Extinction Rebellion: Seventy arrested at climate change protests

Seventy people were arrested during a spate of Extinction Rebellion protests across London.

Six people, including two Olympic athletes, were detained for scaling and gluing themselves to an oil tanker near Hyde Park on Saturday, police said.

Dozens more were arrested at Marble Arch as demonstrators climbed the structure to attach a green banner reading “end fossil fuels now”.

Protesters also blocked the road and surrounded a car.

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Canada prepping more aid as Ukraine war enters what former U.S. defence secretary calls ‘critical’ phase

International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada is looking at more ways to help humanitarian crisis in eastern Europe as about 100 troops deploy to Poland to help with refugees fleeing war in Ukraine.

“The work that’s ongoing is quite vast, but as you know, the needs are also quite vast given the atrocities that are being committed on the ground in Ukraine,” said Sajjan in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday.

Sajjan told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that Canada was co-ordinating with the United Nations and humanitarian agencies such as the Red Cross to deliver additional aid and materiel in the form of hygiene kits, mattresses and tents.

We need to send Trudeau on a walking tour of Ukraine.

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The future is Marine Le Pen

Whatever happens in the second round of the French election, Marine Le Pen will be able to claim victory. If the polls are correct, as they were in round one, she will receive around 46% of the vote. But while Le Pen will fail to win the presidency, she will be able to saviour another prize: the knowledge that she has forever broken the mould of French politics.

Step back and look at the evolution of the national populist vote and the story is one of stubbornly persistent growth: 0.75% in the first round in 1974, 15% in 1995, 18% in 2012, over 21% in 2017, and, now, to over 23%. But even that is only a partial picture.

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Pope Francis: We Need the Risen Christ in this ‘Easter of War’

ROME — Pope Francis denounced Russia’s “cruel and senseless war” on Ukraine Sunday, praying for Ukrainian victims and refugees.

“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” the pontiff prayed in his yearly Easter Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) blessing before a crowd of 50,000 in Saint Peter’s Square.

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Elite’s obsession with climate change distorts our priorities

Bjorn Lomborg: Obsession with climate change distorts our priorities

Over the past decade, the global elite’s obsession with climate change has taken away from the many other major problems facing the planet — shown most dramatically by the invasion of Ukraine. Western European leaders should have spent the past decade diversifying energy sources and expanding shale gas, instead of shutting down nuclear plants and becoming scarily reliant on Russia. But the looming war is far from the only thing they have managed to ignore.

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The Cost of New Energy in Europe, but Not in Money

As Europe turns from its masochistic energy dependence on Russia, and the potential blackmail that came with it, will it now fall into the open arms of other dictatorships that stand ready to pump gas into its markets, such as such as Algeria? Even more dangerous might be a new partnership formed between Germany and Qatar. They have just agreed on a huge long-term energy partnership to reduce dependence on Russian gas, according to German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who last month visited the Persian Gulf and met with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Italy was the first to negotiate with Qatar, a country that, according to Freedom House, numbers 25 out of 100 on its the freedom score, only slightly above Russia, at 19.

Qatar is now saying that it stands “in solidarity” with Europe.

Solidarity?

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Zelensky warns of Russian nuclear attack and urges the world to stock up on anti-radiation medicine and build air raid shelters

Russia is willing to use nuclear weapons to bring a catastrophic end to its invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky warned last night – as he urged the world to ‘prepare’ for the worst by stocking up on anti-radiation medicine and building air raid shelters.

The comedian-turned-war time leader made the doomsday warning during an interview with national media, before sharing the clip via his Telegram channel.

He made a similar announcement on Friday, when he said it could not be ruled out that desperate Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would use tactical nukes, as his war against Ukraine continues to stall.

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Third night of Muslim riots in Sweden over far-right anti-Islam rally

Unrest broke out in southern Sweden late on Saturday despite police moving a rally by an anti-Islam far-right group, which was planning to burn a Qur’an among other things, to a new location as a preventive measure.

Scuffles and unrest were reported in the southern town of Landskrona after a demonstration scheduled there by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs party was moved to the nearby city of Malmo, 27 miles south.

Opponents of Stram Kurs numbering up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tires and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence that obstructed traffic, Swedish police said. The situation had calmed down in Landskrona by late Saturday but remains tense, police said, adding no injuries were reported.

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Ukrainian troops in Mariupol refuse to surrender as Russian deadline passes

A Russian ultimatum for the last remaining Ukrainian troops holding out in the besieged port city of Mariupol to surrender has passed, as Moscow edged closer to full control of the city in what would be its biggest capture since it invaded Ukraine in February.

The city has been facing a humanitarian catastrophe for weeks, as Russian tanks advanced towards the centre, razing neighbourhoods along the way. The number of civilians killed in the siege is unknown. The Ukrainian-controlled council has accused Russian soldiers of collecting bodies and incinerating them in a mobile crematorium.

Ukraine war: Trucks stuck at Poland-Belarus border as EU sanctions deadline passes

A huge queue of trucks has formed on the Poland-Belarus border as Russian and Belarussian drivers try to leave the EU following a sanctions deadline.

In the run-up to the Saturday deadline, the line extended to 80km (60 miles), with some stuck for up to 33 hours.

The EU has banned lorries from Russia and Belarus – except those carrying medicine, mail or petroleum products – from entering or staying in the bloc.

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Five men injured in drive-by shooting after midnight prayers in Scarborough

Five men were injured early Saturday morning when someone opened fire on a group of men who had just finished midnight prayers in Scarborough, Toronto police say. The victims range in age from 28 to 35 years.

Acting staff supt. David Rydzik says that around 1 a.m., a group of individuals celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan gathered in a parking lot to discuss where to eat.

Rydzik says the group was “randomly attacked” in a drive-by shooting, adding that there’s no information to suggest that the victims are involved in any type of criminality.

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A victory for free speech as Christian preacher is cleared

I HAVE some encouraging news for this special weekend, as we focus on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The trial of open-air preacher Pastor John Sherwood took place at Uxbridge magistrates’ court last week, and he was acquitted of the public order charges brought against him. This represents some welcome relief in the assault upon Christian liberties in contemporary Britain.


Ohio Professor Wins Settlement in Preferred Pronoun Case

A measure of sanity returns to the world of pronouns.

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