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from the ain't-gonna-have-none-of-that-anti-talk dept.
China has barred two pro-independence politicians from taking seats in Hong Kong's legislature:
China's parliament passed a ruling on Monday that effectively bars two Hong Kong pro-independence politicians from taking office, Beijing's most direct intervention in the territory's legal and political system since 1997 handover. The National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing ruled that lawmakers must swear allegiance to Hong Kong as part of China and that candidates would be disqualified if they changed the wording of their oath of office or if they failed to take it in a sincere and solemn manner.
The prospect of the ruling had sparked protests in the former British colony on Sunday. Foreign diplomats were watching closely, stressing the importance of the rule of the law to the city's international reputation. While the controversial decision effectively bars the two pro-independence Hong Kong politicians from being sworn in, a court in the Chinese-ruled city must still rule on the case, taking Beijing's decision into consideration.
Also at NYT and Washington Post.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @06:45PM
Wikipedia has a helpful list [wikipedia.org] of empires by size.
First is, of course, the British Empire, with 13.71 million square miles, in 1920.
#5 is the Spanish Empire, 5.29 M mi2, 1810.
The US isn't on the list, because everyone knows it's not an empire. But the 3.80 M mi2 of the USA proper (including coastal waters, but not including overseas territories) would put it between #11 (Portuguese Empire, 4.02 M mi2, 1815) and #12 (Xiongnu Empire, 3.47 M mi2, 176 BC).
The Ottoman Empire is #22, 2.01 M mi2, 1683, and the Roman Empire is #24, 1.93 M mi2, 117.