Climate change protesters halt London street blockade

Some of London’s busiest streets re-opened Monday for the first time in a week as climate change protesters regrouped and plotted a new course after police made more than 1,000 arrests.

The so-called Extinction Rebellion took over the heart of the UK capital in a bid to focus global attention on rising temperatures and sea levels caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The grassroots group was established last year in Britain by academics and has used social media to become one of the fastest-growing environmental movements worldwide.

But it has abandoned four of five main protests sites in response to more forceful police response and an outcry from local businesses that claimed a heavy loss in sales. London Mayor Sadiq Khan also warned Sunday that protests were starting to overstretch the police and limiting their ability to respond to daily crime.

“It simply isn’t right to put Londoners’ safety at risk like this,” Khan said.