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

Huge crowds took to the streets in all 50 US states at “No Kings” protests on Saturday, venting anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline policies, while Republicans ridiculed them as “Hate America” rallies.Organizers said seven 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’s home in Florida.”This is what democracy looks like!” 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 “protect democracy,” while others demanded the country abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency at the center of Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown.Demonstrators slammed what they called the Republican billionaire’s strong-arm tactics, including attacks on the media, political opponents and undocumented immigrants.”I never thought I would live to see the death of my country as a democracy,” 69-year-old retiree Colleen Hoffman told AFP as she marched down Broadway in New York.”We are in a crisis — the cruelty of this regime, the authoritarianism. I just feel like I cannot sit home and do nothing.”In Los Angeles, protesters floated a giant balloon of Trump in a diaper.Many flew flags, with at least one referencing pirate anime hit “One Piece”, brandishing the skull logo that has recently become a staple of anti-government protests from Peru to Madagascar.”Fight Ignorance not migrants,” 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. But in downtown Los Angeles, police fired nonlethal rounds and tear gas late Saturday to disperse crowds that included “No Kings” protesters, the Los Angeles Times reported.”After thousands of people gathered to express their constitutional 1st 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, the LAPD Central Division said on X.”A Dispersal Order was issued and the demonstrators were dispersed from the area,” it added, without specifying if any arrests were made.- Trump responds -It was not possible to independently verify the organizers’ attendance figures. In New York, authorities said more than 100,000 gathered at one of the largest protests, while in Washington, crowds were estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000 people.Trump’s response to Saturday’s events was typically aggressive, with the US president posting a series of AI-generated videos to his Truth Social platform depicting him 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 in fighting form, too, with House Speaker Mike Johnson deriding the rallies as being “Hate America” protests.”You’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,” he told reporters.Protesters treated that claim with ridicule.”Look around! If this is hate, then someone should go back to grade school,” said Paolo, 63, as the crowd chanted and sang around him in Washington.Others underlined the deep polarization tearing apart American politics.”Here’s the thing about what right-wingers say: I don’t give a crap. They hate us,” said Tony, a 34-year-old software engineer.- ‘Country of equals’ -Deirdre Schifeling of the American Civil Liberties Union said protesters wanted to convey that “we are a country of equals.””We are a country of laws that apply to everyone, of due process and of democracy. We will not be silenced,” she told reporters.Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Indivisible Project, slammed the Trump administration’s efforts to send National Guard troops into Democratic-led US cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, Portland and Memphis. “It is the classic authoritarian playbook: threaten, smear and lie, scare people into submission,” Greenberg said.Addressing the crowd outside the US Capitol, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders warned of the dangers democracy faced under Trump.”We have a president who wants more and more power in his own hands and in the hands of his fellow oligarchs,” he said.Isaac Harder, 16, said he feared for his generation’s future.”It’s a fascist trajectory. And I want to do anything I can to stop that.”

Bangladesh probes cause of massive airport fire

Bangladeshi traders on Sunday assessed heavy losses after a devastating fire tore through the cargo complex of the country’s main international airport, as the government opened an investigation into possible arson.Firefighters had brought the blaze under control and flight operations resumed late Saturday, airport executive director S. M. Ragib Samad told AFP, after thick black smoke swept across the runway, forcing authorities to briefly suspend flights.But Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s cargo complex — which stores fabrics, garment accessories, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other imports — was left in ruins.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) said it had begun assessing the damage, with business groups warning that direct losses and subsequent impacts on trade could run into the millions of dollars.Bangladesh is the world’s second-biggest garment manufacturer, and textile and garment production accounts for about 80 percent of exports.”We have started our assessment,” NBR official Moshiur Rahman told AFP.The fire was intense, with 37 firefighting units and security forces battling the flames for hours.- ‘Resolute response’ -Smoke was still rising from the charred remains on Sunday. “The fire spread to every corner — I don’t know if any consignment could escape,” said one exhausted firefighter, whose uniform was greyed and hands blackened.”We were supposed to deliver the consignments to our clients today. All burnt to ashes, I guess,” said importer Anand Kumar Ghosh, who said he had lost 52 consignments.Moinul Ahsan, a senior official at the Directorate of Health, said four people had been taken to hospital with minor injuries.The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.But the government said it was aware of growing public concern following a string of major fires in recent days — including in Chittagong’s export processing zone and a chemical and garment factory in Dhaka, where 16 people were killed.The government said the security services were investigating all incidents “thoroughly”, and warned that “any credible evidence of sabotage or arson will be met with a swift and resolute response.””No act of criminality or provocation will be allowed to disrupt public life or the political process,” it said, urging calm.The South Asian nation of 170 million people has been in political turmoil since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as prime minister by a student-led revolt in August 2024, and is gearing up for hotly contested elections slated for February 2026.”If these fires prove to be acts of sabotage, and their aim is to sow panic and division, they’ll succeed only if we allow fear to overtake our reason and our resolve,” the statement added.”Bangladesh has faced many challenges before, and together we will face any threats to our new democracy with unity, calm and determination. We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Growing India-Taliban ties anger neighbouring Pakistan

As fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated into rare, bloody combat this month, Islamabad pointed fingers at another adversary, accusing India of fuelling the conflict.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that New Delhi had “incited” the Afghan Taliban, while his Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, described Kabul as acting like a “proxy of India”.Existential archrivals, Pakistan and India have fought repeated wars since partition cleaved the subcontinent at the end of British rule in 1947.They have also long swapped claims of stoking militancy in each other’s territory as part of alleged destabilisation campaigns.But in recent months, Islamabad has warily watched India cosy up to Taliban-governed Afghanistan, even as its own relations with Kabul sharply deteriorated.The diplomatic reconciliation culminated in the Taliban foreign minister’s arrival in New Delhion October 9 the first visit by a top Taliban leader since the hardliners returned to power in 2021.As India rolled out the red carpet for UN-sanctioned minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, explosions rocked Kabul as well as a market near the Pakistan border.Wahid Faqiri, an Afghan expert in international relations, said rapprochement between India and the Taliban had compelled Pakistan to react.By inviting the Taliban foreign minister for a week of talks, New Delhi aimed to “aggravate the ongoing tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan”, he said.While the October 9 explosions officially went unclaimed, the Taliban government accused Islamabad of an “unprecedented” incursion, and retaliated with its own offensive.The exchanges set in motion more than a week of deadly artillery barrages and drone strikes — the worst violence between the South Asian neighbours in years.After an initial truce collapsed, a second ceasefire was inked on October 19.- ‘Blaming its neighbours’ -One-time allies Afghanistan and Pakistan have had frosty relations since the withdrawal of US-led troops and return of the Taliban government.Initially, Islamabad struck an optimistic tone, with then-intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Faiz Hameed giving public assurances that “everything will be fine”.But Islamabad has since continuously accused the Taliban authorities of providing a safe haven to militant groups as deadly terror attacks in Pakistan surge.The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and its affiliates are behind much of the violence — largely directed at security forces.In October alone, over 100 security personnel and police officers were killed in attacks carried out by assailants from Afghanistan, a Pakistani security source told AFP.For two years now, the rising violence in Pakistan has also helped fuel a mass deportation campaign, with millions of Afghan migrants and asylum seekers blamed for driving up crime and pushed back across the border.Former Pakistani diplomat Maleeha Lodhi said the Taliban foreign minister’s trip to New Delhi may have been an “irritant, but wasn’t the motivation for the Pakistani reprisals”.”The principal driver for Pakistan’s ire and frustration with the Taliban authorities is their refusal to rein in TTP,” she said.Pakistan’s military has also accused New Delhi of supporting the TTP.India’s foreign ministry denies the charge, and instead accuses Pakistan of trying to evade responsibility for its domestic turmoil and security problems.”It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures,” it said.- ‘Solidarity’ – The bonhomie between New Delhi and Kabul was initially “difficult to justify” in India due to the dominant public perception of Islam as contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular Hindu nationalism, said Praveen Donthi, an analyst at International Crisis Group (ICG).The absence of women journalists at an initial press conference during Muttaqi’s visit also sparked strong criticism, but public opinion shifted, Donthi said, when the Taliban minister expressed “solidarity” with India over an April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam.That attack in the flashpoint Kashmir region precipitated a four-day war between the nuclear-armed foes, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of backing the terrorists.The Afghan minister’s solidarity may have bought him some fans in India, but it aggravated Islamabad, with the joint statement describing the disputed region as “Jammu and Kashmir, India” — suggesting Indian sovereignty.At the end of the Afghanistan-India exchange, New Delhi announced it would upgrade its diplomatic mission in Kabul to a fully fledged embassy.That represented another stepping stone towards the Taliban government’s ultimate goal of formal international recognition, a move only Moscow has made and that analysts say remains far off for India.For now, the rekindling is a significant win for the Taliban authorities, and a pointed shift in the complex India-Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. 

Publishers fight back against US book bans

Escalating attempts to remove works featuring themes such as LGBTQ lifestyles and race relations from US bookshelves are facing growing resistance from publishers and rights groups, a major topic at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.Spearheaded by right-wing conservative groups, there has been an explosion in efforts to get books that are viewed as overly progressive banned in US schools and public libraries in recent years.In 2020 just under 300 titles faced “challenges” — demands to restrict access to them or remove them entirely — across the United States, according to the American Library Association (ALA).That number began surging the following year, and reached over 9,000 in 2023, said the NGO, whose office for intellectual freedom has been tracking challenges since 1990.”It’s an ideological mission from people on the right,” Jon Yaged — CEO of Macmillan Publishers, whose books are among those that have been targeted in the United States — told AFP.”This is just the most recent instance of hate demonstrating itself in culture,” said Yaged this week at the Frankfurt event, the world’s biggest book fair, where the subject was hotly debated.It is part of what PEN International says is a growing global trend, with the literary freedom NGO reporting a “dramatic increase in book bans and censorship” in recent times, from Afghanistan to Russia.In the United States conservative groups and politicians pushing to get certain books removed reject accusations of censorship, insisting their aim is to limit access to inappropriate material.- Conservative education drive – US conservatives have for some years been pushing back against what they view as a progressive agenda in education, a drive that has won support from US President Donald Trump’s administration.According to the ALA, the most common reasons for challenging books in 2024 were claims of obscenity in books for minors, LGBTQ characters or themes and discussion of sensitive topics such as race.Among the most targeted titles were “All Boys Aren’t Blue”, a collection of essays about author George M. Johnson’s experiences growing up as a gay Black man in the United States.Others included “The Bluest Eye”, a Toni Morrison work featuring depictions of sexual abuse and racial themes, and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, a coming of age novel featuring drug use and sex.Conservative activists and local politicians, particularly in Republican-led states, often pressure school boards for book bans, but efforts to get works removed are increasingly taking on different forms, according to PEN’s US branch.Legislatures in some states have passed laws seeking to restrict access to certain titles, elected politicians have issued lists of books containing “explicit” material and some school districts have issued “do not buy” lists, targeting particular works, according to the group.- Book-bans in Florida -PEN said the highest number of instances of access to school books being restricted last year was documented in Florida, where Republican governor Ron DeSantis has pushed conservative education policies that have also included banning classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity.Those campaigning to limit access typically argue they are seeking to protect youngsters.Conservative group Moms for Liberty said recently that “challenging the placement of obscene materials in school libraries is not censorship or banning.”It is a reasonable demand to prevent children from being exposed to age-inappropriate materials,” the group said in a statement cited by an affiliate of CBS News.Macmillan and other major publishers including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, alongside authors and advocacy groups, have lodged legal challenges against attempts to restrict access to books, and have had some successes.In some school districts, community members, from parents to authors and students, have also fought back against book bans.Authors sense a worsening climate for works depicting minority groups beyond the United States.”It is getting worse globally,” US author Lawrence Schimel, whose books featuring children with same-sex parents have run into problems in Russia and Hungary in recent years, told AFP.Schimel added however that he believed it was crucial for kids to be able to continue seeing such works: “It helps them to be accepting of other people’s diversity.”Despite the mounting challenges, Yaged of Macmillan Publishers sounded determined.”As long as there have been books, there have been people trying to ban books,” he said. “And they haven’t won as long as we keep up the fight.”

La Colombie accuse Washington d’avoir violé son espace maritime et tué un pêcheur

Le président colombien Gustavo Petro a affirmé samedi que les États-Unis avaient violé l’espace maritime de son pays et tué un pêcheur au cours de leur déploiement militaire dans les Caraïbes présenté comme une opération contre les narcotrafiquants.Washington a notamment mobilisé sept navires et des avions de combat furtifs dans ce qu’il qualifie de lutte contre le trafic de drogue dans la mer des Caraïbes, et y a mené depuis début septembre au moins six frappes qui ont fait au moins 27 morts.”Des fonctionnaires du gouvernement américain ont commis un assassinat et violé la souveraineté de nos eaux territoriales”, a fustigé le président de gauche sur X.”Le pêcheur Alejandro Carranza n’avait aucun lien avec le trafic de drogue et son activité quotidienne était la pêche”, a assuré M. Petro, en référence à la victime.”Le bateau colombien était à la dérive et avait activé le signal de panne en raison d’un moteur hors service. Nous attendons les explications du gouvernement des États-Unis”, a ajouté le dirigeant colombien.Alejandro Carranza est supposément mort lors de l’une des attaques américaines de la mi-septembre alors qu’il pêchait dans les eaux des Caraïbes colombiennes, selon le témoignage d’une proche partagée par le président sur X.”Alejandro Carranza est un pêcheur, nous avons grandi dans des familles de pêcheurs (…) ce n’est pas juste qu’ils l’aient bombardé de cette façon. C’est une personne innocente qui partait gagner son pain quotidien”, a déclaré Audenis Manjarres, lisant un message dans une vidéo de la télévision publique RTVC Noticias.Elle a affirmé avoir reconnu l’embarcation qui apparaît dans des vidéos de l’attaque du 15 septembre diffusées par des médias internationaux.Les pêcheurs ont cessé de sortir en mer de peur d’être bombardés, a affirmé la jeune femme originaire de la ville côtière de Santa Marta.Bogota dénonce ce déploiement américain dans les Caraïbes, qui cible tout particulièrement le Venezuela dont Donald Trump accuse le président, Nicolas Maduro, d’être à la tête d’une vaste organisation de trafic de drogue vers les Etats-Unis.Les autorités vénézuéliennes démentent vigoureusement toute implication dans le trafic de drogue et estiment que Washington cherche à imposer un changement de régime à Caracas et à s’emparer des importantes réserves de pétrole du pays.La légalité des frappes contre des suspects ni interceptés ni interrogés, dans des eaux étrangères ou internationales, fait également débat aux Etats-Unis.Le président colombien avait demandé en septembre à la tribune de l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU qu’une “procédure pénale” soit lancée contre son homologue américain Donald Trump en réponse à ces frappes militaires meurtrières.- Narco sous-marin -Plus tôt samedi, Gustavo Petro avait annoncé qu’un autre citoyen colombien de 34 ans, ayant survécu à une frappe américaine en octobre contre un sous-marin accusé par les Etats-Unis de transporter de la drogue en mer des Caraïbes, était rentré au pays.”Nous avons accueilli le Colombien arrêté dans le narco sous-marin, nous sommes heureux qu’il soit en vie et il sera jugé conformément aux lois”, a dit le dirigeant colombien.”Il est arrivé avec des traumatismes crâniens, sous sédatifs, sous médicaments, avec un respirateur artificiel”, a précisé le ministre de l’Intérieur, Armando Benedetti. Donald Trump avait indiqué plus tôt samedi que quatre “narcoterroristes” étaient à bord du sous-marin et que deux avaient été tués, expliquant que les deux survivants devaient être renvoyés dans leur pays d’origine, la Colombie et l’Equateur.Selon les services du renseignement américain, le submersible “était principalement rempli de fentanyl et d’autres drogues illégales”, a poursuivi le président américain.Washington n’a pas révélé le point de départ du sous-marin ciblé. Des semi-submersibles construits dans des chantiers navals clandestins dans la jungle sont depuis des années utilisés pour transporter des stupéfiants depuis l’Amérique du Sud, en particulier la Colombie.

Accord de cessez-le feu immédiat entre l’Afghanistan et le Pakistan

Le Pakistan et l’Afghanistan se sont mis d’accord dimanche sur un “cessez-le-feu immédiat” après des pourparlers au Qatar pour tenter de ramener durablement le calme à leur frontière, après une confrontation ayant fait des dizaines de morts.Au cours de négociations entamées samedi à Doha, “les deux parties se sont mises d’accord sur un-cessez-le-feu immédiat et l’instauration de mécanismes pour consolider une paix durable et la stabilité”, a annoncé dans un communiqué publié sur X le ministère qatari des Affaires étrangères.Les modalités de cet accord et de ces mécanismes n’ont pas été dévoilées mais “des réunions de suivi auront lieu dans les prochains jours” pour s’assurer de sa mise en oeuvre, a précisé Doha dimanche, saluant “une étape importante”.”Il a été décidé qu’aucun des deux pays ne mènerait d’acte hostile à l’égard de l’autre, ni ne soutiendrait des groupes menant des attaques contre le gouvernement du Pakistan et s’abstiendrait de cibler les forces de sécurité et des civils”, a indiqué le porte-parole du gouvernement taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, en publiant sur X une photo des deux ministres de la Défense signant un document et se serrant la main.Le ministre pakistanais de la Défense Khawaja Asif a annoncé une nouvelle réunion à Istanbul le 25 octobre.”Nous exprimons notre profonde gratitude aux deux pays frères, le Qatar et la Turquie”, qui ont joué le rôle de médiateur, a-t-il ajouté.Kaboul avait accusé vendredi son voisin d’avoir rompu la trêve après des frappes ayant tué au moins dix civils, dont deux enfants et trois joueurs de cricket, dans la province de Paktika (est). Des sources de sécurité pakistanaises ont confirmé des “frappes aériennes de précision sur le sol afghan”, visant une organisation armée.- “Droit de réponse” -Le gouvernement taliban avait assuré se réserver “le droit de répondre”, mais avait demandé à ses forces de “s’abstenir de toutes nouvelles actions”, “par respect pour l’équipe de négociateurs”. A l’annonce du cessez-le-feu mercredi à 13H00 GMT, Islamabad avait affirmé qu’il devait durer 48 heures, mais l’Afghanistan avait estimé qu’il serait en vigueur jusqu’à sa violation par la partie adverse.La trêve a tenu deux jours, après des affrontements ayant débordé jusqu’à Kaboul, théâtre d’explosions, et ayant fait des dizaines de morts.L’escalade militaire s’inscrit dans des tensions bilatérales récurrentes, alimentées par des questions migratoires et sécuritaires.Islamabad, confronté à une résurgence d’attaques contre ses forces de sécurité, accuse inlassablement son voisin afghan “d’abriter” des groupes “terroristes”, en tête desquels les talibans pakistanais (TTP), ce que Kaboul dément.Kaboul doit “reprendre le contrôle” sur les combattants qui utilisent son sol “pour perpétrer des attaques odieuses au Pakistan”, a redit samedi le chef d’état-major de l’armée pakistanaise, Syed Asim Munir.”Nous n’avons jamais amené, ni soutenu, le TTP ici”, a de son côté affirmé le vice-ministre afghan de l’Intérieur, Mohammed Nabi Omari, lors d’une cérémonie publique à Khost, autre région frontalière.La confrontation a débuté la semaine dernière après des explosions dans la capitale afghane que les autorités talibanes avaient imputées au voisin pakistanais. En représailles, elles avaient déclenché à la frontière une offensive, à laquelle Islamabad avait promis une “réponse musclée”.La semaine dernière, les premières déflagrations à Kaboul avaient eu lieu au moment où débutait une visite inédite du chef de la diplomatie talibane en Inde, l’ennemi historique du Pakistan.