PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Friday a suspected case of monkeypox in a city resident is now confirmed.
The probable case was first announced on Thursday afternoon, but CDC testing has since confirmed it.
The health department said the monkeypox virus has a much longer incubation period, which helps with contact tracing and containment.
RELATED: What is monkeypox? What to know about virus, symptoms, spread
“Typically, someone will develop symptoms between five and 21 days from the time that they are exposed,” said Dana Perella, Acute Communicable disease manager with the Philadelphia Health Department.
Perella said there is currently a vaccine to lessen the severity of illness and antiviral treatment for patients with monkeypox.
“I believe that residents and visitors should feel safe to do all the fun things Philadelphia has to offer, with the proper precautions,” she said.
City officials are working with the CDC to investigate how the person was exposed and if they may have exposed anyone else since they became infectious.
The current outbreak was first confirmed in a British resident on May 6. Since then, cases have been confirmed in 29 other non-endemic countries, including the United States. The CDC reports that there are 23 confirmed cases in 11 states. Worldwide, there has only been one death associated with this outbreak.
Officials strongly recommend that anyone who is experiencing symptoms of an unexplained rash on their face, palms, arms, legs, genitals, or the perianal region that may be accompanied by flu-like illness should contact their regular healthcare provider as soon as possible.
Monkeypox is spread through close, personal contact. Initial symptoms usually include fever, fatigue, headache, and enlarged lymph nodes. A rash often starts on the face and then appears on the palms, arms, legs, and other parts of the body. Some recent cases began with a rash on the genitals or perianal region only with no other initial symptoms. Over a week or two, the rash changes from small, flat spots to tiny blisters that are similar to chicken pox, and then to larger blisters. These can take several weeks to scab over. Once the scabs fall off, the person is no longer contagious.
RELATED: Monkeypox won’t turn into pandemic, but there are many unknowns
Monkeypox is a viral disease that is usually found in Central and West Africa. Monkeypox was first discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958. Blood tests of animals in Africa later found evidence of Monkeypox infection in several African rodents. In 1970, Monkeypox was reported in humans for the first time.
LONDON — Seventy years ago this weekend, a young English princess climbed into Treetops, a remote game-viewing lodge in Kenya, built into the limbs of a fig tree overlooking an elephant watering hole. The next morning, she came down as a queen, though she only learned of the death of her father, George VI, later that day.
The 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne will be a good deal more earthbound: The 95-year-old monarch plans to spend a quiet Sunday at her country estate, Sandringham, where her father died on Feb. 6, 1952. Four days of festivities to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee are scheduled for June.
But tributes to the queen poured in from Britain’s great, good and merely prominent. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, told the BBC, “She takes her duties seriously, but she doesn’t take herself very seriously.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised her for her “inspirational sense of duty and unwavering dedication to this nation.”
Those words, from a scandal-scarred leader whose tenure in office might be measured in days rather than decades, were testimony not only to the queen’s longevity but also to her immutability. In a country that lurched from the storms of Brexit into the siege of the pandemic, she has been an unmatched anchor of stability.
Time, of course, has not spared Elizabeth, either. She is commemorating this milestone alone, having lost her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, in April. And her health has declined in recent months, forcing her to cancel multiple public appearances, including a remembrance service for the war dead in November.
That was a painful blow to the queen, who served in the auxiliary service as a driver and truck mechanic during World War II. For worried Britons, it was another sign of her fragility and a wistful reminder that the second Elizabethan Age is coming to an end.
In a message issued on Saturday, the queen spoke candidly about a royal family in transition. And she delivered a surprise, in the form of an endorsement of her daughter-in-law, Camilla, the second wife of her son and heir, Prince Charles.
“When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,” the queen wrote. “It is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”
That settled a longstanding and delicate question about whether Camilla, who was romantically involved with Charles during his marriage to Princess Diana, would ever have the title of queen. It is a victory for Charles, who long pushed for that recognition for his wife, now known as the Duchess of Cornwall.
Elizabeth has otherwise endured another bumpy stretch in the soap opera that is her family. She recently stripped her second son, Prince Andrew, of his honorary military titles, as he fights a lawsuit in a New York court on accusations that he sexually abused a teenage girl while a guest of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Her grandson Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, remain estranged from the family, with Harry at work on a memoir that palace officials worry will reopen the wounds from a bitter interview that the couple gave to Oprah Winfrey last year. The queen has yet to meet her great-granddaughter Lilibet, named in honor of Elizabeth, whose parents called her by that nickname.
The queen, however, remains enduringly popular: Her 76 percent approval rating is No. 1 among the royals, according to a poll last year by the market research firm YouGov. Charles polled at 45 percent; Prince William, the next in line, at 66 percent; and the once-popular Harry at 39 percent.
“She has an instinctive understanding of the soul of the British people,” said Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at King’s College London. For all of the upheaval in the House of Windsor, he added, “The monarchy is seen as a unifying force of stability and of constitutional democracy.”
Reaching this milestone puts Elizabeth in rare company. Only three monarchs are documented to have reigned more than 70 years: Louis XIV of France; Johann II of Liechtenstein; and Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who died in 2016. Elizabeth is already the longest-serving British monarch, overtaking Queen Victoria in 2015, and the longest-serving female monarch. She would surpass Louis XIV, the Sun King, in less than three years.
She has been served by 14 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill. If the political handicappers are to be believed, she may soon be on her 15th. An outcry over gatherings held in Downing Street that breached pandemic lockdown restrictions has led to calls for a no-confidence vote in Mr. Johnson.
Some Key Moments in Queen Elizabeth’s Reign
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A historic visit. On May 18, 1965, Elizabeth arrived in Bonn on the first state visit by a British monarch to Germany in more than 50 years. The trip formally sealed the reconciliation between the two nations following the world wars.
First grandchild. In 1977, the queen stepped into the role of grandmother for the first time, after Princess Anne gave birth to a son, Peter. Elizabeth’s four children have given her a total of eight grandchildren, who have been followed by several great-grandchildren.
Princess Diana’s death. In a rare televised broadcast ahead of Diana’s funeral in 1997, Queen Elizabeth remembered the Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris at age 36, as “an exceptional and gifted human being.”
A trip to Ireland. In May 2011, the queen visited the Irish Republic, whose troubled relationship with the British monarchy spanned centuries. The trip, infused with powerful symbols of reconciliation, is considered one of the most politically freighted trips of Elizabeth’s reign.
Breaking a record. As of 5:30 p.m. British time on Sept. 9, 2015, Elizabeth II became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother. Elizabeth was 89 at the time, and had ruled for 23,226 days, 16 hours and about 30 minutes.
Marking 70 years of marriage. On Nov. 20, 2017, the queen and Prince Philip celebrated their 70th anniversary, becoming the longest-married couple in royal history. The two wed in 1947, as the country and the world was still reeling from the atrocities of World War II.
Perhaps his lowest moment was having to apologize to Buckingham Palace for two raucous parties thrown by his staff on the night before Philip’s funeral. The next day, a photographer captured an image of the queen, grieving alone at the service, masked and isolated in a choir stall at St. George’s Chapel.
If Mr. Johnson hangs on until June, when the Platinum Jubilee is celebrated, he might even benefit from the general atmosphere of celebration. Among the events planned is a carnival-like procession of 5,000 performers through the streets of London, led by a dragon puppet the size of a double-decker bus. The government will give everyone an extra day off.
Accession Day, however, has always been a melancholy anniversary for the queen, as much about the death of her father as her own ascension to the throne. Although George VI had been seriously ill, his death was traumatic for the 25-year-old princess, who was by all accounts very close to him.
Still, Elizabeth managed some low-key festivities on Saturday, cutting a cake and playing host to members of volunteer groups. Among her guests was Angela Wood, an 88-year-old onetime cooking student, who created “coronation chicken,” the dish served to 350 V.I.P.’s at the banquet on coronation day in 1953.
Mrs. Wood and the queen discussed the recipe, which calls for diced chicken, tomato paste, a dash of curry powder, brown sugar, a pinch of salt, a splash of red wine, later mixed with mayonnaise and puréed apricots.
“For a month or more,” she told the BBC, “I was cooking a chicken a day, and we had to alter the balance of the spices in the sauce to get it right.”
Johnson’s head of policy, Munira Mirza, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, and communications director Jack Doyle all left their posts Thursday, just days after a damning investigation revealed that multiple parties took place at Downing Street while the rest of the United Kingdom was living under strict Covid-19 lockdown rules.
The report, released Monday, uncovered multiple parties and a culture of excessive drinking at Downing Street. The report’s author, senior civil servant Sue Gray, said there had been a “failure of leadership” in Johnson’s government.
“Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify,” the report said.
Mirza’s departure is the most consequential. She was one of Johnson’s longtime allies and a key political player who helped shape the prime minister’s platform — some of which made her unpopular with other members of his ruling Conservative party.
While Doyle’s departure was expected, Rosenfield and Reynolds’ resignations are being framed as part of a shake-up Johnson said would follow the revelations from Monday’s report.
Mirza said her decision was motivated by controversial comments the prime minister made about the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer.
On Monday, Johnson alleged that Starmer, while serving as director of public prosecutions, failed to prosecute Britain’s most notorious pedophile, Jimmy Saville. Starmer on Wednesday accused the prime minister of “parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try and score cheap political points.”
Mirza said in her resignation letter that she believed “it was wrong” for Johnson “to imply this week that Keir Starmer was personally responsible for allowing Jimmy Savile to escape justice. There was no fair or reasonable basis for that assertion.”
“You tried to clarify your position today but, despite my urging, you did not apologies for the misleading impression you gave,” Mirza added.
Johnson told a journalist from Britain’s Channel 5 News that he’s “sorry to lose” Mirza, who had worked with the prime minister for 14 years. Johnson said he did not agree with Mirza’s assertion that his comments on Starmer were inappropriate.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia police have identified a woman who was gunned down in broad daylight on Wednesday afternoon. The killing marked the city’s 500th homicide.
The shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. near 7th and Jackson streets in South Philadelphia
Police say Eloise Harmon, 55, was shot three times in the chest. She was rushed to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Video captured the frantic moments as the victim yelled, “Call 911.” Seconds later, you can hear multiple gunshots being fired.
Police believe the shooting is domestic in nature. No arrests have been made.
The grim milestone ties the 1990 record of 500 homicides.
On Wednesday morning, Mayor Jim Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw were joined by federal, state and local officials at City Hall to address the violence.
“It’s terrible to every morning to get up and have to go look at the numbers and then look at the news and see the stories. It’s just crazy. It’s just crazy and this needs to stop,” Kenney said.
Kenney said that reducing the violence is his administration’s top priority.
He also called on lawmakers in Harrisburg to allow the city to pass more restrictive gun laws to keep weapons off the streets.
“There are people making money selling these guns, making these guns, and the legislature, not the people behind me, don’t care. They don’t care how many people get killed. It’s ridiculous. And cities like Boston and New York that are not dealing with this problem the way we’re dealing with it, there are strict gun laws…we need to have some semblance of that. I’m not talking about people hunting deer,” said Kenney.
Mayor Kenney and Commissioner Outlaw both released statements on reaching 500 homicides:
Statement from Mayor Kenney:
“I am heartbroken and outraged that we’ve lost 500 Philadelphians-including many children and teenagers-to needless violence this year. I never stop thinking about the victims and their families, and the incredible loss these senseless deaths leave behind. As we close in on the end of a year where we saw unprecedented levels of shootings and homicides, part of a disturbing trend nationwide, I want all residents to know that our administration takes this crisis very seriously, and we continue to act with urgency to reduce violence and save lives.
There is no greater priority for our administration than to reduce violence and create safer communities and a more just city for everyone. We are committed to doing everything in our power to prevent and reduce gun violence, including investing as much as we can back into our communities in proven programs that prevent violence.
Our administration continues to work tirelessly in response to the national public health emergency that gun violence presents. On this front, the City has acted swiftly, investing in anti-violence initiatives that both address the immediate crisis and tackle the systemic, root causes of violence. We’ve invested a record $155 million to reduce and prevent violence this year alone.
That includes a $22 million investment in Anti-Violence Community Partnership Grants, which our administration-in partnership with City Council-announced earlier this summer. This is a major piece of our historic investment in a wide array of violence prevention programming and services that contribute to the City’s violence prevention and reduction goals. Through this program, we’ve already distributed nearly $6.5 million to local organizations doing impactful anti-violence work on the ground in our communities, with more funding to be distributed in the coming weeks.
These programs are critical to finding innovative, urgent solutions not just to prevent violence before it happens but to support victims and their families through trauma and counseling, which is necessary to reduce the endless cycle of violence plaguing too many of our neighborhoods.
As the Police Department continues to implement ways to reduce and prevent violence in our neighborhoods, we’re seeing progress with our Operation Pinpoint Strategy-through which we’ve seen overall reductions in violent crime specifically within our pinpoint grids in multiple districts throughout the city. PPD also continues to take record numbers of guns off the streets; this year we’re on track to remove more than 6,000 crime guns, a 40 percent increase from just two years ago. Every one of these guns off the streets is one less that could be used to harm or kill Philadelphians.
But we know that these strategies alone are not enough to resolve this crisis. So we continue to do everything possible to protect our communities, and to work with City leaders, law enforcement, and our local, state and federal partners to promote public safety.
As we enter this holiday season, I can’t help but think of all the incredible potential that has been extinguished by this loss of life. Our young people can do anything. I see it every time I visit a school, a rec center, or one of our pre-K centers.
We as a city and a society must value that life, and do everything we can to remind our young people-through our words and our actions-that they are valued, that they are important, and that their lives matter.
And we must reinforce broadly that there are always options beyond carrying a gun, and that there are consequences if you nevertheless choose to carry that gun or-god forbid-use it.
We will continue to work with our criminal justice and community-based partners to address this challenge, save lives, and protect communities in every corner of Philadelphia. I am resolved to devote every remaining day in this office to stopping this senseless violence in its tracks.”
Statement from Commissioner Danielle Outlaw:
“Each and every homicide carries with it a profound sense of loss. However, for our City to have reached such a tragic milestone – 500 lives cut short – it carries a weight that is almost impossible to truly comprehend.”
There are not enough words to comfort our grieving families in their time of loss. However, I want these families to know that seeking justice for their loved one remains a top priority for the Philadelphia Police Department. We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners and other stakeholders to get ahead of the violent crime that is plaguing our beautiful communities. We remain committed to proactively patrolling neighborhoods and encourage community members to continue to work alongside the police. We cannot undo what has already been done, however, we will continue to pursue any and all information that will bring justice and closure to each victim and their families. I urge anyone with information to come forward and share that information with the police. The lives lost are not unique to one neighborhood or section of this city- it is time that everyone joins together to become the catalyst for change in our communities.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde was set to arrive in Israel on Sunday evening, after a seven-year downgrade in relations between the countries.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Linde plan to meet on Monday, and she will meet with President Isaac Herzog, as well. She also plans to visit Yad Vashem, and to take part in an event hosted by Sweden’s ambassador to Israel marking 70 years of relations between the countries. She plans to visit Ramallah on the second day of her visit.
Just arrived in Israel. This official visit marks a new beginning in the relationship between . Will be meeting with foreign minister @yairlapid and president Isaac Herzog. This will be the first visit by a Swedish foreign minister to Israel in ten years.
— Ann Linde (@AnnLinde) October 17, 2021
Linde will be the first Swedish foreign minister to visit Israel since Sweden recognized a Palestinian state in 2014, sparking a diplomatic row, which continued when Sweden’s foreign minister at the time, Margot Wallstrom, accused Israel of “extrajudicial killings” of Palestinians. Israel recalled its ambassador from Stockholm for a month, and there was no contact between the countries on the ministerial level until this year. Lapid himself accused Wallstrom of antisemitism, at a pro-Israel rally in Stockholm in 2016.
But Sweden has made overtures to Israel in recent years, including speaking in favor of convening the EU-Israel Association Council and supporting Israeli candidacy to UN bodies.
Lapid and Linde met at the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in July, where she asked to bring relations between Israel and Sweden back on track and he agreed. They spoke on the phone in September – the first official conversation between Israeli and Swedish foreign ministers in seven years – and Sweden announced soon after that it would boycott the anti-Israel Durban IV Conference at the UN.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid speaks at a press conference in Washington on October 13, 2021 (credit: SHLOMI AMSALEM/GPO)
Ties between Israel and Sweden also fit with Lapid’s stated goal of strengthening Israel’s ties to liberal, democratic countries.
Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman said on Sunday that the Scandinavian country has been warmer toward Israel for the past two years.
Kulman said he thinks “the future is bright,” because Sweden and Israel agree on many issues and can benefit from closer ties. Even before Linde’s visit was announced, Kulman said, the countries were eager to cooperate on issues such as sustainability, gender rights and LGBTQ rights.
“It’s a process, not something that happens overnight,” Kulman said. “It adds to the accumulation of the new spirit in the Middle East, with the signing of the Abraham Accords, which brings more and more Arab countries to have normal relations with Israel… Countries including Sweden understand one cannot look at the Middle East only through the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It’s a broader scene and there are more urgent problems.”
Last week, Sweden hosted the Malmo International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, in which Herzog participated via live stream.
Sweden has only two innovation offices abroad, one in California and one in Tel Aviv, making innovation a big driver of Stockholm’s push to improve relations, a diplomatic source said.
Transportation Minister and Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli spoke with Linde last week about “the huge importance of empowering women and girls and to make sure that our voices are heard in all aspects of policy-making,” in honor of the International Day of the Girl.
SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio and Bexar County officials are celebrating what they called a major milestone in the effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations.
As of Thursday, Bexar County reported that 1,263,881 residents 12 and older are now fully vaccinated, amounting to more than 75%. More than 90% have received at least one dose, amounting to 1,516,675 as of Thursday.
While San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg was pleased with the progress, he noted an important caveat in those numbers.
“Please remember that children younger than 12 are still not eligible for vaccination and that means we still have a considerable ways to go for our community to be fully vaccinated,” Nirenberg said.
Nirenberg reported two new COVID-19 deaths in Bexar County, totaling 4,651 since the pandemic began.
There were also 249 new COVID-19 cases, with a 7-day rolling average of 328.
There are 393 patients in area hospitals (roughly 70% unvaccinated), with 148 in the ICU and 75 on ventilators.
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Booster COVID-19 vaccines are being administered at the Alamodome and other Metro Health administration locations. Those who would like to get a booster shot are asked to bring their vaccine cards with them. While an appointment isn’t required, you can still make one by visiting the city’s COVID-19 website. Eligibility will be verified using the state registry.
The booster shots are only for those who are eligible under CDC guidelines and have received the Pfizer vaccine. Those who received Moderna or Johnson and Johnson vaccines will be turned away at this time. Click here to learn who is eligible for a booster.
The Alamodome site is open from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.
Officials are also encouraging people to get their flu shots. Many retail pharmacies are offering COVID-19 booster and flu vaccines for those who can’t make it to the city or county sites. Check with your local pharmacy for vaccine availability.
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Watch the entire briefing in the video player above to hear more from city and county leaders.
China will not allow “sanctimonious preaching” or bullying from foreign forces, and anyone who tries “will find themselves on a collision course with a steel wall forged by 1.4 billion people”, its president, Xi Jinping, has said on the centenary of the Chinese Communist party.
In a speech before a crowd of 70,000 in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Xi praised the ruling party for lifting China out of poverty and humiliation, and pledged to expand China’s military and influence.
Standing at the Gate of Heavenly Peace above a portrait of Mao Zedong on Thursday, Xi said the era of China being bullied was “gone forever”.
“We will not accept sanctimonious preaching from those who feel they have the right to lecture us,” he said. “We have never bullied, oppressed, or subjugated the people of any other country, and we never will.”
“By the same token we will never allow anyone to bully, oppress, or subjugate [China]. Anyone who tries will find them on a collision course with a steel wall forged by 1.4 billion people.”
His fiery statements were met with rapturous applause by the tens of thousands of Chinese Communist party (CCP) members in attendance.
Xi Jinping delivers a speech at a ceremony marking the centenary of the CCP in Beijing. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
The CCP wields absolute rule over 1.4 billion people and one of the world’s largest economies. But China is also an increasingly isolated member of the international community due to its human rights abuses and actions towards regional neighbours such as Taiwan, India and others who dispute China’s claims in the South China Sea. Its relations with countries like the US, Canada, and Australia – with which it is locked in bitter trade disputes – are at their lowest points in decades.
In his speech, Xi said a strong country must have a strong military to guarantee the security of the nation, and the People’s Liberation Army had made “indelible achievements”. It was a “strong pillar” for safeguarding the country and preserving national dignity, sovereignty and development interests, not just in China but in the region “and beyond”, he said.
The party must maintain “absolute leadership” over the military, which must be grown and elevated “to world-class standards”, he said.
There is increasing concern and preparation for the eventuation of military confrontation over Taiwan, likely involving the US which supplies arms to the island’s government.
In his speechXi reiterated longstanding pledges to “restore” Taiwan. The CCP has never ruled over Taiwan but considers it to be a breakaway province of China that must be unified, by force if necessary. Xi said this remained an “unshakeable commitment”.
“No one should underestimate the resolve, the will and ability of the Chinese people to define their national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
Given recent context, Xi’s comments on Taiwan weren’t unexpected, said Dr Mark Harrison, senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Tasmania, but they did show how “uncompromising” Beijing was.
“Xi restated the existing formulations for Taiwan of Beijing’s one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus but his tone was notably belligerent, including his line ‘to utterly defeat any attempt towards Taiwan independence’,” he said.
Xi’s speech charted the history of the CCP from its origins in Shanghai in 1921, to its place today, declaring it had achieved its first centenary goal of building a “moderately prosperous society in all respects”, and claiming to have eradicated poverty.
“We eliminated the exploitative feudal system that had persisted in China for thousands of years and established socialism,” he said. “The Chinese people are not only good at destroying an old world, but also good at building a new world. Only socialism can save China, and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China.”
Xi said without the party there would be no new China, and it had “profoundly transformed the advancement of the Chinese nation”.
“It is the foundation and lifeblood of the party and the country, and the crux upon which the interests and wellbeing of all Chinese people depend.”
Xi has cemented his eight-year rule through a personality cult, ending term limits and declining to anoint a successor. He has purged rivals and crushed dissent – from Uyghur Muslims and online critics to pro-democracy protests on Hong Kong’s streets.
The centenary celebrations have been a highly orchestrated affair, with little prior announcement of what was on the cards. Thursday’s event began with dozens of military helicopters and jets, including the J-20 stealth fighters, flying in formation through Beijing’s skies, trailing flags and coloured smoke over Tiananmen Square, where 56 cannon – representing the 56 ethnic groups of China – were fired 100 times.
Last week,surveillance and security measures increased and Reuters reported police officers door-knocking to check household registrations, and tightened censorship directives at Bytedance and Baidu.
Thursday also marks the 24th anniversary of the handover of former British colony Hong Kong to China, a date once met with mass demonstrations against Beijing.
Thousands of police were deployed in an effort to prevent a repeat of protests on Thursday, which also marked one year and one day since the implementation of the national security law, a draconian legal tool which authorities have been accused of wielding to crush dissent and opposition.
“While safeguarding national security, residents continue to enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly and demonstration and others according to the law,” deputy chief executive John Lee said in a speech.
Hong Kong police later cordoned off Victoria Park citing public order laws, and evicted all occupants including children playing sport. “The most effective police measure is to prevent things that could happen rather than to deal with it after it happens,” said a police spokesman.
