Hong Kong protesters pray, gird for unauthorized rally

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters are set for another weekend of civil disobedience as they prepare to hold an unauthorized protest march to press their demands.

Supporters are holding a prayer rally on Saturday night. The protest march is planned for Sunday, with organizers vowing to hold the event even though it failed to win approval from police, who cited risks to public order.

As the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s political crisis extends into a fifth month, protesters are trying to keep the pressure on the government to respond to their demands, including full democracy and an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wrote to tech company Apple and video game studio Activision Blizzard to condemn what they called protest-related censorship on behalf of China.