Protests continued to rattle Hong Kong and Moscow on Saturday.
In Hong Kong, demonstrators took to the streets for the ninth consecutive week for a pro-democracy march as they decry Beijing for encroaching on the city's autonomy. The marchers gathered in the city's Mong Kok district — where violent clashes took place during pro-democracy protests in 2014 — one day after thousands of supposedly politically neutral civil servants urged authorities to give in to protesters' demands. Police initially denied permission for the march amid warnings from Beijing and the Chinese army, but they eventually relented.
During the demonstration, protesters reportedly removed a Chinese national flag from its pole and hurled it into Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. They also blocked a tunnel and surrounded police stations where non-emergency services were suspended. Police reportedly fired tear gas to quell the crowd. Opposition groups are reportedly planning more demonstrations on Sunday and a city-wide strike on Monday.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meanwhile in Moscow, police have reportedly detained nearly 600 people following an unsanctioned rally, including prominent opposition activist Lyubov Sobol.
Moscow's citizens have been protesting since authorities banned opposition candidates, including Sobol, from running in a municipal election in September. Saturday's arrests come just one week after police detained more than 1,300 protesters.
Read more at The South China Morning Post and RFE/RL for updates on the protests.
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
