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No Kings protests draw huge crowds as anti-Trump rallies sweep across US
Huge crowds have gathered to protest against President Donald Trump’s policies in cities across the US – among them New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.
The rally in New York City’s iconic Times Square drew thousands of people not long after it began on Saturday morning.
The streets and subway entrances were densely packed with people holding up signs with slogans like, “Democracy not Monarchy” and “The Constitution is not optional”.
Ahead of the demonstrations, Trump allies accused the protesters of being linked with the far-left Antifa movement, and condemned what they called “the hate America rally”.
Organisers and protesters out on Saturday said the events were peaceful.
Non-violence is a core principle of No Kings events, the group states on its website, which urges all participants to de-escalate potential altercations.
In New York, sections of the crowd regularly erupted into chants of “this is what democracy looks like” as a near-constant drumbeat boomed in the background alongside cowbells and noisemakers.
Helicopters and drones could be seen flying overhead, and police stood on the sidelines.
One organiser with a loudspeaker announced that 100,000 had shown up, though it’s not clear if he meant in the Times Square vicinity or across the city’s five boroughs where smaller rallies and events were also being held.
A police officer standing by estimated that over 20,000 were marching down 7th Avenue.
Beth Zasloff, a freelance writer and editor, said she had joined the New York protest because she feels outraged and distressed at what she called a “move toward fascism and an authoritarian government” happening in the Trump administration.
“I care a lot about New York City,” Ms Zasloff said. “It gives me hope to be out here with many, many other people.”
Since returning to the White House, Trump has embraced an expansive view of presidential power, using executive orders to block funding approved by Congress and dismantle parts of the federal government, to introduce sweeping tariffs on other countries, and to deploy national guard troops to cities despite objections by state governors.
The president says his actions are necessary to rebuild a country in crisis and he has dismissed claims he’s a dictator or fascist as hysterical. But critics warn some of the moves by the administration are unconstitutional and a threat to American democracy.
Massimo Mascoli, a 68-year-old retired electronic engineer and resident of New Jersey who grew up in Italy, said he was protesting because he can’t watch the US descend into fascism as his home country did in the last century.
“I am the nephew of an Italian hero that deserted the Mussolini army and joined the resistance,” Mascoli said. “He was tortured and killed by the fascists, and after 80 years, I didn’t expect to find fascism again in the United States.”
Mascoli is particularly concerned about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, implementation of widespread tariffs, deployment of National Guard troops into US cities, and cuts to healthcare for millions of Americans.
“We cannot count on the Supreme Court, we cannot count on the government,” Mr Mascoli said. “We cannot count on the Congress. We have all the legislative, the executive and judiciary that are all against the American people right now. So we are fighting.”
Protests are expected to continue across the country throughout the day. In Washington DC, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders delivered a keynote speech.
“We’re not here because we hate America, we’re here because we love America,” he said to a crowd of thousands.
At the DC march, the BBC saw one man wearing a hat emblazoned with Trump’s “Make American Great Again” slogan, who said he was in town to visit and decided to check out the protest. He declined to give his name, but said while he didn’t really “get it”, people had been civil. Shortly after, a woman shouted a derogatory comment at him.
Throughout Europe, protesters took to the streets in Berlin, Madrid and Rome earlier on Saturday to show solidarity with their American counterparts. A couple of hundred protesters also gathered outside the US embassy in London.
In Toronto, demonstrators near the US consulate general waved signs including “Hands off Canada”.
US protest organisers said the gatherings would challenge Trump’s “authoritarianism”.
In an interview with Fox News, set to air on Sunday but teased on Saturday, Trump appeared to address the upcoming rallies.
“A king! This is not an act,” Trump said in a preview clip of the interview. “You know – they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king.”
“We’ll have to get the National Guard out,” Kansas Senator Roger Marshall said ahead of the rallies, according to CNN.
“Hopefully it’ll be peaceful. I doubt it.”
Republican governors in several US states have placed National Guard troops on standby, but it is unclear how visible the military presence there will be.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday activated the state’s National Guard ahead of a protest scheduled in Austin, the state’s capital.
He said the troops would be needed due to the “planned antifa-linked demonstration”.
Democrats denounced the move, including the state’s top Democrat Gene Wu, who argued: “Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do – and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them.”
Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin also ordered the state National Guard to be activated, though local reports said troops were not present during the protest.
One protester at the rally in the capital held up a sign that read “I am antifa”.
Chuck Epes, 76, said it was a “loaded” term, and just meant he supported “peace, daycare, liveable wage, healthcare”, as well as immigrants and people of colour.
“He’s gaslighting everybody – or trying to, and it ain’t working,” he said.
It is common for presidents to become more unpopular as their term wears on. Joe Biden had a 55% approval rating, according to Reuters/Ipsos, in January 2021. By October of that year, his approval had declined to 46%.
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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued For Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western province
Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 25 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 25 April 2026
Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya
districts after 1.00 p.m.
There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning
activity.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The Department of Meteorology advises that
people should:
• Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
• Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
• Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
• For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.
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Kohli, Padikkal hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ace the chase against Gujarat Titans
An exhibition of clean hitting by Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal ensured Sai Sudarshan’s measured 100 off 58 balls ended in a losing cause as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar had no hesitation in putting GT in. Sudharsan laid a strong foundation on a pitch he described as “two-paced and sticky to start with”. But even when the surface became easier to bat on, GT could not get into overdrive. They scored only 35 in the last four overs and finished on 205 for 3.
In response, Kohli, who was dropped on zero, smashed 81 off 44 balls and Padikkal blasted 55 off just 27. They put on 115 in 9.5 overs for the second wicket, and despite a bit of wobble towards the end, RCB romped home with seven balls to spare.
The GT openers prefer to take as few risks as possible and it was no different on Friday. Sudharsan was circumspect at the start and was on 17 off 16 after three overs. But he found his timing after that and moved to 41 off 27 by the end of the fifth. Gill had faced just three balls till then. GT finished the powerplay on 57 for no loss.
Sudharsan went inventive after the powerplay, scooping Romario Shepherd for a six. When Krunal Pandya bowled a bouncer, he uppercut him over deep third. Later in the over, he slog-swept the spinner for another six, reaching 2000 runs in the IPL. Taking 47 innings, he was the fastest to get there, bettering Chris Gayle’s record by one.
He and Gill added 128 in 12.4 overs, with Gill contributing 32 off 24 balls. The GT captain was starved of strike throughout his stay and holed out to long-on off Suyash Sharma. Sudharsan brought up his hundred off 57 balls, the slowest of the six so far this season. There was no cutting loose after reaching the milestone either. He was out on the very next ball he faced.
GT were 170 for 2 after 16 overs but Suyash, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hazlewood gave away only 17 in the next three. At 187 for 3, Rasikh Salam ran in to bowl the final over but he stopped even before he could bowl a delivery. It looked like cramps and despite the physio working on him, he had to walk off the field. Krunal replaced him and was hit for a six by Jason Holder off the first ball. After another ball, Krunal too pulled out of his delivery stride holding his groin. But after a bit of medical attention, he completed the over, but ended up leaking 18 runs.
With Phil Salt injured, Jacob Bethell finally got a chance to play this season. Opening the innings after coming in as Impact Player, he had a close shave in the second over. He got an inside edge to a length ball from Kagiso Rabada but it missed the stumps and beat Buttler for four. In the next over, he shuffled across and hit Mohammed Siraj for a four on either side of the wicket. But when he tried the same trick later in the over, he hit it straight to the backward point. He made 14 off ten.
Kohli was dropped off the first ball he faced. It was a length delivery from Siraj that he flicked uppishly towards short midwicket but Washington Sundar grassed a regulation chance. Kohli made his intentions clear in the following over when he hit Rabada over mid-on for a four.
Padikkal was even more ruthless. He opened his account with a first-ball six, picking up a 153.6kph length ball from Rabada over square leg. The GT bowlers didn’t help themselves by bowling onto his pads, and he kept flicking them fine for boundaries.
Rashid Khan wasn’t spared either. He dropped one short to Kohli and the batter duly pulled it over deep midwicket for a six before cutting the following delivery for four. In the spinner’s second over, Padikkal hit him for two sixes, the second one taking him to his fifty off just 20 balls. It made Kohli’s 30-ball fifty look pedestrian.
Rashid bowled Padikkal with a googly from around the wicket, and Kohli played Holder on but not before hitting the allrounder for back-to-back sixes.
Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma kept the attack going. They hit a six each off Rashid but fell in quick succession. Suddenly, RCB were five down with 31 required from four overs. Krunal, though, bashed Manav Suthar for two fours and a six in the 18th over, bringing the equation down to seven needed from 12. In the penultimate over, he swatted Holder through midwicket for four before wrapping up the game with a gentle pull to fine leg.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206 for 5 in 18.5 overs (Jacob Bethell 14, Virat Kohli 81, Devdutt Padikkal 55, Jitesh Sharma 10, Tim David 10*, Krunal Pandya 23*; Mohammed Siraj 1-25, Jason Holder 1-35, Rashid Khan 2-49, Manav Suther 1-19) beat Gujarat Titans 205 for 3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 25, Washington Sundar 19*,Jason Holder 23*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-31, Josh Hazelwood 40, Suyash Sharma 1-36) by five wickets
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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern provinces during the day time
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 24 April 2026, valid for 25 April 2026.
Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and
Eastern provinces during the day time.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
Advisory for Severe Lightning issued For Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western province
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Kohli, Padikkal hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ace the chase against Gujarat Titans
Showers expected in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya and Puttalam districts after 2.00 pm
Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern provinces during the day time
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