Hong Kong leader bans masks at protests

The Hong Kong leader has banned protesters from wearing masks to conceal their identities in a hardening of the government's stance against the 4-month-old demonstrations. Chief Executive Carrie Lam's use of sweeping security legislation hasn't been invoked since Hong Kong riots in 1967, and allows her to bypass the city's legislature.

It marks a dramatic toughening in her response to the most serious crisis to wrack the freewheeling hub for international trade and business since the territory reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Lam says the decision will come into force Saturday. She says, "We must stop the violence."