Six In The Morning Wednesday 14 August 2019

Hong Kong protests: Flights resume as airport authority restricts protests

Hong Kong airport has resumed operations after a night of chaos which saw protesters clash with riot police.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Tuesday after protesters flooded the terminal buildings.

Early on Wednesday flights appeared to be running as scheduled, though some still remained delayed or cancelled.

After days of disruptions, the Airport Authority said it had obtained a temporary injunction banning protesters from entering certain areas.

It said in a statement that people would be "restrained from attending or participating in any demonstration or protest... in the airport other than in the area designated by the Airport Authority".

Fears of fresh unrest as Zimbabwe’s opposition plan protests

Government warns of reprisals as protests and strikes planned in country crippled by debt

Jason Burke in Harare

Wed 14 Aug 2019 06.52 BST

Zimbabweans are bracing for fresh unrest after the main opposition party unveiled plans for a series of major rallies starting this week and unions called for strike action.

Any demonstrations or industrial action will pose a new test for the ruling Zanu-PF party, which brutally suppressed a round of protests in January, leading to at least 13 deaths and hundreds of rapes and beatings.

Last month senior Zanu-PF officials said the constitution allowed the government to deploy the army to confront protesters and warned that soldiers were trained to kill. “Forewarned is forearmed,” one said, telling demonstrators to stay at home.

EWS

Viral clip of Russian policeman punching woman sparks outrage

A video clip of a Russian riot policeman punching a female protester has gone viral, provoking outrage on social networks. Russia's Interior Ministry has promised that the "guilty will have to face responsibility."

In an interview with the Mediazona website, the woman, Daria Sosnovskaya, said she was dragged away by police for protesting the detention of a man with a disability. In the clip, seen here in a YouTube account belonging to VOA News, an officer is seen punching Sosnovskaya in the stomach as officers dragged her to a police vehicle.

"Police officers started running toward me," the 26-year-old told the website. "It was extremely unpleasant. I immediately had cramps everywhere, I couldn't breathe." 

UEFA Super Cup: Frenchwoman referee Frappart set to make history in Liverpool-Chelsea clash

French referee Stéphanie Frappart will make football history in Istanbul on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to take charge of a major European men’s football match when Liverpool meets Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup.

The annual Super Cup pits the winner of the Champions League against the winner of the Europa League. The showpiece match is touted as the curtain-raiser for the European football season. A game for bragging rights between two English titans this year, it will be broadcast globally from Istanbul’s Vodafone Park, home of Turkishclub Besiktas. The all-star line-ups will feature international idols from Mo Salah for the Reds to Olivier Giroud for the Blues. But at kick off, unenviably for a referee, all eyes will be the woman charged with keeping the players in line: Stéphanie Frappart.

The 35-year-old Frenchwoman is no stranger to the spotlight. At every pioneering new rung in her nearly two-decade officiating career -- often umpiring male footballers who tower over her 1.64m, 54kg frame (under 5’5”, 120 lbs) -- Frappart has garnered extra attention until her skill afforded her the good referee’s cloak of invisibility.

Alvi says Pakistan will continue to stand with Kashmiris as nation observes 'Kashmir Solidarity Day'

While addressing a flag hoisting ceremony at the convention centre in Islamabad, President Alvi, who was the guest of honour, said that today the world was watching how the people of Pakistan were standing with their Kashmiri brothers.

"We will not leave them alone at any step," the president said adding: "Kashmiris are our [people]. We think of their pain as our pain."

"We have remained with them, we are with them today and will continue to do so."

Portraits capture brick-and-mortar shopkeepers clinging to their trades

Written byVladimir Antaki

While waiting for a train in New York City, I saw a man with an imposing and majestic posture. He was working in a newsstand, but he could have been a vending machine for all the attention people were paying him.

I discreetly took a photo of him and gave a gesture to ask if it was OK. He motioned yes, so I took a second shot, a closer one. It was only a few months later that my photo project "The Guardians" was born.

I became obsessed with that chance meeting. Ever since that day, I never pass through New York City without visiting Jainul (pictured above). Jainul and people like him are important. Without them, the urban environment would have none of its vibrancy, its humanity.