PHILADELPHIA: Thousands of demonstrators crowded into streets, parks and plazas across the US on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump, marching through downtowns and blaring anti-authoritarian chants mixed with support for protecting democracy and immigrant rights.
Governors across the US urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, while some mobilized the National Guard ahead of marchers gathering in major downtowns and small towns. Through midday, confrontations were isolated.
Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity “No Kings” rally quickly reached its limit, with thousands more demonstrators gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol. Huge, boisterous crowds marched in New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, some behind “no kings” banners.
In Minnesota, organizers canceled demonstrations as police worked to track down a suspect in the shootings of two Democratic legislators and their spouses. Meanwhile, ahead of an evening demonstration in Austin, Texas, law enforcement said it was investigating a credible threat against lawmakers.
Intermittent light rain fell as marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia’s Love Park. They shouted “Whose streets? Our streets!” as they marched to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they listened to speakers on the steps made famous in the movie “Rocky.”
“So what do you say, Philly?” Democratic US Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland shouted to the crowd. “Are you ready to fight back? Do you want a gangster state or do you want free speech in America?”
Trump was in Washington for a military parade marking the Army’s 250th anniversary that coincides with the president’s birthday. There, a massive demonstration toured the city’s streets, led by a banner reading, “Trump must go now.”
In Charlotte, demonstrators trying to march through downtown briefly faced off with police forming a barricade with their bicycles, chanting “let us walk,” while law enforcement in northern Atlanta deployed tear gas to divert several hundred protesters heading toward Interstate 285. A journalist was seen being detained by officers and police helicopters flew above the crowd.
In some places, organizers handed out little American flags while others flew their flags upside down, a sign of distress. Mexican flags, which have become a fixture of the Los Angeles protests against immigration raids, made an appearance at some demonstrations Saturday.
Protests were planned in nearly 2,000 locations across the country, from city blocks and small towns to courthouse steps and community parks, organizers said. The 50501 Movement orchestrating the protests says it picked the “No Kings” name to support democracy and speak out against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
The demonstrations come on the heels of protests across the country over federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Trump ordering the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire.
Philadelphia
Thousands gathered in downtown Love Park, with organizers handing out small American flags and people carried protest signs saying “fight oligarchy” and “deport the mini-Mussolinis.”
Karen Van Trieste, a 61-year-old nurse who drove up from Maryland, said she grew up in Philadelphia and wanted to be with a large group of people showing her support.
“I just feel like we need to defend our democracy,” she said. She is concerned about the Trump administration’s layoffs of staff at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of immigrant communities and the Trump administration trying to rule by executive order, she said.
A woman wearing a foam Statue of Liberty crown brought a speaker system and led an anti-Trump sing-along, changing the words “young man” in the song “Y.M.C.A.” to “con man.”
One man in Revolutionary War era garb and a tricorn hat held a sign with a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson: “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
Los Angeles
Thousands gathered in front of City Hall in a boisterous crowd, waving signs and listening to a Native American drum circle and dance performances before marching through the streets.
Signs included “They fear us, don’t back down California,” “Protesting is not a crime,” “We carry dreams not danger” and “ICE out of LA.”
Protesters staged impromptu dance parties and, on the march, passed National Guard troops or US Marines stationed at various buildings. Most interactions were friendly, with demonstrators giving fist bumps or posing for selfies, but others chanted “shame” at the troops.
One demonstrator carried a 2-foot-tall (60-centimeter) Trump pinata on a stick, with a crown on his head and sombrero hanging off his back while another hoisted a huge helium-filled orange baby balloon with blond hair styled like Trump’s.
North Carolina
Crowds cheered anti-Trump speakers in Charlotte’s First Ward Park and chanted “we have no kings” before marching, chanting “No kings, no crowns, we will not bow down” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”
Marchers stretched for blocks, led by a group of people holding a giant Mexican flag and bystanders cheering and clapping for protesters along the way.
Jocelyn Abarca, a 21-year-old college student, said the protest was a chance to “speak for what’s right” after mass deportations and the deployment of the National Guard to deal with protesters in Los Angeles last week.
“If we don’t stop it now, it’s just going to keep getting worse,” she said of the Trump administration’s actions.
Minnesota
Before organizers canceled demonstrations in the state, Gov. Tim Walz took to social media to issue a warning after the shootings.
“Out of an abundance of caution my Department of Public Safety is recommending that people do not attend any political rallies today in Minnesota until the suspect is apprehended,” he wrote.
Florida
About a thousand people gathered on the grounds of Florida’s old Capitol in Tallahassee, where protesters chanted, “This is what community looks like,” and carried signs with messages like “one nation under distress” and “dissent is patriotic.”
Organizers of the rally explicitly told the crowd to avoid any conflicts with counterprotesters and to take care not to jaywalk or disrupt traffic.
One march approached the gates of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where sheriff’s deputies turned them back.
Thousands of protesters crowd into streets, parks and plazas at anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ demonstrations
https://arab.news/655k8
Thousands of protesters crowd into streets, parks and plazas at anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ demonstrations
- Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity “No Kings” rally quickly reached its limit, with thousands more demonstrators gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol
DR Congo, M23 armed group sign ceasefire deal
- The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in Doha
- A separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal was signed in Washington last month
DOHA: The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed armed group M23 signed a ceasefire deal on Saturday to end fighting that has devastated the country’s mineral-rich but conflict-torn east.
The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, which follows a separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal signed in Washington last month.
“The Parties commit to uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire,” including refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any attempt to seize by force new positions,” said the agreement.
The M23, which seized vast swathes of territory in eastern DRC in a lightning offensive in January and February, had insisted on seeking its own ceasefire deal with Kinshasa, saying the Washington deal left out various “problems” that still needed to be addressed.
The African Union hailed the new deal as a “significant development,” saying: “This... marks a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace, security, and stability in eastern DRC and the wider Great Lakes region.”
Under the deal, the warring parties agreed to open negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement.
The deal, which the two sides said aligns with the Washington agreement, also includes a roadmap for restoring state authority in eastern DRC.
Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the deal took account of the DRC’s “red lines,” including “the non-negotiable withdrawal of the M23 from occupied areas followed by the deployment of our institutions,” including the national armed forces.
He said a comprehensive peace agreement would follow “in the coming days.”
The deal said the two sides had agreed to implement its terms by July 29 at the latest, and to start direct negotiations toward a permanent agreement by August 8.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to meet in the coming months to solidify the Washington peace deal, whose terms have not yet been implemented.
Previous ceasefire agreements for eastern DRC have collapsed in the past.
Neighboring Rwanda denies providing military backing to the M23, but UN experts say that the Rwandan army played a “critical” role in the group’s offensive, including combat operations.
Rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, eastern DRC has been racked by conflict for more than three decades, creating a humanitarian crisis and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Thousands were killed in the M23 offensive earlier this year, which saw the group capture the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.
The front line has stabilized since February, but fighting was still breaking out regularly between the M23 and multiple pro-government militias.
Slightly radioactive Fukushima soil is used at Japanese prime minister’s office to prove safety
- Officials say the soil meets safety standards set by the Environment Ministry and the International Atomic Energy Agency
- The government hopes this move will reassure the public of its safety as it seeks to reduce the massive volume of contaminated soil stored near the nuclear plant
TOKYO: Decontaminated but slightly radioactive soil from Fukushima was delivered Saturday to the Japanese prime minister’s office to be reused in an effort to showcase its safety.
This is the first soil to be used, aside from experiments, since the 2011 nuclear disaster when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a cataclysmic meltdown following an earthquake and tsunami that left large amounts of radioactive materials spewing out from the facility, polluting surrounding areas.
The government is desperate to set people’s minds at ease about recycling the 14 million cubic meters of decontaminated soil, enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums, collected after massive clean-ups and stored at a sprawling outdoor facility near the Fukushima plant. Officials have pledged to find final disposal sites by 2045.
The Environment Ministry said the 2 cubic meters, now at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office complex in Tokyo, will be used as foundation material in one section of the lawn garden, based on the ministry’s safety guidelines endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The soil does not include any from inside the plant.
Despite assurances, there has been much public unease. The government has already been forced to scrap a plan to experiment using some of the soil in flower beds at several public parks in and around Tokyo following protests.
One dead, three missing after South Korea landslide
- Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to ‘evacuate immediately to a safe area’
- South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared
SEOUL: A landslide triggered by torrential rain killed at least one person in South Korea, the national fire agency said Saturday.
Three people were also missing after the landslide buried two houses in a village in southern Sancheong county, officials said, as heavy rain continued to pound the country.
“At least three people have been reported missing and we have recovered one body,” an official at Sancheong county fire station said.
The official said that one person in their twenties, and a couple in their seventies were reported missing.
Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to “evacuate immediately to a safe area.”
The county has a population of some 34,000 people.
South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July, but the country’s southern regions saw some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record this week, official weather data showed.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Saturday at least four people have been killed in rain-related accidents and more than 7,000 forced to evacuate their homes.
South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared and the death toll usually relatively low.
Scientists say climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and frequent.
The country endured record-breaking rains and flooding in 2022 which killed at least 11 people.
Former South Korea president Yoon indicted again as martial law investigation continues
- The new charges include obstruction of the exercise of others’ rights by abuse of authority, ordering the deletion of records and blocking the execution of arrest warrants
- The impeached and deposed former leader has been jailed at Seoul Detention Center since earlier this month
SEOUL: South Korea’s jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on additional charges on Saturday as a special prosecutor continues investigating him for his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.
The new charges include obstruction of the exercise of others’ rights by abuse of authority, ordering the deletion of records and blocking the execution of arrest warrants, the prosecutor’s office said in a briefing.
Yoon has been on trial on charges of insurrection, which is punishable by death or life imprisonment, facing additional charges since the special prosecutor was appointed in June to take over the cases against him.
Yoon has denied all wrongdoing. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges.
The impeached and deposed former leader has been jailed at Seoul Detention Center since earlier this month, and a court earlier this week rejected his request to be freed from detention.
Cuba ends maximum age limit of 60 for presidential candidates
- Communist-ruled island’s restriction of two five-year presidential terms and minimum age of 35 for candidates were left unchanged
- Cuba’s current president, 65-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, was elected in 2018 and then re-elected in 2023
HAVANA: Cuba scrapped the maximum age limit of 60 for its presidential candidates as part of a constitutional reform approved Friday by parliament.
The communist-ruled island’s restriction of two five-year presidential terms and minimum age of 35 for candidates were left unchanged.
The measure, approved by the Council of State, imposes no age limits on people “in the full exercise of their physical and mental faculties, with... loyalty and revolutionary trajectory,” national assembly president Esteban Lazo said.
Former president Raul Castro, who at age 94 still holds a seat in the assembly, was the first to vote for the reform that will be on the books for the 2028 presidential elections.
Cuba’s current president, 65-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, was elected in 2018 and then re-elected in 2023. No favored successor has been publicly designated.
The inclusion of term and age limits in the 2019 constitution marked a radical shift after the six decades in which Fidel Castro and his brother Raul were in power.
In 2016, Fidel had to hand over the reins to his brother due to health problems. He died later that year, after nearly half a century leading Cuba.
Raul Castro officially became president in 2008, at the age of 76. In 2021, he retired as Communist Party first secretary, handing over power to Diaz-Canel.
The nation of nearly 10 million people is suffering its worst economic crisis in three decades, with shortages of all kinds of supplies, power outages, and unprecedented emigration.
