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Hong Kong

Hong Kong Court Orders "Occupy" Eviction

HONG KONG STANDARD (Hong Kong), BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), ASSOCIATED PRESS (U.S.)

Worldcrunch

HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the eviction of the protesters camped around the HSCB headquarters in the center of the city, reports the Hong Kong Standard.

Protesters have until August 27 to leave the area where they have been protesting since October, reports BBC News. It is one of the last outposts of the Occupy movement in Asia, adds the Hong Kong Standard.

The Hong Kong protests were largely inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. At the height of the movement, hundreds of protesters occupied the area, reports BBC News. Their tents, personal belongings and banners denouncing capitalism have become a fixture at the HSBC building in one of Hong Kong's most exclusive shopping and financial districts, reports Al Jazeera.

Yet today only a dozen of activists are still camping around the bank’s HQ, and the area has become an unofficial shelter for homeless residents, says BBC's correspondent in Hong Kong Juliana Liu. Traditionally, the area was a popular meeting spot on Sundays for Hong Kong’s Filipino domestic workers.

On July 16 HSBC asked a court to evict the dozens of protesters, saying it intends to use the area for community events.

“We welcome the court ruling, and we look forward to the occupiers following the court order,” said HSBC spokesman Gareth Hewett.

“We won't leave even if they come here to remove us and we'll hold a meeting tomorrow night to discuss how we'll deal with the eviction,"" said Leung Wing Lai, one of the core members of the Occupy Hong Kong movement, reports the Hong Kong Standard.

Protesters said they would try to find another place to set up camp, reports BBC News.

Court orders #HK Occupy Central to move out of HSBC by 27th Aug, 9pm. Occupiers say they won't move. #fb twitter.com/LeslieMTang/st…

— Leslie Tang (@LeslieMTang) August 13, 2012

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

How Vulnerable Are The Russians In Crimea?

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on the occupied Crimean peninsula, and Russia is doing all within its power to deny how vulnerable it has become.

Photograph of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with smoke rising above it after a Ukrainian missile strike.

September 22, 2023, Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia: Smoke rises over the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters after a Ukrainian missile strike.

TASS/ZUMA
Kyrylo Danylchenko

This article was updated Sept. 26, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.

Russian authorities are making a concerted effort to downplay and even deny the recent missile strikes in Russia-occupied Crimea.

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Media coverage in Russia of these events has been intentionally subdued, with top military spokesperson Igor Konashenkov offering no response to an attack on Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, or the alleged downing last week of Russian Su-24 aircraft by Ukrainian Air Defense.

The response from this and other strikes on the Crimean peninsula and surrounding waters of the Black Sea has alternated between complete silence and propagating falsehoods. One notable example of the latter was the claim that the Russian headquarters building of the Black Sea fleet that was hit Friday was empty and that the multiple explosions were mere routine training exercises.

Ukraine claimed on Monday that the attack killed Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. "After the strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored," the Ukrainian special forces said via Telegram.

But Sokolov was seen on state television on Tuesday, just one day after Ukraine claimed he'd been killed. The Russian Defense Ministry released footage of the admiral partaking in a video conference with top admirals and chiefs, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, though there was no verification of the date of the event.

Moscow has been similarly obtuse following other reports of missiles strikes this month on Crimea. Russian authorities have declared that all missiles have been intercepted by a submarine and a structure called "VDK Minsk", which itself was severely damaged following a Ukrainian airstrike on Sept. 13. The Russians likewise dismissed reports of a fire at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, attributing it to a mundane explosion caused by swamp gas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refrained from commenting on the military situation in Crimea and elsewhere, continuing to repeat that everything is “proceeding as planned.”

Why is Crimea such a touchy topic? And why is it proving to be so hard to defend?

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