Women round world rally against Trump
US PRESIDENT’S FIRST EXECUTIVE ORDER TARGETS OBAMACARE
H undreds of thousands of women took to the streets of European capitals and American cities to join “sister marches” in Asia against newly installed US President Trump ahead of the Women’s March in Washington.
The women’s rights protests were to mark Trump’s first full day in office. In Washington, where the largest march was being held, organisers upped their initial turnout estimate from 200,000 to half a million people faced with the flood of protesters who were continuing to pour into the capital’s streets.
Huge sister protests were also taking place in cities including Boston, New York, Denver and Chicago.
Worldwide some 670 marches were held, according to the organisers’ website.
In Europe, marches also took place in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Geneva and Amsterdam. Around 2,000 people marched in Vienna, according to estimates by the police and organisers.
In Africa, hundreds of protesters in Nairobi’s Karura Forest waved placards and sang American protest songs.
In Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, about 3,000 people gathered for a rally in Hyde Park before marching on the US consulate downtown, while organisers said 5,000 people rallied in Melbourne.
In New Zealand, there were marches in four cities, involving around 2,000 people.
Elsewhere in Asia, hundreds of people joined protests in Tokyo.
Work begins
In Washington, adhering to his vow to immediately start dismantling the healthcare reforms passed by outgoing president Barack Obama, Trump signed his first executive order in the Oval Office, targeting Obamacare.
It commands government offices to grant all possible exemptions to limit the “economic and regulatory burden” of the Affordable Care Act, as a prelude to a full repeal.
The first two Trump cabinet members were sworn in after being confirmed on Friday by the US Senate. Both are retired generals: Secretary of Defence James Mattis, and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.