British police said they arrested more than 70 people at an environmental protest on Saturday, after demonstrators blocked five bridges across the River Thames in central London.
Organisers of the "Extinction Rebellion" event said they wanted to put pressure on Britain's government to take greater action against climate change and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
The protest centred for several hours on Westminster Bridge, near Britain's parliament, but there was also disruption to traffic on four other bridges.
Hundreds of people demonstrated near Westminster, carrying banners with messages including "Stop Climate Breakdown", "Fossil Fuel Era Over" and "Rebel For Life".
"This is an act of mass civil disobedience. This is the start of an international rebellion protesting against the lack of action on the ecological crisis," one organiser, Gail Bradbrook, said.
Police said demonstrators had mostly been arrested for obstructing the road, and had no immediate information on charges or the total number of protesters.
Organisers said more than 6,000 people had been involved.
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"The demonstration is having a direct impact on others across London who wish to go about their daily business - and [stopped] the emergency services from using the bridges to travel around London," police superintendent Waheed Khan said just before the bridges reopened.
Britain reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40 per cent between 1990 and 2016, and the government has committed to a total reduction of 80 per cent by 2050.
The Extinction Rebellion campaigners are calling for emissions to be reduced to zero on a net basis by 2025.
more from Janine di Giovanni
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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The Dark Blue Winter Overcoat & Other Stories From the North
Edited and Introduced by Sjón and Ted Hodgkinson
Pushkin Press
