Smoke-choked Sydney ushered in the New Year with a huge fireworks display while police in Hong Kong fired tear gas at protesters, as crisis clouded some of the first celebrations to ring in the new decade. Fireworks displays were scrapped in Australia’s capital, Canberra, and Sydney’s western suburbs due to elevated fire danger and extreme weather conditions. Liberate Hong Kong, revolution now!” as they lit up their phones in a sea of lights. Smaller crowds of protesters in the Mong Kok district set fire to barricades — and riot police unleashed 2020’s first volleys of tear gas in response. The protests in Hong Kong, sparked by a now-abandoned bill to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland, have since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing’s control.

Source: Punch December 31, 2019 19:18 UTC