Dozens arrested as HK protesters defy ban

Bloomberg

Hong Kong police fired multiple rounds of tear gas at protesters who rallied for a 22nd consecutive weekend despite authorities denying them a permit to gather.
Police arrested dozens, and deployed a water cannon on black-clad demonstrators who had built barricades and threw fire-lit objects in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island.
Arsonists set alight an exit of a subway stop, forcing operator MTR Corp to suspend services at Central station.
Others threw petrol bombs outside Cheung Kong Center — the nerve centre of billionaire Li Ka-Shing’s business empire — and vandalised the offices of China’s official Xinhua News Agency, according to the South China Morning Post.
Companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Bank of America Corp have offices in Cheung Kong Center.
Earlier, thousands gathered in the vicinity of Victoria Park as pro-democracy candidates for upcoming district council elections held campaign events.
Tension built up as police repeatedly issued warnings to protesters that they were participating in an unauthorised assembly and violating a ban on face masks.
Victoria Park, near the shopping district of Causeway Bay, was the venue for several peaceful rallies in recent months, and hosts the city’s annual June 4th commemoration of China’s 1989 crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square.
Saturday’s demonstrations follows a chaotic Halloween of revelry and protests, where tear gas rounds were fired to disperse costume-wearing demonstrators.
Authorities are trying to gain greater control over the unrest that has gripped the city for almost five months.
Hong Kong’s High Court granted the local government its second injunction in a week limiting online speech — the latest was a 15-day ban on internet posts that incite violence or property damage.
As protests rage in Hong Kong against China’s increased grip over the city, Beijing signalled it would intervene more in everything from education to the selection of the city’s top leader.