Hong Kong police arrest over 200 anti-govt protesters

Hong Kong police said it arrested more than 200 protesters, who paralysed traffic of the central business district and refused to leave at dawn on Saturday after tens of thousands took to the streets voicing their discontent with the government.

The police used pepper spray to stop protesters and arrested 228 people on alleged illegal assembly and obstruction of public places, it said in a statement on Saturday. The turnout of protests on Friday, the 14th anniversary of the British handover of the territory to China, was the highest in seven years with organisers claiming 218,000 people participated and police saying only 54,000 joined. (Reuters)