by Jerome TAYLOR / Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Police fired tear gas and pepper spray in Hong Kong on Sunday as tens of thousands of black-clad protesters flooded into the streets, a week after pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide local election victory. The rally heralded an end to a rare lull and a return to the large-scale demonstrations that Hong Kongers have staged for nearly six months, fuelled by growing fears that […]
Tag: Protest
Hong Kong police enter ransacked campus after protest siege
HONG KONG, China (AFP) –Hong Kong police on Thursday entered a ransacked university campus where authorities faced off for days with barricaded pro-democracy protesters, looking for petrol bombs and other dangerous materials left over from the occupation. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University became the epicenter of the territory’s increasingly violent protest movement when clashes broke out on November 17 between police and protesters armed with bows and arrows as well as Molotov cocktails. The standoff […]
Iraq’s deadly unrest closes roads, schools across south
KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi anti-government protesters blocked roads in the country’s south with burning tires on Wednesday, like schools and public offices stayed shut a day after deadly clashes with security forces. The country has been rocked by the biggest wave of protests since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, leaving more than 350 people dead and around 15,000 wounded since early October. Violence had erupted in the southern holy city of Karbala […]
United States, EU back Georgia protesters
TBILISI, Georgia (AFP) — The United States and European Union expressed solidarity Monday with Georgia’s anti-government protesters who took to the streets after the ruling party backtracked on promises of electoral reforms. In the biggest anti-government protest in years, more than 20,000 demonstrators rallied on Sunday outside the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi urging the government to resign and calling for new legislative elections. In a joint statement, the US and EU embassies said […]
Bolivia leader: Elections will be called soon
by Raúl BURGOA LA PAZ, Bolivia (AFP) — Bolivia’s interim president said Sunday she will call new elections soon, as the country struggles with violent unrest a week after the resignation of Evo Morales. “Very soon we will announce news regarding our main mandate: calling transparent elections,” Jeanine Anez said in a speech at the presidential palace. She did not give details, saying only that the announcement will seek the “recovery of our country’s democratic […]
Protesters set fire to hold off police at Hong Kong campus
by Anthony WALLACE / Catherine LAI HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Pro-democracy demonstrators holed up in a Hong Kong university campus set the main entrance ablaze Monday to prevent surrounding police moving in after officers warned they may use live rounds if confronted by deadly weapons. The police warning, which came after one officer was struck by an arrow, marked a further escalation of the near six-month crisis engulfing the city. China has repeatedly warned […]
Hong Kong police warn of ‘live fire’ as campus protest siege deepens
by Aidan JONES / Yan ZHAO HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong police Monday warned for the first time in months of unrest that they may use “live rounds” after pro-democracy protesters fired arrows and threw petrol bombs at officers at a besieged university campus, as the crisis engulfing the city sharply escalated. Protests have tremored through the global financial hub since June, with many in the city of 7.5 million people venting fury […]
Thousands in Hong Kong defy Xi with pro-democracy rallies
by Yan ZHAO / Catherine LAI HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to Hong Kong’s streets Friday, defying a warning by Chinese President Xi Jinping, as a campaign of mass disruption extended into a fifth straight day. Black-clad protesters also occupied university campuses, while office workers endured another day of transport chaos with suspensions on the vandalized train network and roads blocked by barricades. Hong Kong has seen relentless protests since […]
Bolivia: Death toll up to seven in post-election unrest
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AFP) — Seven people died in Bolivia in violence that broke out after Evo Morales was declared the winner of a recent presidential election, the attorney general said Tuesday. Four of those fatalities were from gunfire, Juan Lanchipa said. Until now, the toll was three dead. Morales resigned Sunday and went into exile in Mexico on Tuesday. “All of these cases will be investigated until we establish the truth and find out […]
Protesters hit Hong Kong commute as western powers urge restraint
by Jerome Taylor and Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong protesters struck the city’s transport network for a second day running on Tuesday as western powers voiced concern over spiraling violence after police shot a young demonstrator and another man was set on fire. Small bands of masked protesters blocked roads, threw objects onto train tracks and held up subway trains, sparking cat and mouse clashes with riot police and renewed chaos […]
Mainland Chinese student jailed in Hong Kong protests
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A student from mainland China arrested at a Hong Kong democracy protest was sentenced on Thursday to six weeks in prison for possession of an offensive weapon — the city’s first such case involving a mainlander in almost five months of unrest. Since the first mass demonstrations in June, more than 3,300 people have been arrested in Hong Kong in connection to the protest movement, with some charged for rioting […]
Chile leader Pinera will not resign over protests
by Marie GIFFARD SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera said Tuesday he will not resign in the face of deadly protests over inequality and poor social conditions that have entered their third week. Asked by the BBC in an interview whether he will step down, the billionaire conservative leader said: “No.” “These problems have been accumulating for the past 30 years,” Pinera said. “I am responsible (for) part of it and I assume […]





