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2025-09-17 19:27:05 UTC

> London (AFP) – Armed with signs and shouting slogans, thousands of anti-Donald Trump protesters descended on central London on Wednesday to decry the US president's unprecedented second state visit to the UK.
> London's Metropolitan Police estimated that there were around 5,000 people at the protest, which culminated in a rally in front of parliament.
>With Trump receiving the red-carpet treatment at Windsor Castle, around 22 miles (35 kilometres) west of London, demonstrators marched in the heart of the British capital to display their disdain on the first full day of the trip.
>"We're protesting, I suppose, about everything about Donald Trump. You don't know what placard to carry, really, there's so many things" to dislike, former teacher Dave Lockett, 67, told AFP.
>"He's sowing destruction and disorder throughout the whole Earth... If Trump's ideas get into this society, then what we're talking about is fascism in Britain," he added.
>Left-wing lawmakers, including new Green Party leader Zack Polanski, were among those to address the crowds in Parliament Square at the rally hosted by well-known comedian Nish Kumar.
>"We are gathered here united to say this is not in our name," Polanski said of Trump's invitation from the ruling centre-left Labour government.
>"This is the moment to challenge everything Donald Trump stands for. This is the moment to reject the politics of hate and division."
>Protesters had first massed early afternoon near the BBC's headquarters, holding aloft an array of banners, flags and signs, covering everything from support for the Palestinians to rejecting fascism.
>Amid a cacophony of drumming, some demonstrators had recreated smaller versions of the giant balloon depicting Trump wearing a nappy which was famously flown during his first state visit in 2019.
>Yashi Sriram, a doctor originally from India, turned out with a placard reading: "End the genocide. Stop Trump."
>"I just wanted to show support for the people of Palestine, really, more than anything else," said the 32-year-old.
>A group called the Stop Trump Coalition organised the demo, with a broad alliance of organisations sponsoring it, including Amnesty International UK, Black Lives Matter UK, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Greenpeace.
>The coalition questioned why Trump would barely be in London during the visit.
>"Because he knows we're protesting against him," the group said in a statement ahead of the march.
>"Instead, he'll be hiding and having a sad little carriage ride all by himself in Windsor with a parade that no one will even see. This is because of the power of our protest."
>Those at the evening rally repeatedly chanted: "Say it loud, say it clear: Donald Trump not welcome here," as various speakers railed against him.
>London's Metropolitan Police deployed more than 1,600 officers -- including 500 brought in from other forces -- to ensure the event passed off without incident.
>A purported counter-demonstration failed to muster, and there were no reports of disorder or arrests.
>A lone protester, surrounded by police, displayed a sign reading: "We Love Trump," sparking boos as anti-Trump campaigners marched past him.
>Trump remains deeply unpopular in Britain, with new polling Wednesday showing almost half of respondents thought it was wrong to invite him for a second state visit.
>Only a quarter believed it will improve UK-US relations, according to the YouGov/Sky survey.
>London mayor Sadiq Khan, who allowed the unflattering Trump baby blimp to fly during the American president's first-term visits, has been a persistent critic amid a years-long feud.
>In the article, Khan -- the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital when he was first elected in 2016 -- accused Trump of "scapegoating minorities, illegally deporting US citizens, deploying the military to the streets of diverse cities".
>"These actions aren't just inconsistent with western values -- they're straight out of the autocrat's playbook," he wrote.

2025-05-06 04:24:53 UTC

> Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Hollywood reacted Monday with skepticism to US President Donald Trump's announcement of 100 percent tariffs on foreign films, with movie insiders calling it a policy made up on the fly by a president who fails to understand how the industry works.
> "It makes no sense," entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel said of Trump's idea.
>Handel explained to AFP that many US productions, from James Bond flicks to the "Mission Impossible" franchise, are filmed abroad for obvious creative reasons.
>"If the stunt is Tom Cruise climbing up the Eiffel Tower, what are we supposed to do, shoot at the replica Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas?" Handel said. "I mean, it's just nonsensical."
>Writing Sunday on his platform Truth Social, Trump said: "I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands."
>Trump added: "WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!"
>His words plunged the movie industry into uncertainty, as entertainment companies saw their stock prices fall, unions struggled to understand if the bombshell also applies to TV series and everyone wondered if the policy could even be enforced.
>Handel noted that movies involve intellectual property.
>"You can buy a movie ticket, but you don't buy a movie the way you buy a piece of clothing or an automobile," which can be taxed as they cross a border into the United States, he said.
>Even if a system could be devised to impose tariffs on movies filmed outside the United States, these levies would do more harm than good to the US industry, the lawyer added.
>"The result of that would be to reduce production, to increase the cost of movies, to reduce the number of movies available for movie theaters and streamers to show, which would damage the distribution side of the business," Handel argued.
>Unions for actors and other media and entertainment workers said they awaited more details of Trump's plan but supported the goal of increasing production of movies, TV and streaming in the United States.
>"We will continue to advocate for policies that strengthen our competitive position, accelerate economic growth and create good middle-class jobs for American workers," said one such guild, SAG-AFTRA.
>Many movie studios and other industry organizations had yet to officially react Monday but Trump's announcement triggered crisis meetings, Hollywood press outlets reported, publishing skeptical comments from insiders speaking on condition of anonymity.
>"I can't see his target here other than confusion and distraction," the showbiz news outlet Deadline quoted a top distribution executive as saying.
>"Let's hope this only encourages desperately needed increases in US state tax incentives being implemented ASAP," that person added.
>Such incentives offered by other countries -- like Britain, Canada and Ireland, among others -- are a lure for US movie studios to film outside the country.
>While Trump's idea is divisive, there is widespread agreement that the US movie industry is in dire straits.
>Since the historic strikes by actors and writers that shut it down in 2023, Hollywood has struggled to get back on its feet.
>In Los Angeles, the number of filming days hit a record low in 2024, if one excludes the total shutdown in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic.
>This is in part because many movies are now filmed in a growing number of countries that offer incentives such as tax rebates.
>Deadline quoted a Hollywood movie financier as saying he actually agrees with Trump's goal of having more movies filmed in the United States.
>"But obviously the need is for rebates, not tariffs. Tariffs will just choke the remaining life out of the business," they were quoted as saying.
>As Hollywood fretted over Trump's announcement, the White House said no decision on foreign film tariffs has been made.
>"The Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump's directive to safeguard our country's national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again," the White House said in a statement.
>Trump told reporters Monday, "I'm not looking to hurt the industry. I want to help the industry. But they're given financing by other countries."
>That seemingly conciliatory remark stopped short of walking back the film tariff announcement, as Trump criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is pushing for his state to double the tax credits it grants to the movie industry.
>"Our film industry has been decimated by other countries taking them out, and also by incompetence," Trump said, attacking Newsom.
>"He's just allowed it to be taken away from, you know, Hollywood."

2024-12-18 16:04:43 UTC

> "**This means no one will have to pay for a ticket anymore**," mayor Aleksandar Sapic said Wednesday, with the city following the example of Luxembourg, the Estonian capital Tallinn and the French city of Montpellier.
> Belgrade -- which has a population of nearly 1.7 million --- struggles with terrible traffic jams, with the number of cars on its roads increasing by 250,000 over the past decade, according to Sapic. The Serbian capital is one of the few major European capitals without an underground mass transit system.
> A metro system has been promised for 2030, although ground has yet to be broken on the project amid numerous delays. Sapic also vowed that the city's entire fleet of buses, trams and trolley buses would be replaced by 2027.
> Last month the mayor's plans to demolish a major World War II-era bridge triggered protests and criticism that the removal of the river crossing would only exacerbate the city's traffic problems.
> The measure announced Wednesday was the latest in a series of handouts greenlit by Belgrade's municipal government backed by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. Over the past year kindergartens have been made free and students in the capital have also been given financial aid.