Hong Kong pro-democracy activists recaptured parts of a core protest zone early on Saturday, defying riot police who had tried to disperse them with pepper spray and baton charges.
Chinese Communist Party censors have blocked the website of Britain's national broadcaster, the BBC said in a statement, as tensions rise in Hong Kong between pro-democracy protesters and police.
Taiwan is considering stationing armed vessels permanently on a disputed South China Sea island, officials said, a move bound to renew friction in a region claimed almost wholly by China, with Vietnam already dismissing such a plan as "illegal".
Hong Kong police arrested 45 pro-democracy protesters in the early hours of Wednesday, using pepper spray on those who resisted, as they cleared a major road in the Asian financial center that had been barricaded with concrete slabs.
Hundreds of Hong Kong police used sledgehammers and chainsaws on Tuesday to tear down barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters near government offices and the financial centre, reopening a major road for the first time in two weeks.
Hundreds of people, some wearing surgical masks and armed with crowbars and cutting tools, tore down protest barriers in the heart of Hong Kong's business district on Monday, scuffling with protesters who have occupied the streets for two weeks.
China has detained a prominent scholar who helped blind dissident Chen Guangcheng flee to the United States two years ago and has banned books by eight writers in an escalating crackdown on dissent.
Taiwan's president on Friday urged China to move toward a more democratic style of development, reiterating his strong support for pro-democracy demonstrations in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong.
China criticized U.S. Congress on Friday for sending the wrong message to pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong after a congressional report expressed concern about the Chinese-controlled city in a "deliberate attack" on China.
Hong Kong student protesters said on Friday they were determined to maintain their campaign for full democracy, undaunted by the city government's rejection of talks aimed at defusing a standoff that has shaken communist China's capitalist hub.
One of the world's largest operators of open-top sightseeing tours, Big Bus Tours, has hired JPMorgan to find a buyer in a deal that could value the travel firm at close to 500 million pounds ($810 million), sources familiar with the situation said.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd initiated an arbitration proceeding in Hong Kong against Microsoft Corp on Tuesday, amid ongoing U.S. litigation over smartphone patent royalties.
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong agreed with the city's government late on Tuesday to start formal talks later this week to address concerns that have brought tens of thousands of people onto the city's streets.
Pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong rolled into early Tuesday with hundreds of students remaining camped out in the heart of the city after more than a week of rallies and behind-the-scenes talks showing modest signs of progress.
Student leaders in Hong Kong called on pro-democracy supporters on Sunday to decamp from outlying protest sites and join the bulk of demonstrators in the heart of the Asian financial center as they gear up for a potential showdown with police.
Hong Kong pro-democracy protest leaders said they would unblock access to government buildings to allow civil servants to go back to work next week, but defied calls from the Chinese-controlled city's leaders to end their demonstrations.
Fresh scuffles broke out on Saturday between Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and opponents of the week-long demonstrations, reigniting concerns that the Chinese-controlled city's worst unrest in decades could take a violent turn.
Violent scuffles broke out in one of Hong Kong's most famous and congested shopping districts on Friday, as hundreds of supporters of Chinese rule stormed tents and ripped down banners belonging to pro-democracy protesters, forcing many to retreat.
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying defied pro-democracy protesters' demands to step down by Friday, and repeated police warnings that the consequences would be serious if they sought to surround or occupy government buildings.
In the heart of Mong Kok, one of the most densely populated districts on earth, an abandoned Hong Kong police van is enveloped in the student-led demonstrations paralyzing swathes of the city. Along with yellow ribbons and flowers, symbols of the city’s pro-democracy movement, protesters have taped a hand-written placard in Chinese and English to the side of the locked and undamaged vehicle.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters thronged the streets of Hong Kong on Wednesday, some of them jeering National Day celebrations, as demonstrations spread to a new area of the city, ratcheting up pressure on the pro-Beijing government.
