Activists hold banners and wave flags as they continue to block the road on Waterloo Bridge on the second day of an environmental protest by the Extinction Rebellion group, in London on April 16, 2019. - Environmental protesters from the Extinction Rebellion campaign group started a programme of demonstrations designed to block five of London's busiest and iconic locations to draw attention to what they see as the "Ecological and Climate Emergency" of climate change. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The protests, organised by climate group Extinction Rebellion, have for several days disrupted travel through parts of central London, including at Oxford Circus, Marble Arch and Waterloo Bridge.
Extinction Rebellion has called for non-violent civil disobedience to force the British government to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025 and stop what it calls a global climate crisis.
“As of 10:00am on Saturday ... more than 718 people have been arrested since Monday. Twenty-eight people have been charged,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
More than 100 arrested at London climate protests
The police reiterated that protests were only allowed to continue at Marble Arch, but have not said if or how they will clear the hundreds of demonstrators from other locations.
On Friday star Emma Thompson joined activists at Oxford Circus, at the heart of one of the capital’s most popular shopping districts, to read poetry praising Earth’s bounties.
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