future. For 20 years now theres been a project in construction the socalled moses is some of underground barriers the. Were meant to protect the city from the tide going up however the work has been slow there have been corruption scandals and it is no meant to be finished in 2 years the government is currently try to push for it to happen faster but it remains clear that the government the local one and the national one will have to reevaluate what they have been doing and what they will do in the future to avoid Something Like this happening again. Really of course but this is a city that depends heavily on tourism money i mean how are these floods affecting things like Hotel Reservations or peoples trips to the city. Weve seen people still coming in sometimes carrying their suitcases over their heads trying to not get wet in the really high water so people have still been coming here it is been hard to get for example to see marks square at some times of the day because it was shut but when they open it people come in theyre splashing around theyre actually enjoying the high tide which does not sit very well with some of the residents but tourism is still coming and people hope that it will continue to be that way tourists and residents of course braving those floods there in venice julia thank you very much. Sports now in formula one red bulls mocks a stop and has won the brazil grand prix starting in pole position the dutchman crossed the finish line ahead of the pack World ChampionLewis Hamilton finished in 3rd its 1st stop and 3rd win of the season. Up next night group so stay tuned for that ill be back with more news at the top of the. Cool only the adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. To soon the racial politics on the phone its 250th birthday we remember going oh no for you to discovery. Expedition good on t. W. Hello to all the continents and the i as a subject where come to an