As many as 62 protesters from the Insulate Britain campaign group blocked three roads around the Parliament Square in Westminster, London on Thursday, demanding insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025.

Asking the government to take more concrete steps toward climate change, protesters glued themselves to the ground, blocking traffic.

Metropolitan Police said the protesters have the right to assemble and protest, but not to "cause serious disruption to London and prevent others from going about their business."

A statement on Twitter said units were immediately dispatched to the scene following the initial protest, and officers made 34 arrests.

"We have exposed the government's refusal to act on home insulation as cowardly and vindictive," the group said in a statement. "Their refusal to protect our country and our children from the climate crisis is genocidal and treasonous."

It called on the people to "come and join us and we will change the tide of history."

A protester said she joined the demonstration because millions of people "don't have the choice of whether they can eat or heat their homes. I'm here because hundreds and thousands are going to die this winter for being cold."

Insulate Britain is a new campaign group that is calling on the UK government to put in place policy and funding for a national home insulation program.

Over the past seven weeks, it has caused disruption on motorways and roads in London, Birmingham, and Manchester 18 times, and there have been over 800 arrests./aa

At least one irregular migrant has died and another is missing after nearly 400 were rescued trying to cross into the UK via the English Channel from France, French maritime authorities said Thursday.

French media reported that teams led by France's rescue coordination center, CROSS, in the Gris-Nez region late Wednesday detected the migrants who were stranded in the English Channel.

Regional prefect Philippe Dutrieux said at least 15,400 irregular migrants attempted to cross into the UK between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31./aa

Nintendo has cut its console sales forecast Thursday because of the global chip crisis after its third-quarter earnings declined.

Net sales in the first half of 2021 declined 18.9% to 624.2 billion yen ($5.49 billion), from 769.5 billion yen for the same period last year, according to the Japanese consumer electronics and video game company.

Net profits were down 19.4% to 171.8 billion yen, from 213.1 billion yen.

The Kyoto-based company cut its sales forecast for its popular Switch video game console that is now expecting 24 million units in 2021, down 1.5 million, or 5.9%, from its previous forecast of 25.5 million units.

"Our shipment forecast for the second half was reduced because of the change in our production plan due to the effects of the global semiconductor shortage," it said. "Unit sales for the entire Nintendo Switch family declined by 34% year-on-year to 8.28 million units.”

The global chip shortage has affected 169 industries, US investment banking company Goldman Sachs said in April, with the most visible sectors being automakers and consumer electronics./aa

More than 750,000 people have died because of the coronavirus since the first death in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University on Thursday

The Maryland-based school registered 750,435 deaths and 46.2 million cases as the US remains the world’s worst-hit country.

The first fatality occurred in the state of California in early February of 2019.

The grim milestone came despite widespread vaccinations.

More than 425 million doses have been administered in the US and more than 192 million people, 58% of the population, have been fully been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The national public health agency gave final approval earlier this week for Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, making up to 28 million in the age group eligible for the shots.

President Joe Biden said in October that infections are declining in 39 of 50 states and hospitalizations are falling in 38. He said his administration is making progress to "accelerate the path out of this pandemic."/agencies

A tiny Spanish cheesery from Andalusia made the best cheese of 2021, according to judges at the World Cheese Awards.

The company Quesos&Besos (Cheeses and Kisses), which has just six employees and their goats, made a cheese that was described by judges as "pillowy, warm, and comforting".

“It winked at me, it seduced me,” said one judge, who marked its unique looks, with a line of ash going through its middle, as well as its startling taste.

The cheese was chosen from a selection of 4,079 cheeses that were all in the running to win the “Academy Award” of the cheese world.

Not even the most experienced cheese judge was able to taste every sample. Instead, the competition brought 250 judges from around the world to the competition in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo, where they tried and rated around 40 cheeses each on Wednesday morning.

In the afternoon, the 16 most esteemed judges from around the world chose their favorite cheese, debated their merits and rated them on a scale of one through seven.

One of the top cheeses was likened to “the taste of the fields on a spring day.” Another was praised for its old-school authenticity.

Some of the top cheeses had notes that were floral and herbaceous. Others were funkier. All were expertly crafted and stood out for their surprising flavors.

The World Cheese Awards has been running for more than three decades. After last year's event was canceled due to COVID-19, the cheese community celebrated their reunion.

This year's edition, which runs until Saturday, is also holding an online auction for one of the oldest edible cheeses on earth – a 21-year-old wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano./aa

Failing last year to deliver on a $100 billion climate finance pledge to developing countries, rich nations at the COP26 climate conference were under pressure on Wednesday during the event's finance-focused third day.

"Where is our climate finance? Where is the money? Deliver the climate finance," said a group of activists gathered at the summit venue in Glasgow, Scotland, as the finance ministers discussed how to channel climate funding to the most vulnerable countries facing the climate change threat.

"I'm here on behalf of developing countries all around the world, developing countries that demand rich nations deliver the climate finance that they promised in (2015 COP21) Paris -- $100 billion in climate finance by 2020," said Jennifer Larbie from the UK Policy and Advocacy Lead at Christian Aid.

It is now 2021 and that money remains undelivered as developing countries are saying enough is enough, she told Anadolu Agency.

Rich countries are delaying the mobilization of this climate finance by 2023 in what Larbie says is a discouraging broken promise.

"Deliver the climate finance," she said, adding that wealthy nations had the time to act and "deliver on their promise," with a week left to the conference.

"I've been really encouraged by these developing countries speaking with one voice. We've heard countries from Latin America, we've heard countries from Africa, all calling on the same thing. Deliver the climate finance."

On the finance day of the conference, finance ministers, international finance institutions, and the financial sector have been making a wide range of pledges on how to move to a zero-carbon future.

Channeling funds to fight climate change to developing countries will be one of the main metrics for success in Glasgow.

In UN climate talks, rich countries had previously committed $100 billion a year by 2020 to help underdeveloped countries tackle the effects of climate change.

But, this goal has not yet been achieved and now the COP26 Presidency says it is highly unlikely to reach it this year or next.

It does, however, say it is certain it will be met by 2023 -- a pledge that many have seen as a huge disappointment./aa