Category Archives: Protest

Met to appeal against ruling on handling of Sarah Everard vigil

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High court last week ruled that Metropolitan police had breached rights of vigil organisers

The Metropolitan police will appeal against a high court ruling that they breached the rights of the organisers of a planned vigil for Sarah Everard in their handling of the event.

The Met said it had “taken time to consider with great care the decision itself and the wider implications for policing” and planned to appeal against the ruling “to resolve what’s required by law when policing protests and events in the future”, in a statement published on Friday.

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Ottawa truck convoy cost the city more than C$36m – mainly in police expenses

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The costs were more than twice the amount the city budgeted for affordable and supportive housing

The truck convoy that paralyzed much of downtown Ottawa for nearly a month cost the city more than C$36m, officials have said, and the figure is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

A memo released by the city on Friday said policing costs accounted for the vast majority of the $36.3m bill.

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‘They’re lying to you’: Russian TV employee interrupts news broadcast

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Marina Ovsyannikova ran on to the set of the Channel One transmission shouting: ‘Stop the war. No to war’

An employee on Russia’s state Channel One television has interrupted the channel’s main news programme with an extraordinary protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One, burst on to the set of the live broadcast of the nightly news on Monday evening, shouting: “Stop the war. No to war.”

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‘We’re ready’: UK anti-fracking activists prepare to fight resurgence plans

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Boris Johnson’s suggestion practice could re-emerge after invasion of Ukraine has rallied campaigners

Anti-fracking campaigners have vowed to give energy firms “no peace” if the government lifts the moratorium on fracking, pledging “inconvenient and noisy” protests at every site.

Steve Mason, campaign director of Frack Free United, said there was an army of retired “geri-activists” ready to lie down and face prosecution for the cause again.

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Bristol woman who hit officer with skateboard during protest jailed

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Mariella Gedge-Rogers, 27, is convicted of riot during ‘kill the bill’ protest and jailed for five and half years

A woman who hit a police officer on the head with a skateboard during last year’s riot in Bristol has been jailed for five and a half years.

Mariella Gedge-Rogers, 27, also climbed on to the roof of the Bridewell police station in the centre of Bristol and threw missiles at officers.

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Truck convoy loops around Washington DC to protest Covid restrictions

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The ‘people’s convoy’ of around 1,000 vehicles threaten a week of traffic disruptions around US capital

A long line of huge semi-articulated trucks, recreational vehicles and cars was circling Washington DC, on Sunday, in preparation for what their protesting drivers have pledged will be a week of traffic disruption around the US capital aligned around a loose collection of demands, including the end to all coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions.

From its temporary base at a speedway vehicle racing site in Hagerstown, 80 miles north-west in Maryland, organizers of what they term the “People’s Convoy” of around 1,000 vehicles have said they plan to welcome the new work week by driving slowly around Washington on the already notoriously-congested Beltway, or ring road, at the minimum legal speed in an attempt to get their message across to national politicians.

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Tens of thousands join rallies around the world in support of Ukraine

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Demonstrators gathered in cities across Europe, the US and South America to demand an end to Russia’s invasion

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in cities including Santiago, Vancouver Paris and New York in support of Ukraine, demanding an end to Russia’s invasion.

The protesters rallied on Saturday against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attack, which began on 24 February and appeared to be entering a new phase with escalating bombardment.

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‘Ukrainians are our friends’: the young Russian anti-war protesters defying Putin – video

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Thousands of people in cities across Russia have been defying police threats and staging protests against the invasion of Ukraine. Authorities have a low tolerance for demonstrations and marches, and attending them can have serious consequences, including fines, mass arrests and even imprisonment. 

Despite the crackdown, Apollinaria Oleinikova, along with her husband, Arshak Makichyan, and fellow protester Arina Adju have been attending anti-war rallies in Moscow and St Petersburg since the conflict began. As the death toll continues to rise, they say they feel like they have no choice but to publicly oppose the Kremlin and stand in solidarity with Ukraine

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Fires and clashes break out at Covid protest outside New Zealand parliament – video

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Fires burned during violent clashes between protesters and police at an anti-vaccine mandate demonstration in the grounds of New Zealand’s parliament, in extraordinary and chaotic scenes rarely seen in the country    

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People gather around the world to show solidarity with Ukraine – video

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Thousands of people have gathered in cities around the world to show their support for Ukraine as Russia continues its invasion. More than 100,000 gathered in Berlin bearing signs reading 'stop the war', 'Putin's last war' and 'we stand with Ukraine'. From Tel Aviv to Tbilisi, demonstrators have let their disgust at Vladimir Putin's actions be known as the conflict continues to escalate

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‘Don Quixote-like quest’: Ukraine attack and easing Covid mandates leave US trucker protest on the fringe

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The convoy, which set out to ‘clog the streets’ has had too few vehicles to make an impact on traffic

Ryan Wright stood around a campfire in Lupton, Arizona, a town on the Navajo reservation where members of an American trucker convoy protest were resting for the night. As the fire flickered he discussed a conspiracy myth about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, he proffered, was a distraction. “I’m not the only one that feels this way,” Wright said. “But I feel like it’s a big fat smokescreen to keep everyone distracted on what is really going on in the world.”

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Prominent Russians join protests against Ukraine war amid 1,800 arrests

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As invasion continues, people from worlds of entertainment, business and journalism voice opposition

Prominent Russians shocked by the invasion of Ukraine have gone public with their opposition to the war, despite the professional and personal risks that come with dissent on such a sensitive issue in Russia.

More than 1,800 people were arrested at rallies across the country on Thursday night as prominent Russians from the worlds of entertainment, business and journalism have risked their livelihoods in order to speak out.

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Night-time attack on controversial Canadian gas pipeline site

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Police release video of attack on workers’ equipment at camp of Coastal GasLink, a 400-mile pipeline opposed by First Nation groups

Police in Canada have released footage of axe wielding attackers as they investigate a “calculated and organised” night-time raid on a remote work camp.

Up to 20 people are believed to have attacked Coastal GasLink’s pipeline construction camp last week on Marten Forest Service Road in British Columbia.

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US trucker convoy gathers for cross-country trip to protest Covid rules

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Group calling itself the ‘People’s Convoy’ is one of several due to arrive in capital, similar to the demonstrations in Ottawa

A group of US truckers were due to embark on Wednesday on a 2,500 mile cross-country trip from California to Washington to protest against coronavirus restrictions.

The group, which is calling itself the “People’s Convoy”, is one of several starting from different parts of the country and due to start arriving in the US capital at various points through to late next week – all inspired by the demonstrations that recently paralyzed Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, for weeks.

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National guard troops to be deployed in DC as trucker convoy protests loom

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US protest to follow Canadian truckers’ demonstration against pandemic restrictions

The Pentagon is expected to approve the deployment of 700 to 800 unarmed national guard troops to the nation’s capital, a US official said on Tuesday, in the face of trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week.

The District of Columbia government and the US Capitol police are requesting the national guard assistance. The troops would be used largely to help control traffic and are expected to come from the district’s national guard and three states, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aid not yet formally approved.

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Kabul to California: how the ‘hip-hop family’ mobilised for young Afghans

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With breakdancers, artists and parkourists facing a bleak future under the Taliban, a global network stepped in to help, drawing on the activist spirit of rap culture

A veteran of the hip-hop scene and internationally celebrated breakdancer, Nancy Yu – AKA Asia One – has her fair share of people contacting her looking for advice. But the message she received in 2019 from a young Afghan was a little different.

Frustrated by his breakdancing crew’s inability to get visas to perform internationally, Moshtagh* was wondering if Asia could help. “He felt they were really good, but they felt, like, invisible to the world,” she says. “I liked him. He wasn’t trying to bug me or say ‘we need this right now’ … He seemed rather humble and honest.”

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Ottawa trucker protest: pepper spray and scuffles as police try to clear capital – video

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Police pushed back protesters in Canada’s besieged capital on Saturday, arresting 170 people and towing away dozens of vehicles. Many more trucks were driven out of the city, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s Covid restrictions. Police in tactical gear quickly gained ground on the second full day of one of the biggest police enforcement actions in Canada’s history, for which officers were drawn in from around the country

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Ottawa protests: conspiracies and accusations of betrayal as police end blockade

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Large parts of area in capital cleared after more than 191 are arrested and 57 vehicles are towed

When thousands of protesters against Covid restrictions arrived in Ottawa last month, it would have seemed unimaginable that they would take over parts of the Canadian capital with little resistance.

To their own disbelief, the rightwing protesters soon controlled the streets outside parliament, brazenly flouting the law in the belief nothing could or would stop them.

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Ottawa: police use pepper spray and stun grenades to clear trucker protest

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Police chief says ‘occupation is over’ as he vows to clear out those still demonstrating against Covid mandates and Trudeau government

Canadian police deployed pepper spray and stun grenades on Saturday in a continuing effort to break up a blockade of trucks and demonstrators that has occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks in a protest against pandemic protocols.

Reports indicated that authorities escalated crowd control efforts. Police with rifles reportedly approached protesters and smashed truck windows.

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