news.ycombinator.com/news (the default redirect from the root) is being subjected to user-triggered censorship. There is a lot that these days.
Here's how I trained my desktop browser (Chrome) to visit the /active URL when when I type "ne<RET">
1. Type "news.ycombinator.com/active" into the Chrome combo box and hit return.
2. Type "ne" into the Chrome combo box.
3. In the list of completions, click on the cross/delete icon to the right for the first few that aren't what you want.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you get the desired result.