• Protester hurls Pinnochio effigy at Hong Kong leader

    Bobby Yip / Reuters

    Pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung throws a defaced mask with a long nose, depicting Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying as a liar, towards Chun-ying as he attends his first question-and-answer session at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on July 16, 2012.

    Kin Cheung / AP

    Legislative Council member Lee Cheuk-yan sits next to a picture of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying with a Pinocchio nose during Leung Chun-ying's question-and-answer session on July 16, 2012.

    Reuters reports — Hong Kong's embattled new leader, Leung Chun-ying, announced a series of welfare measures on Monday and pleaded for time to deal with scandals that have rocked the city, including illegal structures in his own home. 

    As Leung spoke in the legislature, maverick activist lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung hurled an effigy of Pinnochio, the cartoon character prone to telling lies, at the new leader, missing him by a few meters.

    The chief executive, the third person to lead Hong Kong since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, was unfazed, maintaining a stoic expression throughout the 90-minute session. Read the full story.

    Kin Cheung / AP

    Leung Kwok-hung, also known as Long Hair, second from right, is taken away by security officers after throwing the effigy. A placard near Leung shows a picture of China's late activist Li Wangyang who died June following his release from a two-decade of imprisonment, and reads: "Mourning my warrior."

     

  • Journalists' tree-top view of Hong Kong leader's house

    Vincent Yu / AP

    Members of the media take pictures and videos of the home of Chief Executive-elect Leung Chun-ying in Hong Kong Monday, June 25.

    Antony Dickson / AFP - Getty Images

    Workers begin dismantling illegal structures at the residence of Hong Kong's leader-elect Leung Chun-ying in Hong Kong on June 25.

    Hong Kong's leader-elect Leung Chun-ying apologized for letting down the people of Hong Kong, following the controversy over illegal structures at his home. Leung admitted he was negligent and stated that he did not know the structures were illegal, according to the government radio. The apology was issued for an illegal glass canopy at his home and came months after his election rival admitted to building an unauthorized basement. In a city where people are regularly prosecuted over illegal additions to their homes, Leung Chun-ying said the canopy had been demolished as soon as he realized it had been built without the necessary approvals.