More violence grips Hong Kong ahead of China’s National Day
HONG KONG — Protesters and police clashed in Hong Kong for a second straight day on Sunday, throwing the semiautonomous Chinese territory’s business and shopping belt into chaos and sparking fears of more ugly scenes leading up to China’s National Day holiday this week.
Riot police repeatedly fired blue liquid — used to identify protesters — from a water cannon truck and multiple volleys of tear gas after demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails at officers and targeted the city’s government office complex.
It was a repeat of Saturday’s clashes and part of a familiar cycle since pro-democracy protests began in early June. The protests were sparked by a now-shelved extradition bill and have since snowballed into an anti-China movement.
“We know that in the face of the world’s largest totalitarian regime — to quote Captain America, ‘Whatever it takes,’” Justin Leung, a 21-year-old demonstrator who covered his mouth with a black scarf, said of the violent methods deployed by hard-line protesters. “The consensus right now is that everyone’s methods are valid and we all do our part.”
Protesters are planning to march again Tuesday despite a police ban, raising fears of more violent confrontations that would embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping as his ruling Communist Party marks 70 years since taking power. Posters are calling for Oct. 1 to be marked as “A Day of Grief.”
Saudi crown prince denies ordering journalist’s murder
NEW YORK — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview that he takes “full responsibility” for the grisly murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but denied allegations that he ordered it.
“This was a heinous crime,” the 34-year-old crown prince told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday. “But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government.”
Asked if he ordered the murder of Khashoggi, who had criticized him in columns for The Washington Post, the crown prince replied: “Absolutely not.”
The slaying was “a mistake,” he said.
Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, 2018, to collect a document that he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. Agents of the Saudi government killed Khashoggi inside the consulate and apparently dismembered his body, which has never been found. Saudi Arabia has charged 11 people in the slaying and put them on trial, which has been held in secret. As of yet, no one has been convicted.
Dark skies: UN meeting reveals
a world in a
really bad mood
UNITED NATIONS — The planet is heating. Island nations are slipping away. A Pakistan-India nuclear war could be a “bloodbath.” Governments aren’t working together like they used to. Polarization is tearing us apart. Killing. Migration. Poverty. Corruption. Inequality. Sovereignty violations. Helplessness. Hopelessness.
“The problems of our times are extraordinary,” Ibraham Mohamed Solih, president of the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation threatened by the rising waters of climate change, said at the U.N. General Assembly a few days ago.
There are those mornings when you come into work and everyone seems cranky. That’s how it felt at the United Nations this past week during the annual gathering of world leaders. Speech after gloomy speech by leaders from all corners of the planet pointed toward one bleaker-than-thou conclusion: Humanity clearly needs a spa day.
The United Nations was founded in an optimistic fervor after World War II’s devastation, on the notion that a cooperative body of countries could construct a brighter future by learning to get along. Though that hope remains a fundamental underpinning, the actual tenor these days seems to set a lower bar: Try to mitigate climate Armageddon, and prevent some of its 193 member nations’ diligent attempts to undermine and sometimes destroy each other.
Words like “existential threat” were as much a part of the leader-speech landscape this past week as the usual references to “this august body.”
NYPD officer
shot and killed during struggle
with suspect
NEW YORK — A New York City police officer grappling with an armed man died early Sunday in the Bronx after being shot three times, possibly with his own gun.
The 27-year-old suspect also died after five officers fired at him, police officials said. He has not been publicly identified yet.
The NYPD identified the slain officer as 33-year-old Brian Mulkeen.
“We lost a hero this evening,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference outside Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
Mulkeen was patrolling the streets around a city apartment complex at around 12:30 a.m. as part of a unit investigating potential gang activity, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.
Trump condemns religious persecution amid refugee squeeze
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump said at the United Nations this week that “protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities.” But his promise rings hollow to advocates for persecuted religious minorities seeking refuge in the United States.
Trump’s administration already has slashed the nation’s refugee admissions ceiling to a historic low and on Thursday proposed a further cut for next year, to 18,000 — an 84% drop from the cap proposed during the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency.
The president’s promotion of global freedom to worship prompted the State Department to set aside 5,000 refugee slots for religious minorities. But faith-based groups that resettle refugees had urged him to avoid more erosion of a program dedicated to helping the persecuted worshippers whose oppression Trump has decried.
The list of persecuted religious groups whose access to refugee admission has withered under Trump includes Christians in Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Myanmar and Sudan, as well as Iraqi Christians and Yazidis — whose mass slaughter and enslavement by the Islamic State was labeled “genocide ” by Trump’s State Department in 2017.
Trump did not mention his looming decision on next year’s refugee ceiling as he announced $25 million in new funding for safeguarding religious freedom, including religious sites and artifacts, at a Monday event at the U.N. On Thursday, however, his State Department pitched a set-aside for religious minorities designed to bolster the administration’s commitment to freedom for all faiths.
From wire sources
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Snowstorm hits northern Rocky Mountains; Montana gets brunt
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Areas of the northern Rocky Mountains looked more like mid-winter rather than early fall on Sunday as a snowstorm dumped record amounts of wind-driven snow that caused hazardous travel conditions and scattered power outages.
Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of western Montana, northern Idaho and northeast Washington. Snow also was forecast for areas in Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Nevada and California.
The brunt of the storm hit Montana where up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow fell Saturday in the mountains and a record 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) fell in Great Falls with snow still falling Sunday.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock declared an emergency Sunday, allowing the state to mobilize resources to help affected areas.
“With an unprecedented winter storm throwing our state a surprise in September, state and local governments are working closely together to protect the health and safety of Montanans and our top priority is making sure that happens,” Bullock said in a statement. “Montanans should heed all warnings from state and local officials, travel safely, and be cautious during this time.”
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UK’s Johnson denies any wrongdoing in ties with US tech exec
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied wrongdoing Sunday over his links to an American businesswoman who allegedly received money and favorable treatment because of their friendship during his time as mayor of London.
Asked during a BBC interview about his ties to tech entrepreneur and model Jennifer Arcuri, Johnson sought to suggest that political motivations were behind the decision Friday by the Greater London Authority to refer a conduct matter to a police watchdog agency.
The matter arose from a Sunday Times report saying Arcuri was given 126,000 pounds in public money and privileged access to trade missions to the United States, Israel and Asia that Johnson led as mayor, even though her fledgling business had not yet met eligibility requirements for such trips.
“Everything was done in accordance with the code … and everything was done with full propriety,” Johnson said Sunday. When pressed again by BBC journalist Andrew Marr, Johnson added: “There was no interest to declare.”
The scandal worsened Sunday as Johnson’s Conservative Party was opening its annual party conference in Manchester following a tumultuous week for a leader who has only been in the job since July.
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