Prague, Jun 23 (AP/UNB) — Hundreds of thousands of people rallied Sunday in Prague to urge Prime Minister Andrej Babis to resign, assembling from across the Czech Republic for the capital's biggest anti-government protest since the 1989 pro-democratic Velvet Revolution that brought down the communist regime.

The demonstration at Letna Park, a site of massive gatherings that significantly contributed to the fall of communism in what 30 years ago was Czechoslovakia, was the largest from two months of street protests opposing Babis.

The protesters of 2019 said they didn't come to overthrow the current political system but to defend it.

They consider Babis, a populist billionaire, as a threat to democracy, including the independence of the country's legal system.

"We demand the resignation of Andrej Babis," said Mikulas Minar, a student who put his studies on hold to help lead the recent demonstrations organized by a group called Million Moments for Democracy.

Babis has repeatedly said he has no reason to resign.

"It will likely be a long run," another organizer, Benjamin Roll, told the crowd. "The current situation is unacceptable."

Opposition to Babis has been fueled by the appointment of a new justice minister as prosecutors are deciding whether to indict Babis over alleged fraud involving European Union funds.

The protesters fear the new minister might undermine the independence of the Czech legal system, a threat that has brought the governments of Poland and Romania warnings from the European Union.

Justice Minister Marie Benesova is a close ally of Babis' and voted against a police request to strip the prime minister of parliamentary immunity to face a criminal investigation.

A preliminary European Union report leaked in May concluded that Babis might have had a conflict of interest over EU subsidies involving his former business empire.

Babis denied wrongdoing and accused the EU of trying to destabilize the Czech Republic.

Besides demanding the prime minister and justice minister's resignations, many of the demonstrators accused Babis and his key ally, President Milos Zeman, of undermining Czech politics and democracy overall.

Babis also faces allegations he collaborated with Czechoslovakia's secret police before 1989, as well as criticism of his government's power-sharing deal with the Communist Party.

"What is happening is more than we can tolerate," said Dagmar Kratochvilova, a 60-year-old pottery maker who traveled across the country on a bus to reach Prague with others from the eastern city of Frydek Mistek.

The peaceful crowd chanted "Resign, resign," and "We've had enough" while waving Czech and also European Union flags. "No Tolerance for Lies and Fraud," read a banner unrolled by the demonstrators.

"I'm fed up with the government," Natalie Bartkova, 18, a student from just south of Prague. "Babis seems to think that anything goes for him."

Babis' critics cited a new source of frustration, blaming him is for contributing to the inability of European Union leaders to agree on a plan to make the bloc's economy carbon neutral by 2050.

The protesters announced another major protest at the same location for Nov.16 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

Berlin, Jun 23 (AP/UNB) — Hundreds of climate activists called an end to their protest Sunday inside one of Germany's biggest open-pit mines after police repeatedly ordered them to leave, citing life-threatening danger, and authorities pulled some protesters out.

The Garzweiler lignite coal mine has been the focal point of environmental protests in Germany's Rhineland region since Friday, when 40,000 students rallied for more government action against climate change in the nearby city of Aachen.

"We wrote climate history this weekend," the activist group End of Story said as it halted the protest. "Our movement has never been so diverse and never been so determined."

The long-planned protests began Friday just hours after European Union leaders failed at a summit to agree on how to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050.

On Saturday, some demonstrators blocked the railroad tracks used to transport coal before others broke through a police cordon to enter the mine. Protesters and police accused each other of combative behavior in the mine and of causing injuries. Police said eight officers were injured in scuffles with protesters.

Police cut the locks the protesters had used to chain themselves to the railway tracks and then carried the protesters out one by one. Inside the mine, some protesters left voluntarily, while others were taken on buses and driven out of the mine. Police took the identities of all demonstrators before letting them go.

German news agency dpa reported that activists claimed police had denied water and food to those who were temporarily detained. Police denied the allegation.

The mine has been the focus of many protests in recent years because the operator, German utility company RWE, planned to cut down a forest to enlarge it.

Later Sunday, Aachen police tweeted that RWE had filed a criminal complaint against those protesters who had locked themselves to the tracks. The utility company had stopped mining during the three days of protests.

Following months of climate protests by students and a sharp rise in the polls for Germany's Greens party, German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently threw her weight behind the goal of making Germany climate neutral by 2050. That would mean the country's economy no longer would add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Scientists say ending fossil fuel use by mid-century is a must if countries want to achieve the 2015 Paris climate accord's most ambitious goal of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times.

Dhaka, Jun 23 (UNB) - A woman named Tiffani Adams was on an Air Canada flight to Toronto was unfortunate enough to live her worst nightmare, reports the Indiatimes.com

Tiffani fell asleep on the flight to Toronto and woke up several hours later on a dark, empty and locked up aircraft at Toronto International Airport.

She shared her harrowing experience on Facebook which has now gone viral on social media.

“I wake up around midnight (few hours after flight landed) freezing cold still strapped in my seat in complete darkness (I’m talking pitch black) as someone with an anxiety disorder as is I can tell you how terrifying this was...I think I’m having a bad dream bc like seriously how is this happening!!?!” Tiffani wrote on Facebook.

Tiffani said she started panicking after realising she could not charge her phone as the aircraft had turned off the main power. Imagine being caught in a big aircraft with no way out; it's a death wish for a person suffering from anxiety.

Luckily, Adam found a a torch in the plane’s cockpit and eventually made her way to the aircraft’s main door.

She eventually opened the door, only to find herself around 50 ft above ground and knew that taking the plunge from the aircraft would mean death.

She had no choice but to sit at the edge with her legs dangling out of the aircraft while sending out distress signals with her torch.

She then flagged an airport employee down who was flummoxed to see her in the aircraft. “He [asked] how the heck they left me on the plane,” Ms Adams said, describing her rescue.

For which Adams said that she had no clue either. And neither does anyone else.

But Adams' trick worked because she was then escorted by the employee to the airport when she met Air Canada reps, reports Ladbible. A spokesperson who spoke to The Independent confirms that the incident took place and Air Canada currently looking in to the matter.

London, Jun 23 (AP/UNB)  — The two finalists in the race to lead Britain's governing Conservative Party — and become the country's new prime minister — made their first formal pitches to party members Saturday, both vowing to be the right man to deliver Brexit.

Ex-foreign secretary and former London mayor Boris Johnson, the runaway favorite of Tory lawmakers, faced off with Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary, at a Conservative conference in central England's Birmingham.

Opening his address with a focus on delivering Britain's stalled exit from the European Union, Johnson told the audience "We need to get Brexit done" and be prepared to leave the EU without a withdrawal deal in place.

"I am here to tell you that in all confidence we can turn this thing around," he said. "I am utterly convinced that with the right energy and the right commitment, common sense will prevail. But just in case it does not, we must prepare to come out anyway."

Johnson has won backing from the Conservative Party's die-hard Brexiteers by insisting the U.K. must leave the bloc on the rescheduled date of Oct. 31, with or without a divorce agreement with the EU to smooth the way.

Both Johnson and Hunt said they would succeed in seeing Britain out of the EU, a challenge that defeated Prime Minister Theresa May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after repeatedly failing to win Parliament's backing for her Brexit deal and will leave 10 Downing Street when her successor is selected.

Hunt pitched himself as the better negotiator, warning that "catastrophe awaits," if the wrong leader is sent to Brussels for talks with EU leaders.

"If we send the wrong person, there's going to be no negotiation, no trust, no deal, and if Parliament stops that, maybe no Brexit," he said. "Send the right person, and there's a deal to be done."

For the party conference in Birmingham, both contenders were given time to make a short speech before answering questions from the host and audience members.

The Saturday "hustings" was the first of more than a dozen such party meetings set to take place across Britain in coming days.

Johnson refused to comment when asked about a police visit early Friday to the London home he shares with partner Carrie Symonds after a neighbor reported an altercation. The incident dominated news headlines in Britain on Saturday.

The Guardian newspaper said neighbors reported hearing screaming, shouting and banging inside the home. The responding officers found all the occupants "safe and well" and no legal offenses were committed, police said.

Johnson said the public could judge his character and ambition by his track record as London mayor and his plans for the country.

Johnson and Hunt are the final two from a field of 10 contenders that was winnowed down in a series of votes by party lawmakers. About 160,000 party members across Britain will decide who wins in a by-mail vote.

The winner of the runoff, due to be announced the week of July 22, will become the new Conservative leader and replace Theresa May as Britain's next prime minister.

Hochneukirch, Jun 22 (AP/UNB) — Hundreds of climate change activists broke through a police cordon and stormed into one of Germany's biggest lignite coal mines Saturday, two days after European Union leaders disagreed on a plan to make the bloc carbon neutral by 2050.

Police ordered protesters to leave the vast, open-pit Garzweiler mine in western Germany, citing life-threatening dangers. German news agency dpa reported that some officers had been hurt, but didn't have any further details.

Earlier Saturday, dozens of protesters succeeded in temporarily blocking railroad tracks used to transport coal. The vast majority of the thousands of demonstrators in and around the western German village of Hochneukirch near the mine and adjacent power plants remained peaceful.

The mine has become a focus of environmental protests in recent years because the operator, German utility company RWE, threatened to chop down a nearby forest to enlarge it.

"It's important to increase the pressure on the government," protester Selma Schubert said. "The government doesn't do enough against climate change."

Participants in the Saturday protests held banners calling for climate protection and sang songs as they marched through villages in the Rhineland region near the mine.

According to German environmental group Bund, more than 8,000 people took part.

"You're building a movement, that's beautiful," said protester Seimi Rowin, who came from Scotland. "But we need to get to the next step ... otherwise future generations will pay for it."

Following months of climate protests by students and a sharp rise in the polls for Germany's Green party, Chancellor Angela Merkel recently threw her weight behind the goal of making Germany climate neutral by 2050. That would mean the country's economy no longer would add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Scientists say ending fossil fuel use by mid-century is a must if countries want to achieve the 2015 Paris climate accord's most ambitious goal of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times.