Police gunfire hits Hong Kong protester
HONG KONG -- Police in Hong Kong shot a protester as demonstrators blocked subway lines and roads during the morning commute today.
Online video showed a police officer collaring one protester and then shooting another who approaches. The officer fired again as a third protester approached. Police said one protester was hit and was undergoing surgery.
The video was posted on Facebook by Cupid Producer, an outlet that started last year and appears to post mostly live videos related to local news.
The shooting occurred in a crosswalk at a large intersection strewn with debris that had backed up traffic in Sai Wan Ho, a neighborhood on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island.
Protesters blocked intersections around the city. Public broadcaster RTHK said a fire was set inside a train at Kwai Fong station and that service was suspended at several stations.
Masked protesters continued to try to block other intersections in the area, and police responded with pepper spray, hitting some bystanders as well.
Hong Kong is in the sixth month of protests that began over a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include demands for greater democracy and police accountability. Activists say Hong Kong's autonomy and Western-style civil liberties, promised when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997, are eroding.
Rights group decries Iraq 'bloodbath'
BAGHDAD -- Amnesty International said Sunday that Iraq's crackdown on anti-government protests has descended into a "bloodbath."
At least 319 protesters have been killed so far by security forces since the unrest began last month, according to the latest figures from the Iraqi Human Rights Commission released Sunday.
Iraqi security forces put up concrete barriers in central Baghdad in an effort to hamper and block the protesters' movements. The measures come after security forces Saturday violently cleared demonstrators from three flash-point bridges in central Baghdad. By the end of the day, six anti-government protesters were killed more than 100 wounded.
The widening security crackdown reflects government intransigence and narrowing options for protesters who have been on the streets of Baghdad and the mainly Shiite south's cities for weeks. Authorities shut down internet access and blocked social media sites several times amid the demonstrations.
The leaderless, economically driven protests are targeting Iraq's entire political class and calling for the overhaul of the sectarian system established after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Security forces have used live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas in an effort to quell the protests, the Iraqi Human Rights Commission said.
"The government of Iraq has a duty to protect its people's right to life, as well as to gather and express their views. This bloodbath must stop now, and those responsible for it must be brought to justice," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.
Cyclone deadly in India, Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- A strong cyclone lashed northeastern India and Bangladesh on Sunday, killing several people in both countries after more than 2 million moved to shelters across Bangladesh's vast coastal region, officials and news reports said.
Cyclone Bulbul left at least seven people dead in India's West Bengal state, where the storm first made landfall around midnight Saturday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The storm then made its way to neighboring Bangladesh, where seven people were killed, according to the United News of Bangladesh news agency.
Enamur Rahman, Bangladesh's junior disaster management minister, said about 5,000 homes across the country's coastal region were damaged and many trees were uprooted by the cyclone.
Packing winds of up to 75 miles per hour and gusts of up to 80 mph, Bulbul weakened when it started crossing Bangladesh's southwestern coastal region, dumping rain across the country.
Bangladesh's weather office said the cyclone first slammed ashore at Sagar Island in the southern part of India's West Bengal state before moving to Bangladesh.
Iraq explosion wounds 5 in Italian force
ROME -- A roadside blast wounded five Italian military members Sunday in northern Iraq as they returned from a mission aimed at helping Iraqi troops combat the Islamic State group, Italian military officials said.
The Italian Defense Ministry said three of the wounded were in "grave condition" after the explosion.
Rear Adm. Fabio Agostini said the five -- three members of the navy and two of the army -- are part of a special forces team that was traveling back after a mission aimed at finding Islamic State refuges.
Agostini told Italian Rai state TV that Iraqi armed forces members were also injured in the blast but didn't say how many.
An Iraqi security official said the bomb exploded next to their vehicle as they were traveling just outside Kirkuk.
Italy's wounded were evacuated by U.S. military helicopters to a hospital in Baghdad.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 11/11/2019