Tempers flare as police stop Hong Kong protesters

Police and protesters in Hong Kong faced each other in a tense standoff near the central station, on the day thousands of people overflowed a central park calling for electoral reforms and a boycott of the Chinese Communist Party. Sunday's protests, which saw police firing tear gas and violently detaining protesters, is the latest of deepening frictions between democracy-minded Hong Kongers and the Communist Party-ruled central government in Beijing that came to a head last June.

Proposed extradition legislation sparked months of often violent mass demonstrations. The bill - which would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China to stand trial - has since been withdrawn. But protests have continued for eight months around demands for voting rights and an independent inquiry into police conduct.