Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day and denounce the war in the Middle East.
From Rio in Brazil, Caracas in Venezuela and cities across France, Spain, Turkey and other European countries, demonstrators marched to demand women’s rights across a range of issues.
Thousands marched in cities across Spain to protest gender-based violence and call for an end to the war in the Middle East.
Photo: EPA
Rape survivor Gisele Pelicot led a women’s rights march in Paris, one of 150 demonstrations in French cities.
“We won’t give up,” Pelicot, 73, told the crowd, as she joined thousands in the French capital marching for women’s rights, economic equality and an end to sexual violence.
Pelicot became a global symbol in the fight after she waived her right to anonymity during the 2024 trial of her ex-husband and dozens of strangers who raped her while she was unconscious.
NO TO WAR
Spanish protesters were denouncing both violence against women and the war in the Middle East sparked by last weekend’s US-Israeli strikes.
Demonstrations took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Granada, Bilbao and San Sebastian, among other cities.
Madrid hosted two demonstrations in the center of the Spanish capital — one for transgender rights and the other for the legalization and regulation of prostitution.
Slogans written on placards at the protests included “No to war” and “Anti-fascist feminists against imperialist war.”
Alexa Rubio, a 30-year-old Mexican living in Spain, cited pay and harassment as some of the most urgent issues.
“And in my country, gender-based violence, because women are being killed for being women,” she said.
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz spoke out against the war in the Middle East at a Madrid rally.
“We proclaim ourselves in defense of peace, in defense of the Iranian people, in defense of Iranian women,” she said, referring to the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has drawn the ire of the US administration for opposing the war and refusing the use of Spain’s military bases for strikes against Iran.
DEFIANT IN ISTANBUL
Thousands of women marched through Istanbul, defying a ban on demonstrations. Demonstrators packed the streets of Cihangir District, some carrying parasols garlanded in fairy lights, others waving a sea of colorful banners.
There were cheers, dancing and purple flares at the end, as organizers read out a statement of support for women affected by the Middle East war.
Earlier on Sunday, several thousand women had gathered on the Asian side of Istanbul, and rallies took place in nine other cities across Turkey, organizers said.
In Latin America, women marched in cities in Brazil, Chile and Mexico and other countries.
“When one woman advances, we all advance,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a speech.
In a message posted on X to mark the day, French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the women of Iran.
“Their courage commands respect and reminds the world that freedom can never be silenced,” he said.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Young Chinese, many who fear age discrimination in their workplace after turning 35, are increasingly starting “one-person companies” that have artificial intelligence (AI) do most of the work. Smaller start-ups are already in vogue in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, with rapidly advancing AI tools seen as a welcome teammate even as they threaten layoffs at existing firms. More young people in China are subscribing to the model, as cities pledge millions of dollars in funding and rent subsidies for such ventures, in alignment with Beijing’s political goal of “technological self-reliance.” “The one-person company is a product of the AI era,” said Karen Dai
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS