Category Archives: Protest

‘It’s a media war’: the UK’s top anti-oil campaigner fights on aged 80

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In 50 years, Canvey Island’s George Whatley has won five victories against oil and gas firms trying to expand operations

George Whatley is probably Britain’s most successful anti-oil campaigner, but you won’t find him at Extinction Rebellion’s latest wave of protests or the Just Stop Oil campaign which has blocked fossil fuel infrastructure recently.

At 80 years old and after a recent spell in hospital, he will be taking it easy at his bungalow on Canvey Island, Essex. But if anyone can claim a place in the annals of successful environmental protests, it is this former Bank of England security guard.

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Sri Lanka protesters defy curfew after social media ban

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State of emergency imposed on Friday as country faces severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials

Armed troops in Sri Lanka confronted crowds protesting against a worsening economic crisis, after a social media blackout failed to halt another day of anti-government demonstrations.

The south Asian nation is facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials – along with record inflation and crippling power cuts – in its most painful economic downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.

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Red is dead: Russian anti-war protesters fly a new flag for peace

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Seeing the tricolour as tainted, they took the ‘blood’ out to leave blue and white, then found others had done so too

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest developments

When Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, anti-war Russians such as Kai Katonina, a 31-year-old designer who lives in Berlin, joined protests around the world. Katonina held up a sign that read “No to war”, but few in the crowd knew that they (Katonina’s preferred pronoun) were Russian.

They said: “Onlookers thought we were Ukrainians because our people look the same. It was crucial for us to stand apart and show that Russians also oppose the war. We needed to identify ourselves.”

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Environmental protesters block oil terminals across UK

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Activists climb on tankers and glue themselves to roads around London, Birmingham and Southampton

Hundreds of environmental protesters have blocked seven oil terminals across the country as part of a campaign to paralyse the UK’s fossil fuel infrastructure.

Early on Friday, supporters of Just Stop Oil began blockades at oil refineries around London, Birmingham and Southampton by climbing on top of tankers and gluing themselves to road surfaces.

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Labor helps pass NSW bill targeting road-blocking protesters despite union opposition

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New law, which brings in fines of up to $22,000 and up to two years in jail, passes on extra sitting day of parliament

The New South Wales Labor party has helped pass a bill that could see protesters who block roads, ports or rail in the state spend up to two years in jail, despite outrage from unions and environmental groups.

After being forced to call an extra sitting day, thanks to the Greens mounting a filibuster attempt, the government was able to pass the bill into law with Labor’s backing on Friday, just two days after it first introduced the legislation into parliament.

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Greens launch filibuster attempt to stop NSW bill targeting road-blocking protesters

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Party plans to move dozens of amendments to bill that introduces new penalties for protests

The Greens are mounting a last-ditch effort to stop the New South Wales government passing a controversial bill which would see protesters who block major roads, ports or train stations face up to two years in prison, by moving dozens of amendments in a late-night sitting session.

The filibuster attempt comes after the government sought to force the hastily drafted bill through both houses of parliament in less than 48 hours.

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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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