Highlights: Hong Kong police seal off university, raising fears of crackdown

MTR

18/11/2019 07:41

(Update with latest development)
    HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong police fired tear
gas and rubber bullets on Monday to force back anti-government
protesters trying to escape a university where hundreds are
holed up with petrol bombs and other homemade weapons amid fears
of a bloody crackdown. 
    Protesters inside Polytechnic University faced off against a
police water cannon and armoured vehicles. Police threatened to
fire live bullets if "rioters" did not stop using lethal
weapons.  
    Protesters have blocked one of the city's major arteries,
the Cross-Harbour Tunnel linking Hong Kong island to the Kowloon
peninsula, for much of the past week.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N27X0BQ
    Following is the latest news from the protests: 
    
    - 0156 p.m. on Monday (0556 GMT): Education Bureau says all
schools will close on Tuesday while kindergartens and special
schools will be closed for the rest of the week.
    - 0515 GMT on Monday: Polytechnic University says it has
requested a meeting with police to discuss a way to resolve the
standoff peacefully.
    - 0513 GMT on Monday: Hundreds of people take to the streets
of the central business district in the latest in a series of
lunchtime protests that have taken place since the beginning of
last week.
    - 0506 GMT on Monday: Several Asian airlines have cut
flights to Hong Kong over the coming weeks, according to
industry scheduling publication Routes Online.
    - 0502 GMT on Monday: Hong Kong's High Court rules that a
British colonial-era emergency law revived by the government to
ban protesters wearing face masks was unconstitutional.  
    - 0446 GMT on Monday: Polytechnic University's president
Jin-Guang Teng says in a pre-recorded video that he had he had
brokered a truce with police to allow protesters to leave the
campus peacefully, but it was unclear whether a truce was taking
effect.
    - 0422 GMT on Monday: The Foreign Correspondents' Club of
Hong Kong condemns the efforts by police officers to obstruct
press coverage of protests over the weekend.
    - 0318 GMT on Monday: Police fire several rounds of tear gas
in Tsim Sha Tsui in mid-morning trying to clear protesters who
had returned to the streets and set up barricades - broadcaster
RTHK reported.
    - 0222 GMT on Monday: The United States condemned the
"unjustified use of force" in Hong Kong and called on Beijing to
protect Hong Kong's freedoms.
    - 0158 GMT on Monday: Police arrested at least 60 people on
Science Museum Road nearby the Polytechnic University -
broadcaster RTHK reported. 
    - 0152 GMT on Monday: Hong Kong Polytechnic University
student union acting president Ken Woo says at least 500 people
are still inside the campus and he believed some 70-100 intended
to leave but were pushed back as police fired volleys of tear
gas - Broadcaster RTHK cited Woo as saying in a programme.
    - 2256 GMT on Sunday: MTR says East Rail Line between Hung
Hom and Lo Wu/Lok Ma Chau stations at the border will be in
service but it may suspend or adjust services.
    - 2255 GMT on Sunday: Transport Department says
Cross-Harbour Tunnel and major roads in Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha
Tsui and Mong Kok are closed, while about 170 sets of traffic
lights are under repair. 
    - 2241 GMT on Sunday: Police clarify that no "raiding"
operation was conducted inside Polytechnic University. Police
appeal to everyone inside the campus to leave immediately.
    - 2154 GMT Sunday: Police say three shots were fired in
early hours in Jordan Road as "rioters" attacked two police
officers when they escorted an arrested 20-year-old woman to an
ambulance. Police say the shots did not hit anyone but the woman
escaped.
    - 2141 GMT Sunday: Protesters inside Hong Kong Polytechnic
University campus set the main entrance on fire as police
attempt to move in.
    - 1842 GMT Sunday: Police warn drivers not to use their
vehicles to block roads in Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan districts
and obstruct police operations.



 (Reporting by Donny Kwok
Editing by Nick Macfie)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6470; Reuters
Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))