Australians travelling to Hong Kong have been warned to exercise a “high degree of caution” as China said Hong Kong was facing its worst crisis since the former British colony was handed back in 1997.The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said: “There is a risk of violent confrontation between protesters and police, or criminally linked individuals, particularly at unauthorised protests.” Ireland, the UK, and Japan have all issued Hong Kong travel warnings since July. Zhang Xiaoming, one of the most senior Chinese officials overseeing Hong Kong affairs, spoke on the issue at a meeting in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to discuss the crisis. “The central government is highly concerned about Hong Kong’s situation, and trying to study, make decisions and arrangements from a strategic and across-the-board level,” Zhang said in opening remarks. “Hong Kong is facing the most serious situation since its return to China, therefore today’s seminar is very important.”On Tuesday night Hong Kong police clashed with about 100 protesters and residents of the working-class district of Shamshuipo after a student union leader was detained for carrying a laser pointer.The police held Keith Fong on the charge of possessing an offensive weapon, according to the Facebook page of the Hong Kong Baptist University Student Union, which accused the police of fabricating the charge in order to arrest people arbitrarily and called for his immediate release.On Wednesday a message was circulating on the messaging app Telegram saying Fong’s arrest “precisely shows the power of the extradition bill ... they can arrest you on a whim.”Dfat said the protests were expected to continue and had become more unpredictable and strongly recommended staying away from large public gatherings, adding that the risk was greater at night and on weekends.As of Wednesday, the US state department and the Canadian government still had their alert to “normal precautions,” for the city.Hong Kong is in its ninth week of consecutive mass protests, and police on Tuesday said they fired 800 canisters of teargas during protests on Monday as they looked to clear demonstrators from at least seven districts across Hong Kong.On Tuesday, shops were closed in North Point from mid-afternoon after rumours circulated that busloads of people were coming from Fujian province in mainland China. Other reports suggested protesters would be going after the men in white who attacked them the previous night.The protests began in opposition to a now-suspended extradition law, which would have allowed suspects to be tried in mainland Chinese courts. They have now broadened into a backlash against the government of the Asian financial hub, fuelled by many residents’ fears of eroding freedoms under the tightening control of China’s Communist party leaders in Beijing.More than 5 million people visited Hong Kong in June this year, of which roughly 80% were from mainland China.June figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board showed visitor numbers actually rose 8.5% compared with the same time last year. However, Jason Wong Chun-tat, chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, told the South China Morning Post visitor numbers had been severely affected by the protests.“The effects began to surface in June. Some individual travel agencies have reported a 30% to 50% increase in cancellations of mainland [Chinese] and south-east Asia travel groups to Hong Kong. The hotel and retail sectors expect a double-digit drop in tourist numbers in the second half of the year. The situation is worrying,” he told the SCMP. Topics Hong Kong China Protest Asia Pacific news

In January 2015, I spent the longest, queasiest week of my life on a cruise ship filled with conspiracy theorists. As our boat rattled toward Mexico and back, I heard about every wild plot, secret plan and dark cover-up imaginable. It was mostly fascinating, occasionally exasperating and the cause of a headache that took months to fade. To my pleasant surprise, given that I was a reporter travelling among a group of deeply suspicious people, I was accused of working for the CIA only once.The unshakeable certainty possessed by many of the conspiracy theorists sometimes made me want to tear my hair out, how tightly they clung to the strangest and most far-fetched ideas. I was pretty sure they had lost their hold on reality as a result of being permanently and immovably on the fringes of American life. I felt bad for them and, to be honest, a little superior.“The things that everyone thinks are crazy now, the mainstream will pick up on them,” proclaimed Sean David Morton early in the trip. “Twenty sixteen is going to be one of those pivotal years, not just in human history, but in American history as well.”Morton is a self-proclaimed psychic and UFO expert, and someone who has made a lot of dubious claims about how to beat government agencies such as the IRS in court. (In 2017, he was sentenced to six years in prison for tax fraud.) I dismissed his predictions about 2016 the way I dismissed a lot of his prophecies and basic insistence about how the world works. Morton and the other conspiracy theorists on the boat were confident of a whole lot of things I found unbelievable, but which have plenty of adherents in the US and abroad.Some of them asserted that mass shootings such as Sandy Hook are staged by the US government with the help of “crisis actors” as part of a sinister (and evidently delayed) gun-grab. The moon landing was obviously fake (that one didn’t even merit much discussion). The government was covering up not just the link between vaccines and autism but also the cures for cancer and Aids. Everywhere they looked, there was a hidden plot, a secret cabal and, as the gospel of Matthew teaches about salvation, only a narrow gate that leads to the truth.I chronicled my stressful, occasionally hilarious, unexpectedly enlightening experience onboard the Conspira-Sea Cruise as a reporter for the feminist website Jezebel, and then I tried to forget about it. I had done a kooky trip on a boat, the kind of stunt journalism project every feature writer loves, and it was over. Conspiracy theorists, after all, were a sideshow.But I began to notice that they were increasingly encroaching on my usual beats, such as politics. In July 2016, I was walking down a clogged, chaotic narrow street in Cleveland, Ohio, where thousands of reporters, pundits, politicians and Donald Trump fans had amassed to attend the Republican national convention. I was there as a reporter and was busy taking pictures of particularly sexist anti-Hillary Clinton merchandise. There was a lot of it around, for sale on the street and proudly displayed on people’s bodies: from TRUMP THAT BITCH badges to white T-shirts reading HILLARY SUCKS, BUT NOT LIKE MONICA.Some of the attendees were from InfoWars, the mega-empire of suspicion – a radio show, website and vastly profitable store of lifestyle products – founded by Austin, Texas-based host Alex Jones. For many years, Jones was a harmless, nutty radio shock-jock: a guy shouting into a microphone, warning that the government was trying to make everyone gay through covert chemical warfare, by releasing homosexuality agents into the water supply. (“They’re turning the freaking frogs gay!” he famously shouted.)Jones also made less adorably kooky claims: that a number of mass shootings and acts of terrorism, such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, were faked by the government; that the CEO of Chobani, the yogurt company, was busy importing “migrant rapists” to work at its Idaho plant; that Hillary Clinton is an actual demon who smells of sulphur, hails from Hell itself and has “personally murdered and chopped up and raped” little children.Jones and Donald Trump were longtime mutual fans. After announcing his run, candidate Trump made one of his first media appearances on Jones’s show, appearing via Skype from Trump Tower. Jones endorsed him early and often and, in turn, many of the radio host’s favourite talking points turned up in Trump’s speeches. Jones began darkly predicting that the elections would be “rigged” in Clinton’s favour, a claim that Trump quickly made a central tenet of the latter days of his campaign. At the end of September, Jones began predicting that Clinton would be on performance-enhancing drugs of some kind during the presidential debates; by October, Trump was implying that, too, and demanding that Clinton be drug-tested.Soon after, the US narrowly elected a conspiracy enthusiast as its president, a man who wrongly believes that vaccines cause autism, that global warming is a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese “in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive,” as he tweeted in 2012, and who claimed, for attention and political gain, that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. One of the first people the president-elect called after his thunderous upset victory was Jones. Then, in a very short time, some of the most wild-eyed conspiracy-mongers in the country were influencing federal policy and taking meetings at the White House.Here’s the thing: the conspiracy theorists aboard the cruise and in the streets of Cleveland could have warned me that Trump’s election was coming, had I only been willing to listen.Many of the hardcore conspiracy theorists I sailed with on the Conspira-Sea Cruise weren’t very engaged in politics, given that they believe it’s a fake system designed to give us the illusion of control by our real overlords – the Illuminati, the international bankers or perhaps the giant lizard people. But when they did consider the subject, they loved Trump, even the left-leaning among them who might have once preferred Bernie Sanders.They recognised the future president as a “truth-teller” in a style that spoke to them and many other Americans. They liked his thoughts about a rigged system and a government working against them, the way it spoke to what they had always believed, and the neat way he was able to peg the enemy with soundbites: the “lying media”, “crooked Hillary”, the bottomless abyss of the Washington “swamp”. They were confident of his victory – if the globalists and the new world order didn’t get in the way, and they certainly would try. Just as Morton said, they were sure that 2016 was going to change everything.Trump’s fondness for conspiracy continued apace into his presidency: his Twitter account became a megaphone for every dark suspicion he has about the biased media and the rigged government working against him. At one particularly low point he even went so far as to accuse his political opponents of inflating the number of deaths in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria. His supporters became consumed by the concept of the “deep state”, seized by a conviction that a shadow regime is working hard to undermine the White House. At the same time, Trump brought a raft of conspiracy theorists into his cabinet: among them was secretary of housing and urban development Ben Carson, who suggested that President Obama would declare martial law and cancel the 2016 elections to remain in power. There was also National Security adviser Michael Flynn (who was quickly fired), notorious for retweeting stories linking Hillary Clinton to child sex trafficking.With the candidacy and then election of a conspiracy pedlar, conspiratorial thinking leaked from its traditional confines to spread in new, more visible ways across the country. As a result, a fresh wave of conspiracy theories and an obsession with their negative effects engulfed the US. We all worried late in the election season about “fake news”, a term for disinformation that quickly lost all meaning as it was gleefully seized on by the Trump administration to describe any media attention they didn’t like. We fixated on a conspiracy theorist taking the White House, and then we fretted over whether he was a true believer or just a cynical opportunist. And as left-leaning people found themselves unrepresented in government, with the judicial, executive and legislative branches held by the right, they too started to engage more in conspiracy theorising.The reality is that the US has been a nation gripped by conspiracy for a long time. The Kennedy assassination has been hotly debated for years. The feminist and antiwar movements of the 1960s were, for a time, believed by a not-inconsiderable number of Americans to be part of a communist plot to weaken the country. A majority have believed for decades that the government is hiding what it knows about extraterrestrials. Since the early 1990s, suspicions that the Clintons were running a drug cartel and/or having their enemies murdered were a persistent part of the discourse on the right. And the website WorldNetDaily was pushing birther theories and talk of death panels (the idea, first articulated by Sarah Palin in 2009, that under Obamacare bureaucrats would decide whether the elderly deserved medical care) long before “fake news” became a talking point. Many black Americans have, for years, believed that the CIA flooded poor neighborhoods with drugs such as crack in order to destroy them.The Trump era has merely focused our attention back on to something that has reappeared with reliable persistence: the conspiratorial thinking and dark suspicions that have never fully left us. Conspiracy theorising has been part of the American system of governance and culture and thought since its beginnings: as the journalist Jesse Walker writes in his book The United States of Paranoia, early white settlers, including history textbook favourite Cotton Mather, openly speculated that Native Americans were controlled by the devil, and conspiring with him and a horde of related demons to drive them out. Walker also points to the work of the historian Jeffrey Pasley, who found what he called the “myth of the superchief”: the colonist idea that every Native-led resistance or attack was directed by an “Indian mastermind or monarch in control of tens of thousands of warriors”.The elements of suspicion were present long before the 2016 election, quietly shaping the way large numbers of people see the government, the media and the nature of what’s true and trustworthy.And for all of our bogus suspicions, there are those that have been given credence by the government itself. We have seen a sizeable number of real conspiracies revealed over the past half century, from Watergate to recently declassified evidence of secret CIA programmes, to the fact that elements within the Russian government really did conspire to interfere with US elections. There is a perpetual tug between conspiracy theorists and actual conspiracies, between things that are genuinely not believable and truths that are so outlandish they can be hard, at first, to believe.But while conspiracy theories are as old as the US itself, there is something new at work: people who peddle lies and half-truths have come to prominence, fame and power as never before. If the conspiratorial world is a vast ocean, 2016 was clearly the year that Alex Jones – along with other groups, such as anti-immigration extremists, anti-Muslim thinktanks and open neo-Nazis and white supremacists – were able to catch the wave of the Trump presidency and surf to the mainstream shore.Over and over, I found that the people involved in conspiracy communities weren’t necessarily some mysterious “other”. We are all prone to believing half-truths, forming connections where there are none to be found, or finding importance in political and social events that may not have much significance at all.I was interested in understanding why this new surge of conspiracism has appeared, knowing that historically, times of tumult and social upheaval tend to lead to a parallel surge in conspiracy thinking. I found some of my answer in our increasingly rigid class structure, one that leaves many people feeling locked into their circumstances and desperate to find someone to blame. I found it in rising disenfranchisement, a feeling many people have that they are shut out of systems of power, pounding furiously at iron doors that will never open to admit them. I found it in the frustratingly opaque US healthcare system, a vanishing social safety net, a political environment that seizes cynically on a renewed distrust of the news media.Together, these elements helped create a society in which many Americans see millions of snares, laid by a menacing group of enemies, all the more alarming for how difficult they are to identify and pin down.Let’s pause to attempt to define a conspiracy theory. It is a belief that a small group of people are working in secret against the common good, to create harm, to effect some negative change in society, to seize power for themselves, or to hide some deadly or consequential secret. An actual conspiracy is when a small group of people are working in secret against the common good – and anyone who tells you we can always easily distinguish fictitious plots from real ones probably hasn’t read much history.Conspiracy theories tend to flourish especially at times of rapid social change, when we are re-evaluating ourselves and, perhaps, facing uncomfortable questions in the process. In 1980, the civil liberties lawyer and author Frank Donner wrote that conspiracism reveals a fundamental insecurity about who Americans want to be versus who they are.“Especially in times of stress, exaggerated febrile explanations of unwelcome reality come to the surface of American life and attract support,” he wrote. The continual resurgence of conspiracy movements, he claimed, “illuminate[s] a striking contrast between our claims to superiority, indeed our mission as a redeemer nation to bring a new world order, and the extraordinary fragility of our confidence in our institutions”. That contrast, he said, “has led some observers to conclude that we are, subconsciously, quite insecure about the value and permanence of our society”.In the past few years, medical conspiracies have undergone a resurgence like few other alternative beliefs, and they have a unique power to do harm. Anti-vaccine activists have had a direct hand in creating serious outbreaks of the measles, which they have then argued are hoaxes ginned up by the government to sell more vaccines. There is also evidence that this form of suspicion is being manipulated by malicious outside actors. A 2018 study by researchers at George Washington University found evidence that Russian bot accounts that had been dedicated to sowing various kinds of division during the 2016 election were, two years later, tweeting both pro- and anti-vaccine content, seeking to widen and exploit that divide, too.Medical conspiracy theories are big, profitable business: an uptick in the belief that the government is hiding a cure for cancer has led people back to buying laetrile, a discredited fake drug popular in the 1970s. Fake medicines for cancer and other grave diseases are peddled by players of all sizes, from large importers to individual retailers. People such as Alex Jones – but not just him – are making multimillion-dollar sales in supplements and quack cures.At the same time, medical conspiracies aren’t irrational. They are based on frustration with what is seen as the opacity of the medical and pharmaceutical systems. They have taken root in the US, a country with profoundly expensive and dysfunctional healthcare – some adherents take untested cures because they can’t afford the real thing. And there is a long history around the world of doctors giving their approval to innovations – cigarettes, certain levels of radiation, thalidomide, mercury – that turn out to be anything but safe.Medical conspiracy theories are startlingly widespread. In a study published in 2014, University of Chicago political scientists Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood surveyed 1,351 American adults and found that 37% believe the US Food and Drug Administration is “intentionally suppressing natural cures for cancer because of drug company pressure”.Meanwhile, 20% agreed that corporations are preventing public health officials from releasing data linking mobile phones to cancer, and another 20% that doctors still want to vaccinate children “even though they know such vaccines to be dangerous”. (Though the study didn’t get into this, many people who feel that way assume doctors do it because they’re in the pockets of Big Vaccine, although vaccines are actually less profitable than many other kinds of medical procedures.)Subscribing to those conspiracy theories is linked to specific health behaviours: believers are less likely to get flu jabs or wear sunscreen and more likely to seek alternative treatments. (In a more harmless vein, they are also more likely to buy organic vegetables and avoid GMOs.) They are also less inclined to consult a family doctor, relying instead on friends, family, the internet or celebrity doctors for health advice.The anti-vaccine movement is the most successful medical conspiracy – persistent, lucrative and perpetually able to net new believers in spite of scientific evidence. It is also emblematic of all such conspiracy theories: people get caught up in them through either grief or desperation, exacerbated by the absence of hard answers and suspicion about whether a large and often coldly impersonal medical system is looking out for their best interests. And an army of hucksters stands ready to catch them and make a buck.The king of dubious health claims is Alex Jones, whose InfoWars Life Health Store sells a variety of questionable supplements. Most of Jones’s products come from a Houston-based company called the Global Healing Center and are relabelled with the InfoWars logo. Global Healing Center’s CEO, Dr Edward Group, is also Jones’s go-to health expert, regularly appearing on the programme to opine about vaccines (he thinks they are bad) and fungus (the root of all evil – luckily, one of the supplements that Jones and Group sell helps banish it from the body).Group isn’t a medical doctor but a chiropractor, although his website claims a string of other credentials, such as degrees from MIT and Harvard, where he attended continuing education programmes that are virtually impossible to fail provided you pay the bill on time. Until a few years ago, Group also claimed to have a medical degree from the Joseph LaFortune School of Medicine. The LaFortune School is based in Haiti and is not accredited. That one is no longer on his CV.Several disgruntled Global Healing Center staff members spoke to me for a 2017 story about Group and Jones’s relationship, claiming that the company earns millions a year while toeing an extremely fine line in making claims for its products. “Global Healing Center pretends to care about FDA and FTC regulation, but at the end of the day, GHC says a lot of things that are “incorrect, totally circumstantial or based on incomplete evidence,” one employee said.Nowhere is that clearer than in the claims that Jones and Group make about colloidal silver, which Jones sells as Silver Bullet. Colloidal silver is a popular new-age health product, touted as a miraculous antibacterial and antimicrobial agent that is dabbed on the skin. But Group and Jones advocate drinking the stuff. In 2014, Group told the InfoWars audience that he has been doing so for years. “I’ve drank half a gallon of silver, done a 10 parts per million silver, for probably 10 or 15 days,” Group said reassuringly.Group also claims that the FDA “raided” his office to steal his colloidal silver, because it is too powerful. “It was one of the things that was targeted by the FDA because it was a threat to the pharmaceutical companies and a threat for doctor’s visits because it worked so good in the body.”Colloidal silver doesn’t, in fact, work so good in the body; you are not supposed to put it there. The Mayo Clinic says silver has “no known purpose in the body” and drinking colloidal silver can cause argyria, a condition that can permanently turn skin, eyes and internal organs an ashen bluish color. (Jones and Group acknowledge on InfoWars that this can happen, but only when people are using silver incorrectly.) Jones and their ilk complain that they are under attack by the media, the government and some shadowy third entities for telling truths too powerful to ignore. Unusually, medical conspiracy thinking is not solely the province of the far right or the libertarian bluish-from-too-much-silver fringe. The bourgeois hippie left participates, too. The website Quartz published an astonishing story showing that many of the products sold by Jones are identical to those peddled by Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s new-age lifestyle website. And there’s David “Avocado” Wolfe, another new-age lifestyle vlogger, who has called vaccine manufacturers “criminal and satanic” and said that chemtrails are real and toxic. (“Chemtrails” are actually contrails, or water vapour from airplanes, which people in the deep end of the conspiracy pool think are clouds of poison gas being showered on the populace to, once again, make us docile and weak.)It is only fair to note, however, that these people have been made prominent by the internet, but are also rigorously fact-checked because of it. Jones has been subjected to a very thorough investigation of his claims, particularly since the 2016 election, when his friendship with Donald Trump gave him an enormous boost in public attention. Goop is regularly skewered by doctors, including Dr Jen Gunter, a gynaecologist who takes great joy in wryly puncturing the site’s weirder assertions about vaginal health, such as the benefits of jade “yoni” eggs for vaginal toning.But it is difficult to figure out whether the two sides balance each other out, whether the scrutiny bestowed by the internet is equal to the new set of consumers it potentially introduces to Goop or InfoWars products. And when people follow the advice of the likes of Jones, it may not only be their wasted money at risk. In October 2017, a nonprofit watchdog group, the Center for Environmental Health, independently tested two InfoWars supplements – Caveman True Paleo Formula and Myco-ZX – and found high levels of lead in both. Myco-ZX is meant to rid the body of “harmful organisms”, and it is one of InfoWars’ most heavily marketed products.“It is not only ironic, but tragic, when we find lead in dietary supplements, since consumers are ingesting the toxic chemical with every sip and swallow,” CEH CEO Michael Green said in a press release.“These products are supposed to enhance human health and performance,” Green added, “not lead to increased risk of heart attacks and sperm damage.”This is an edited extract from Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power by Anna Merlan, published by Cornerstone and available at guardianbookshop.com• Follow the Long Read on Twitter at @gdnlongread, and sign up to the long read weekly email here. Topics The long read Vaccines and immunisation Hillary Clinton Health Donald Trump extracts

Beijing and Hong Kong’s protesters can agree on this much about the unrest now in its ninth week: the turmoil is growing and violence is intensifying. The region is facing its most serious crisis for decades. In the first eight weeks, police fired 160 rubber bullets and 1,000 rounds of teargas. On Monday, they came close to matching those figures in a single day. Meanwhile Beijing issues barely veiled threats, such as the mass drill of 12,000 riot police in Shenzhen, just across the border, or explicit ones: “Those who play with fire will perish by it.”Hong Kong’s fabric is unravelling. Thirteen of the city’s 18 districts have seen protests. The youngest of those arrested is 13, the oldest 76. Thousands of civil servants, finance workers and lawyers have rallied. On Monday, Hong Kong’s first general strike in half a century brought out teachers and construction workers alike, halted metro lines and cancelled hundreds of flights. Many who were largely apathetic about the original issues are furious at the behaviour of politicians and police, but views are polarising: others are angered by or fearful of the disruption.A small but growing number in this leaderless movement has turned to force, mostly against property, but also against police. Others are dismayed by those tactics, and fear the reaction to direct if symbolic attacks on Beijing’s authority, but are outraged by the double standards. A student union leader has been arrested for possession of “offensive weapons” – laser pointers – and others have been charged with rioting, carrying a jail sentence of up to 10 years. In contrast, the men arrested after a gang rampaged through a metro station assaulting suspected protesters with metal and bamboo rods – while police were mysteriously absent – face the much lighter charge of unlawful assembly. Though demands have proliferated, many of those taking part would probably think again if the government formally withdrew the extradition bill which ignited this movement, rather than simply repeating that it is dead, and launched an independent inquiry into the unrest and its policing, as even pro-establishment lawmakers have requested. But officials ruled that out on Wednesday. Protesters are moved more by despair than hope. Some even say they are sticking it out because they could be arrested later: they see it as now or never. A deployment of the People’s Liberation Army remains a last resort for Beijing. Officials in Hong Kong and Beijing probably hope the return of schools and universities in September, as well as the sheer exhaustion of non-stop activism, will take the steam out of the movement before the Communist party celebrates the 70th anniversary of its taking power in China on 1 October. But they also seem to be relying on harsher policing on the streets and a more punitive pursuit of protesters through the justice system. Everything to date suggests this will pour fuel on the fire. How much more can Hong Kong take? Topics Hong Kong Opinion China Asia Pacific editorials

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Reuters) - A video gamer killed two people and wounded several others on Sunday when he opened fire with a handgun at a tournament that was being streamed online from a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida, police said. Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams named the shooter as David Katz, 24, of Baltimore and said he was in town for the competition. He declined to comment on what led to the third major mass shooting to hit Florida in the last two years. Williams said Katz killed himself after the shooting and that his body was found along with those of his two victims. The sheriff’s office said 11 people were wounded by gunfire, and at least two others were injured while fleeing the scene. Dozens of ambulances and police cars flooded into The Jacksonville Landing, a waterfront dining, entertainment and shopping site in the city’s downtown, after several shots rang out on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The shooting took place during a regional qualifier for the Madden 19 online game tournament at the GLHF Game Bar inside a Chicago Pizza restaurant, according to the venue’s website. The bar was livestreaming the football video game competition when the gunfire started, according to video of the stream shared on social media. In the video, players can be seen reacting to the shots and cries can be heard before the footage cuts off. Taylor Poindexter and her boyfriend, Marquis Williams, had traveled from Chicago to attend the tournament, and they fled when the gunfire erupted. She said she saw Katz take aim at his victims. “We did see him, two hands on the gun, walking back, just popping rounds,” Poindexter told reporters. “I was scared for my life and my boyfriend’s.” One Twitter user, Drini Gjoka, said he was taking part in the tournament and was shot in the thumb. “Worst day of my life,” Gjoka wrote on Twitter. “I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second.” Another gamer, Chris “Dubby” McFarland, was hospitalized after a bullet grazed his head. “I feel fine, just a scratch on my head. Traumatized and devastated,” he wrote on Twitter. Police officers cordon off a street outside The Jacksonville Landing after a shooting during a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida August 26, 2018. REUTERS/Joey RouletteLocal media said the shooter had been competing in the tournament and lost, then apparently targeted other players before killing himself. The sheriff’s office said the FBI was assisting them in Baltimore, and The Baltimore Sun reported that agents were at a home in South Baltimore in connection with the investigation. A Baltimore City police spokesman, TJ Smith, said the department was assisting partner law enforcement agencies with information that led them to Baltimore. The latest rampage occurred amid a debate over U.S. gun laws that was given fresh impetus by the massacre in February of 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Two years ago a gunman killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. The sheriff’s office said many people were transported to hospital, and its deputies found many others hiding in locked areas at The Landing. Six victims were taken to Jacksonville’s UF Health Hospital, five of them in stable condition and one in serious condition, hospital staff said. A spokesman for Jacksonville’s Memorial Hospital said it was treating three victims, all of whom were in stable condition. Jacksonville, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, is about 35 miles south of the Georgia state line. Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican who is challenging longtime Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in November’s election, said he had offered to provide local authorities with any state resources they might need. “Word of another tragic mass shooting in our state brings shock and outrage,” Nelson said on Twitter. Marco Rubio, U.S. senator from Florida, said both the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were coordinating with local authorities to provide assistance. Taylor Poindexter speaks to reporters after witnessing a gunman open fire on gamers participating in a video game tournament outside The Jacksonville Landing in Jacksonville, Florida August 26, 2018. REUTERS/Joey RoulettePresident Donald Trump has been briefed and is monitoring the situation in Jacksonville, the White House said. Reacting to news of the shooting during the tournament involving its game, Madden 19 maker Electronic Arts Inc said it was working with authorities to gather facts. “This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved,” the company said on Twitter. Additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Devika Krishna Kumar and Maria Caspani in New York and Donna Owens in Baltimore; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Monday rested their case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort after 10 days of testimony alleging how he evaded taxes and defrauded banks, with the defense set to decide on Tuesday if it will call any witnesses. As its final witness on Monday, the prosecution recalled a Treasury Department agent who testified that Manafort’s consulting companies did not disclose their foreign bank accounts, as is required by law, in addition to him failing to do so personally. “The government rests,” U.S. prosecutor Greg Andres said after the agent completed her testimony. Judge T.S. Ellis said he would talk to Manafort on Tuesday about whether he wanted to take the stand, something that legal experts say is highly unlikely. Manafort’s lawyers will also tell the court on Tuesday whether they plan to call any witnesses. If the defense rests, closing statements would be next, after which the 12-person jury will begin deliberations. Manafort is being tried on 18 counts, which include tax and bank fraud charges, as well the failure to disclose foreign bank accounts. If found guilty on all charges, he could face eight to 10 years in prison, according to sentencing expert Justin Paperny. The trial is the first courtroom test for U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who indicted Manafort in October 2017 as part of his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Manafort’s lawyers on Monday asked for the charges to be thrown out, claiming that the prosecution failed to show the necessary willfulness to break the law. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who attended the proceedings, called the action by Manafort’s lawyers “pro-forma”, adding, “very rarely are they successful.” During the trial, more than two dozen witnesses took the stand and portrayed Manafort, 69, as a lavish spender with little regard for the law. As a political consultant for pro-Kremlin politicians in the Ukraine, Manafort earned some $60 million between 2010 and 2014. Stashing the money in 31 offshore bank accounts, he skirted taxes by wiring it directly to vendors to snap up real estate and luxury goods, the witnesses said. The trappings of Manafort’s lifestyle dominated media headlines throughout the trial: there was half a million dollars worth of antique rugs, $750,000 spent on landscaping for his $13 million Bridgehampton mansion, and more than $1 million for clothing, including a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich skin. Ellis closed the courtroom at the end of the day to hear arguments on a sealed motion that was filed earlier in the day. While the contents of the motion are unknown, the development comes after an unexplained delay in the trial and unusually detailed instructions by Ellis to the jurors on Friday, in which he pressed them not to talk to anyone about the case. The judge’s comments sparked speculation by legal experts and courtroom observers that the delay could be related to some form of juror misconduct. Ellis resumed testimony mid-afternoon on Friday with no changes to the jury. “The fact that the judge resumed proceedings but gave a strong admonishment to the jury tells me that a juror issue arose but that level of misconduct was not significant enough to warrant a mistrial,” said jury consultant Alexandra Rudolph. The prosecution also called James Brennan to the stand on Monday. Brenann is an executive at Federal Savings Bank, which extended $16 million in loans to Manafort on his Hamptons estate and a Brooklyn brownstone house in late 2016 and early 2017. Brennan said bank president Javier Ubarri made an initial decision to reject a $9.5 million loan on Manafort’s Hamptons estate, but bank chief executive Steve Calk overruled it. “It closed because Mr. Calk wanted it to close,” Brennan said about the loan. FILE PHOTO: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives for arraignment on a third superseding indictment against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on charges of witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., June 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoOn Friday, another Federal employee testified that Calk personally approved loans to Manafort while seeking Manafort’s help getting a job in President Donald Trump’s campaign and his cabinet. Federal Savings Bank has not returned calls seeking comment, and has said it will make no comment during Manafort’s trial. Brennan, asked about whether the bank made money from lending to Manafort, said the bank has written off the loans and “took a hit” of $11.8 million. Reporting by Nathan Layne, Karen Freifeld and Amanda Becker in Alexandria, Virginia; Writing by Warren Strobel; Editing by James Dalgleish and Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court on Tuesday found nine leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy “Occupy” movement guilty of public nuisance during the mass protests, in a landmark verdict as freedoms in the city ruled by mainland China come under strain. Scores of supporters applauded the defendants, who included a law professor, two legislators and former student activists, after a trial that critics said highlighted the decline of political freedoms in the former British colony. Law professor Benny Tai, 54, retired sociologist Chan Kin-man, 60, and retired pastor Chu Yiu-ming, 75 were found guilty of conspiracy to commit public nuisance over their leading role in planning and mobilizing supporters during the 79-day protest. The trio had pleaded not guilty to all charges, which carry a maximum jail term of seven years each. The judge did not immediately hand down sentences, and the defendants have not said if they planned to appeal. “I am determined to fight for Hong Kong with one last effort, and to walk with Hong Kong people one step further,” Chu said in a passionate final speech in court, despite being in poor health. “We have no regrets ... we have not given up,” he said, moving some witnesses to tears, and spurring sustained applause from supporters. Outside the court, some punched their fists in the air and shouted, “We want universal suffrage.” Others sobbed as supporters called them “fearless and invincible”. The concept of civil disobedience is “recognized in Hong Kong”, Justice Johnny Chan said in a summary of his judgment, but it was not a defense against a criminal charge. “The offense of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance does not have the undesirable effect of curtailing or suppressing civil disobedience at its formation stage or suppressing human rights as the defendants contended,” it read. Since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997, critics say Beijing has reneged on its commitment to maintain Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and freedoms under a co-called “one country, two systems” arrangement. Pro-China supporters hold a Chinese national flag and a picture of Occupy Central founders Benny Tai and Chu Yiu-ming, outside the court in Hong Kong, China April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuChris Patten, Hong Kong’s last colonial governor, called the verdict “appallingly divisive”, and a “vengeful pursuit” of past political events. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing that criticizing the verdict as indicative of shrinking freedoms in the city was “illogical and baseless”. The central government supported the move “to punish, according to law, the main ... plotters of the illegal Occupy (movement),” Lu added. In the nearly five years since the Occupy protests, democracy activists, diplomats and business leaders have expressed grave concern over what they call Beijing’s tightening grip on the city’s freedoms. Pro-democracy lawmakers have been kicked out of the legislature, a pro-independence party banned, and democracy advocates jailed and barred from contesting local elections. The six other defendants were pro-democracy legislators Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, two former student leaders Eason Chung and Tommy Cheung, activist Raphael Wong, and veteran democrat Lee Wing-tat. They were each found guilty of at least one public nuisance charge. All nine were accused of inciting and mobilizing protesters during the demonstrations that sought to pressure Beijing to allow full democracy. Hundreds of thousands of people blocked major roads in several parts of the global financial hub for 79 straight days in late 2014, in one of the boldest populist challenges against Beijing in decades. The demonstrators were finally cleared away by police, having won no concessions. Tai, Chan and Chu were the main conspirators who planned the protests a year in advance, said David Leung, the director of public prosecutions, adding that they caused “unreasonable” public disruptions. Slideshow (11 Images)About 87 percent of roughly 1,200 protesters polled during the demonstrations said they had participated to “protect Hong Kong’s liberty”, a public opinion poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong cited in court showed. But in his 268-page judgment, Chan said, “It is naive to suggest that a concession to introduce the form of universal suffrage ... could be made by the government overnight with a click of the fingers.” Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang, additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Clarence FernandezOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

In offering vivid details about Mr. Manafort’s thirst for the finer things in life, the prosecutors sought to paint him as a man driven by greed, adept at lies and shrewd enough to cover his tracks with false invoices, sham companies and wire transfers from financial institutions in a city in Cyprus that his vendors in the United States had never heard of.They were curbed, to an extent, by Judge T. S. Ellis III of the United States District Court in Alexandria, Va. He repeatedly held the prosecutors at bay, refusing to allow them to describe Mr. Manafort’s new pool house at his home in the Hamptons or to show jurors photographs of Mr. Manafort’s closets of expensive suits at his condominium in Arlington.“Enough is enough,” Judge Ellis said angrily at one point. “We don’t convict people because they have a lot of money and throw it around.”He added later, “The government is not going to prosecute people for wearing nice clothes.”But the government’s exhibits, made public after the proceeding ended, detailed Mr. Manafort’s spending habits. From one of his favorite stores in California, he bought a $33,000 “blue lizard” jacket, an $18,000 suede coat, a $14,000 quilted silk jacket, a $12,000 brown pinstriped suit, pants priced around $2,800 apiece, dress shirts costing $1,500 each and ties that averaged about $950 each.

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.ImageCreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times1. The U.S. and Canada, some of the last holdouts, grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in the wake of a crash. That essentially pulls the plane from almost everywhere in the world. Above, a Max 8 at La Guardia Airport in New York on Tuesday.Though no cause in the Ethiopian Airlines crash has been determined yet, one of the pilots reported “flight-control problems” to air traffic controllers, requesting permission to turn back minutes before the crash.President Trump issued the ban himself, reversing an earlier decision by American aviation regulators to keep the planes in service. Boeing said it supported the decision to ground the planes. One big open question for the American company: What happens to the 5,000 open orders for the Max 8 jets?Here’s a simple guide to all the developments in the unfolding story._____2. A criminal investigation is underway into deals Facebook struck with tech companies that gave them broad access to millions of users’ personal information.A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed records from at least two prominent makers of smartphones and other devices that had entered into partnerships with Facebook. Above, outside Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.“We are cooperating with investigators and take those probes seriously,” a Facebook spokesman said in a statement to The Times. “We’ve provided public testimony, answered questions and pledged that we will continue to do so.”Facebook formed sharing deals with more than 150 companies, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Sony, and has phased out most of those partnerships over the past two years._____3. Paul Manafort’s total prison time is now 7.5 years after a second judge handed down a sentence against him in one of the special counsel’s highest-profile cases. Above, Mr. Manafort last April.Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, was sentenced to just under four years last week in a financial fraud case. The additional sentence encompassed a host of crimes, including money-laundering and obstruction of justice.“It is hard to overstate the number of lies and the amount of fraud and the amount of money involved,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson said, reeling off Mr. Manafort’s various offenses.Just as the second ruling came down, New York indicted Mr. Manafort on 16 additional felony charges. If convicted, he could go to prison even if the president pardons him._____4. Parents arrested. College campuses reeling. Fresh questions about standardized testing. The fallout from the college admissions bribery scandal is spreading.A day after 50 people were indicted in a sweeping Justice Department investigation, businesses, students and schools were beginning to assess the damage and distance themselves from the accused. While lawbreaking in the sector is rare, the shadowy, and completely legal, world of high-priced college consultants is nothing new.The indictments revealed two back doors available to wealthy parents, like Gordon Caplan, pictured above leaving federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday. One involved bribing university officials to pass off applicants as athletic recruits; the other used brazen cheating on standardized exams. And both schemes had two Hollywood stars playing a role, prosecutors said.Our Opinion section has multiple takes on the scandal from the columnists Frank Bruni and Farhad Manjoo, a humor writer and more._____5. News in crime and punishment:Gov. Gavin Newsom of California announced a moratorium on capital punishment, granting a temporary reprieve to the 737 inmates on the state’s death row, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The execution chamber at San Quentin prison near San Francisco, above, will also be closed under the executive order.Separately, 55,000 old rape kits around the country were finally tested with funds provided by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, resulting in the conviction of 64 attackers._____6. Dozens of children are trapped in a school after a building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria.Rescuers scrambled to pull children out from under the wreckage of a three-story building that fell in on itself. The building housed apartments as well as a nursery and a primary school. Hundreds of people had gathered at the site awaiting news of their children.Officials said at least 8 people had been killed and workers had pulled at least 37 people alive from the site._____7. The F.D.A. is moving toward restricting sales of flavored e-cigarettes to try to curb teenage vaping.The agency proposed requiring retailers to wall off flavored e-cigarettes to prevent sales to underage smokers. Menthol, mint and tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes would be allowed to stay out in the open. The proposal also includes a ban on flavored cigars smoked by 1.3 million youths. Above, a vape store in New York’s East Village.The move is opposed by many convenience stores, but some public health advocates think it doesn’t go far enough. The proposal must undergo a 30-day comment period before it can be finalized._____8. Call them the new “mafias.”With Uber, Airbnb and other tech giants readying to go public, Silicon Valley’s often-incestuous circle of life is ready to start another cycle.In this model, employees of tech start-ups frequently leave once they have been enriched by their firms’ initial public offerings and begin new ventures. Then networks of alumni from these companies — called mafias — support their peers’ new businesses with hiring, advice and money.In other tech news, here’s a guide to totally reclaiming your privacy in 15 not-so-simple steps. For one man it involved selling his house and car, setting up a new corporate identity and giving himself a fake name for his new neighbors._____9. Movie review sites like Rotten Tomatoes are often inundated with users trying to manipulate a film’s box office success. And then came “Captain Marvel.”Even before the superhero movie — starring Brie Larson, above — was released, audience reviewers gave it negative feedback, prompting sites like Rotten Tomatoes to change the rules on their platforms.We also have an interview with Amy Schumer, who told our comedy critic that her new Netflix special, “Growing,” was the most difficult challenge of her career. It airs March 19._____10. Finally, chasing a waterfall theory.Scientists had long assumed that waterfalls always formed from geological or climate-driven changes. But by building a scaled-down river in a laboratory, a research team demonstrated that waterfalls can bring themselves into existence without any outside help. Above, a waterfall in Tal, Nepal.By better understanding how waterfalls can form, the new study may prompt scientists to reconsider how our planet shaped itself, and look at geology with greater precision.Have a beautiful night._____Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning.Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at [email protected].

ABUJA (Reuters) - Police said they had arrested the suspected mastermind of bombing attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram that killed 15 people in the Nigerian capital Abuja in 2015. The force named the man as Umar Abdulmalik and said he and other people they arrested had confessed to the bombings, the jailbreak of more than 100 prisoners in June, the killing of seven police officers in July and various bank robberies. There was no comment from any lawyer representing Abdulmalik, who police said was arrested in the commercial capital Lagos on Thursday. Police issued a photograph of Abdulmalik in handcuffs in front of a van, and another of seven other men in front of weapons, walkie-talkies, credit card point-of-sale machines and ammunition. More than 30,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee in Boko Haram’s decade-long campaign to carve out an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria. A military campaign by Nigeria and its neighbors has pushed the group out most of its territory since the beginning of 2015, but fighting has rumbled on. Over the past year, a splinter group allied with Islamic State has become the dominant branch, killing hundreds of soldiers and frequently overrunning military bases. Reporting by Paul Carsten; Additional reporting by Angela Ukomadu in Lagos; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Pepsi-Cola was known as Brad’s Drink when it was first sold in 1893, at Caleb Bradham’s pharmacy in New Bern, N.C.Hoping to duplicate the success of Coca-Cola at the time, Mr. Bradham rebranded his formula as Pepsi-Cola in 1898. He was committed to promoting his soda as a health remedy, with a list of all-natural ingredients including water, sugar, caramel, lemon oil and nutmeg.Mr. Bradham lost control of the company in the 1920s, after unsuccessfully gambling on the price of sugar during World War I.The company, which changed its name to PepsiCo in 1965, is now one of the largest multinational conglomerates in the world. During Ms. Nooyi’s 12 years at the helm, the company has shifted back to a focus on healthier beverage and snack choices.“They kept telling me, ‘Why are you Mother Teresa? Why are you trying to change your portfolio to healthier products?’ Because that’s where the market was going,” Ms. Nooyi said earlier this year. “That’s where we needed to go.”Remy Tumin wrote today’s Back Story._____Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning. You can also receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. And our Australia bureau chief offers a weekly letter adding analysis and conversations with readers. Browse our full range of Times newsletters here.What would you like to see here? Contact us at [email protected].

China has condemned the recent anti-government protests in Hong Kong as "horrendous incidents" that have caused "serious damage to the rule of law".A spokeswoman for China's top policy office on Hong Kong insisted that the territory's "top priority" was to "restore social order".The comments marked a rare intervention by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office [HKMAO].The city has seen eight consecutive weekends of anti-government protests.There were violent clashes on Sunday as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Barricades were also erected at several different locations in the city. The background you need on the protests Were triads involved in the attacks? Police fire tear gas at Yuen Long protest Although authorities in Beijing have condemned the protests and reiterated their support for Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam on several occasions, Monday's intervention is widely seen as conveying the official views of China's top leadership on the civil unrest for the first time.A spokesman for the HKMAO, Yang Guang, condemned what he called the "evil and criminal acts committed by the radical elements" in Hong Kong."We call on the general public of Hong Kong to be aware of the grave nature of the current situation," he said at the news conference.Spokeswoman Xu Luying added: "We also believe that Hong Kong's top priority... is to punish violent and unlawful acts in accordance with the law, to restore social order as soon as possible, and to maintain a good business environment."The office also: Reiterated that the Chinese government "strongly" supports the leadership in Hong Kong Called on the people of Hong Kong to "unequivocally oppose and resist violence" Expressed support for the city's police force Blamed the escalating tensions on "irresponsible figures in Western countries" who are hoping to "contain China's development" The intervention came a week after protesters defaced the highly symbolic national emblem on the Chinese government's liaison office in Hong Kong, prompting fury in Beijing.The authorities have now installed a protective casing around the sign.As a former British colony, Hong Kong has its own legal and judicial systems, and has been promised "a high degree of autonomy" from the Chinese government except in foreign and defence affairs.Claudia Mo, a Hong Kong legislator who supports the protest movement, said Beijing's latest comments could provoke further unrest."I'm so worried what happened in Beijing today [will] actually help fan the fire," she told the BBC. "The way they say they resolutely... support Carrie Lam and the police force. They are trying to divide Hong Kong."Bruce Lui, a senior journalism lecturer at the Hong Kong Baptist University, said he could not recall a news conference on Hong Kong being called by the HKMAO."Beijing is repeating what it has said before. It condemns violence, supports Carrie Lam and Hong Kong police," he told the BBC. "But when asked about the deployment of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops, the spokesperson showed a rather distant attitude."Although PLA troops are stationed in Hong Kong, they are not expected to interfere in local issues. But the law does permit Hong Kong's government to request assistance from the PLA for the purposes of maintaining public order or disaster relief.Analysis by Celia Hatton, BBC News, BeijingBeijing seems to be trying to get a grip of the turmoil in Hong Kong with a two-pronged strategy. It is sharing its views on why the territory's residents are protesting, blaming a small number of "radicals" who are influenced by overseas forces. But it is also trying to maintain some distance by reaffirming its support for the authorities there. The spokespeople continually praised the actions of the "courageous" police. The one question that was quickly batted away in the news conference was a query about the possible intervention by Chinese forces. At times they sounded conciliatory. They also expressed support for Hong Kong's unhappy youth, noting that more needed to be done to provide affordable housing and employment. But much more time was focused on Beijing's reasoning for what has gone so wrong. The officials repeatedly blamed "irresponsible figures" in the West. They also said that many in Hong Kong support the territory's chief executive, Carrie Lam, although they said those individuals are "relatively quiet". It seemed that Beijing was not even bothering to win over sceptics in Hong Kong. Instead, this press conference repeated views already found in China's state media. This kind of media outreach was new - but the viewpoints don't appear to have changed. Demonstrations began when the Hong Kong government introduced a controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China. It sparked huge protests as critics feared the bill would undermine Hong Kong's freedoms, and be used to target political activists.The row intensified as police were accused of using excessive force on anti-extradition bill protesters.Tensions increased further last Sunday, when suspected triad members descended on a subway station in Yuen Long, beating protesters, passersby and journalists with sticks. Demonstrators accused the police of colluding with the triads - claims denied by the police.The authorities say they have arrested 12 people over the attack, including nine men with links to triads.The anti-extradition protests have morphed into a broader movement.While the government has paused work on the extradition bill, protesters now want it withdrawn completely, as well as an independent inquiry into police violence, and democratic reform.They want the territory's leader, Carrie Lam, who is not directly elected by voters and whose handling of the crisis has been widely criticised, to resign.Some protesters have also expressed their anger at the mainland Chinese government, which they say has been eroding freedoms in Hong Kong.3 April - Hong Kong government introduces amendments to the city's extradition laws to the legislature that would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China.9 June - In the first of many protests against the changes, an estimated one million people march to government headquarters. 12 June - Anti-extradition bill protesters block roads and try to storm government buildings - police fire tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds at protesters, in the worst violence the city has seen in decades.15 June - In a dramatic reversal, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam indefinitely delays the bill.16 June - Despite the delay, an estimated two million people take to the streets demanding the complete withdrawal of the bill, as well as an investigation into alleged police violence and Carrie Lam's resignation.21 June - As anger grows towards police, protests blockade police headquarters for 15 hours. They now also want protesters that were arrested to be exonerated.1 July - On the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from the UK to China, the Legislative Council (LegCo) building is stormed and broken into by protesters.21 July- Protesters deface China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. That same night mobs of men wearing white shirts attack protesters and commuters in Yuen Long station, near mainland China, in a new escalation of violence.

Considered the most important event for Tibetan Buddhists, the Monlam great prayer festival starts three days after the lunar new year in western China’s ethnic Tibetan region and is held for almost two weeks. During Monlam, millions of pilgrims travel to monasteries to pray for good fortune in the new year and make offerings to their late relatives. Top: Monks from Labrang monastery in Xiahe county. Above: A girl throws symbolic papers for good fortune on a hill overlooking Labrang monastery during Monlam One of the most popular destinations for pilgrims is Labrang monastery in Xiahe county, Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Gansu province. The monastery, founded in 1709, is one of the six largest monasteries of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism and is home to thousands of monks. Monks and worshippers attend the prayer festival at Labrang monastery The festival’s main events are held on the last days. First comes the ceremony of “unveiling the Buddha”, during which Tibetan Buddhist monks carry a 30-metre by 20-metre thangka (a sacred painting on cloth) depicting Buddha up the hillside above Labrang monastery to show it to the thousands of worshippers. The monks unfurl the thangka depicting Buddha to display to worshippers and other visitors during the festival The next day, monks costumed as deities and Dharma protectors perform the Cham dance. With slow and repetitive movements, the hours-long ritual is performed for the destruction of bad spirits and the greater good of humanity. Devout Buddhists use this dance to meditate and spiritually connect with the portrayed deities. After this, everyone joins a huge procession. Pilgrims and worshippers carry prayer beads and prayer wheels The monks walk in a procession around the monastery In the evening of the next day, all monks and pilgrims travel to see sculptures made of yak butter by Tibetan Buddhist monks that traditionally represent an offering to Buddha and deities. Pilgrims walk on a circuit of the monastery On the last day of the festival, a final procession is held, when Tibetan Buddhist monks carrying a statue of Maitreya, the future Buddha, make the Kora (pilgrimage circuit) around Labrang monastery together with thousands of pilgrims. A hilltop view overlooking Labrang monastery Although the Chinese Communist party is atheist, it recognises five religions, including Buddhism, alongside many folk beliefs. Most ethnic Tibetans practise Tibetan Buddhism, which is a distinct form of Buddhism. The light of a giant television screen, showing a ceremony featuring sculptures made from yak butter, illuminates the scene Monks chant prayers during the ceremony

He agreed with the label of “radical separatist” used by the top mainland Chinese official in Hong Kong to describe those who participated in the riot. Mr. Leung had advocated Hong Kong’s independence from China, but disavowed that stance while running for the local legislature in 2016.He won 15 percent of the vote in a by-election for a Legislative Council seat in February 2016 despite the rioting charges. He was barred from running again for another seat after an election officer questioned whether he sincerely acknowledged that Hong Kong was an “inalienable part” of China.Hong Kong is a former British colony that was returned to China in 1997. Under the concept of “one country, two systems,” it can maintain its own local political, judicial and economic systems until at least 2047. But many people in Hong Kong fear the rapid erosion of their city’s unique character and independent institutions under the growing clout of China’s authoritarian government.The 2016 unrest in the Mong Kok district began after activists fought with the police over fears that city inspectors were planning to shut down unlicensed vendors selling traditional snacks during the Chinese New Year holiday. At one point, a police officer fired two live rounds into the air, which the officer said was meant as a warning in order to protect a fallen colleague.Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, said he had tried unsuccessfully in the 1990s to overhaul the public order ordinance that includes rioting offenses out of concern that vague language could be abused.“It is disappointing to see that the legislation is now being used politically to place extreme sentences on the pan-democrats and other activists,” Mr. Patten said in a statement distributed by Hong Kong Watch, a rights group based in London.With the sentencing of the three protesters on Monday, a total of 25 people have received a total of more than 71 years in prison in relation to the 2016 riot, according to a tally by Kong Tsung-gan, an activist and writer.Dozens of Hong Kong activists have also been convicted of offenses that occurred during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests. Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal threw out the prison sentences of three Umbrella Movement leaders in February while affirming tough sentencing guidelines for future incidents that “cross the line of acceptability.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Paul Manafort has been charged in New York with residential mortgage fraud and other felonies, as state lawmakers move to ensure that U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman can be prosecuted even if he receives a presidential pardon. FILE PHOTO: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives for arraignment on a third superseding indictment against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on charges of witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S. June 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoThe 16-count indictment was announced by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Wednesday less than an hour after Manafort, 69, was given his second federal prison sentence this month, for a combined term of 7-1/2 years. “No one is beyond the law in New York,” and the state probe “yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable,” Vance, a Democrat, said in a statement. Manafort was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington to about 3-1/2 additional years in prison on conspiracy charges from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. That sentence came after Manafort was sentenced by another judge last Thursday in Virginia to nearly four years in prison, following his conviction last August on tax evasion and bank fraud charges related to the Mueller probe. Trump has denied colluding with Moscow. The Kremlin has denied election interference. Kevin Downing, a lawyer for Manafort, had no comment on the New York case following his client’s sentencing by Jackson. Rudolph Giuliani, a lawyer for the Republican president and New York City’s former mayor, in a text message called the indictment an “irrational attempt” by Democrats to advance their political agenda. Vance said the charges in the March 7 indictment related to a year-long scheme in which Manafort and others falsified records to obtain millions of dollars related to property loans. Manafort faces up to 25 years in prison on the three most serious charges in the latest indictment, residential mortgage fraud in the first degree. Some charges appeared to relate to testimony in Manafort’s Virginia trial including his alleged effort to disclaim a big American Express bill for season tickets to New York Yankees baseball games to help him qualify for loans. It is unclear whether Manafort’s indictment will be challenged on double jeopardy grounds, the doctrine against prosecuting a person twice for the same offense. Legislation being proposed this week in New York’s state capital of Albany may prevent that from being an issue. Trump in November said he had not ruled out giving Manafort a pardon. On Wednesday, he said “I have not even given it a thought,” but that he felt “badly” for Manafort. Presidents possess the power to issue pardons for federal crimes, not state crimes. New York has stronger double jeopardy protections than the U.S. Constitution, which could impede state prosecutions. A bill proposed by former state attorney general Eric Schneiderman to lessen those protections died last year when control of the state legislature was effectively divided between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats now have full control, and Assemblyman Joseph Lentol is co-sponsoring joint legislation this week to end such protections for people with what he called “close ties” to the White House, the president and his campaign. FILE PHOTO: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. attends a news conference about dismissing some 3,000 marijunana smoking and possession cases in New York City, U.S., September 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File PhotoLentol, a Democrat, said in an interview that this would ensure that Vance, state Attorney General Letitia James and other prosecutors could pursue cases such as Manafort’s. He said a bill could be ready for Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature as soon as next week. “There are people associated with the president who may have committed crimes that should not go unpunished,” Lentol said. “It’s a wise thing to have some sort of a mechanism in our law to act as a check and balance on the presidential power to pardon.” Reporting by Joseph Ax, Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Stempel and Jan Wolfe; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Will DunhamOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

In 2016 and 2017, Hong Kong courts removed six lawmakers for altering their oaths of office to include phrases of protest that echoed the calls of the Umbrella Movement. Several others have been disqualified from running in recent elections by officials who have ruled that they do not sincerely believe that Hong Kong is an “inalienable part” of China.Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” arrangement that allows it to maintain its own local government and legal system, with far more robust protection of civil liberties than in mainland China. The Basic Law, Hong Kong’s local constitution, envisions a directly elected chief executive, but the central government has maintained that the candidates must pass a strict nomination procedure, which helped set off the 2014 protests.In addition to the three Occupy Central founders, Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, both current lawmakers; Lee Wing-tat, a former lawmaker; Tommy Cheung and Eason Chung, who were student leaders; and Raphael Wong, a member of the League of Social Democrats, a pro-democracy party, were convicted of public nuisance charges.The government has prosecuted 266 people over the Umbrella Movement, with 118 convicted, according to a tally last year by Kong Tsung-gan, a Hong Kong writer and activist.Last year, Hong Kong’s highest court overturned prison sentences of six to eight months given to three student leaders, Joshua Wong, Alex Chow and Nathan Law. But the court also affirmed tougher sentencing guidelines for future offenses that “cross the line of acceptability, including acts of incitement, particularly so if violence is involved.”

As Kyle sipped Shiner, Young remembers him talking about how Bitmain’s facility could someday feature more than mining. Kyle said Bitmain may later invest in the development of artificial intelligence for self-driving cars.“They had a lot of great ideas,” says Young, a tall, sturdy man who often sports a cowboy hat over his curly white hair. “And I think, ‘Shit, if they do half of what they’re talking about, it will put Milam County on the cutting edge of technology.’”Instead, Milam County and other communities have learned a real-life lesson about the elusive promise of virtual currency.Lynn Young (left) and Judge Steve Young (right) at their home on Young’s family ranch in Milam County, Texas.Jesse RieserBitcoin mining conjures the image of a college sophomore pecking at a laptop while taking rips from a bong. But that hasn’t been the case for a while. At least not for anyone who wants to make a profit.Successful crypto miners use custom machines that solve the puzzles required to build a blockchain and unlock the limited supply of bitcoins that become available roughly every 10 minutes. The more mining machines you have, the better the odds of winning. (Operators sometimes combine into profit-sharing collectives known as pools.)The process consumes enormous amounts of energy, and cheap electricity is a must. One of the most popular machines, Bitmain’s AntMiner S15, draws about 1,600 watts of power. That’s about equal to the energy consumption of a microwave oven. But mining machines aren’t used on occasion. To optimize the chance of earning coins, the top mining operators run hundreds or thousands of miners 24/7. Imagine your electricity bill if you were constantly zapping instant oatmeal in hundreds of microwaves all day, every day. In Rockdale, Bitmain’s planned facility was supposed to consume 500 megawatts, enough to power more than 400,000 average US homes.Rockdale was hardly the only, or first, place that caught the bitcoin bug, as its value soared 20-fold in 2017, to $20,000 that December. Central Washington, with its cheap hydropower, was a natural draw; by 2018, there were more than 50 mining operations in the region. Dennis Bolz, a commissioner for the Chelan County Public Utility District, recalls a Japanese businessman flying in on a private jet and announcing he wanted energy on the spot. “It was like a gold rush,” Bolz says.Upstate New York, also home to cheap hydropower, was another landing spot. In March 2018, the city council in Plattsburgh, New York, enacted the first crypto-mining moratorium in the US after heavy electricity use by miners caused residents’ rates to skyrocket. Several communities in Washington followed Plattsburgh’s lead. In Lake Placid, New York, before crypto-mining had even taken hold, local officials called for a moratorium in May 2018. Speaking to the Lake Placid village board, one resident said of bitcoin miners, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, “I don’t mean to sound sharp, but I think they would come here and rape our electric department.”Opponents of crypto-mining questioned whether communities received enough benefits for the electricity that was devoured. Anyone who understood mining realized the potential for employment was minimal. The machines run on their own and require minimal support. But as bitcoin’s value rose along with concerns about energy consumption, companies started promising massive investments and job creation.In Massena, New York, Blockchain Industries proposed a $600 million facility that would create 500 jobs—if it could get subsidized hydropower. The plan was scuttled in March 2018 when the New York Power Authority, concerned about whether mining operations would create enough jobs, imposed its own moratorium on bitcoin miners. A consultant for Blockchain Industries warned that the decision would cost Massena and New York. “Technical trends are bypassing us,” she said.“Texas is about the weirdest place … I’ve heard for bitcoin mining.”David Yermack, New York UniversityAnother mining facility did open in Massena last year. Coinmint started operating at an old Alcoa smelter, promising 150 jobs in the first 18 months, according to a Coinmint statement.

China’s ambassador to the UK has urged the government to ignore external pressure over a politically and diplomatically charged decision to involve the Chinese firm Huawei in building the 5G communications network.In China’s first official comments on the row, Beijing’s ambassador to London, Liu Xiaoming, urged the UK to make the “right decision independently” over the suppliers for the new network.Huawei is at the centre of a Whitehall leak inquiry after details emerged of a National Security Council (NSC) meeting during which Theresa May approved giving Huawei a limited role supplying the 5G system.Some senior cabinet ministers, now suspected of leaking the decision, were reportedly opposed to the move, a stance backed by security chiefs and the UK’s closest allies. The Trump administration is expected to urge the government to reconsider the decision.The US and Australia have blocked Huawei from work on their own networks because of security concerns, some of which were reportedly raised by cabinet ministers at the NSC meeting about the firm’s involvement.Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Liu did not name the US, but the article was clearly aimed at urging the UK to resist pressure from Washington. He wrote: “Countries of global influence, like the UK, make decisions independently and in accordance with their national interests.“When it comes to the establishment of the new 5G network, the UK is in the position to do the same again by resisting pressure, working to avoid interruptions and making the right decision independently based on its national interests and in line with its need for long-term development.”Liu urged the UK to resist “protectionism” and added: “The last thing China expects from a truly open and fair ‘global Britain’ is a playing field that is not level.”He said security concerns around the development of 5G were understandable because it was a new technology and “is not perfect”.“The risks should be taken seriously but risks must not be allowed to incite fear. They can be managed, provided countries and companies work together,” he wrote.“Huawei has had a good track record on security over the years, having taken the initiative to invest in a Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, which employs an all-British monitoring team. The company has been working hard to improve its technology and to enhance the security and reliability of its equipment.”Six Conservative MPs, including Bob Seely, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, have written to the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, with their concerns.The letter said: “Having China anywhere near our communications systems poses structural risks about the level of Chinese influence in our society. Chinese law demands that Chinese firms work with the Chinese secret services.”Responding to Liu’s article, Seely tweeted that China had “a bad record on hacking, IP theft and arguably using big data and AI against [its] own people”.The manner in which details of the NSC discussion were leaked has prompted a major inquiry.Members of the cabinet were expected to be summoned for interviews as part of the formal inquiry headed by the cabinet secretary and national security adviser, Sir Mark Sedwill.Ministers and aides were reportedly issued questionnaires requiring them to explain where they were in the hours following Tuesday’s NSC meeting.They were also said to have been asked to provide details of all mobile phones in their possession and whether they spoke to the Telegraph, which carried the original report about the Huawei decision.Much of the attention has focused on five ministers who were said to have voiced objections to the Huawei decision – the home secretary, Sajid Javid; the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt; the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson; the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, and the international trade secretary, Liam Fox. Topics Huawei China 5G news

[Read how Mr. Manafort’s sentence compares to other white-collar criminals.]Judge Jackson tends to be relatively lenient on convicted criminals who appear before her. In the five years that ended in 2017, she handed down an average prison sentence of 32 months, below the Washington district’s average of 46 months and the nationwide average of 47 months, according to court data maintained by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.But she also has gone out of her way to make clear that being well connected earns no chits in her court. “She knows who commits white-collar crime,” said Heather Shaner, a Washington lawyer who represented an embezzler in her court. “And she thinks it’s perfectly fine to punish them if they commit a crime and hold them to a higher standard because they have the education, and because they have the wealth.”The prospect that Mr. Trump could pardon Mr. Manafort has hung over the proceedings for many months. Late last year, Mr. Trump said that he “wouldn’t take it off the table.” More recently, he said, “I don’t even discuss it.”Asked again after Wednesday’s sentencing, Mr. Trump said: “I have not even given it a thought, as of this moment. It’s not something that’s right now on my mind.” He added, “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort,” saying “certainly, on a human basis, it’s a very sad thing.”He said again that the special counsel’s investigation was “a hoax.” In remarks that appeared aimed at the president, Mr. Downing said outside the courthouse that “two courts have ruled no evidence of any collusion with the Russians.”In fact, Judge Jackson and Judge Ellis simply noted that the evidence against Mr. Manafort was not related to Russia’s election meddling.The new charges filed in New York, in an indictment secured by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., were apparently meant to ensure that Mr. Manafort would be punished even if he was pardoned. They were rooted in the same financial fraud that led to Mr. Manafort’s downfall in federal courthouses. He is charged with falsifying business records to obtain millions of dollars in loans from two banks.

Michael Tien, an establishment lawmaker, said he used the session to propose an independent investigation into the crisis and a full withdrawal of the extradition bill that set off the protests earlier this year, two key demands from protesters.“We need to be concerned about the future generations if we do not handle this particular incident carefully,” he said. “By that I mean a high-level committee of inquiry to look at all the background of this, not just the police but also the protesters, the allegations about foreign government involvement and where the money comes from. There are many aspects to it.”The legislation, which the government suspended in June, would allow the extradition of suspects to mainland China. Many people feared that it would expose Hong Kong residents to a judicial system controlled by the Communist Party, and that it was another step in the erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong.Mr. Tien was the first pro-Beijing politician to suggest a suspension of the bill.Mr. Zhang told the forum Wednesday that a full withdrawal of the bill would imply that the stated intention of preventing Hong Kong from becoming a haven for fugitives was wrong. He added that an inquiry should wait until the unrest had eased.This week Hong Kong officials have increased their public appearances after criticism that they had largely disappeared from view, leaving riot police officers on the streets as the most prominent representatives of the government.When Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong chief executive, spoke to reporters on Monday, it was her first news conference in two weeks. She announced that the police would begin giving daily briefings. And Mrs. Lam made an unannounced appearance Wednesday at a public market.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police faced criticism on Monday for an apparent failure to protect anti-government protesters and passersby from attack by what opposition politicians suspected were gang members at a train station over the weekend. Sunday’s attack came during a night of escalating violence that opened new fronts in Hong Kong’s widening crisis over an extradition bill that could see people from the territory sent to China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts. Protesters had earlier on Sunday surrounded China’s main representative office in the Asian financial hub and defaced walls and signs and clashed with police. Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, condemned the attack on the Central Government Liaison Office, saying it was a “challenge” to national sovereignty. She condemned violent behavior of any kind and said she had been shocked by the clashes at the station, adding that police would investigate fully. “Violence will only breed more violence,” Lam said while flanked by senior city officials. Some politicians and activists have linked Hong Kong’s shadowy network of triad criminal gangs to political intimidation and violence in recent years, sometimes against pro-democracy activists and critics of Beijing. In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping has acted “very responsibly” with the protests, which have been the Chinese leader’s greatest popular challenge since he came to power in 2012. “I know that that’s a very important situation for President Xi,” Trump told reporters when asked about images of protesters being beaten and whether Beijing might have allowed this to happen. “You could say what you said, but you could also say that he has allowed that to go on for a long time and ... I think it’s been relatively nonviolent.” Asked if he thought the protests should be allowed to continue, Trump said: “Well, they are ... I don’t think China has stopped them. China could stop them if they wanted. ... I think that President Xi of China has acted responsibly, very responsibly. ... I hope that President Xi will do the right thing, but it has been going on a long time, there’s no question ...” Related CoverageHorrifying moments as Hong Kong journalist live-streams being attackedHong Kong protesters violated 'One Country, Two Systems' bottom line: Foreign MinistryHong Kong has been hit by a series of sometimes violent protests for over two months - its most serious crisis since the city was handed back by Britain to China in 1997 but with democratic freedoms under a “one country, two systems” formula. On Sunday night, scores of men in white T-shirts, some armed with clubs, flooded into the rural Yuen Long station and stormed a train, assaulting passengers with pipes, poles and other objects, according to video footage. Witnesses, including Democratic lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, said the men appeared to target black-shirted passengers who had been at an anti-government march. Lawmaker Lam, who was wounded in the face and hospitalized, said the police ignored his appeals to them to intervene to prevent bloodshed. “They deliberately turned a blind eye to these attacks by triads on regular citizens,” he told Reuters, saying the floors of the station were streaked with blood. “I won’t speculate on why they didn’t help immediately.” Later on Monday night, a police spokeswoman confirmed the arrests of two men, aged 45 and 48, related to an unlawful assembly in Yuen Long. They provided no other details. FORTY-FIVE HURT, ONE CRITICALLY Forty-five people were injured in the violence at the station, with one in critical condition, according to hospital authorities. Hong Kong police chief Stephen Lo, asked about concerns that officers had been slow to respond to the clash, said there had been a need to “redeploy manpower from other districts”. Police stations nearby had closed, given the risk of unrest, and a patrol on the scene needed to wait for reinforcements, he said. “We will pursue at all costs to bring the offenders to justice,” he told reporters, while pledging to restore public confidence in the police force. Men in white T-shirts and carrying poles are seen in Yuen Long after attacking anti-extradition bill demonstrators at a train station in Hong Kong, China, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu Asked if police had colluded with triads at the station, Lo said the force had no connections to triads. In 2014, Hong Kong police investigated triad gang attacks on protesters during pro-democracy demonstrations that shut down parts of the city for 79 days. On Sunday, witnesses saw groups of men in white with poles and bamboo staves at a nearby village but police later found no weapons and allowed the men to leave without making arrests. “We can’t say you have a problem because you are dressed in white and we have to arrest you,” said Yau Nai-keung, an assistant police commander. “We will treat them fairly no matter which camp they are in.” Some banks, shops and government facilities in the area closed early on Monday amid fears of more trouble, and few people ventured out on the streets, eyewitnesses said. Under the terms of the 1997 handover from Britain, Hong Kong was allowed to retain extensive freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland under the “one country, two systems” model, including an independent judiciary and the right to protest. Many city residents fear that the proposed extradition law, which would allow people to be extradited to mainland China for trial, would undermine Hong Kong’s judicial independence. The city’s Beijing-backed government, responding to the scale of the protests, postponed the bill and later said it was “dead”. But the protesters are demanding its formal withdrawal and urged city leader Lam to quit - something she refuses to do. They are also demanding independent inquiries into police treatment of protesters. Some are also demanding full democracy - anathema to Beijing’s party leadership. In a rare comment, the pro-establishment Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce strengthened earlier criticism of the extradition bill and urged its full withdrawal. It also backed calls for an independent inquiry, acknowledging “frustrations” surrounding perceptions that public demands were being ignored. On Sunday, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse activists after thousands ringed Beijing’s Liaison Office. Police said protesters hurled bricks, smoke grenades and petrol bombs during the unrest that broke out after hundreds of thousands marched through the streets. Slideshow (18 Images)The Chinese government, including office director Wang Zhimin, condemned the turmoil, which included spray-painting and hurling eggs at walls and a national emblem at the Liaison Office, saying the behavior challenged the “authority and dignity” of the Chinese government. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said such acts tested Beijing’s limits. “Some radical protester behavior violated our bottom line of ‘one country, two systems’. We cannot tolerate that,” said spokesman Geng Shuang. Additional reporting by Felix Tam, Vimvam Tong, Greg Torode, Jessie Pang, Clare Jim, Alun John in Hong Kong; Cate Cadell in Beijing and Roberta Rampton and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.