China suspends review of request for U.S. military ships, aircraft visiting Hong Kong - Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday U.S. military ships and aircraft won’t be allowed to visit Hong Kong, and also announced sanctions against several U.S. non-government organizations for encouraging protesters to “engage in extremist, violent and criminal acts.”

Anti-government protesters raise their hands as they attend the "Lest We Forget" rally in Hong Kong, China December 1, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The measures were announced by China’s Foreign Ministry in response to U.S. legislation passed last week supporting anti-government protesters. It said it had suspended taking requests for U.S. military visits indefinitely, and warned of further action to come.

“We urge the U.S. to correct the mistakes and stop interfering in our internal affairs. China will take further steps if necessary to uphold Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity and China’s sovereignty,” said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

China last week promised it would issue “firm counter measures” after U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,” which supports anti-government protesters in Hong Kong and threatens China with potential sanctions.

There are fears that the row over Hong Kong could impact efforts by Beijing and Washington to reach preliminary deal that could de-escalate a prolonged trade war between the two countries.

The U.S.-headquartered NGOs targeted by Beijing include the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House.

“They shoulder some responsibility for the chaos in Hong Kong and they should be sanctioned and pay the price,” said Hua.

In more normal times, several U.S. naval ships visit Hong Kong annually, a rest-and-recreation tradition that dates back to the pre-1997 colonial era which Beijing allowed to continue after the handover from British to Chinese rule.

Visits have at times been refused amid broader tensions and two U.S. ships were denied access in August.

The USS Blue Ridge, the command ship of the Japanese-based Seventh Fleet, stopped in Hong Kong in April – the last ship to visit before mass protests broke out in June.

Foreign NGOs are already heavily restricted in China, and have previously received sharp rebukes for reporting on rights issues in the country including the mass detention of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Reporting by Cate Cadell and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Tom Hogue & Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-12-02 07:20:00Z
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Dozens more jihadis are set to be freed from jail. London terror attack shows the risks - CNN International

It has also revived perennial questions for law enforcement and intelligence agencies -- who is at risk of re-offending? And can they be effectively monitored? How effective are deradicalization and rehabilitation programs?

Usman Khan had been out of jail for a year after serving part of a sentence for his involvement in a terrorism plot in 2010. On Friday, the 28-year old stabbed to death two people on London Bridge before being shot dead by police. Although he was wearing an ankle bracelet, he'd been able to travel to London from his home in the English Midlands.

Khan's lawyer, Vajahat Sharif, said there were no signs that he would re-offend. He had been a teenager when charged in 2010. He told CNN he was "completely shocked" that his former client carried out Friday's attack as he had seen signs over the years that he wanted to veer away from radicalism.

A letter obtained by CNN shows Khan writing from prison in 2012 asking to join a deradicalization course. Sharif confirms his team received the letter and had advised his client to write it in the hope of meeting with a specialist intervention consultancy that focuses on rehabilitating individuals convicted of terrorist offenses.

"I didn't feel he understood with necessary depth the ideology he was following, and I didn't want it to become his life," Sharif said.

In the letter, Khan writes: "As you are fully aware of my offence, which is a terrorism offence. It relates more to what I intended and the mindset at that time, also the views I carried. Which I realize now after spending some time to think were not according to Islam and its teachings."

Sharif said limits on access to prisoners such as Khan prevented his client from being able to meet with a consultant from the rehab program.

Khan pled guilty at his trial and recanted his views -- saying he realized his previous views "were not according to Islam and its teachings."

Sharif said that soon before Khan's release on license last year, "He wasn't talking about politics. He wasn't talking about jihad. He was talking in a positive way."

It's still unclear what changed, or whether Khan's desire for rehabilitation was a ruse all along.

The Kashmir question

Khan and eight other defendants received long sentences early in 2012, after pleading guilty to preparing acts of terrorism and other terrorist-related offenses. Khan was part of an ambitious conspiracy that involved cells in Stoke-on-Trent, Cardiff and London who would meet in public parks in Wales. Khan talked about building pipe-bombs according to a formula in the online al Qaeda publication, Inspire.

Some of the men were planning to attack the London Stock Exchange. But Khan's main preoccupation then was Kashmir, his ancestral homeland. He and the Stoke cell planned to train overseas for jihad at the beginning of 2011, and were focused on "fundraising for their plans to establish and recruit for a terrorist military training facility under the cover of a madrassa [religious school] on land owned by Usman Khan's family."

The judge in the case said Khan and one other man "were keen to perform acts of terrorism in Kashmir."

What's unclear at present is whether recent events in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir may have radicalized Khan again. The central government in Delhi launched a security crackdown in the mainly Muslim region this year -- largely cutting it off from the outside world -- and later stripped much of it of its autonomous status. While there is no direct evidence that Khan was motivated by recent events in Kashmir, events there may have influenced his recent outlook.

That goes to the heart of the dilemma for authorities: what event or incident might radicalize a former prisoner? And whom do they monitor? Who should be eligible for early release? Full-time surveillance on an individual can occupy about 20 law enforcement agents.

A political football

The attack by Usman Khan has become a major theme in the UK election campaign, with both main parties blaming the other for lax sentencing.

Khan had received a "custodial sentence" of 16 years, but that meant a minimum time in jail of just eight years. In sentencing the Stoke cell, the judge had warned that they "would remain, even after a lengthy term of imprisonment, of such a significant risk that the public could not be adequately protected by their being managed on license in the community."

But Khan was out on license, without any Parole Board hearing. The UK Justice Ministry has now launched an "urgent review" of the parole conditions for every convicted terrorist released in the UK. The review will apply to about 70 individuals.

Five of Khan's accomplices in the 2010 plot have been released. One of them, Mohibur Rahman, was released early after he applied to a deradicalization program -- but was jailed again in August 2017 for plotting a "mass casualty attack" on a police or military target with two other men. Rahman received a minimum 20-year sentence.

In many cases across Europe, time in overcrowded and underfunded jails has also been a radicalizer. At least one of the Charlie Hebdo attackers in France was radicalized in prison. A UK government report in 2016 warned that Islamist extremism was "a growing problem within prisons, and a central, comprehensive and coordinated strategy is required to monitor and counter it."

Among the most prominent of French jihadis who were released from prison was Fabien Clain. He subsequently went to Syria to join ISIS and read out the claim of responsibility for the 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

Now, efforts to repatriate foreign fighters and their families to Europe from detention camps in Syria are being revived, partly at the Trump administration's instigation. Trump claimed in October: "I actually said to them [the Europeans], if you don't take them, I'm going to drop them right on your border.

In recent years, the jail population across Europe has swollen to include dozens of foreign fighters who had gone to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria. While ISIS' caliphate has been reduced to rubble and many of its fighters are dead or unaccounted for, some 1,600 have returned home to Europe according to the European Union -- and many have received prison sentences.

In September, the research group Globsec examined in detail the cases of more than 300 European jihadists. Some had been killed, but 199 had been convicted of various terror offenses in 2015. Of that number 45 had already been released. A further 113 would be released from prison by the end of 2023.

Globsec says "jihadi ranks include hardened veterans who have already gone through more than one terrorism conviction and are intent on repeating their feats." Its analysis found that 20% of those convicted had gone on to offend again.

Earlier this year a returning fighter in jail in France was one of three men charged with plotting to kill prison officials. A leading authority on jihadism in France, Marc Hecker of the French Institute for International Relations, says that between mid-2018 and the end of 2019, 50 individuals convicted of terrorism offenses plus an additional 450 deemed radical will have been released from French prisons.

Many of those allowed back into society will turn their back on terrorism, but others will have been hardened by their experiences, and become part of new networks. Globsec concludes that "such individuals are likely to return to their pre-arrest activities and once again attempt to engage in terrorism."

Khan's lawyer, Vajahat Sharif, is still trying to work out what went wrong with his client.

He told CNN: "What is so astonishing is that he recognized that the police were going to be in his life and he was fine about that. It was just them doing their job. He was very different from [what he was like as a] 19 year-old. He had matured a lot."

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2019-12-01 15:22:01Z
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Boris Johnson says 74 convicted terrorists released from prison will have license conditions reviewed - Fox News

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says 74 convicted terrorists released early from prison in the United Kingdom will have their license conditions reviewed.

The UK Ministry of Justice confirmed the figure, launching a review after convicted terrorist Usman Khan killed two people in a knife attack at the London Bridge on Friday, following an early release from prison, according to the BBC. The 28-year-old died in the attack. He had previously been jailed after attempting to bomb the London Stock Exchange in 2012.

Johnson says that eliminating early release would have prevented the deadly stabbing.

LONDON BRIDGE ATTACK SUSPECT SHOT AND KILLED BY BRITISH POLICE AFTER STABBING: REPORT

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says 74 convicted terrorists released early from prison in the United Kingdom will have their license conditions reviewed.<br data-cke-eol="1"> (AP)

"I opposed [automatic release] both in 2003 and 2008, and now that I am prime minister I'm going to take steps to make sure that people are not released early when they commit... serious sexual, violent or terrorist offenses," he told the BBC. "I absolutely deplore that fact that this man was out on the streets... and we are going to take action against it."

This undated photo provided by West Midlands Police shows Usman Khan. UK counterterrorism police are searching for clues into an attack that left two people dead and three injured near London Bridge. Police said Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019, Khan, who was imprisoned six years for terrorism offenses before his release last year stabbed several people in London on Friday, Nov. 29, before being tackled by members of the public and shot dead by officers on the London Bridge. (West Midlands Police via AP)

Johnson said that there are "probably about 74 people" who have been released early after committing serious crimes and said that steps need to be taken after the London Bridge stabbing "to ensure there is no threat to the public."

One of those stabbed by Khan in Friday's attack was named as 25-year-old University of Cambridge graduate, Jack Merritt, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in law in 2016.

His father, David Merritt, said on Twitter that he wishes his son's death won't be used to detain people unnecessarily, adding that Jack was "a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog."

A photograph of the first victim to be named, Jack Merritt, is pictured among floral tributes left close to London Bridge in the City of London, on December 1, 2019, following the November 29 deadly terror incident. - Britain's Boris Johnson said on December 1 the security services were stepping up monitoring of convicted terrorists released early from prison, as the London Bridge attack became embroiled in the election campaign. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

"Jack spoke so highly of all the people he worked with & he loved his job," he added.

NARWHAL TUSK-WIELDING CHEF HELPED SUBDUE LONDON BRIDGE ATTACKER; VICTIM IDENTIFIED

Dr. Vin Diwakar, medical director for NHS London, told the BBC that a staff member who works at the university was also injured in the attack and two other victims remain at the hospital in stable condition. A third person was released early.

Khan was sentenced to indeterminate detention for "public protection" with a minimum of eight years after the failed bomb attack in 2012, which the outlet says would have kept him in prison beyond the minimum term.

In 2013, the Court of Appeal replaced the sentence with a 16-year fixed term, with Khan serving half in prison. He was eventually released in December 2018 while being subject to an "extensive list of license conditions," Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told the BBC.

Those conditions will reportedly be reviewed.

Liberal Democrats deputy leader Ed Davey said on Sunday that he was "alarmed" at Johnson's reaction to the London Bridge attack.

"In the middle of an election, we shouldn't be making political capital out of a tragedy, and he's doing that, and he's doing that in a way which is misleading people about what the law actually says," Davey said, according to the outlet.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for an investigation into Khan and said there should be additional funding for mental health services. He also warned against "knee-jerk legislation," adding that the United Kingdom could "pay a price later."

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"There has to be an examination of how our prison services work and crucially what happens when they are released from prison," he said.

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2019-12-01 16:01:38Z
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London Bridge attack threatens to recast U.K.'s 'Brexit election' with focus on terror - NBC News

LONDON — A deadly terror attack struck at the heart of the British capital just weeks before a crucial national election, refocusing the campaign on security issues as voters were set to head to the polls.

That was 2017.

But two years later London Bridge was again the scene of tragedy, bravery and the center of national debate in the U.K. this weekend.

Nov. 30, 201901:57

Friday afternoon's stabbing attack left two people dead at the hands of a man released from prison last year after a previous terrorism conviction. Political leaders vowed to briefly pause campaigning, but by late Saturday it was clear security would — at least temporarily — become the focus of the election.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to take a tougher stance on crime and security if re-elected. Writing in an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Johnson called for the reversal of a law that allows serious offenders to be released from prison early and sought to blame the opposition Labour Party for the policy.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticized the government, which has been in power since 2010.

"There's got to be a very full investigation," he said, though he declined to join Johnson's sweeping call for longer prison terms.

The snap Dec. 12 vote was called in an effort to end the country's yearslong political deadlock over its divorce from the European Union.

The issue has dominated much of the campaign to this point, with Johnson's ruling Conservative Party appealing to voters to hand them a majority in Parliament they claim would allow them to "get Brexit done."

Labour has sought to focus on health care, claiming Johnson's hardline Brexit plans and vow to strike a free trade deal with the United States will do damage to the cherished National Health Service (NHS).

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

"Inevitably, an attack like this is going to dictate the agenda for at least a few days," Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, told NBC News.

"I’m not sure it will permanently knock Brexit, or indeed the NHS, off the headlines, but it's clear both Boris Johnson and to some extent Jeremy Corbyn are determined to not only comment on but potentially capitalize on what’s happened."

Corbyn, a veteran left-wing campaigner, has trailed in the polls throughout but looked to be narrowing the gap in the past week. PAUL ELLIS / AFP - Getty Images

Johnson's law-and-order stance was more likely to appeal to the British public, Bale said, which is "notoriously hardline and much more inclined to a lock them up and throw away the key philosophy."

A public opinion poll by market research firm YouGov for the Sunday Times newspaper found the public split in their confidence in Johnson on security issues, but overwhelmingly lacking confidence in Corbyn's leadership on the subject.

The Conservatives have long sought to paint their opponents as soft on crime, a tactic Johnson returned to in the wake of the London Bridge attack.

Johnson and his allies have attempted to blame a Labour Party policy from 2008 for the early release of Usman Khan, the 28-year-old named as the suspect police shot dead on London Bridge.

Khan was originally sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2012 for his part in an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange and other major sites including the U.S. Embassy.

But Bale said such a reduction of a complex case was "deeply cynical," while some U.K. legal experts pushed back against the claims.

The Prime Minister repeatedly defended his efforts Sunday to point the finger. "Although it is very early I think it is legitimate," he told the BBC's flagship Sunday talk show in a combative interview with host Andrew Marr.

Related

One of the families affected by Friday's attack appeared to have made an appeal not to exploit the incident to impose tougher laws.

One of the victims was identified Sunday as Jack Merritt, 25, who was part of Cambridge University's Learning Together program aimed at educating people in prison alongside university students.

Ahead of the attack Khan had been attending a Learning Together event at a historic building adjacent to the bridge, police said.

In a now-deleted tweet Jack's father, David Merritt, was reported to have said Saturday his son "would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily."

That wish seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

Yet it remained unclear whether the strategy would pay off when voters head to the polls in two weeks.

The 2017 attack on London Bridge and Borough Market also came in the buildup to an election.

On that occasion Corbyn was able to gain public favor by criticizing policing cuts that had been imposed as part of the Conservative government's austerity program.

"I think the public did have some sympathy with the idea that you can’t protect people on the cheap and the point he made about police funding back then arguably applies now," Bale said.

While the laws involved in the case may require review, Bale warned that politicians should tread carefully as they quickly apportioned blame.

"Voters aren’t fools and if they begin to think that politicians are trying to make the most out of a tragic incident then it may backfire," he said, "because voters at the moment are very, very cynical about politicians on all sides."

Linda Givetash

Linda Givetash is a reporter based in London. She previously worked for The Canadian Press in Vancouver and Nation Media in Uganda. 

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2019-12-01 14:40:00Z
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London Bridge attack threatens to recast U.K.'s 'Brexit election' with focus on terror - NBC News

LONDON — A deadly terror attack struck at the heart of the British capital just weeks before a crucial national election, refocusing the campaign on security issues as voters were set to head to the polls.

That was 2017.

But two years later London Bridge was again the scene of tragedy, bravery and the center of national debate in the U.K. this weekend.

Nov. 30, 201901:57

Friday afternoon's stabbing attack left two people dead at the hands of a man released from prison last year after a previous terrorism conviction. Political leaders vowed to briefly pause campaigning, but by late Saturday it was clear security would — at least temporarily — become the focus of the election.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to take a tougher stance on crime and security if re-elected. Writing in an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Johnson called for the reversal of a law that allows serious offenders to be released from prison early and sought to blame the opposition Labour Party for the policy.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticized the government, which has been in power since 2010.

"There's got to be a very full investigation," he said, though he declined to join Johnson's sweeping call for longer prison terms.

The snap Dec. 12 vote was called in an effort to end the country's yearslong political deadlock over its divorce from the European Union.

The issue has dominated much of the campaign to this point, with Johnson's ruling Conservative Party appealing to voters to hand them a majority in Parliament they claim would allow them to "get Brexit done."

Labour has sought to focus on health care, claiming Johnson's hardline Brexit plans and vow to strike a free trade deal with the United States will do damage to the cherished National Health Service (NHS).

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

"Inevitably, an attack like this is going to dictate the agenda for at least a few days," Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, told NBC News.

"I’m not sure it will permanently knock Brexit, or indeed the NHS, off the headlines, but it's clear both Boris Johnson and to some extent Jeremy Corbyn are determined to not only comment on but potentially capitalize on what’s happened."

Corbyn, a veteran left-wing campaigner, has trailed in the polls throughout but looked to be narrowing the gap in the past week. PAUL ELLIS / AFP - Getty Images

Johnson's law-and-order stance was more likely to appeal to the British public, Bale said, which is "notoriously hardline and much more inclined to a lock them up and throw away the key philosophy."

A public opinion poll by market research firm YouGov for the Sunday Times newspaper found the public split in their confidence in Johnson on security issues, but overwhelmingly lacking confidence in Corbyn's leadership on the subject.

The Conservatives have long sought to paint their opponents as soft on crime, a tactic Johnson returned to in the wake of the London Bridge attack.

Johnson and his allies have attempted to blame a Labour Party policy from 2008 for the early release of Usman Khan, the 28-year-old named as the suspect police shot dead on London Bridge.

Khan was originally sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2012 for his part in an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange and other major sites including the U.S. Embassy.

But Bale said such a reduction of a complex case was "deeply cynical," while some U.K. legal experts pushed back against the claims.

The Prime Minister repeatedly defended his efforts Sunday to point the finger. "Although it is very early I think it is legitimate," he told the BBC's flagship Sunday talk show in a combative interview with host Andrew Marr.

Related

One of the families affected by Friday's attack appeared to have made an appeal not to exploit the incident to impose tougher laws.

One of the victims was identified Sunday as Jack Merritt, 25, who was part of Cambridge University's Learning Together program aimed at educating people in prison alongside university students.

Ahead of the attack Khan had been attending a Learning Together event at a historic building adjacent to the bridge, police said.

In a now-deleted tweet Jack's father, David Merritt, was reported to have said Saturday his son "would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily."

That wish seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

Yet it remained unclear whether the strategy would pay off when voters head to the polls in two weeks.

The 2017 attack on London Bridge and Borough Market also came in the buildup to an election.

On that occasion Corbyn was able to gain public favor by criticizing policing cuts that had been imposed as part of the Conservative government's austerity program.

"I think the public did have some sympathy with the idea that you can’t protect people on the cheap and the point he made about police funding back then arguably applies now," Bale said.

While the laws involved in the case may require review, Bale warned that politicians should tread carefully as they quickly apportioned blame.

"Voters aren’t fools and if they begin to think that politicians are trying to make the most out of a tragic incident then it may backfire," he said, "because voters at the moment are very, very cynical about politicians on all sides."

Linda Givetash

Linda Givetash is a reporter based in London. She previously worked for The Canadian Press in Vancouver and Nation Media in Uganda. 

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2019-12-01 13:29:00Z
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Tear gas returns to Hong Kong as police disperse authorized protest march - The Washington Post

Ng Han Guan AP A pro-democracy protester runs away from the tear gas fired by riot police during a rally in Hong Kong, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019.

HONG KONG — Tens of thousands of demonstrators marching peacefully in one of several authorized rallies on Sunday were dispersed with tear gas, ending a rare and cherished period of peace in Hong Kong amid half a year of pro-democracy protests.

The march in Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side of the city had a clear message: the five demands of the protest movement, including universal suffrage and an investigation into the Hong Kong police, are not to be forgotten.

Protesters, who included the elderly and children and some of whom were carrying banners calling for the end to the Chinese Communist Party, said their fight must go on despite several key successes for the movement.

Voters in district elections overwhelmingly chose pro-democracy candidates who now control 17 out of Hong Kong’s 18 electoral districts, widely seen as a resounding message of support for the pro-democracy cause. President Trump has also signed into law a bill designed to support pro-democracy protesters after a huge bipartisan push.

“We feel better because of the election and the bill, but that’s not the end of the protest,” said Eric Chan, 33. “We need to bear in mind that we have a lot of demands which we cannot forget, and if we forget these demands, our friends, our comrades who have died or been prosecuted, their sacrifice would be for nothing.”

[In Hong Kong, an accountant by day becomes street fighter by night]

The rally was legal and approved by authorities, but some protesters appeared to veer off from the path sanctioned for their march. Others also hurled insults and made vulgar signs at the police, a continuation of deep tensions between many in Hong Kong and security forces which they believe are acting with impunity. By the late afternoon, shots of tear gas had been fired, sending the crowd scattering and coughing.

In a statement, police said the protesters did not follow the approved route and attacked officers.

“As some radical protesters passed by Mody Road Garden via Salisbury Road, they hurled bricks at Police officers. Police officers, in response, deployed the minimum necessary force, including tear gas, to stop their illegal acts,” according to the statement.

Vincent Thian

AP

A pro-democracy protester wears a Guy Fawkes mask as protesters march during a rally in Hong Kong, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019.

Protests were sparked back in June after a government proposal to allow extraditions to mainland China, in what many felt would mark an end to Hong Kong’s prized freedoms and autonomy. The government has since withdrawn that proposal, meeting one of the five demands of the protest movement.

The unrest has only grown, however, and revived a long-held demand for full, direct elections in the territory above the district level.

In recent months, protests have intensified and grown more violent. Mid-November saw a tense, new phase when demonstrators tried to fortify two university campuses against police raids — leading to an intense standoff at both.

At Polytechnic University, where protesters rained molotov cocktails and arrows down on police, authorities sealed off all entrances and warned protesters that anyone inside would be arrested and charged with rioting.

[A rope, tear gas and a fractured foot: How one Hong Kong protester escaped a besieged university]

That led to daring, risky attempts at escape from bridges and sewers, while others barricaded themselves on campus. The siege finally ended this week and a cleanup has begun. Authorities say it could take up to six months.

That exceptionally dangerous new period, during which police had threatened to use live ammunition, has been followed by a stretch of peace in Hong Kong. Many saw the election as a rare opportunity for them to express their democratic will, and no tear gas was fired in any district for over a week until this weekend.

By sundown, police began clearing protesters gathering in the area and made several arrests.

“We have requested for a permit to hold the assembly and it won’t expire for a few hours, but they are already scaring us away,” said Kenton Cheung, 32, as police used their shields and batons to clear off peaceful demonstrators. “I don’t know what’s their intention, why they are always creating this intense environment in which we can’t express ourselves.”

He added: “Police have initiated this conflict, that’s why people have fought back.”

Thomas Peter

Reuters

Anti-government protesters attend the “Lest We Forget” rally in Hong Kong, China, Dec. 1, 2019.

An independent investigation into the police conduct has been one of the main demands of protesters, with authorities countering that existing oversight mechanisms were sufficient to detect any problems. Chris Tang, the new commissioner of police who just took over this month, called any inquiry into police behavior “unjust.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet published an opinion piece in the South China Morning Post Saturday urging an independent investigation into the charges of police brutality as part of an inclusive dialogue.

“I appeal to the government to take important confidence-building measures, including a proper independent and impartial judge-led investigation into reports of excessive use of force by the police,” she wrote.

China’s U.N. mission in Geneva on Sunday called the comments “inappropriate” and accused Bachelet of interference in the country’s internal affairs and said her article would only “embolden the rioters” to engage in more violence.

Read more

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2019-12-01 10:26:00Z
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Cartel vs. cops gun battle leaves 14 dead, and Mexican town pocked with bullets - New York Post

An hour-long cartel versus cops gun battle left 14 dead and a Mexican town looking like a bullet-pocked war zone on Sunday.

Four of those who died were cops after a truck convoy carrying suspected cartel members rolled into a town in Coahuila state, officials said.

Photos from Villa Union, a town of 3,000 residents about an hour drive southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas, show the front, side, and back of the town’s municipal building strafed by gunfire.

Another photo shows a bullet-damaged, partially-wrecked pickup truck with Texas plates. On the truck’s driver’s side door can be seen the letters C. D. N. — which stands in Spanish for Cartel of the Northeast.

It was unclear what may have prompted the armed group to storm the town.

Security forces will remain in the town for several days to restore a sense of calm, the governor said.

“These groups won’t be allowed to enter state territory,” the government of Coahuila said in a statement.

With Post wires

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2019-12-01 10:57:00Z
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