Hong Kong

A former leader of Hong Kong was sentenced on Feb. 22 to 20 months in prison for misconduct after failing to disclose plans to rent a luxury apartment for his retirement from a businessman applying for a broadcasting license.

It was a stunning downfall for Donald Tsang, 72, who served as Hong Kong's leader, or chief executive, from 2005 to 2012.

Hong Kong's tough pro-Beijing number two Carrie Lam announced her bid to lead the deeply divided city on Jan. 12 after stepping down from her current post.  

Lam is deputy to Hong Kong's unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying and rose through the ranks as a career civil servant before taking public office.  

A senior Beijing official on Feb. 14 blamed "radical separatists" for a riot that erupted in Hong Kong last week, the worst clashes the city has seen since mass pro-democracy protests.

An allegory by Christos Michaelides, the chairman of the Greek Cyprus? top business body, who told Hürriyet Daily News that the divided island can become to Turkey what Hong Kong is to China if peace is achieved, has sparked controversy and criticism. 

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying defied pro-democracy protesters' demands to step down by Friday, with pressure also increasing from Leung's backers in Beijing over one of the most serious political challenges they have faced in decades.