Millions of people from all over the world have marched in opposition to the agenda and rhetoric of President Donald Trump.
In the United States, people packed into the country’s capital for the Women’s March on Washington, as hundreds of other marches happened across America.
A city official in Washington said the turnout estimate was of 500,000 people, more than double the initial predictions, forcing organizers to abandon plans to march towards the White House.
Figures from Transport officials in Washington suggested more people attended the march than came for Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
By 11:00 am, the city’s subway system had carried 275,000 people, whereas only 193,000 had taken trips by the same time on Inauguration Day.
Interim DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said: “The crowd stretches so far that there’s no room left to march.”
So many people turned up to the march in Chicago that organizers canceled a planned march through the city’s downtown, while demonstrations in New York and Philadelphia also experienced larger-than-expected crowds.
Organizers said 750,000 people attended the march in Los Angeles — a huge increase on the 150,000 originally expected.
Former Democratic nominee for president Hillary Clinton praised those attending the marches on Twitter, reviving her campaign slogan “Stronger Together.”
Women’s marches also took place in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday (local time), with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people marching through the streets of Sydney alone.
The Women’s March on Washington, featuring speakers, celebrity appearances and a protest walk along the National Mall, was planned as a counter-argument to Mr. Trump’s populist presidential campaign, in which he angered many on the left with comments seen as demeaning to women, Mexicans and Muslims.
The mission statement of the Women’s March says event participants are “hurting and scared” as Mr. Trump takes office, and they want a greater voice for women in political life.
The Washington march comes one day after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, which saw the US capital rocked by violent protests against the new President.
Black-clad anti-establishment activists smashed windows, set vehicles on fire and fought with riot-gear-clad police who responded with stun grenades.
The protests illustrated the depth of the anger in a deeply divided country that is still recovering from the scarring 2016 campaign season.
Women marching in protest in dozens of countries
The women marching in Washington DC were joined by thousands more around the world.
Similar rallies were held in London, Berlin, Rome and hundreds of other cities in Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East, with organizers estimating a turnout of more than 3 million people.
In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of “Love, not hate, makes America great.”
In New York, actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined a crowd of protesters marching to Mr. Trump’s local home.
In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading “We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump” and “With our sisters in Washington.”
Hundreds gathered in Prague’s Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Mr. Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“We are worried about the way some politicians talk, especially during the American elections,” said organizer Johanna Nejedlova.
In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park.
One organizer said hatred, bigotry, and racism were not only America’s problems.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, protesters in the march’s trademark pink woolen hats met outside the US Embassy.
March participant Sherin Khankan said, “an alternative to the growing hatred must be created.”
At a rally in Stockholm, Sweden, organizer Lotta Kuylenstjerna said “we do not have to accept his message,” about Mr. Trump.
