Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Thursday 7 November 2019

Pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong stabbed while campaigning

By EILEEN NG that night.
Associated Press Ho, whose constituency
HONG KONG (AP) — An includes Yuen Long, de-
anti-government assailant nied colluding with triads.
stabbed and wounded a He said he bumped into
pro-Beijing Hong Kong law- the men after dinner and
maker who was election thanked them for "defend-
campaigning Wednesday, ing their homes" but said he
police said, in another es- didn't know about the vio-
calation of violence sur- lence until later.
rounding the protests de- Protesters have thrashed
manding political reforms Ho's office several times
in the semi-autonomous and desecrated his par-
Chinese territory. ents' graves.
Junius Ho has become a Ho was campaigning for
hated figure by the pro- Nov. 24 district elections to
testers over his alleged pick 452 councilors, a low-
links to violence against level poll held every four
them. After receiving ini- years but closely watched
tial medical treatment, Ho this year as a gauge of
told reporters the knife had public sentiment after five
been blocked by his rib months of protests increas-
cage and he was left a mi- In this Aug. 12, 2019, photo, pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho attends a demonstration of an anti- ingly marked by violence
nor 2-centimer (0.79-inch) riot vehicle equipped with water cannon at the Police Tactical Unit Headquarters in Hong Kong. by hardcore activists and
deep wound. Associated Press hardening positions among
The government con- giving flowers to Ho and Ho has been targeted by began in early June, and public officials. The seats
demned the attack and asking permission to snap anti-government protesters demonstrators have ac- are currently dominated by
said police arrested the as- a picture with him. Instead, since July 21, when armed cused police of being slow the pro-establishment bloc.
sailant. Ho, his assistant and the man drew a knife from masked men in white T- to respond or even col- Many have seen the extra-
the attacker were hospital- his bag and stabbed Ho's shirts violently attacked luding with the attackers. dition bill that sparked the
ized, said a police official chest but was quickly over- demonstrators and passen- Police later said members protests as a sign of Beijing
who requested anonymity powered by Ho and sev- gers at a subway station in of triad gangs, a branch infringing on Hong Kong's
because he wasn't autho- eral others. northern Yuen Long, injur- of organized crime, were judicial freedoms and oth-
rized to make statements. The man kept hurling abu- ing 45 people. involved in the attack. Ho er rights guaranteed when
A video circulating on so- sive comments at Ho, call- The attack marked a dark was seen shaking hands the former British colony re-
cial media showed a man ing him "human scum." turn in the protests that with some of the attackers turned to China in 1997.q

Suspected rebels kill 15 at southern Thailand security posts

By SUMETH PANPETCH points in Yala province late More than 7,000 people
Associated Press Tuesday night also may have been killed since the
YALA, Thailand (AP) — have been wounded in insurgency erupted in 2004
Gunmen in insurgency- exchanges of gunfire, said in Thailand's three southern-
wracked southern Thailand army spokesman Col. Kiat- most provinces of Pattani,
killed 15 village defense tisak Neewong. Narathiwat and Yala, the
volunteers and wounded Thailand's volunteer forces only ones with Muslim ma-
five security personnel in in the south are raised from jorities in the Buddhist-dom-
what is believed to be the villages and receive weap- inant country. Muslim resi-
deadliest attack on gov- ons training from the army dents have long charged
ernment forces since the but no salary. They are usu- that they are treated like
separatist rebellion began ally issued shotguns but of- second-class citizens, and
15 years ago. ten carry personal hand- separatist movements
Blood-stained clothing guns, and only guard their have been periodically ac-
found at the scene sug- own villages rather than tive for decades. Heavy-
gested that some of the Police secure the road leading to a shooting scene in Yala seek to confront the insur- handed crackdowns have
province, Thailand, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019.
attackers on two check- Associated Press gents. fueled the discontent. q