HONG Kong pro-democracy politicians and activists have rejected a new apology by the city’s leader over a highly unpopular extradition bill
They are demanding that Carrie Lam quit and that the legislation be scrapped completely.
Lam’s plea for “another chance” drew a chorus of criticism, though members of pro-Beijing political parties and her cabinet, the Executive Council, expressed their support. Some activists said if the government does not meet those and other demands by a 5pm Thursday deadline, they plan a mass “resistance movement”.
That would follow a peaceful but rousing march on Sunday by some two million people worried that the legislation would further compromise the dwindling autonomy of the former British colony.
Asked repeatedly for a reassurance that she was dropping the bill that would allow some Hong Kong suspects to be tried in mainland Chinese courts, Beijing-appointed Lam would only say she would not revive it without certainty of its acceptance.
MEANWHILE, a powerful earthquake jolted north-western Japan and officials warned of a possible tsunami up to one metre (3.3ft) high along parts of the coast.
Some areas lost electrical power and some bullet train services were suspended, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or damage from the magnitude 6.8 quake.
Only a minor swelling of the sea was observed in several cities about half an hour after it struck.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the earthquake was located off the western coast of Yamagata, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south west of the city of Sakata.
ELSEWHERE, US president Donald Trump has threatened to remove millions of people living in the country illegally as he prepares to formally announce his re-election bid.
Trump tweeted that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement would next week “begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States”.
“They will be removed as fast as they come in,” he wrote.
FINALLY, uncollected rubbish is piling up on the streets of the southern Bosnian city of Mostar – one of the Balkan nation’s main tourist destinations – since residents began blocking access to the city’s sole landfill.
They claim that it poses serious health and environmental risks.
The landfill, located in a residential area, has operated since the 1960s. It is supposed to be for non-hazardous household waste but protesters say authorities in recent years have allowed businesses to dump hazardous animal and medical waste there.
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