WASHINGTON: Huge crowds took to the streets in all 50 US states at &ldquo;No Kings&rdquo; protests on Saturday, venting anger over President Donald Trump&rsquo;s hardline policies, while Republicans ridiculed them as &ldquo;Hate America&rdquo; rallies. Organizers said 7 million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the US heartland and even near Trump&rsquo;s home in Florida. &ldquo;This is what democracy looks like!&rdquo; chanted thousands in Washington near the US Capitol, where the federal government was shut down for a third week because of a legislative deadlock. Colorful signs called on people to &ldquo;protect democracy,&rdquo; while others demanded the country abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at the center of Trump&rsquo;s anti-immigrant crackdown. Demonstrators criticized what they called the Republican billionaire&rsquo;s strong-arm tactics, including attacks on the media, political opponents, and undocumented immigrants. &ldquo;I never thought I would live to see the death of my country as a democracy,&rdquo; said Colleen Hoffman, 69, a retiree marching down Broadway in New York. &ldquo;We are in a crisis &mdash; the cruelty of this regime, the authoritarianism. I just feel like I cannot sit home and do nothing.&rdquo; In Los Angeles, protesters floated a giant balloon of Trump in a diaper. Many flew flags, including one referencing the anime &ldquo;One Piece,&rdquo; featuring the skull logo that has become a symbol of anti-government protests from Peru to Madagascar. &ldquo;Fight ignorance, not migrants,&rdquo; read one sign at a protest in Houston, where nearly one-quarter of the population is made up of immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute. While animated, the protests were largely peaceful. However, in downtown Los Angeles, police fired nonlethal rounds and tear gas late Saturday to disperse crowds that included &ldquo;No Kings&rdquo; protesters, the Los Angeles Times reported. &ldquo;After thousands of people gathered to express their constitutional First Amendment rights peacefully earlier in the day, nearly a hundred agitators marched over to Aliso and Alameda, where they used lasers and industrial-size flashing lights,&rdquo; the Los Angeles Police Department&rsquo;s Central Division said on X. &ldquo;A dispersal order was issued and the demonstrators were dispersed from the area,&rdquo; it added, without specifying if any arrests were made. Trump respondsIt was not possible to independently verify the organizers&rsquo; attendance figures. In New York, authorities said more than 100,000 gathered at one of the largest protests, while in Washington, crowds were estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Trump&rsquo;s response to Saturday&rsquo;s events was typically aggressive, with the US president posting a series of AI-generated videos on his Truth Social platform depicting himself as a king. In one, he is shown wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet that drops what appears to be feces on anti-Trump protesters. His surrogates were equally combative, with House Speaker Mike Johnson deriding the rallies as &ldquo;Hate America&rdquo; protests. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to bring together the Marxists, the Socialists, the Antifa advocates, the anarchists, and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat Party,&rdquo; Johnson told reporters. Protesters dismissed that claim with ridicule. &ldquo;Look around! If this is hate, then someone should go back to grade school,&rdquo; said Paolo, 63, as the crowd chanted and sang around him in Washington. Others highlighted the deep polarization dividing American politics. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s the thing about what right-wingers say: I don&rsquo;t give a crap. They hate us,&rdquo; said Tony, a 34-year-old software engineer. &lsquo;Country of equals&rsquo;Deirdre Schifeling of the American Civil Liberties Union said protesters wanted to convey that &ldquo;we are a country of equals.&rdquo; &ldquo;We are a country of laws that apply to everyone, of due process and of democracy. We will not be silenced,&rdquo; she said. Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Indivisible Project, condemned the Trump administration&rsquo;s efforts to send National Guard troops into Democratic-led US cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago,&nbsp;Portland, and Memphis. &ldquo;It is the classic authoritarian playbook: threaten, smear, and lie; scare people into submission,&rdquo; Greenberg said. Addressing the crowd outside the US Capitol, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders warned of the dangers democracy faced under Trump. &ldquo;We have a president who wants more and more power in his own hands and in the hands of his fellow oligarchs,&rdquo; he said. Isaac Harder, 16, said he feared for his generation&rsquo;s future. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fascist trajectory, and I want to do anything I can to stop that,&rdquo; he said.

Crowds gather to listen to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during a No Kings protest, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Americas

Huge crowds took to the streets in all 50 U.S. states at “No Kings” protests on Saturday, venting anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline policies, while Republicans ridiculed them as “Hate America” rallies.

Protesters out in force for anti-Trump 'No Kings' rallies across US

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday lauded the efforts of the federal government&rsquo;s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Negotiation Committee, reaffirming his government&rsquo;s commitment to peacefully addressing the concerns and rights of the Kashmiri people.&nbsp;During a meeting in Islamabad, the prime minister said that most issues in Kashmir had been &ldquo;amicably resolved&rdquo; and assured that remaining grievances would be handled with priority.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have always been protectors of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters&rsquo; rights and will continue to safeguard them in the future,&rdquo; PM Sharif said.&nbsp;The meeting came days after a shutdown in Muzaffarabad, where the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) presented a 34-point charter of demands to the government.&nbsp;Officials said that nearly 90% of the demands were accepted, except for two, reducing the number of ministers and abolishing migrant seats, which require constitutional amendments.&nbsp;The AJK Negotiation Committee continues to facilitate dialogue aimed at resolving longstanding disputes and improving socio-economic conditions in the region.&nbsp;They said the government remains committed to supporting all initiatives that promote peace, stability, and development in Kashmir, a central issue in Pakistan&rsquo;s national and foreign policy.

Politics

The AJK Negotiation Committee briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on progress toward resolving local disputes, with the government accepting most public demands and reaffirming its commitment to peace, development, and protection of Kashmiri rights.

Pakistan PM lauds Azad Kashmir committee’s progress, vows to protect rights

Reuters

PARIS: Teachers, train drivers, pharmacists and hospital staff went on strike Thursday, and teenagers blocked entrances to high schools across France in nationwide protests against planned budget cuts. Unions called for scrapping the previous government&rsquo;s fiscal plans, more spending on public services, higher taxes on the wealthy and a reversal of a change that makes people work longer to receive a pension. The walkouts disrupted transit and classes in major cities, including Paris. In the capital, many metro lines were set to be suspended for much of the day except during rush hours, officials said. Students gathered to block some school entrances. &ldquo;Block your high school against austerity,&rdquo; read a sign at the Lyc&eacute;e Maurice Ravel, where teachers and labor representatives joined the crowd. &ldquo;Workers are currently so despised by this government and by President Emmanuel Macron that it can&rsquo;t continue like this,&rdquo; bus driver and CGT union representative Fred said outside the school. &ldquo;I am here to defend public services,&rdquo; said Gaetan Legay, a 33-year-old teacher, adding that public money should go &ldquo;back into public services ... rather than to large companies or as tax gifts to the ultra-rich.&rdquo; Macron and newly appointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu face pressure from parliament over likely budget cuts and from investors concerned about the deficit in the eurozone&rsquo;s second-largest economy. Workers angry over fiscal plans An Interior Ministry source said as many as 800,000 people were expected to take part in strikes and protests. &ldquo;The workers we represent are angry,&rdquo; major unions said in a joint statement rejecting the previous government&rsquo;s &ldquo;brutal&rdquo; and &ldquo;unfair&rdquo; fiscal plans. France&rsquo;s budget deficit last year was close to double the European Union&rsquo;s 3% ceiling. Even as he seeks to reduce it, Lecornu&mdash;who must rely on other parties to pass legislation&mdash;faces a difficult path to assemble support for a 2026 budget. His predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament last week over a plan to cut 44 billion euros. Lecornu has not said whether he will keep that plan but has signaled a willingness to compromise. Protests hit schools, trains The FSU-SNUipp union said one in three primary school teachers were on strike nationwide, and nearly one in two in Paris. Regional trains were heavily affected, though most high-speed lines operated, officials said. Protesters briefly slowed traffic on a highway near Toulon. Nuclear output at utility EDF was slightly lower, down 1.1 gigawatts early Thursday, company data showed, as workers reduced power at the Flamanville 1 reactor. Pharmacists protested changes affecting their business, and the USPO pharmacists&rsquo; union said a survey of members found 98% could close for the day. The farmers&rsquo; union Confederation Paysanne also called for mobilization. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said police removed several blockades, including at bus depots in the Paris region, and warned that up to 8,000 violent agitators could try to clash with police. Authorities planned to deploy about 80,000 police and gendarmes, with riot units, drones and armored vehicles available. More than 20 people had been arrested, police said. Plans to move the 70-meter-long Bayeux tapestry, whose stitching depicts the 1066 Norman invasion, were delayed because of the strike, the local prefecture said. The tapestry is set to be loaned to Britain.

Europe

French unions stage mass strikes and school blockades, protesting austerity, pension reforms, and cuts in 2026 budget.

Strikes across France as workers march against austerity plan

Romesa Umar

ISLAMABAD: At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured in Kathmandu on Monday after police opened fire on protesters storming Nepal&rsquo;s Federal Parliament in response to a controversial social media ban, Reuters reported.The unrest broke out outside the parliament building, where thousands of mostly young demonstrators had gathered. Witnesses said police fired live rounds, rubber bullets, and tear gas after some protesters breached barricades, set fire to an ambulance, and attempted to enter the compound.Others hurled stones at security forces and transported the wounded away on motorcycles.The protests were sparked by the government&rsquo;s decision to block major social media platforms that failed to meet new regulatory requirements. Under the new policy, platforms were ordered to register with Nepal&rsquo;s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, open local offices, and appoint official representatives by a September 3 deadline.Platforms that complied and those blockedOfficials said apps like TikTok, Viber, and WeTalk complied with the rules. However, Meta-owned Messenger and others were blocked.A government official told Reuters that the restrictions aim to curb fake accounts and rising cybercrime, which authorities claim threaten national unity.Popularity of Social Media ApplicationsThe ban has hit Nepal&rsquo;s diaspora community especially hard. Roughly 7.5% of Nepal&rsquo;s population lives abroad and relies on messaging apps to stay in touch with family.According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority&rsquo;s 2021 report, over 90% of the country&rsquo;s 30 million people use the internet. Many have already shifted to platforms like Viber to maintain communication.&ldquo;The new generation in Nepal&rdquo;Protesters argue that the ban restricts free expression and blocks critical communication tools. Chants like &ldquo;Shut down corruption, not social media,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Youth against corruption,&rdquo; echoed through the crowd, reflecting wider dissatisfaction with government transparency and governance.The situation escalated rapidly, merging frustrations over corruption, censorship, and what many see as an authoritarian overreach into digital life.While the government has not declared a state of emergency, officials have warned of stricter crackdowns if the violence continues.The incident marks one of the deadliest outbreaks of civil unrest in Nepal in recent years and underscores a growing clash between the state&rsquo;s push for digital regulation and the demands of a young, connected population seeking free access to global platforms.

Asia

At least 14 killed in Kathmandu as protests against Nepal’s ban on 26 social media platforms escalate into violent clashes with police.

Articles tagged with "Protest"

Protesters out in force for anti-Trump 'No Kings' rallies across US

Pakistan PM lauds Azad Kashmir committee’s progress, vows to protect rights

Strikes across France as workers march against austerity plan

14 killed as Nepal protests erupt over social media ban