Protests grow in Hong Kong amid standoff



Riot police advanced on Hong Kong democracy protesters in the early hours of Monday, firing volleys of tear gas in the worst unrest there since China took back control of the former British colony two decades ago.




Protesters erected barricades to block security forces amid chaotic scenes still unfolding as the city center - one of the world's major financial districts - opened for business.



Several Hong Kong financial firms advised staff to work from home or go to secondary offices, as Standard Chartered and Bank of China suspended some of its banking operations, due to "situations in certain areas". Many roads leading to the Central business district remained sealed off as thousands defied police calls to retreat. 


Also on Monday, the popular photo-sharing app Instagram was blocked in mainland China.  Al Jazeera's Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, confirmed the outage saying "many photos from the protests were being posted on the app, and it seems that China wants to starve this story of oxygen". He added that other blogs that mention the words "occupy" and "central" were also having problems.

Earlier the same day, police baton-charged a crowd blocking a key road in the government district in defiance of official warnings that the demonstrations were illegal. Several scuffles broke out between police in helmets, gas masks and riot gear, with demonstrators being angered by the firing of tear gas, last used in Hong Kong in 2005.

Thousands of protesters were still milling around the main Hong Kong government building, ignoring messages from student and pro-democracy leaders to retreat for fear that the police might fire rubber bullets.
The protests fanned out to the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay and across the harbour to Mong Kok, posing a greater challenge for authorities to contain, local media reported.
The protesters also brought traffic to a halt and called on Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying to step down.

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