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Climate Protesters Block Roads in Cities Around the World


Climate protestors block the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, rear, central London, Oct. 7, 2019.
Climate protestors block the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, rear, central London, Oct. 7, 2019.

Climate protesters around the world started two weeks of demonstrations on Monday, engaging in acts of civil disobedience to demand action on cutting carbon emissions.

In London, police arrested 276 people who blocked bridges and roads, while in Berlin, around 1,000 protesters blocked the Grosser Stern, a traffic circle at the Victory Column.

The protests, organized by the Extinction Rebellion group, drew crowds of around several hundred people in cities across the world, including Austria, Australia, France, Spain and New Zealand.

In this freeze frame made from a video, fake blood covers the iconic Charging Bull statue near Wall Street in New York, Oct. 7, 2019.
In this freeze frame made from a video, fake blood covers the iconic Charging Bull statue near Wall Street in New York, Oct. 7, 2019.

In New York City, protesters threw fake blood on the Wall Street bull to display fears of a global economic meltdown caused by an environmental catastrophe. Police say they arrested around a dozen people who staged a sit-in at the bull.

Dutch police say they arrested 90 people who occupied a bridge outside the popular Rijksmuseum art gallery.

Extinction Rebellion says it expects protests to be carried out in 60 cities over the next two weeks. The group, which rose to prominence in April when it blocked traffic in central London for 11 days, says it is calling for governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

The protests follow last month's demonstrations carried out by millions of young people across the world inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

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