Return of the otter: How reintroduced predators benefit ecosystems

Aquarium of the Pacific/AFP/File / Robin RIGGSShellfish-munching sea otters have been the bane of fishermens' existence ever since they were reintroduced to Canada's west coast in the 1970s -- but a new study indicates they bring more economic benefits than losses

These little guys think there's something you otter know.

Shellfish-munching sea otters have been the bane of fishermens' existence ever since they were reintroduced to Canada's west coast in the 1970s -- but a new study indicates they bring more economic benefits than losses.

The research was led by teams from the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Island University and published in the journal Science on Thursday.

The study offers an example of what might happen if other endangered species -- from apex predators like wolves and sharks, to herbivorous bison which were once plentiful in the great plains -- are brought back to their original habitats.

Toward the end of the 19th century, otters in the northwest Pacific were hunted almost to the point of extinction due to a demand for their thick, luxurious fur -- the densest coat in the animal kingdom, used by the aquatic mammals for insulation in freezing cold waters.

Otters prey mainly on invertebrates such as crabs, clams, and urchins. Don't challenge these chonky critters to an eating contest, as they consume about a quarter of their body weight every day.

With the otters gone the shellfish fishing industry exploded.

The Canadian government however decided to reintroduce otters in the 1970s -- without consulting the local population, including the native First Nations.

The otters began devouring the main source of fishermen's livelihoods, in what initially seemed to be a textbook example of ecological-economic conflict.

But it's not so straightforward, said the new paper's authors. The return of the otters also led to indirect effects on the ecosystem known as "trophic cascade."

Otters eat sea urchins, which had devoured kelp on the ocean floor. The size of these algal forests have now multiplied by a factor of twenty, said the researchers.

And kelp provide protective habitats for a number of fish species like herring, which, in turn, benefits the fishermen.

Not only that, kelp also sequesters carbon dioxide, reducing ocean acidification and the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

- Wolves, foxes and ticks -

The biggest direct financial benefit has come through tourism.

"The sea otter is a very charismatic species," said Russell Markel, a co-author of the paper who runs Outer Shores Expeditions. "Tourists love being able to see them in the wild and, importantly, are willing to pay for this experience."

The study authors estimate the dollar profit from having the sea otters is seven times greater than the losses to the shellfish industry.

"When you restore a predator, it usually is controversial. And this arises largely because predators end up competing with people for resources," said Jane Watson, a professor at Vancouver Island University.

But the return of kelp forest "increases near-shore productivity" and "creates habitat for kelp dependent species," she said.

"Countless ecosystems around the world are a shadow of their former glory, held back by missing key ecological players just as the sea otters were missing from this coast for decades," added Kai Chan, the paper's senior author, from the University of British Columbia.

"Thus we are seeing elsewhere how reintroducing wolves can trigger ripples of benefits for a large number of species and also for humans across the US and even in Europe," he added.

How might bringing wolves back help humans? Their extermination from the midwestern and eastern United States benefited coyotes, which in turn led to a reduction in the population of foxes.

Foxes prey on small mammals, whose population has exploded as a result -- leading to a surge in ticks, and of Lyme disease.

The new paper underscores the need to analyze ecosystems in their totality, rather than looking solely at what reintroducing predators will mean in terms of livestock losses.

 Pandemic shuts Earth's eyes on the skies

AFP/File / Martin BERNETTIAn aerial view of the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla facility in La Higuera in Chile's Atacama Desert, on June 6, 2019

It's as if the Earth has closed its eyes, some scientists say: the coronavirus pandemic has forced astronomers in northern Chile to shut down the world's most powerful telescopes, running the risk of missing out on supernovas and other spectacles in space.

Scientists have been unable to take advantage of the pristine skies over Chile's Atacama desert since late March, when its array of world-renowned observatories were shuttered.

That means humans will be oblivious to what astronomers call randomly occurring transitory phenomena, like Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) or supernovas -- lost forever to the starry wastes.

"Any GRB or supernova that goes off while we're shut down, we can't really observe it. We will have missed the opportunity to observe it because it catches on so fast and then fades away, so it's these opportunities that are lost," says astronomer John Carpenter.

It's also a critical time to observe Betelgeuse, the giant red star in the constellation of Orion -- the 10th brightest in the night sky -- which has suddenly dimmed, prompting speculation that it could explode, though that could take decades.

"We were starting a campaign to observe and monitor it when we had to close -- so we couldn't continue," Carpenter told AFP.

- Eyes on the Skies -

AFP/File / Martin BERNETTIAn astronomer prepares equipment ahead of a solar eclipse at the La Silla European Southern Observatory in Chile's Coquimbo region, on July 2, 2019

Carpenter is chief scientist at the revolutionary Atacama Large Millimeter Array, or ALMA, an observatory whose 66 antennae combine to make it the world's most advanced radio telescope.

Carpenter said his observatory's operations have been on hold since March 18.

ALMA is just one of an array of observatories in Chile's arid north that comprise more than half of humanity's astronomical power. Just 400 kilometers (250 miles) away from ALMA is the Paranal Observatory and its Very Large Telescope, the world's most powerful.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit Chile hard, forcing a month-long lockdown of its capital Santiago. More than 2,450 people have died from Chile's 150,000 COVID-19 cases.

"There are a very small number of people who are taking care of the observatory but no observation is being carried out," said Itziar de Gregorio, head of the science office of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which runs some of the key observatories.

De Gregorio voiced a more optimistic view over the opportunities for stargazing lost to the Earthly health crisis: scientists are likely to get another chance.

"These transitory phenomena are not usually unique. If they occur today, bad luck! But the next year surely many more will come by," he said.

- Stalled probes -

AFP / Martin BERNETTIA supermoon -- when the moon reaches its closest position to the Earth -- rises over Santiago, on April 7, 2020

Astronomers chose the vast Atacama desert for its pristine atmosphere -- there is little rain and low humidity year-round.

With telescopes shut down and antennas switched off, space watchers are instead focusing on processing the myriad data collected during long accumulated nights of observation.

Specialists have "several months" of work to keep them going until the pandemic passes and the planets are opened up to them again, said Caludio Melo, ESO representative in Chile.

"Of course, at any given point new observations will be needed but we cannot know yet when that will be," Melo told AFP.

In some ways, the biggest losers are young scientists working to finish research on doctoral studies, "because they have more critical deadlines," said Carpenter.

The long weeks of standstill mean a lag in their observation requests, he said.

"It will be a significant delay. We observe approximately 4,000 hours every year at ALMA with the 12-meter antenna complex, so if the shutdown lasts six months, it is 2,000 hours of lost observation."

Seoul court names birth father in landmark adoptee ruling

AFP / Jung Yeon-jeKara Bos -- who was abandoned at the age of two and adopted by an American family -- embarked on the legal battle to discover her birth mother's identity

A Seoul court on Friday officially recognised a Korean-born adoptee as the daughter of her biological father in a landmark ruling that she described as "momentous".

Kara Bos, 38, broke down in tears after the Seoul Family Court delivered its ruling entering her in the man's family registry, a move that could set a legal precedent.

His relatives had wanted nothing to do with her despite an online DNA match.

Bos -- who was abandoned at the age of two and adopted by an American family -- embarked on the legal battle to discover her birth mother's identity, and her lawyers say she will now be able to access official records on her father's family.

"This day is momentous for all of us adoptees just to have a right finally," she told reporters, visibly emotional.

"The struggles we faced with not having any rights whatsoever to be able to contact our family... and I hope this can change in Korea."

South Korea was once among the biggest sources for international adoption, having sent at least 167,000 children abroad since the 1950s.

But accessing records for returning adoptees is notoriously difficult due to laws prioritising birth parents' privacy over adoptees' rights -- the issue has long been shrouded in secrecy and linked to stigma.

Neither the man nor any of his relatives were present at the hearing.

- 'Please come' -

AFP / Jung Yeon-jeInclusion in the family registry gives Bos a legal entitlement to an inheritance

Growing up in Michigan, Bos, whose Korean name is Kang Mee Sook, rarely thought about her birth family, but when her own daughter turned two she started thinking about what her separation must have meant for her biological mother and decided to try to track her down.

After her initial efforts to trace her through adoption records and distributing leaflets proved fruitless, she submitted a DNA sample to an online genealogy platform in 2016 and found she was related to a young Korean man studying abroad.

With the match she was able to locate her half-sisters -- the young man's mother and aunt -- but they wanted nothing to do with her, barring her from meeting her father, the only person who could tell her who her mother was.

One of them called police when she begged on her knees at her door.

In November she filed a paternity suit -- according to her lawyers she is the first Korean-born overseas adoptee to have done so -- and a court-ordered DNA test showed there was a 99.987 percent probability he was her father.

Inclusion in the family registry gives Bos a legal entitlement to an inheritance, but she said all she wanted was to find out about her mother and the truth.

"If secrecy... hadn't shrouded my adoption story then maybe this could have all been resolved with my birth father's family with a five-minute phone call," she told AFP.

Bos said she plans to meet her father next week, and hopes he will finally reveal her origins.

"I hope... with this media attention, if my mother is watching, that she will step out and be an example of someone who can have courage just like I did to fight this fight," she told reporters outside the court.

"Omma, I want to meet you," she told the cameras in basic Korean. "Really, don't be sorry. Please just come."

Seattle mayor tells Trump to 'go back to your bunker'

AFP / Jason RedmondTrump sparked a spat with Seattle's mayor after he threatened to intervene in the neighborhood dubbed 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' or CHAZ

Seattle's mayor told Donald Trump to "Go back to your bunker" Thursday, escalating a spat after the president threatened to intervene over a police-free autonomous zone protesters have set up in the western US city.

The reference to a "bunker" was a nod to reports Trump was rushed by Secret Service agents to a secure area in the White House as demonstrations against racism and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd reached the president's residence.

Trump sparked the spat when he threatened to intervene in the neighborhood in Seattle dubbed "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," or CHAZ, which was agreed upon by demonstrators and the city's police department.

AFP / Jason RedmondPeople of all ages enjoyed the sunny weather in Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)

"Take back your city NOW. If you don't do it, I will," Trump warned mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington state governor Jay Inslee -- both Democrats -- in a tweet late Wednesday, calling the protesters "domestic terrorists" who have taken over Seattle.

"This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped (sic) IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST," he continued in another tweet.

Mayor Jenny Durkan replied, urging Trump to "make us all safe. Go back to your bunker", with Inslee joining in the Twitter mockery of Trump.

"A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state's business. 'Stoop' tweeting," Inslee wrote.

AFP / Jason RedmondDemonstrators in Seattle's CHAZ area set up a shrine to the memory of the late George Floyd, whose death at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer triggered the recent wave of protests

Protests have taken place across the country following the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

Officials in Seattle have denied reports that left-wing activists are behind the setting up of the autonomous zone.

- 'Peaceful as hell' -

In the CHAZ area Thursday there were tents with supplies for volunteer medics as well as free gourmet food donated by local restaurants, along with fruit, snacks, and water bottles for the taking.

The sunny afternoon gathering had a relaxed air, with people of all ages, including mothers with children, milling around the car-free streets.

AFP / Jason RedmondHuman Rights Attorney Mike Withey, a veteran of major protests in 1999 against the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests, addresses demonstrators in the CHAZ zone

At one point a crowd locked arms and prevented two police officers from reaching a boarded up police station in the area. The officers failed to break in when they tried to enter through a different road.

"The scene here is peaceful as hell," said a demonstrator who identified herself as Jahtia B.

She wondered aloud what Trump meant by tweeting 'take back the city.'

"This is our city. I was born and raised in this damn city. Let's give it to the people, the people who live in Seattle and have been thriving here," she told AFP.

AFP / Jason RedmondA crowd gathers to listen to speakers in Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)

An African-American demonstrator, Rich Brown, said he was scared on Sunday when police used tear gas and flash bang grenades in an attempt to clear the area.

"Today I feel supported, welcomed," he said. "We're able to speak, it's what we've been wanting to do this whole time, without intimidation, without fear."

African countries call for racism debate 

at UN rights council

AFP/File / Fabrice COFFRINIUN Human Rights Council delegates are seen in silhouette outside of the assembly hall during a session in Geneva in March 2020

African countries called Friday on the UN Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police brutality amid the unrest in the US and beyond over George Floyd's death.

In a letter written on behalf of 54 African countries, Burkina Faso's ambassador to the UN in Geneva asked the UN's top rights body for an "urgent debate" on "racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop."

The letter, addressed to rights council president Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger of Austria, requested that this debate be held next week, when the council's 43rd session resumes, after it was interrupted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The call came after Floyd's family, along with the families of other victims of police violence and over 600 NGOs this week called on the council to urgently address systemic racism and police impunity in the US.

For the council to consider such a request, it needs to have the backing of at least one country.

With the request now coming from a large group of states, "that increases the chances" it will take place, a council spokesman told AFP.

Friday's letter pointed to the case of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25 after a white officer, who has since been charged with murder, pressed his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

- 'Unchecked police brutality' -

His death, which was caught on video and has sparked massive protests across the United States and around the world, "is unfortunately not an isolated incident, with many previous cases of unarmed persons of African descent suffering the same fate due to unchecked police brutality," it said.

"Sadly, the fates of many other victims attracted no attention, as they were not captured on social media for all to see," Ambassador Dieudonne Desire Sougouri wrote on behalf of the African Group at the council.

While the letter called for a debate on racism around the globe, it in particular highlighted the situation in the United States.

"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterise life in the United States for black people, and other people of colour," it said.

Council President Tichy-Fisslberger will now announce Monday a proposed day for the urgent debate, and unless there are any objections, which is unlikely, it will go ahead.

A number of countries are expected to address Floyd's killing and concerns about police violence and racism in the United States during the resumed 43rd council session even without a special debate.

But since the deadline for tabling fresh resolutions during this session expired back in March, they will only be able to call for concrete actions within the confines of this extraordinary debate.

John Fisher, head of the Human Rights Watch's Geneva office, voiced hope earlier Friday, before the African Group letter went out, that the council would order some form of scrutiny of the US situation.

"There are underlying issues of systemic racism that need to be addressed and addressed meaningfully," he told journalists.

Lebanon to inject dollars as currency plunge revives protests

AFP / Mahmoud ZAYYATA

 Lebanese protester on a highway amid new demonstrations in multiple locations on Friday, in this instance in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh

Hundreds protested for a second night over the Lebanese authorities' handling of a deepening economic crisis, despite the government pledging on Friday to inject dollars into the market to bolster the sagging currency.

In one incident in central Beirut, roughly 200 young men gathered on mopeds, some of them defacinshg op fronts and setting fire to stores. Some chanted against sectarianism.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse them and some of the young men threw stones and fire crackers back. Tension petered out after midnight.

In the northern city of Tripoli, the army dispersed hundreds shouting "revolution, revolution".

Demonstrators had thrown stones and Molotov cocktails toward the soldiers and damaged the facades of several banks and shops. Soldiers responded with tear gas.

After a crisis meeting on Friday, President Michel Aoun announced that the central bank would implement measures from Monday including "feeding dollars into the market", in a bid to support the Lebanese pound.

But 17-year-old Wael, protesting in Tripoli, was not impressed: "I just want a job so I can live. We don't believe all the measures taken by the government to improve the dollar exchange rate."

AFP / Ibrahim CHALHOUB

A man cleans up outside a bank that was vandalised by protesters in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli

Lebanese media reported that the exchange rate had tumbled to 6,000 per dollar on the black market early on Friday, compared to the official peg of 1,507 in place since 1997.

Protesters had initially taken to the streets after sundown on Thursday, railing against the spiralling cost of living and the government's apparent impotence in the face of the worst economic turmoil since the 1975-1990 civil war.

They had also rallied against the governor of the central bank, Riad Salame.

- Central bank chief under fire -

AFP / ANWAR AMRO

Demonstrators see Lebanon's political class as corrupt and incompetent

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who attended Friday's meeting with the president alongside Prime Minister Hassan Diab, said the government's measures aimed to bring the exchange rate to stronger than 4,000 pounds to the dollar.

The black market rate had appreciated to below 4,500 on Friday evening after the president's announcement, two dealers said.

Tensions have grown recently between the government, which is backed by Shiite movement Hezbollah, and the central bank's governor.

Experts say the cabinet would like to see Salame removed from the position he has held since 1993.

Protesters accuse him of having encouraged state borrowing over the decades that they say benefited only the banking and political elite.

Anger against banks has risen in recent months, after they banned all transfers abroad and gradually restricted dollar withdrawals, forcing those in need to buy the greenback at unattractive rates on the black market.

"Several currents taking part in the protests want to topple the central bank governor and hold him accountable for the financial" crisis, among them Hezbollah, Lebanese American University professor Imad Salamey told AFP.

Hezbollah supporters joined the demonstrations late Thursday, despite usually being against the protest movement that began in October.

The previous government stepped down under street pressure just weeks into the demonstrations that began in October, and Diab's cabinet began work earlier this year.

- 'Middle class obliterated' -

AFP / ANWAR AMRO

Lebanese soldiers rest during a lull in a demonstration in Beirut

"The economic situation has further deteriorated... The middle class has been obliterated," said Hilal Khashan, a professor at the American University of Beirut.

"But I don't think the government will collapse."

The central bank late Thursday hit out at "baseless" information on social media of "exchange rates at levels far from reality, which mislead citizens".

Lebanon -- one of the most indebted countries in the world with a sovereign debt of more than 170 percent of its GDP -- went into default in March.

It started talks with the International Monetary Fund last month in a bid to unlock billions of dollars in financial aid. Dialogue is ongoing.

Unemployment has soared to 35 percent nationwide.

The country enforced a lockdown in mid-March to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, dealing a further blow to businesses.

Lebanon has recorded some of the pandemic's best declared metrics in the Middle East, with just 1,422 cases of COVID-19, including 31 deaths

Lebanese pound hits new low despite govt efforts, sparking protests

AFP / Patrick BAZ

Protesters block a highway in Jal el Dib during a demonstration against dire economic conditions in Lebanon

The Lebanese pound sank to a record low on the black market on Thursday despite the authorities' attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country's currency, sparking a flare-up in anti-government protests.

Lebanon is in the grip of its worst economic turmoil in decades and holding talks with the International Monetary Fund to secure billions in aid.

A prolonged economic downturn was the major grievance that sparked unprecedented mass protests in October last year against the political class, accused of corruption and incompetence.

Protests broke out again on Thursday, with roads blocked across the country, and security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

A throng of protesters blocked a key road in the centre of the capital Beirut, an AFP journalist reported.

"Thief, thief, Riad Salame is a thief!" demonstrators chanted, referring to the governor of the central bank.

Demonstrators also chanted slogans of national unity, after sectarian clashes shook Beirut during protests last weekend.

"People can't take it anymore, that's enough," said Haitham, a protester in central Beirut.

"People have no work, no food to eat. They cannot buy medicines, nappies or milk for their children."

In the centre of the capital, near Riad al-Solh square, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters who threw stones, according to local television.

In the northern city of Tripoli, the army also fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had tried to take over the local branch of the Central Bank, according to the state news agency ANI, adding that eight people were wounded.

A Molotov cocktail set fire to trees in front of the building, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

- Tumbling currency -
The Lebanese pound remains officially pegged to the US currency at a rate of 1,507 per dollar but its value has tumbled on the black market.

AFP / Fathi AL-MASRI

Protesters burn tires as they demonstrate against dire economic conditions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli
Rates from three money changers on Thursday morning indicated it had lost almost 70 percent of its value compared with the official rate.

One money changer who asked to remain anonymous said he was selling dollars at a rate of 5,000 pounds and buying them at 4,800. Another in Beirut's Dahiya neighbourhood was buying dollars for 4,850 pounds.

The new nadir came despite government pledges to halt the pound's devaluation, and the money changers' union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940.

On Thursday evening, a central bank statement cited by local media hit out at "baseless" information on social media of "exchange rates at levels far from reality, which mislead citizens".

The office of Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced an urgent cabinet meeting would be held on Friday to discuss the situation.

Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market.

An AFP photographer said on Thursday that many money-changing shops had closed, citing a lack of dollars.

In an apparent bid to better oversee the exchange market, the central bank is set to launch an online platform on June 23 through which changers will be asked to register all operations.

- Buying power battered -

Lebanon's economic crunch has caused poverty to soar to 45 percent of the population and pushed unemployment up by 35 percent.

It has also sparked steep inflation, including on imported products.

Nabil, a retired 64-year-old, said his buying power had taken a blow.

"Yesterday I went to a home appliance store to buy a fridge, and the salesman asked me for $1,200 in cash, or the equivalent at an exchange rate of 5,000, which is six million pounds," he said.

"That's twice my monthly pension."

Lebanon needs "emergency external assistance to ward off the worst social consequences of the crisis", analysts from the International Crisis Group warned on Monday.

The country defaulted on its debt in March for the first time in its history.

Hong Kongers sing protest anthem one year after major clashes

AFP / Anthony WALLACERiot police declared gatherings of pro-democracy Hong Kongers who sang a popular protest anthem unlawful assemblies, and made multiple arrests throughout the evening

Thousands of Hong Kongers sang a popular protest anthem and chanted slogans across the city Friday as they marked the first anniversary of major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators.

Riot police declared the gatherings unlawful assemblies and a breach of anti-coronavirus bans on public meetings of large groups, sending snatch squads to make multiple arrests throughout the evening.

The financial hub's protest movement kicked off on June 9 last year with a huge march against an unpopular bill that would have allowed extraditions to the Chinese mainland.

But it was three days later that the first sustained clashes broke out between protesters and riot police firing tear gas outside the city's legislature.

AFP / DALE DE LA REYA protester holds a flag reading 'Free Hong Kong -- Revolution Now' in a shopping mall -- thousands took part in protests, defying a ban on public gatherings due to the coronavirus outbreak

Such scenes became a weekly, and at times daily, occurrence over the next seven months as Hong Kong was upended by unprecedented unrest fuelled by fears Beijing was eroding the semi-autonomous city's limited freedoms.

Hong Kong enjoys liberties unseen on the mainland as part of the "one country, two systems" deal made when colonial power Britain handed it back to China in 1997.

On Friday night, thousands answered online calls to gather at 8:00 pm (1200 GMT) in local malls and neighbourhoods to chant pro-democracy slogans and sing "Glory to Hong Kong" -- a protest anthem that became hugely popular during the turmoil.

Live television showed rallies taking place in half a dozen districts, defying the ban on public gatherings put in place because of the coronavirus outbreak.

AFP / ISAAC LAWRENCEHong Kong protesters light up their mobile phones while chanting slogans and singing songs to mark the first anniversary of major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators

"I came here because our goals have not been achieved, so I have to continue coming out," a 28-year-old social worker, who gave his surname So, told AFP in Causeway Bay, a popular shopping district where hundreds had gathered.

"We have to tell the government that we won't give up, no matter how many of us are left," he added.

Police said a total of 35 people were arrested.

In the district of Kwun Tong, live broadcasts showed a man with a knife being subdued by protesters and then police. Police said the man had stabbed another person and was arrested.

- 'Panic-mongering' -

Demonstrators are pushing for an inquiry into police brutality, an amnesty for the roughly 9,000 people arrested over the protests and universal suffrage.

AFP / ISAAC LAWRENCEHong Kong police start a clearing operation as protesters gathered in Mong Kok district

China has refused and portrayed the protests as a foreign plot to destabilise the mainland.

Last month it unveiled plans to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong targeting subversion, succession, terrorism and foreign interference.

Beijing says the law will restore order.

AFP / Anthony WALLACEA Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrator wears a mock bloodied bandage over one eye in honor of a female protester who lost her eye last year, allegedly struck by crowd control projectile fired by police

But critics, including many Western governments, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a city supposedly guaranteed freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after its handover.

China has described Britain's concerns that the security law might undermine Hong Kong's autonomy as "groundless panic-mongering".

The comments came a day after Britain renewed its call for an independent inquiry to "rebuild trust" and heal divisions.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dismissed British concerns as "unwarranted foreign interference in Hong Kong's affairs" that "will only make China more determined in advancing the national security legislation for Hong Kong," state-run Xinhua news agency reported late Friday.

AFP / Anthony WALLACEPro-democracy protesters rally in a shopping mall in Hong Kong

In an earlier rally Friday, more than 100 students formed a human chain outside a school where a teacher was reportedly fired because she allowed a candidate to play "Glory to Hong Kong" in a music exam.

The rallies since Beijing announced its national security law plans have been smaller and less violent than last year.

On Tuesday, flash mob rallies were held to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of protests.

A week ago, tens of thousands defied the public gathering ban to peacefully mark the anniversary of Beijing's June 4, 1989 deadly crackdown on students in Tiananmen Square.

At least 13 prominent activists have since received court summons for inciting unlawful assemblies.

AFP / Anthony WALLACEHong Kong police detained protesters in the city's Causeway Bay district on the one-year anniversary of major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators

Amnesty International called the charges "the latest assault on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the city" in a statement on Friday.

"With China's Orwellian national security law coming, the Hong Kong authorities appear emboldened to ramp up repression of critical voices," said Man-Kei Tam, the rights group's Hong Kong director.