Police, protesters clash in Hong Kong

 Police and protesters clashed in Hong Kong on Saturday as the demonstrators took to the streets of the city for yet another weekend of protests against the government.

Protesters had wanted to gather in Causeway Bay to call for international aid to support the months-long social movement in the city, reports the South China Morning Post.

But before the event even began tensions flared outside the park with officers pepper-spraying one man and arresting him.

Police also conducted body searches on those wearing masks and fired tear gas to disperse a crowd on Hennessy Road.

The illegal rally, alongside three authorised ones in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, marks the 22nd straight weekend of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

At least three rounds of tear gas were fired soon inside Victoria Park, where protesters had gathered in defiance of a police ban against an anti-government rally.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy candidates for this month's district elections were pushed back into Victoria Park by police.

The candidates earlier said they would hold meetings with small numbers of voters in a bid to try and get around the ban on public assemblies at the park.

The Hong Kong protests, which have been drawing massive crowds since June following a contentious proposed extradition law, have mutated into a movement that seeks to improve the democratic mechanisms that govern Hong Kong and safeguard - or expand - the region's partial autonomy from Beijing.

However, some demonstrators have opted for more radical tactics than peaceful civil disobedience and violent clashes with the police have been frequent.IANS