Hong Kong’s peace prospects recede amid teargas and smoke

As protests intensify it is hard to see how deadlock can end without death or serious injury

Over the last few weeks, protesters in Hong Kong have taken to spraypainting traffic barriers, bridges, police stations and more with the words: “If we burn, you burn with us.”

On Monday, much of the city burned under clouds of teargas, hails of rubber bullets, and fires lit by angry protesters facing off against riot police. Protesters and a group of men brawled on the street, hitting each other with wooden rods and traffic cones. In another neighbourhood, two people were knifed. Three cars rammed through crowds of protesters, injuring one person.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters hold ‘first civil press conference’ – video

Masked Hongkongers have staged their first press conference, calling for the return of power to the people. 'We are Hong Kong citizens from different positions from the movement,' one masked man said. 'This is the first civil press conference of Hong Kong – by the people, for the people.' The city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, had announced this week that the police force would be holding daily press conferences. In response, a group of protesters have 'initiated a citizens' press conference to bring the people’s unheard voice to the public'. 

Continue reading...

Masked Hongkongers dismiss government warnings amid fresh fears of China thugs

Hongkongers stage first press conference to challenge government’s ‘empty rhetoric’ on protests after fresh clashes

Masked Hongkongers have staged their first press conference, calling for the return of power to the people and the pursuit of democracy, as protest groups and authorities attempt to control the narrative of the events that have shaken the city for more than two months.

“Netizens have initiated the citizens’ press conference, to bring the people’s unheard voice to the public and to highlight the repeated condemnations and empty rhetoric presented by the HKSAR [Hong Kong special administrative region] government,” said an unidentified speaker wearing a yellow hard hat, which has become a symbol of the protest movement, accompanied by a sign language translator.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters clash with police and group of armed men

Citywide general strike descends into chaos as officers fire teargas and rubber bullets

Hong Kong protesters have clashed with police and fought off a group of men armed with poles as political unrest continues to roil the city.

A citywide strike accompanied by rallies in seven districts devolved into chaos on Monday evening as thousands of protesters fanned out across the city, occupying roads, disrupting traffic, and vandalising police stations and other public buildings.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protests: fights break out and police fire teargas – video

Chaos erupted on the streets of Hong Kong on Monday as the city entered its ninth consecutive week of anti-government protests. In North Point, protesters clashed with a group of men carrying sticks, while riot police deployed teargas in various parts of the city to disperse demonstrators

Continue reading...

Violence, strikes and chaos as protests sweep Hong Kong – in pictures

For the ninth consecutive weekend pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill. As clashes between protestors and police became more violent, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, apologised for introducing the extradition bill and declared it ‘dead’. However protesters – who are calling for Lam’s resignation and for the complete withdrawal of the bill – continued to draw huge crowds

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters use flashmob tactics to evade police

Mass demonstrations continue ahead of city-wide strike and protests in seven districts

Protesters have taken to the streets of Hong Kong for another round of mass anti-government demonstrations as political unrest continues to roil the city.

Ahead of a city-wide strike and simultaneous protests in seven districts, on Sunday night protesters evaded and frustrated the police by holding flashmob demonstrations. Groups of protesters scattered, switching locations at the last minute and disappearing before riot police were able to arrive en masse.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protests: police arrest more than 20 after violent clashes

Tense standoffs follow peaceful march with police resorting to teargas and pepper spray on third consecutive day of mass protest

Demonstrators in Hong Kong have clashed with riot police as the city entered its third consecutive day of mass protests.

On Sunday, the police said they had arrested 20 people during Saturday’s clashes for offences including unlawful assembly and assault.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters start fire outside police station – video

Protesters light a fire on the steps outside a police station in Hong Kong as anti-government discontent continues. Police said a large group of protesters had marked the police station, in one of Kowloon's shopping districts, with paint and damaged a vehicle inside. The police said officers had told demonstrators 'to stop their illegal act at once and disperse peacefully'. Riot police could be seen outside the police stations in Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok.

Hong Kong police fire teargas in clashes with protesters

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters risk arrest as Beijing steps up warnings

Thousands gather in Kowloon as tension mounts in former British colony

Thousands of demonstrators marched in Hong Kong on Saturday, facing the threat of arrest and increasingly severe warnings from Beijing.

Protesters clad head to toe in black, carrying umbrellas and orange helmets, deviated from the route approved by police and took over a major road of the normally busy shopping district of Mongkok. One group held a black banner with the words: “The police have overstepped”, while others chanted for the release of protesters who have been arrested over the last two months of demonstrations.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong civil servants protest in defiance of loyalty order

Mass walkout from government offices at start of four days of mass demonstrations

Thousands of civil servants in Hong Kong have protested against the government in a rare display of defiance as the city braces for four consecutive days of mass demonstrations.

The public servants, who are normally politically neutral, defied a government order to remain “totally loyal” to Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, and crowded into a public park near government offices.

Continue reading...

Running dry: the water crisis driving migration to the US – podcast

Nina Lakhani explores how drought and famine are fuelling the wave of migration from Central America to the US. Plus: Emma Graham-Harrison on China and the Hong Kong protests

Victor Funez walks to a cemetery in Nejapa, El Salvador, every day and fills a three-gallon plastic pitcher with water before trudging home. He repeats this several times a day – it’s his family’s only source of water. The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani met him as part of an investigation into how a lack of access to clean water is a major driver of migration from Central America to the US.

She tells India Rakusen that rising sea levels are destroying coastal towns in Honduras and how drought and famine have prompted a mass exodus from Guatemala. In El Salvador, meanwhile, corporate interests, corruption and gangs worsen the problems caused by the lack of clean water.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protests: China releases dramatic army propaganda video

Chinese military garrison chief in Hong Kong says army is determined to protect China’s sovereignty, stoking fears of intervention

China has released a dramatic video showing off its army’s capabilities as the head of the armed forces in Hong Kong said the unrest in the province had seriously threatened the life and safety” of the people and should not be tolerated.

The commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Hong Kong warned it was “determined to protect national sovereignty, security, stability and the prosperity of Hong Kong”.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong police officer threatens protesters with shotgun – video

Police have clashed with protesters outside Kwai Chung police station where dozens of demonstrators are being held. Protesters gathered outside the police station after authorities announced that 44 arrested protesters would appear in court. One officer was seen brandishing a shotgun at the protesters. On the other side of Hong Kong, at least 10 people were injured after a vehicle launched fireworks at pro-democracy protesters in Tin Shui Wai. The crowd at Tin Shui Wai police station were also calling for the release of three protesters. A black Toyota reportedly shot fireworks at the crowd in the early hours of the morning


Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters charged with rioting as violence flares

Supporters gather outside court where accused appeared, chanting ‘liberate Hong Kong’

More than 20 people have appeared in court in Hong Kong charged with rioting, as hundreds of supporters gathered outside the building chanting “revolution of our time” and “liberate Hong Kong”.

The hearings marked the first time authorities have resorted to the serious charges of rioting since the beginning of a wave of unrest that has plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.

Continue reading...

China calls for Hong Kong to swiftly punish ‘radical’ protesters

Beijing offers full support to region’s leader in rare remarks from government office

China has offered its full support to Hong Kong’s embattled leader and its police force, and said violent protesters must be swiftly punished, in rare remarks by the government office that oversees policy towards the territory.

Hong Kong has been rocked by two months of escalating pro-democracy protests that have posed the most significant challenge to Beijing’s authority since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong police fire teargas at protesters in third day of unrest – video

Police fired several rounds of teargas at protesters in resdiential areas of Hong Kong in the third day of mass protests as political unrest deepens. Riot police advanced through thick clouds of tear gas as they fired rounds towards protesters, with protesters arming themselves with umbrellas, scrambling to douse the gas canisters with water and throwing them back towards police lines in the city's Sai Wan district. Police were seen arresting a handful of protesters who were led away in handcuffs.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong police fire teargas as protests enter third day

Demonstrators defy ban on marching and set up barricades as unrest deepens

Police fired several rounds of teargas at protesters in residential areas of Hong Kong in the third day of mass protests as political unrest in Hong Kong deepens.

Groups of protesters attending an anti-government rally on Sunday defied police orders and fanned out from the sanctioned area in central Hong Kong, streaming west and east, occupying roads and setting up barricades, prompting major roads and shops to close.

Continue reading...

Yuen Long protests: screams as Hong Kong police fire teargas on crowds – video

Police fire teargas on thousands of protestors in the Hong Kong village of Yuen Long on Saturday, who had gathered despite a police ban. Last week thugs indiscriminately attacked commuters at Yuen Long train station, a move critics see as a covert attempt by the mainland Chinese government to intimidate pro-democracy protesters

Continue reading...