A Women’s March on Washington extended well beyond the
U.S. capital on Saturday, one day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as
U.S. president.The rally in D.C. alone was estimated to have drawn
over 500,000 people. But rallies in cities such as L.A., Chicago, Boston,
London, Paris, Vancouver and Toronto drew many thousands more.Together,
demonstrators all over the world sent a message in support of “human
rights, decency and justice” after a heated presidential campaign that was
characterized by racist and sexist rhetoric.
The rallies generated striking photos wherever people
gathered.Millions
of protesters have taken to the streets of cities in the US and around the
globe to rally against the new US President Donald Trump. Larger numbers of
demonstrators than expected turned out for more than 600 rallies worldwide.
The aim was principally to highlight
women's rights, which activists believe to be under threat from the new
administration.Meanwhile, Mr Trump used his first full day in office to visit
the CIA's HQ. He said he was "1,000%" behind the spy agency's employees
and also accused the media of being dishonest
in its reporting of the size of the crowd at his inauguration.
Mr Trump did not refer to Saturday's
protests.
'We are the majority'
The biggest US rally was in the capital
Washington, which city officials estimated to be more than 500,000-strong. This
far exceeded the 200,000 that had originally been expected by organisers of the
Women's March on Washington.By most estimates, it also surpassed the crowd at
Friday's presidential inauguration.
The protesters in the nation's capital
heard speeches from Scarlett Johansson, Ugly Betty star America Ferrera, Ashley
Judd, Gloria Steinem and Michael Moore among others. A planned march to the
White House proved impossible as the entire route was filled with demonstrators.
Interim DC Police Chief Peter Newsham told Associated Press: "The crowd
stretches so far that there's no room left to march."
During his speech, Michael Moore ripped up
a copy of the Washington Post, saying: "The headline was 'Trump takes
power'. I don't think so. Here's the power. Here's the majority of America
right here. We are the majority."The singer Madonna also made an appearance, swearing
several times in a speech carried live by major US TV networks. "Yes, I am
outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White
House," she said.
America Ferrera
told the crowd: "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against
which our new president is waging a war."
Huge crowds were
reported at other US protests.
So many turned out
in Chicago - some 150,000 - that a planned march had to be called off and the
event declared a rally. Streets were also overflowing in Los Angeles. Huge
crowds were also reported in New York, Seattle, Boston and Miami, some of the
venues for about 300 nationwide protests. Many women wore knitted pink
"pussy hats" - a reference to a recording that emerged during the
election campaign in which Mr Trump talked about groping women.
Organisers
of a London rally said between 80,000 and 100,000
people had taken part there. Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh,
Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol were among the other UK cities holding
protests. Anti-Trump marches took place earlier in Australia, New Zealand and
in several Asian cities. Several thousand women and men joined a rally in
central Sydney, with a similar number in Melbourne.
Women's March Sydney co-founder Mindy
Freiband told the crowd: "Hatred, hate speech, bigotry, discrimination,
prejudicial policies - these are not American problems, these are global problems."
Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam, Geneva, Budapest, Prague and Berlin were among the
European cities that took part. In Paris, protester Francoise Seme Wallon said
Mr Trump was "a nasty guy and he's dangerous for the whole world"
.
Full text of inauguration speech
Website overhaul
Mr Trump's first full day in office began
with an inter-faith service at Washington National Cathedral. He then visited
the CIA's HQ in Langley, Virginia. In a speech there, he told about 400
employees: "There is nobody who feels stronger about the intelligence
community and the CIA than me."
During the election campaign, Mr Trump had
sharply criticised the intelligence agencies over their stance on alleged
Russian involvement. Mr
Trump also talked up his yet-to-be-confirmed nominee for CIA chief, Mike
Pompeo. "You will be getting a total gem," he told the employees.
In one of his first
steps, Mr Trump ordered government agencies to ease the "economic
burden" of the health law known as Obamacare. His team also quickly
overhauled the White House website. The revamp
replaces Barack Obama's policies with Mr Trump's new agenda.
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