Election. Donald trump says he is prepared to make history by testifying at his own impeachment inquiry. The u. S. Is defending its position on settlements in the Israeli West Bank and will no longer considering them illegal. Mike pompeo said construction of civilian settlements is not inconsistent with International Law. This has been welcomed by israels Prime Minister, who says it writes an historical wrong. It continuesated to consider all israeli settlement activity illegal. Leave thes he will west bank to the israelis and palestinians to negotiate. Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with International Law has not advanced the cause of peace. The hard truth is there will never be a traditional resolution to the conflict and arguments about who is right and wrong as a matter of International Law will not bring peace. This is a complex political problem and it can only be solved by negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians. Correspondents covering this story in washington dc, jerusalem, and the west bank. Lets start with washington. Talk us through how significant this is for the u. S. Position. This is a very significant change. This policy was first devised after analysis in the u. S. State department back in 1978. This has been on the books and u. S. Policy for the most part of those 41 years. There was a tweak in the way Ronald Reagan looked at the settlement question when he was in office in the early 1980s, but consistently ever since, when you put the question to my u. S. Officials, do you believe israel has the right to build settlements in the occupied west bank, every official from almost every administration would say, no. We believe this violates not just International Law under the geneva conventions, but it also violates a number of Un Security Council resolutions going back to the early 1970s, and as long as settlements are there, its going to make it much harder to negotiate some sort of pece accord and more important, to create a contiguous territory for the palestinians to have their own country. Thank you. In west jerusalem, what has the reaction been to this announcement . Certainly from benjamin he isahus perspective, very happy and fortunate things have happened just before the end of his main rivals mandate expires. For him to try to form some kind of Coalition Government after a second inconclusive election in a row. Netanyahu says it writes a historical wrong, rejects the claim that settlement is inherently illegal. Opponents of this decision deny history and truth. Benny gantz, his opponent, has said he applauds the statement, whereas the head member of the palestinian israeli joint list of politicians in the israeli body, he has condemned it. Is one ofahu, this the gratefully received byproducts that allows him to try to drive a further wedge between benny gantz and the palestinian israeli politicians. He has been talking for the last couple days almost incessantly about this threat to israeli security. Gantz make up a minority government with support from the outside of palestinian israeli politicians. It gives him Something Else to argue on that front. If you cast your mind back to the last election in september, he said he was going to in ikes annex the valley. Contrasting that with the lack of recognition for sovereignty over the Golan Heights before the last election. It is a pretty big gift for netanyahu when it comes to his own attempts to try to stay in power. The question is, what will he do . Ith this very basic norm given the fact that at the moment is really is extremely tenuous. He runs a Caretaker Administration with all sorts of negotiations going on. Thank you. Will have people been saying . What have people been saying . The main thing we have heard from palestinian officials is condemnation, although they would tell you it is not surprised. This administration has not been citing by the palestinians. Officials will tell you they have been siding with the right Israeli Government and they have been giving the israeli Prime Minister gifts after gifts. Remember we are two weeks away now from the second anniversary of the declaration by the u. S. President donald trump that he is going to be recognizing jerusalem as the israeli capital , which he eventually did. We have heard from the secretarygeneral who said the u. S. Is now replacing International Law with the law of the jungle. Saying decisions and remarks by the Current Administration or a threat to International Peace and security. We have also heard from hamas, who say this is a continuation of the u. S. Policy and that the u. S. Has been providing a cover for the israeli occupation. How did the settlements affect palestinian lives . When we say israeli settlements, we are not talking about scatter units here and there. We are talking about more than 250 illegal israeli settlements. Scattered around the west bank, including east jerusalem. There are around 600,000 israelis residing illegally in the west bank. They are connected by a series of roads, infrastructure, they are taking up a lot of palestinian natural resources, including water. This is on the ground, but a big mushrooming also, they have been using the support of donald trump since he was elected. The plans for israeli settlements in the occupied west bank have doubled compared to three years before that. On another level, palestinians are lookingu they for any opportunity to a two state solution. They are preventing any opportunity for a future palestinian state. The secretarygeneral of the Palestinian National institute says washingtons decision is a violation of International Law. It is a crime or violation of International Law. Reality, the announcement is nothing but a violation of International Law. Statess the United Administration a participant in committing crimes against International Law. At the same time, this announcement does not legalize the illegal activities of israeli legal settlements and does not change her other intentions, our determination to of occupationorms in palestinian territories. Seizedns rebels have three vessels in the red sea, including a saudi ship. Di arabia had earlier accuse them of hijacking a ship. Officials have told al jazeera they will release the rig once they have proof it belongs to south desta saudi arabia. A partner at dryad global, a Maritime SecurityRisk Management company, says it is a symptom of wider tensions in the region. We have seen over the last six months the power play, the interchange between iran and saudi arabia. Let us not forget, that is what this is about. There has been proxy influence by iran onto saudi assets. Vessel is likely to be targetrewed. That is the of the capture, as it were. What is our reaction . This is what we have been advising our clients. Saudi assets in particular are a specific threat from iranianbacked proxy efforts against saudi assets in the areas. Dozens of protesters have staged a dramatic escape from the Polytechnic University campus in hong kong. Many more antigovernment protesters remained trapped. Two prominent figures were allowed by police onto the campus to mediate. Assigned there is a growing risk of bloodshed. A number of streets in hong kong turned into a riot zone. At a standstill. Were called out and students besieged in the Polytechnic University campus. The idea was to Stretch Police resources to breaking points to take the pressure off students still barricaded inside. Confrontation, students who had been occupying the campus and its surrounding roads for days sought 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. Police have threatened to use live ammunition if the students continue to use potentially lethal weapons. , the university has become a weapon factory. The develop into violence has reached a critical level. There is intent to murder officers at all costs. The wait fors, news is especially frost. Fraught. Ecially i hope the police stop using violence so the kids can come out safe and sound. Explosions have been heard from inside the building, setting off fires. As darkness fell, some students were seen escaping down the campus building and disappearing into the night. Protesters trying to cause diversionary mayhem on the surrounding streets, coming under fire from teargas, rubber bullets, and Water Cannons. The protesters have been gradually trying to work their way forward. Are simply umbrellas no mass no match from one when these match for Water Cannons open up. The students represent, for some, the mob rule threatening the citys future. For younger protesters, they have become a rallying point for further resistance. Still had this halfhour, why the president of spains catalonia region will soon be prepared soon be declared unfit for office. How a protest movement is leading to a literary revolution. The heat is still very much in evidence across australia. There is some rain to the south into tasmania. We have had thunderstorms along the coast north of brisbane. As we go through the next couple days, that he is going to work its way into south australia. 30 degrees celsius in adelaide. Not too bad to stay in melbourne. Temperatures have finally come down in western australia. The mix of sunshine and clouds. The temperatures continuing to climb across. Look at this in adelaide. 42 degrees celsius. The only saving grace with this is that by thursday the heat continues to work its way eastward so temperatures go massively up by wednesday. Just one celsius off the record. ,e have to reach that record but by thursday, it cools down to 33. A couple degrees below the average. It is unsettled into christchurch. Cloudy skies in auckland. More in the way of sunshine. Brisk winds. I wednesday, we have a rain chance still impacting much of the south island, but not bad at 15 in christchurch. Auckland up 20. At 20. The top stories on al jazeera , the u. S. Says it will no longer consider israeli settlements in the occupied west bank illegal. Palestines president has condemned the move, but it has been welcomed by israels Prime Minister, who says it rights a historical wrong. Seized. Abia and ships dozens of protesters in hong kong staged a daring escape from a university besieged by police, ropesing down roads and escaping. Police in georgia have fired tear gas and Water Cannons to clear protesters rallying for a second day near the Parliament Building in the capital. Thousands of people attempted to blockade parliament. Opposition activists say more than 20 were arrested. In thepeople rallied city. They are Angry Parliament failed to pass election reforms. Protesters are now moving down the street. Riot police have responded. Protesters put padlocks up around parliament and have blockaded the streets around parliament. They were excepting a long wait before they took action. The police have reacted very quickly. They are moving around the street, clearing the opposition calling for the government here to resign after againstast week electoral reforms. Government have promised to make changes to the electoral system. That whened on lawmakers suggested last week, and that got the opposition very angry. The opposition saying georgia is no longer a democracy because everything they say is ruled by one man. The countrys richest oligarchs, governing chairman of the ruling party. When governing party mps chose not to endorse reforms, that brought people out onto the streets. Afterns were reignited lawmakers chose to reject that legislation in Parliament Last week. Ministrys foreign says three Ukrainian Naval ships received last year have been returned. Two gunboats and a tugboat were taken in the kurdish straight, which moscow annexed from ukraine five years ago. Step inover is another ending the conflict where russian backed rebels are fighting the government. Donald trump tweeted that he likes the idea of testifying in his own impeachment inquiry, even though he insists he has done nothing wrong. The inquiry is examining whether trump leveraged military aid to pressure ukraine to dig up dirt on his political rival, democratic president ial candidate joe biden. How are correspondent reports. Trump donald are you talking about the witchhunt . Correspondent never in modern history has a sitting u. S. President testified before a congressional inquiry, but President Donald Trump says he might. In a monday tweet, trump said, i like the idea and will in order to get congress focused again strongly consider it. Congress is looking into whether or not the president committed impeachable offenses when he withheld military aid to ukraine. He is in that office way over his head. Correspondent trumps tweet is a direct response to this challenge from his Democratic Political rivals. Could comeident before the committee and talk, speak all the truth he wants if he wants to take the oath of office, or he could do it in writing. Correspondent it is unlikely trump would appear in person and would offer only written witness testimony. Trump went to Great Lengths to avoid in person testimony during the last investigation of his presidency, looking into whether his 2016 campaign for the white house colluded with russia. After months of discussions, trump eventually submitted only written witness testimony to the department of justice. Only chairman schiff knows who the whistleblower is. We dont. Correspondent at last weeks hearings, republicans criticized witness testimony as hearsay, given none had directly heard the president withhold military aid to ukraine to secure a political investigation against his rival joe biden. That is when a democratic congressman quipped. I would be dead ill be glad to have the person who started it testify. President trumps welcome to take a seat right there. Correspondent it may be that laughter from a notoriously thinskinned president that has prompted trump to up the ante, dangling his potential testimony in front of the impeachment committees. As Congress Prepares for another week of testimony, new polling shows 70 of americans believe President Trump did something wrong regarding ukraine, but only half of americans believe he should be impeached. Al jazeera, the white house. A u. N. Report has accused iran of breaching another limit of the nuclear deal. The uns Nuclear Watchdog says it has accumulated more than 130 tons of heavy water, in further reach of the agreement after iran announced it was increasing its uranium enrichment capabilities earlier this month. Donald trump unilaterally withdrew america from the deal last year and reimposed economic sanctions on tehran. Antigovernment protesters in southern iraq have blocked roads leading to the countrys main port. A standoff in basra is presenting preventing tankers from entering. The port receives grain, vegetable oil, and sicker sugar shipments. The first closure cost the country more than 6 billion. In the capital baghdad, protesters have forced the closure of araks central bank and occupied the bridge reading to the leading to the green zone. This is the largest wave of protests in iraq in decades. At least 300 people have been killed in the unrest. In ndoned billing building in central bank that has been turned into a library, popular with protesters. Much of what is driving their anger is the lack of public services, including access to education. As popularity of the library grows, so does its range of titles. There is a saying here. The egyptians right, the lebanese publish, and the iraqis read. They are doing just that in tahrir square, the epicenter of protests in baghdad. Iraqis are stopping by a library open last month in an abandoned building that has become a landmark during weeks of antigovernment demonstrations. There are people who did not finish their studies or they have a low educational level. This will motivate them, when they see people reading here. There are educating people encouraging them to succeed and return to school. Correspondent this library is a gift to protesters, operated by the wellknown amada institute, which publishes a daily newspaper. Thousands of books in arabic and english ranging in topic from sinema to science have been donated. To science have been donated. A veteran of the iraq war says it is clear. Someone does not like this library. In the building nicknamed the turkish restaurant, which used to be on the top floor. It upsets our enemies and the officials that have attacked protesters. It is not all about weapons. We can fight using weapons and culture. One of the protesters main complaint is what they say is the deterioration of the educational system. As much as 50 students often packed into one classroom. Illiteracy is also a concern. The Iraqi Human Rights Commission says 8 million 15 to 25yearolds cannot read or write, including a high proportion of young women. Thehat has happened with deterioration of the educational system is on purpose for the iraqi people. Made from mud. S it is a catastrophe. Correspondent more books are on the way. The ministry of culture is planning to set up a tent filled with reading materials. A war veteran hopes the government understands. These young people are creating what he calls a revolution of culture and ideas intended to transform iraq. The president of catalonias Regional Government has appeared in court on charges of disobedience. He was ordered by spains Electoral Committee to remove proindependence symbols from Catalan Government buildings during campaigning for aprils national election. He refused. Accompanied by his family, applauded by his supporters, this was his day in court. The Catalan Leader may be the latest politician caught up in the crisis, this time, an act of disobedience for failing to remove proindependence symbols from Catalan Government buildings during the 20 election campaign. 2019 election campaign. I fulfilled my duty, which is ofend the rights and my fellow citizens. Has not ledt it him to backing down from his view that the region should have the right to selfdetermination, even with threats of being barred from office for two years. Prosecessionist movements Yellow Ribbon became a symbol of their support for a catalan politician in jail for sedition last month over the role in the 2017 illegal referendum. Boardr, the electoral placing those ribbons on public offices became a tool of political propaganda. The regional leader has been a figure who has not shied away from voicing his prosecession convictions, which has led to criticism that he is only representing one section of catalan society. Iswhat he is doing, which he not doing as president , but as half thest, is population in catalonia, pushing the borders and not really president ofhe catalan, but as the leader of prosecessionism. Guilty,ndent if found torra will likely appeal to the supreme court. There is little sign of any resolution or leadership that is able to reconcile both process session nests and prounionists anytime soon