Doctors fear Assange 'could die' in UK prison, say he needs hospital care

International News
Hong Kong's master majority rule government camp was cruising towards a devastating triumph in network level races on Monday, sending the Beijing-sponsored government a reasonable message of open help for the requests of a dissent development that has grasped the domain for quite a long time.
Checking was still under way following record turnout in Sunday's surveys, however fractional outcomes demonstrated that competitors favoring more prominent popular government were on course to hold onto a stun greater part of the regularly foundation commanded 18 area committees.
The dazzling outcome was a mortifying reprimand to Beijing and ran any waiting any expectations of Hong Kong pioneer Carrie Lam that the undeniably forceful strategies sent by radical dissidents would urge a quiet greater part to turn out on the side of her organization. Change-chasing government officials seized on the outcome as confirmation that residents need more state in running the city.
"Regardless of how solid Carrie Lam is I trust she can agree to the desires of the individuals, satisfy the five requests (and) give the adolescents a possibility," political extremist Jimmy Sham told journalists in the wake of winning an area board seat. The dissent development has made five key requests, including direct famous races and a test into supposed police mercilessness. Lam has rejected the possibility of government concessions as "unrealistic reasoning".

Hong Kong has suffered a long time of mass meetings and vicious conflicts, at first ignited by outrage regarding a bill supported by Lam that would have enabled removals to China's dark legal framework. Region committees handle network level concerns, for example, transport courses and trash assortment and the surveys normally produce little fervor. However, Sunday's challenge for 452 seats took on new political centrality on account of the general population discontent.....READ MORE

Chinese students flee Hong Kong as campuses turn into battlegrounds

International News
Having fled Hong Kong universities they had thought were a ticket to success, Chinese students from the mainland sit in hostels and noodle shops in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen wondering how they'll complete their studies.
With campuses turned into blazing battlegrounds, courses cancelled and anti-China sentiment growing more virulent, students from mainland China are getting out of Hong Kong with little idea if they will ever go back.
"It's really just not safe any more and I don't see it getting any better," said one twentysomething student leaning on a suitcase outside a restaurant in Shenzhen, which abuts Hong Kong.
Fears intensified this week because of a widely circulated video of a mainland student being beaten by protesters at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Anger boiled over there following after the death of a student who fell from a car park as police used teargas against protesters.
"The discrimination towards mainlanders is growing worse," said 22-year-old Frank, a postgraduate student who had just left the university for Shenzhen. "They're so prejudiced towards us mainlanders and that's not going to change, so why go back?" Before anti-government protests erupted in Hong Kong more than five months ago, there were some 12,000 students among more than one million mainland Chinese living in Hong Kong, according to official figures.
The pace of departures accelerated this week as intensifying violence turned campuses into nightmarish scenes of blazing petrol bombs and swirling teargas.

Dozens of mainland students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong were so fearful they called police and fled by police boat from a dock near the Sha Tin campus on Wednesday to avoid having to use roads blockaded by black clad protesters....READ MORE

A long list of economic problems await Hong Kong. How they can be fixed

International News
Beyond Hong Kong’s current political turmoil, a long list of economic problems await the city’s current and future rulers.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, on Wednesday unveiled more than 220 initiatives in housing, land supply and livelihood support, in a recognition that economic policy has a role to play in alleviating some of the city’s frustrations. She also acknowledged that Hong Kong entered a recession in the third quarter and warned of an “unprecedented” economic challenge.
That’s a start, though observers say the long-standing growth model -- as a low-tax, low-regulation entrepot for finance and trade -- has become an element in the political unrest, rather than the main solution.
Huge income inequality, markets controlled by insiders and a spiraling cost of living -- especially of housing -- are by now hallmarks of Hong Kong’s brand of capitalism, alongside the “world’s freest economy” label perennially awarded by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning U.S. policy group.
From using the city’s fiscal firepower to breaking the dominance of conglomerates and raising the standard of public facilities, there exists a range of proposals from economists and other experts for a way forward. In some areas, the government is already moving ahead. In others, a fundamental shift -- and the political consensus to make it -- is required.
Use Reserves to Tackle Housing

Many in the city question the political will of Hong Kong’s government officials to take bold, aggressive action in a range of policy areas. This criticism often arises in relation to the city’s HK$1.17 trillion ($149 billion) fiscal reserve, which some contend has grown steadily for years while the city’s problems were allowed to fester...READ MORE

US House passes Hong Kong 'Democracy Act'; move may infuriate China further

International News
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill sought by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that aims to defend civil rights in the semi-autonomous territory.
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which will now move to a similar vote in the Senate before it can become law, has drawn rare bipartisan support in a polarized Congress.
Its passage is likely to further aggravate China which has accused "external forces" of fuelling weeks of unrest in the global financial hub.
"Today we're simply urging the Chinese president and the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, to faithfully honor the government's promises" that Hong Kong's rights and autonomy would be protected, Republican
Representative Chris Smith, prime sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor.Millions have taken to the streets of Hong Kong, initially against a now-dropped bid by its leaders to allow extraditions to the authoritarian Chinese mainland.
The months-long movement has expanded into a broader pro-democracy push in the territory where activists say freedoms are being eroded by Beijing, despite a deal that outlined Hong Kong's 1997 return to China from British colonial rule.

 The Hong Kong Rights and Democracy Act would end Hong Kong's special trading status with the United States unless the State Department certifies annually that city authorities are respecting human rights and the rule of law.It also requires the US president to identify and sanction people who are responsible for the erosion of autonomy and serious abuses of human rights in Hong Kong....READ MORE

Hong Kong inseparable from China, secessionism will be crushed: State media

International News

Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China and any form of secessionism "will be crushed", state media said on Monday, a day after demonstrators rallied at the US consulate to ask for help in bringing democracy to the city.
The China Daily newspaper said Sunday's rally in Hong Kong was proof that foreign forces were behind the protests, which began in mid-June, and warned that demonstrators should "stop trying the patience of the central government".
Chinese officials have accused foreign forces of trying to hurt Beijing by creating chaos in Hong Kong over a hugely unpopular extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be tried in Communist Party-controlled courts.
Anger over the bill grew into sometimes violent protests calling for more freedoms for Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula.Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally scrapped the bill last week as part of concessions aimed at ending the protests.
"Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, and that is the bottom line no one should challenge, not the demonstrators, not the foreign forces playing their dirty games," the China Daily said in an editorial.
"The demonstrations in Hong Kong are not about rights or democracy. They are a result of foreign interference. Lest the central government's restraint be misconstrued as weakness, let it be clear secessionism in any form will be crushed," it said.

 State news agency Xinhua said in a separate commentary that the rule of law needed to be manifested and that Hong Kong could pay a larger and heavier penalty should the current situation continue.

Hong Kong leader setting up communication platform to help end protest

Current Affairs
Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped "calm" will prevail after a massive weekend march passed without clashes between police and demonstrators, but again refused to give ground to protester demands.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the heart of the city on Sunday in a show of peaceful protest after escalating street battles with police drew stark warnings from Beijing and threatened to undermine public support.
"On Sunday, many Hong Kong residents participated in a rally at Victoria Park that was largely peaceful," Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a televised press conference."I wholeheartedly hope that this is the beginning of society returning to calm and staying away from violence." The protests began against a proposed extradition law to China but morphed into a pro-democracy movement sparking the city's biggest political crisis in decades.
They have been fuelled by anger over alleged police brutality, with tear gas and rubber bullets deployed against protesters. Lam reported 174 complaints have been made against police since protests began.
She said they would be "robustly" investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Council, whose head is appointed by the chief executive. However, the probe is unlikely to satisfy protesters who have called for an independent inquiry by an external body.In addition to universal suffrage and cancelling the extradition bill, protesters also demand the release of those detained during clashes.

 Lam, pilloried by press and protesters for failing to step down while the city plunges into crisis, said her government would continue a "fact-finding mission" on how to move forward from the demonstrations...Read More