#protests

#protests

In Makassar, the biggest city on Indonesia's central Sulawesi island, furious demonstrators torched vehicles and hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails, setting a local council building ablaze. What do we know about the deadly fire? Three people one civil servant and two council staff members perished after being trapped in the burning building while at least four others were injured. "This is beyond our prediction," council secretary Rahmat Mappatoba told the French AFP news agency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They say we don't need them. Freedom. Freedom. He's a dictator. He's a dictator. A lot of people are saying, maybe we'd like a dictator. So the line is that I'm a dictator, but I stopped crime. So a lot of people say, you know, if that's the case, I'd rather have a dictator. (END VIDEO CLIP) MELBER: Do you take it seriously? How would you fight that?

Nearly 1,000 worker over billionaire protests are being planned in all 50 states starting this weekend as part of a Labor Day week of action organized by labor unions and advocacy groups in opposition to the Trump administration's policies. The actions include marches and rallies in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, a Labor Day parade in New York City, rallies in Palmer, Alaska, Freeport, Maine, and a planned protest at the state capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Affan Kurniawan was killed on Thursday after an armoured police vehicle ran into him outside Indonesia's House of Representatives, as riot police were dispersing crowds who had gathered to demand higher wages, lower taxes and the removal of allowances for politicians. Motorcycle taxi drivers gathered outside Jakarta Mobile Brigade Corps headquarters on Friday to protest against Kurniawan's death, and students urged protesters to rally later outside police headquarters in the capital city.

On Tuesday morning in Searsport, Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins woke up and decided to do something she very, very rarely does: hold a public press event in her state. The event was in celebration of the completion of two years of construction and renovation on the town's Main Street-though very few people were feeling celebratory. Over 200 protesters showed up to the ribbon-cutting ceremony to express their dismay at the senator, her voting record, and the Trump administration at large.

An organizer, wearing a keffiyeh and a shirt reading "Divest from Genocide," stood on a table: "We're all standing here today to hold companies like Palantir and Microsoft accountable for their role powering the world's first AI-assisted genocide." Behind them, nearly 100 activists from Jewish Voice for Peace filled the lobby of Palantir's Seattle offices on July 14, 2025. Activists carried banners featuring giant eyes with yellow irises: "First Palantir Surveils, then IDF Kills." "First Palantir Tracks, then ICE attacks."

"I felt I had to do this," said 25-year-old law student Paddy Friend, who was one of hundreds of people arrested for expressing their support for banned group Palestine Action (PAG).

The Independent investigates key issues such as reproductive rights and climate change, ensuring reporting is available to all without paywalls, highlighting the importance of journalism.

On the day of Pride in London, protesters from Just Stop Oil blocked the parade and sprayed black paint on the road, chanting, "Just stop oil!"