Hong Kong government bans masks during protests in bid to crack down on demonstrators

Hong Kong's government has announced a ban on people wearing masks at protests in its latest attempt to end street violence during protests that have gripped the city for nearly four months.  Chief Executive Carrie Lam on October 4, 2019, announced the ban, saying she would use a colonial-era emergency law.  While denying that the city is in a state of emergency, Lam said the law allows the city's leader to "make any regulations whatsoever which he [or she] may consider desirable in the…