HK student leaders arrested as police clear protest site

HONG KONG:Hong Kong police cleared activists from one of the largest protest sites in the city on Wednesday and arrested Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, two of the student leaders at the heart of the pro-democracy movement that has shaken the Asian financial hub.
Scuffles broke out when riot police moved against hundreds of protesters on Nathan Road, in the gritty Mong Kok district, following clashes overnight, Reuters witnesses said.
“You can’t defeat the protesters’ hearts!” screamed Liu Yuk-lin, a 52-year-old protester in a hard hat holding a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the movement, as she stood before lines of police in helmets and goggles.
But there was no serious violence, and after about three hours the operation was complete and traffic was flowing through as area where demonstrators had camped out since late September to call for greater democracy in the former British colony, according to a news agency.