The trial of one of China's most high profile human rights lawyers, on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and provoking trouble, lasted just three hours on Monday, with police blocking diplomats, foreign reporters and protesters from the Beijing court.
Hundreds of pro-democracy activists rallied near government headquarters on Monday amid tight security to mark the first anniversary of pro-democracy protests that crippled parts of the Chinese-controlled city.
The Hong Kong government published a long-awaited electoral blueprint for selecting the city's next leader on Wednesday, a plan enshrining China's desire for a tightly controlled poll that has angered activists and stoked talk of fresh protests.
Hong Kong's High Court has ordered the main protest sites that have choked the financial city for more than two months to be cleared, building up to a final showdown on Thursday between pro-democracy activists and authorities backed by Beijing.
Thousands of pro-democracy activists forced the temporary closure of the Hong Kong government's headquarters on Monday after they clashed with police outside, defying orders to retreat after more than two months of sustained protests.
Thousands of pro-democracy activists clashed with police in running scuffles in Hong Kong's gritty Mong Kok district early on Saturday in a bid to reclaim part of one of the city's largest and most volatile protest sites.
Hong Kong authorities encountered little resistance as they began clearing part of a pro-democracy protest camp in the bustling district of Mong Kok on Tuesday following a court order to reopen a road.
Iran's supreme leader moved on Saturday to break a factional deadlock over the sensitive Ministry of Higher Education by reinstating President Hassan Rouhani's moderate pick as interim minister, Iranian media reported.
Three Hong Kong student leaders plan to take their fight for greater democracy to Beijing on Saturday as frustration grows over the city government's inability to negotiate on electoral reforms in the former British colony.
Britain is not putting enough pressure on China to stick to its side of a pact on the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty because it is worried about damaging trade links, former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten said on Tuesday.
Hong Kong police have been pushed and pulled in all directions during weeks of pro-democracy street protests, obeying orders to clear protest sites, allow protest sites to stay put, push back demonstrators and protect them from attack.
China has often accused "foreign forces" of trying to destabilize free-wheeling Hong Kong during the current pro-democracy protests, with a garrulous expat American emerging as a key target of attack.
Violent clashes erupted early on Sunday in a Hong Kong protest hotspot as unarmed pro-democracy activists once again confronted riot police despite the confirmation of talks between protest leaders and officials early this week.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists recaptured parts of a core protest zone early on Saturday, defying riot police who had tried to disperse them with pepper spray and baton charges.
Hong Kong police arrested 45 pro-democracy protesters in the early hours of Wednesday, using pepper spray on those who resisted, as they cleared a major road in the Asian financial center that had been barricaded with concrete slabs.
Student leaders in Hong Kong called on pro-democracy supporters on Sunday to decamp from outlying protest sites and join the bulk of demonstrators in the heart of the Asian financial center as they gear up for a potential showdown with police.
Fresh scuffles broke out on Saturday between Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and opponents of the week-long demonstrations, reigniting concerns that the Chinese-controlled city's worst unrest in decades could take a violent turn.
Violent scuffles broke out in one of Hong Kong's most famous and congested shopping districts on Friday, as hundreds of supporters of Chinese rule stormed tents and ripped down banners belonging to pro-democracy protesters, forcing many to retreat.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters thronged the streets of Hong Kong on Wednesday, some of them jeering National Day celebrations, as demonstrations spread to a new area of the city, ratcheting up pressure on the pro-Beijing government.
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters extended a blockade of Hong Kong streets on Tuesday, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some fear may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day.
