HONG KONG -- Hong Kong police arrested 336 people during the Christmas holiday as the city's protest movement continues to simmer, an official said Friday.
Chief police spokesman Kwok Ka-chuen told reporters that those detained between Monday and Thursday included 92 women and minors as young as 12. The arrests bring the number of people detained over the course of the protests to nearly 7,000, with a large proportion of student age.
Riot police gesture as they gather at a shopping mall during a demonstration in Hong Kong, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Protesters, some donning Santa Claus hats, battled police over the holiday as the more than 6-month-long demonstrations look set to continue into the new year.
Kwok condemned what he called attacks on ordinary citizens at shopping centers and restaurants and vandalism of public infrastructure including subway stations, banks and the electrical grid.
"Their scheme is to silence those who hold dissenting views and to terrorize the public. Whoever disagrees with their violence will be met with violence," Kwok told reporters.
Black-clad protesters smashed shop windows in shopping areas, while police responded with tear gas and arrests. The protests demanding greater democratic rights show no sign of dissipating following an overwhelming victory by anti-establishment candidates in elections for district representatives earlier this month.
The Christmas disruptions also raise concerns for the New Year holidays to follow and the longer Lunar New Year vacation in late January, a time that has led to violence and unrest in Hong Kong in the past.
Popular online video game "Grand Theft Auto V" has become a battleground between protesters in the semi-autonomous Chinese city and their rival players in mainland China.
The online duel began after Hong Kong players discovered that their in-game avatars could dress like protesters, wearing black clothing, gas masks and yellow safety helmets. They shared the discovery last week on LIHKG, a social media platform and discussion forum similar to Reddit that is popular in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has been rocked by anti-government protests for more than six months, with escalating violence and anger on all sides. The demonstrations began in June after the government introduced a bill that would have allowed the extradition of people across the border to face trial in mainland China.
The bill has since been withdrawn, but the protests have expanded to include calls for greater democracy and an inquiry into accusations of police misconduct.
GTA V is an action-adventure game that rewards gamers for committing virtual crimes. It allows dozens of players to interact simultaneously in "open world" environments, with bank heists and carjackings at the core of its gameplay.
While most video games keep the player busy on a predetermined course of action, open-world games allow greater freedom to explore. And it didn't take long for Hong Kong gamers to begin mimicking the real-life actions of hardcore protesters by throwing petrol bombs, vandalizing train stations and attacking police within the open world of GTA V.
Mainland Chinese gamers were quick to notice, and several of them subsequently took to the Twitter-like social media platform Weibo to call on other players to defeat their Hong Kong rivals.
Using a derogatory term adopted by some police officers to refer to protesters, one Weibo user posted: "Cockroaches expressed their desire to kill GTA and beat us, the war in this game may become more fierce and fierce. Are you ready?"
Other Weibo users responded by posting screenshots of their characters dressed as riot police and wielding guns, with the posts captioned: "Ready!"
Several intense battles played out simultaneously, according to Hong Kong gamer Mickey Chang, who is in his 20s and plays games that are live-streamed on the YouTube channel Minilife HK.
Protester avatars threw petrol bombs at riot police controlled by mainland gamers, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. In the end, the mainlanders emerged victorious as they overwhelmed the Hong Kong protesters through sheer numbers, Chang told CNN Business.
Chang said that he liked to play as a protester because it helped to "raise awareness" overseas about the situation in Hong Kong.
"(GTA) is a fun way of engaging people with different viewpoints to discuss, since you can have up to 30 strangers on a server that may not know much about Hong Kong," he said.
Launched in 1997, the "Grand Theft Auto" series by Rockstar Games is one of the most successful in video game history. GTA V alone has sold over 125 million copies since its 2013 launch. But the series has long been criticized for its violent gameplay — the2001 release, GTA III, achieved notoriety after it was discovered that players could hire a prostitute, have (offscreen) sex with her, kill her, and then steal her money.
CNN Business has reached out to Rockstar Games for comment about its use by Hong Kong protest supporters and their opposition.
This is not the first time that Hong Kong protesters have taken to video games to publicize their struggle. In October, Google removed a role playing game called "The Revolution Of Our Times" — a protest slogan — from the Play Store, citing a violation of its policies.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking to the media as a security officer guards an entrance of the Anti-Corruption Foundation office in Moscow, Russia, Thursday. The federal court bailiffs' service that conducted the Thursday raid later said he had not been detained.
Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
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Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
The offices of Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, have been raided by security forces in Moscow.
Video of the Thursday raid posted online, shows a shower of fiery sparks as the door to Nalvany's Anti-Corruption Foundation office is forced open with power tools.
As NPR reported, once inside officers in face masks ordered the staff to stand against a wall while they confiscated office and broadcasting equipment.
"With each search, more and more is being taken out of our studio," Navalny wrote in a tweet following the sweep. In addition to a computer, he said officials seized "monitors, tripods, a mixer and a server room."
Nalvany said he was dragged out of the office but he was not detained. He added that it is the fourth time security forces have descended on the network since August.
Photos posted to social media by Navalny show the office was left in disarray.
⚡️ С каждым обыском из нашей студии выносят все больше и больше.
Сегодня, помимо света, компьютера, мониторов, штативов, микшера и серверной, у нас забрали даже сетевые фильтры, то есть пилоты.
И все это из-за фильма «Он вам не Димон», с которым наш канал даже никак не связан. pic.twitter.com/n35y0FLc6n
The anti-corruption activist and host of a popular online investigative YouTube channel, said the latest raid was carried out by the Federal Bailiffs Service (FSSP) and is connected to the refusal to delete a video from the internet originally posted in March 2017.
"The head of the ruling United Russia party [Medvedev] owns real estate throughout the country, he owns huge tracts of land in the most elite areas, he manages yachts, apartments in old mansions, agricultural complexes and wineries in Russia and abroad," Navalny wrote. "All this property was acquired on the bribes of the oligarchs and loans from state banks."
Medvedev has adamantly denied the allegations levied by Nalvany.
A court ordered Nalvany to remove the video from the internet after Medvedev won a libel lawsuit. But it remains on YouTube in defiance of the ruling. And on Thursday he vowed once again not to take it down.
The Federal Bailiffs Service said investigations were "being carried out by the directorate of the FSSP in the Anti-Corruption Foundation as part of a criminal investigation," according to the BBC.
The 43-year-old lawyer has been one of loudest and most visible critics of President Vladimir Putin's government. In 2018, Navalny attempted to run for president but was barred from doing so after a Russian court convicted him of embezzlement.
He routinely posts videos on his YouTube channel seeking to expose graft and corruption. That has earned him a large following on social media — the Medvedev video has been viewed nearly 33 million times.
Another, lobbing corruption charges against Denis Popov, who was recently appointed as Moscow's chief prosecutor by Putin, garnered almost 2.5 million views in its first three days on YouTube.
NPR's Lucian Kim reported that state-run media in Russia have been prohibited from speaking Nalvany's name on the air.
Thursday's raid came days after one of Navalny's employees mysteriously disappeared.
Ruslan Shaveddinov was last seen on Monday.
"His phone was switched off by his mobile operator and the police came to his apartment and took him away," Kim told Here & Now.
Shaveddinov eventually turned up about 1,000 miles away from his home on a restricted island in the Arctic Ocean where there is a Russian military base. Kim said the 23-year-old was drafted into the army.
Navalny has accused the government of kidnapping and says that Shaveddinov's forced conscription is illegal imprisonment.
«Они реально считают и вновь продемонстрировали, что армия и тюрьма — это одно и то же. Армию прировняли к периферийному СИЗО».
"They really believe and have once again demonstrated that the army and the prison are one and the same," Navalny tweeted. "They equated the army with a peripheral pre-trial detention center."
For several months, the anti-corruption foundation has been the subject of a money laundering investigation.
The criminal case was opened in August after Navalny called for people to participate in anti-government demonstrations protesting the exclusion of opposition candidates from local elections.
The foundation has also been branded a "foreign agent" by the government, which means its office is subject to surprise inspections.
But Navalny has vowed to stay in Russia to continue railing against Putin's government.
(CNN) — The universe sent one last solar salute of the decade down to Earth on Christmas day -- or Thursday, December 26, depending on where you are in the world.
Commonly referred to as the "ring of fire" eclipse, this solar event occurs annually as the moon passes in front of the sun, covering the sun's center and leaving a blazing ring of light around the moon's silhouette.
The celestial celebration wasn't visible from North America, but lucky watchers in parts of Indonesia, southern India, Oman and Saudi Arabia were able to see -- and capture breathtaking images -- of the eclipse.
Here are a few photos of the spectacular event
Sadiq Asyraf/AFP via Getty Images
A young girl in Tanjung Piai, Malaysia, gazed at the eclipse through solar filter glasses.
Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images
Early in the morning, a group of seagulls flew above a beach in Kuwait City as the moon partially eclipsed the sun on the horizon.
Tatan Syuflana/AP
A crowd gathered outside in Jakarta, Indonesia, donning protective glasses to view the eclipse.
Rifka Majjid/AP
A radiating "ring of fire" was captured through a safety glass in Siak, Riau province, Indonesia, one of the areas in a swath of southern Asia that was able to see the full eclipse.
Rakesh Nagar/AFP via Getty Images
A group of monks wore solar filter glasses to watch the event at the Ganden monastery in a Tibetan colony in India's southern Karnataka state.
Juni Kriswanto/AFP via Getty Images
People knelt and prayed as the eclipse was projected onto a screen in the Indonesian port city of Surabaya.
Mahesh Kumar A/AP
A roadside vendor caught a glimpse of the partial eclipse through a pair of protective glasses in Hyderabad, India.
Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images
An eerie sight in the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu state as the moon totally covers the face of the sun.
Louis Kwok/AFP via Getty Images
A few workers improvised eye protection by using a piece of welder's glass to watch the solar sight in Singapore.
Eranga Jayawardena/AP
A Sri Lankan man stood outside the national planetarium wearing his protective glasses in the country's capital city of Colombo.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters marched through festive Hong Kong shopping malls on Thursday, aiming to disrupt business in the Asian financial hub for a third day over the Christmas holidays, with riot police deployed in the event of unrest.
Hong Kong protesters attend a Christmas Day rally in Sha Tin shopping mall in Hong Kong, China, December 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
The “shopping protests” have targeted malls across the Chinese-ruled city since Christmas Eve, turning violent at times with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators in bustling commercial areas filled with shoppers and tourists.
The turnout on Thursday was smaller than on the previous two days, but dozens of riot police patrolled the outskirts of shopping centers on the Kowloon peninsula and in the rural New Territories. Some officers entered the malls to observe chanting black-clad protesters.
Protests started in Hong Kong more than six months ago in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party.
They have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement, and became more confrontational over the festive season. Earlier in December, after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections, they had been largely peaceful
On Thursday, police detained several people at a mall in rural Tai Po, located far north of the city’s financial center earlier on Thursday, public broadcaster RTHK said.
Some restaurants and stores pulled down their shutters in the malls as protesters, some wearing balaclavas and carrying black flags, marched by. At some dining outlets protesters stuck up stickers and posters which read “Free Hong Kong, revolution now”.
Demonstrators are angry at what they perceive as increased meddling by Beijing in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
China denies interfering, saying it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time, and blames foreign forces for fomenting unrest.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam condemned the protesters in a Facebook post on Wednesday stating that many Hong Kongers and tourists were disappointed that their “Christmas Eve celebrations have been ruined.”
“Such illegal acts have not only dampened the festive mood but also adversely affected local businesses.
The government, in a separate statement on Thursday, criticized “unprecedented violence” and vandalism committed by some protesters, and said that, despite the months of social unrest, freedoms and human rights remained a top priority.
Reporting by Joyce Zhou and Twinnie Siu; Writing by Farah Master; editing by John Stonestreet
In what military watchers regard as an unusual move, the U.S. military sent four surveillance planes, simultaneously, over and around the Korean Peninsula this week in reaction to North Korea’s cryptic reference to a possible “Christmas gift” for the U.S.
The action followed reports last week that North Korea had warned of a possible missile launch or nuclear test for late December amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the U.S.
The U.S. aircraft were detected by Aircraft Spots, an aviation tracking site, according to a report by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
The site claims that four U.S. planes – identified as RC-135W Rivet Joint, E-8C, RQ-4 Global Hawk and RC-135S Cobra Ball – flew their missions between Christmas Eve and early Christmas Day, the report said.
The first two planes flew at 31,000 feet while the Global Hawk flew at 53,000 feet, the tracking site said. Meanwhile, the Cobra Ball and a refueling plane flew over the East Sea.
Earlier this month, Ri Thae Song, a North Korean vice foreign minister for U.S. affairs, expressed doubts that the U.S. was negotiating in good faith, accusing the Americans instead of stalling as it tried to get better terms.
“The dialogue touted by the U.S. is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.,” Ri said. “What is left to be done now is the U.S. option -- and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get.”
President Trump has downplayed the matter, despite urging from some analysts and advisers in Washington that he take a harder line against Pyongyang.
When asked Tuesday in Florida whether he was concerned about a long-range missile test, Trump quipped that perhaps North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was planning a nice gift.
“We'll see what happens. Let's see. Maybe it's a nice present, maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test ... you never know," the president said.
But Trump stressed that the U.S. was prepared to deal with any kind of “gift” the North might send.
"We'll find out what the surprise is, and we'll deal with it very successfully," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to Yonhap. "Everybody's got surprises for me, but let's see what happens. I handle them as they come along.”
