BREAKING NEWS

China blocks BBC website as Hong Kong tensions rise

SHANGHAI - Chinese censors have blocked the website of Britain's national broadcaster, the BBC said in a statement late on Wednesday, coming as tensions rise in Hong Kong between pro-democracy protesters and police.
The broadcaster said that the move seemed to be "deliberate censorship". It did not say what may have prompted the move by Beijing, which also blocks the websites of the New York Times, newswire Bloomberg and the BBC's Chinese language website.
"The BBC strongly condemns any attempts to restrict free access to news and information and we are protesting to the Chinese authorities. This appears to be deliberate censorship," said Peter Horrocks, director of the BBC World Service Group.
The BBC's English-language website was still inaccessible in China on Thursday morning.
In Hong Kong, police used pepper spray early on Thursday to stop pro-democracy protesters from blocking a major road near the office of the city's embattled leader amid public anger over the police beating a protester a day earlier.
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China.