The Latest: Hong Kong highway blocked after deadline passes

Associated Press
Updated

HONG KONG (AP) — The Latest on the protests in Hong Kong (all times local):

8 p.m.

Protesters in Hong Kong have once again blocked a highway in an outlying area after the government did not meet their demand that it pledge to go ahead with local elections later this month.

Traffic was backed up Friday evening after the protesters placed barricades back on the roadway.

The protesters had allowed one lane of traffic to re-open in each direction and gave the government 24 hours to meet their demand.

Constitutional Affairs Secretary Patrick Nip said the government hopes the election will be held on schedule but warned that it could be postponed if conditions are unsafe and roads and other transportation are blocked.

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5 p.m.

Protesters who barricaded themselves in a Hong Kong university this week have begun to leave.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong are leaving, and where they might go next.

Earlier, they cleared one lane in each direction of a road they had blocked while demanding that the government commit to going forward with local elections on Nov. 24.

Students and other protesters have taken over major campuses in Hong Kong, building barricades and stockpiling gasoline bombs and other weapons.

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11 a.m.

Protesters holed up in a Hong Kong university have partially cleared a road they were blocking and are demanding the government commit to holding local elections on Nov. 24.

A masked protester at the Chinese University of Hong Kong announced early Friday that the government has 24 hours to meet the demand.

Students and other protesters have taken over major campuses in Hong Kong, building barricades and stockpiling gasoline bombs and other weapons.

Public broadcaster RTHK said that one lane of the Tolo Highway was cleared in both directions, but the government had not yet reopened it to traffic.

Anti-government protests have riven Hong Kong for more than five months. Pro-democracy activists say the government may use the violence as a reason to cancel the elections.