Crisis as u. S. Lawmakers take a stand on human rights. And americas largest ecigarette maker is accused of targeting teenagers and mr. Presenting the safety of its products. Mis representing the safety of its products. U. S. Ambassador to the European Union has told the impeachment inquiry and washington President Donald Trump did want a Court Program deal. Gordon sondland told members of congress there was a campaign led by the president to pressure ukraine to investigate joe biden. Sondland says it was communicated through rudy giuliani. The ambassador said that he linked the u. S. Military aid to the ukraine was dependent on the increased demand about trump. Iveting testimony that we heard from Gordon Sondland today. What could this mean for the president . Does it assure his impeachment . Dont tnk i hink you can underestimate how significant the testimony we heard today was your here was Gordon Sondland, who donald trump although a few hours ago said he hardly knew the man, new him and gave him 1 million for his Inauguration Fund and was ambassadors the e. U. Saying in front of congress that there was indeed a quid pro quo. The donald trump was holding up aid to give to ukraine until ukraine announced an investigation into the 2016 election and also into joe biden and his sons business dealings in ukraine but he did a very cleverly. He didnt quite point the finger directly at donald trump. He said that senior officials follow the president s orders pence, thed mike Vice President , mike pompeo, rick perry, who was the Energy Secretary and mick mulvaney, who is the chief of staff and said they were also aware of a quid pro quo. In the last couple of hours weve heard the statement from mike pence and mike pompeo saying that Gordon Sondlands testimony is false, that he didnt get things right. And they were not aware of any quid pro quo. What is interesting is that sondland was giving evidence under oath. The statements issued by pence and mike pompeo are not under oath. Both of them have given no indication they want to speak congress about this. Another important thing to mention is that sondland said not interested in doing an investigation and corruption in ukraine could all he wanted was for somebody to stand and front of the microphone, the president , and say there was an investigation into joe biden who was considering a run for president and would be a significant political rival to donald trump. Sondland spoke for many, many hours. Hes on his way to brussels now after giving evidence. As i say, he walked as close as he could to the line of implicating donald trump without actually going over it. I was adamantly opposed to any suspension of aid as the ukrainians needed those funds to fight against russian aggression. I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended, but i never received a clear answer. Still havent to this day. 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 the ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 elections and burisma as mr. Giuliani demanded. Trump has been speaking out. He is furious about this. He made some remarks before boarding a helicopter, lashing out. Just before i came here, he was talkingin houston, where he is touring in apple factor. We are expecting any expecting reaction. Ecting a he says he does not know Gordon Sondland. Sondland invested 1 million into his Inauguration Fund. What is very interesting is that having done that, someone on the Committee Said to Gordon Sondland are you aware of what a quid pro quo is . He answered, yes i am. Donald trump is not happy but he says Gordon Sondland said there is no quid pro quo which is not what he said it all. He said on that basis, not implicating donald trump, then this impeachment hearing should end. Its going to continue and we will hear another evidence from another witness in the next hour or so. You veryyou thank much, alan fisher. Joining me is the chief investigative correspondent at yahoo news joins me from washington. So, very clear testimony from Gordon Sondland there that there clearly was a quid pro quo suggesting that everything we have heard so far about the, from President Trump denying there was any wrongdoing, saying its part of a political witchhunt is wrong. Look, this was very powerful, daming testimony damning testimony. A couple of lines lept out. One, we were all following the president s orders. Sounds. His exact words he is talking about the Pressure Campaign that was being put on president zelensky and ukrainian officials to get them to make the statements about investigations into the and supposelleged it 2016 interference by the ukrainians in the president ial election. And another one that was pretty significant, every one was in the loop. Meant secretary pompeo, mccall maney, the acting white house chief of staff, everybody in the National Security decisionmaking process was aware of what was going on. Significant,etty because it implicates the secretary of state himself and also, possibly Vice President course if, of President Trump removed from office would become the president of the United States. Although his strong testimony for the democrats it was not quite the knockout blow they were hoping for, because sondland pulled back from the idea that he knew this was a quid pro quo. He said, he presumed it was a quid pro quo based on all the conversations he was having, but on the occasion when he actually called the president himself, on september 9 after getting this text message from ambassador taylor in the ukraine, saying i linkld be crazy to Security Assistance to these demands for an investigation. He calls the president and in a testy phone call im interested in the point that you make there. Im interested about the point about the presumption and thats something republican members of the committee ceased si eized upon. How strongly is that likely to resonate in the context of Everything Else we have heard, the fact that everyone was in the loop as he said, was surely the highest levels of the Trump Administration would not back to execute a plan that was not being executed orchestrated by the president himself . Isi guess the answer to that resonate with whom . Because there is already a l ot of evidence about what happened and lets start with the transcript of the phone call, the july 25 phone call, which we have had more than two months now. And the president s words are as clear as day. He is asking president zelensky for a favor to launch these investigations. In that sense, we have known the president s culpability from the start of this. The question is does it move the American Public . Is it such, is the evidence such that it adds up to grounds for removal from the, removing the president from office . There the Public Opinion polls continue to show that the country is split on this. You get somewhere between 47 , 48 to 52 saying yes, the president should be impeached and removed from office. But a substantial portion of the public, 44 says no. So, if you have that kind of movee, is that enough to republican senators, and you need 20 to vote to remove the president from office when this goes to trial in the senate . Thank you very much for joining us. Michael isikoff, the chief correspondent for yahoo news. Sure enough. Opposition leader has been unable to form a Coalition Government paving the way for the country to go to the polls again. Israels split system has been paralyzed from us after two inconclusive elections, one in april and one in september. Benjamin netanyahu did not get an overall majority, so he Victor Lieberman but he refused them both and he has now urged the two leaders to form a unity government. We have more on this now from westerners love. West jerusalem. Reporter four hours before the deadline he came to the microphones to admit what had become increasingly clear throughout the course of the data he had failed. But he put the blame for that of benjaminthe feet netanyahu. Saying he had been fortifying himself inside a Transitional Government against the will of the israeli people to try to avoid prosecution in a Corruption Cases and he used personal language in a very strong attack against the netanyahu saying that no party leader was above the nation, no person had the right to deny the people there vote, no prime us to her or leader could say that my interest are more important than yours. And he said it netanyahu has been putting poison into the political process through hatred and incitement. He said that israel now faced its greatest democratic test in its history as now 21 days begins where any member of the knesset could try to form a Coalition Government if they have enough support. Otherwise, israel is up for a third round elections within less than a year. Netanyahu needs to remember israel still has a democracy. Even if it does not appeal to him. He should have come to terms with the fact that the outcome of the elections required him to negotiate directly with no barriers. Earlier the rightwing politicians lieberman who is seen as the kingmaker in this process said he had not been able to convince either netanyahu or gantz to compromise enough to form a joint unity government. The only kind of government he said he would support was with his crucial seats in the parliament. What comes next . The only way a third election can be avoided is if the threat of the election which is so unpopular is enough to pressure key players to compromise more or if when netanyahu and we do think it is when netanyahu finally gets charged by the attorney general in the coming days in his Corruption Cases, whether that changes the calculus within his party enough to try to splinter support away from them. There is but no sign of that in the runup to those charges. The support has so far been roc k solid behind him. For now this grinding political crisis goes on with no sign of an end. Third round of election happens in the early part of next year. Thmore groups of protesters e hong kongsup in polytechnic university, the remnants of hundreds or took over the campus for several days. International condemnation is growing. Meddlina says it is g, and has summoned a u. S. Diplomat in beijing. Sarah it is sitting rocked by violence and months of protests, every day life is primary and secondary schools have resumed classes after being closed for more than a week. Some jroads have also reopened but traffic is still congested and some rail lines remain blocked. At polytechnic university, after 100 protesters are refusing to leave. Riot police have surrounded the camp is ready to make arrests if any demonstrators tried to escape. Has been a disastrous for us, spending these days and polytechnic university, because the campus here is without food, water, electricity. No one can escape it, because the police are surrounding us. Sarah o n tuesday 800 surrendered and 300 are under the age of 18 and cannot be charged with rioting. Others managed to escape the campus and avoid arrest. Some protesters have attempted to flee over the last few hours through the universitys drainage system but they were arrested. Others tried to escape over never those students were met by insideand were put back the campus. The United States senate has backed the prodemocracy movement in hong kong. A unanimous vote sensors whci threatens to invokeich trade sections on the city of the u. S. Considers human rights have been violated. He United States stand in solidarity with the democratic protesters. Who have every right to assemble and petition their government for the rights as citizens of hong kong. Bill will now go to the house of representatives. The Hong Kong Government has rejected the bill demand enough u. S. Stop interfering in the citys internal affairs. These rights have been protected by the law. All of these rights, including rights to anybody working in hong kong. So these are our self interest. I dont see there is any reason to change that. That explains why in our statement we strongly object to any attempt by any country try to influence hong kongs own interests. Sarah district elections will be held in hong kong this weekend. The government has not ruled out postponing the vote if there is more violence. Ahead. Still ymbion way in greece, the government says it will close down several large camps housing thousands of migrants. This area of clouds making its way through. Temperatures in adelaide wednesday afternoon getting up to 42 degrees celsius. That very hot weather will surge into the northern parts of victoria, concerned about the bush fires. Thursday temperatures here at around 39 degrees. Not quite as warm for sydney, 29. 28 for brisbane. 23 for perth. Largely dry across much of australia. Down towards the southeast we have the bush fire concerns. Showers will be hit in. Notice how it cools off into friday. 20 celsius from melbourne at that stage. A similar temperature into new zealand over the next day or so. Dry here. It might just catch the odd shower. Ets up to 21ures g degrees in christchurch. Across j japan, it is largely dy with temperatures falling away in tokyo for friday. The headlines now. The u. S. Ambassador to the e. U. Has been speaking at the impeachment hearings saying that President Trump did put pressure on ukraine to investigate one of his political rivals. Gordon sondland said it was part of a quid pro quo to withhold aid and a valuable meeting at the white house. Israeli Opposition Leader benny gantz has been unable to perform to form a government. 100 protesters are still holed up in hong kongs besieged polytechnic university. China has accused the u. S. Of meddling after senators passed a law supporting human rights and the territory. Now violent protests have rocked chile. Demonstrators are demanding social and economic reforms. A flag has immersed calling attention to chiles largest indigenous community. They have been resisting colonization for centuries and are angry that the constitution and the military has been used to suppress them. Manuel thousands of people continue to march on the streets of chile. The frustrations of inonstrators are rooted social inequalities many believe are getting worse. Iconic representation is an indigenous bannger. Banner. She is a scholar and one of the original designers. The history of this marginalized group is it has made the flag an emblem of resistance among the demonstrators. We should recognize the struggle is about diverse victims that have been excluded. Women, young people, migrants who are part of a reality in chile that have been denied. Flag has begun to a p are more and more on street protests and served a highlight one of the many inequalities chileans point to. The constitution does not guarantee the rights of indigenous people. Always beenhe have oppressed and today i identify more with indigenous flags than the chile flag. Many other flags are. It is the diversity of protesters and their wide range of demands that together have sparked the largest social mobilization in a generation. Flagis chiles national with holes burned through a. Jose says it symbolizes the 23 people who lost their lives in the violence. It would hurt me to see a new constitution written that doesnt consider the mapuche cause. I would be a set of everything we worked for and in a constitution that does not take into account all of the voices. 2000 people than have been injured in protest since the crisis began four weeks ago. The calls for justice ensures the unrest will continue. Now to iraq. 27 protesters were hurt. Police used tear gas is to disperse people advancing on a government buildings. Protesters are still occupying the main bridge. They are also blockading a southern port. More than 300 people have been killed since the antigovernment protest began seven weeks ago. Riot police have attacked protesters with tear gas. As growing frustration aimed to the government over the lack of fuel and medicine. To hear they came their leaders speak and say the opposition supporters were met by riot police he made it clear they were not allowed to attend. Are struggling to do with the worst economic crisis and a decade. Basic commodities including fuel and power are short. When he arrived he said he whatd to tell zimbabweans his party plan to do about the economic crisis, saying the president and his ruling government has failed. Byit cannot be banned another political party. Shamedt reason, we are that the president will decide to use the military and the police in the way he has done this morning, today. Its not going to change. It is not going to give her legitimacy and it will not stop the embassy from moving forward with its problems and agenda. Reporter the police have earlier given permission for the rally to go ahead just outside the capital business district. But the mbc wanted together outside Party Headquarters in the city center. The police say the reason why they didnt allow them to go ahead is because they were concerned there would be violence. That is why they deployed in full force. The opposition parties say they will focus continue to try to hold gatherings. As far as they are concerned this is an infringement of their rights. The police have banned several gatherings this year. U. N. Rights workers have criticized Security Forces for using Excessive Force when displacing kratz. Displacing crowds. In terms of in the cou