Thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil's largest cities on Friday to mark International Women's Day and denounce gender violence and sexual discrimination.

Brazil has the fifth highest rate of femicide in the world, and last year elected right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly used rhetoric widely seen as sexist and racist.

A wave of protesters clad in purple called for an end to gender-based violence, equal pay, and abortion rights. There were also loud calls and chants for increased female solidarity among the demonstrators, most of whom were women.&nbsp;

In the last year in Brazil, more than 16 million women above the age of 16 faced some kind of violence and of them, 536 were victims of physical aggression every hour, according to a study released in February by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security and the Datafolha research center.

Many demonstrators carried banners and wore shirts paying tribute to Brazilian councilwoman and activist Marielle Franco, who was assassinated almost a year ago in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, a crime that remains unsolved. Franco was a vocal defender of human rights and critic of police brutality in Brazil.

Demonstrators also carried a bust of Franco as well as one of Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, another icon of feminism in Latin America.&nbsp;

The black feminist movement was also strongly represented at the rally in Rio.&nbsp;

One of the protesters, Silvia de Mendoza, told EFE that she had joined the protest to "claim her right to fight against fascism and for the life and rights of women".&nbsp;

While it was a primarily feminist march, there was also a strong anti-fascist sentiment, with chants against the current president Bolsonaro heard throughout, as well as clear support for former left-wing president Lula Da Silva, who was jailed last year on corruption charges.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, the demonstrations to commemorate International Women's Day started around 6:30 pm in front of the iconic art museum in the city (MAFF), where slogans were chanted against President Jair Bolsonaro, pension reform and violence against women.

More than 11,000 Brazilian women have filed the report of violence to police in the first two months of this year, a 19.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year, the government said Friday.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil's largest cities on Friday to mark International Women's Day and denounce gender violence and sexual discrimination.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil's largest cities on Friday to mark International Women's Day and denounce gender violence and sexual discrimination. Brazil has the fifth highest rate of femicide in the world, and last year elected right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly used rhetoric widely seen as sexist and racist. A wave of protesters clad in purple called for an end to gender-based violence, equal pay, and abortion rights. There were also loud calls and chants for increased female solidarity among the demonstrators, most of whom were women. In the last year in Brazil, more than 16 million women above the age of 16 faced some kind of violence and of them, 536 were victims of physical aggression every hour, according to a study released in February by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security and the Datafolha research center. Many demonstrators carried banners and wore shirts paying tribute to Brazilian councilwoman and activist Marielle Franco, who was assassinated almost a year ago in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, a crime that remains unsolved. Franco was a vocal defender of human rights and critic of police brutality in Brazil. Demonstrators also carried a bust of Franco as well as one of Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, another icon of feminism in Latin America. The black feminist movement was also strongly represented at the rally in Rio. One of the protesters, Silvia de Mendoza, told EFE that she had joined the protest to "claim her right to fight against fascism and for the life and rights of women". While it was a primarily feminist march, there was also a strong anti-fascist sentiment, with chants against the current president Bolsonaro heard throughout, as well as clear support for former left-wing president Lula Da Silva, who was jailed last year on corruption charges. In Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, the demonstrations to commemorate International Women's Day started around 6:30 pm in front of the iconic art museum in the city (MAFF), where slogans were chanted against President Jair Bolsonaro, pension reform and violence against women. More than 11,000 Brazilian women have filed the report of violence to police in the first two months of this year, a 19.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year, the government said Friday.

Thousands march in Brazil for women's rights, against Brazilian government

The US and South Korea announced today that they have agreed to install a high-tec weapons defence system called the&nbsp;Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) to the Korean peninsula.&nbsp;The US and South Korea began talks on deploying this system in February, after North Korea launched a long-range rocket following a fourth nuclear test in January. North Korea has carried out several missile launches, also.&nbsp; 
 
China&#39;s Foreign Ministry said on Friday the THAAD system would destabilise the security balance in the region without achieving anything to end North Korea&#39;s nuclear program. The deployment of a US missile defence system in South Korea would &quot;seriously damage&quot; regional security in northeast Asia, China said Friday, adding it strongly opposed the move. 
 
&quot;China strongly urges the United States and South Korea to stop the deployment process of the THAAD anti-missile system, not take any steps to complicate the regional situation and do nothing to harm China&#39;s strategic security interests,&quot; it said in a statement on its website. 
 
The deployment of the THAAD&nbsp;system announced by the US and South Korea would &quot;seriously damage the strategic security interests of countries in the region including China&quot;,and that&nbsp;the system would not aid the &quot;denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,&quot;&nbsp;Beijings foreign ministry said in a statement posted online. 
 
China is North Koreas largest trading partner and has been its key diplomatic protector for decades. But relations have soured over Pyongyang&#39;s nuclear tests and long-range missile launches, with Beijing supporting UN sanctions.&nbsp;Still, analysts say it is concerned over any build up of US power on its doorstep, and values Pyongyang as a strategic bulwark. 
 
Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of &quot;friendly relations&quot; to a visiting North Korean official last month, even after the envoy reportedly told Chinese officials Pyongyang would continue with its internationally condemned nuclear programme. 
 
Russia also warned Friday that the US deployment of an advanced missile defence system in South Korea would have &quot;irreparable consequences&quot;, echoing warnings by China of a threat to regional security. 
 
&quot;This missile defence system tends to undermine stability in the region...We hope that our partners will avoid any actions that could have irreparable consequences,&quot; the Russian foreign ministry said after the US and South Korea announced they would deploy the system to thwart potential attacks from North Korea. 
 
China is positioning itself as the dominant county in the region, claiming that the bulk of the South China Sea falls under its control.&nbsp; 
 
(WION, with inputs from AFP)

Government representatives from Russia and China each strongly denounce the move

The US and South Korea announced today that they have agreed to install a high-tec weapons defence system called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) to the Korean peninsula. The US and South Korea began talks on deploying this system in February, after North Korea launched a long-range rocket following a fourth nuclear test in January. North Korea has carried out several missile launches, also. China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday the THAAD system would destabilise the security balance in the region without achieving anything to end North Korea's nuclear program. The deployment of a US missile defence system in South Korea would "seriously damage" regional security in northeast Asia, China said Friday, adding it strongly opposed the move. "China strongly urges the United States and South Korea to stop the deployment process of the THAAD anti-missile system, not take any steps to complicate the regional situation and do nothing to harm China's strategic security interests," it said in a statement on its website. The deployment of the THAAD system announced by the US and South Korea would "seriously damage the strategic security interests of countries in the region including China",and that the system would not aid the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," Beijings foreign ministry said in a statement posted online. China is North Koreas largest trading partner and has been its key diplomatic protector for decades. But relations have soured over Pyongyang's nuclear tests and long-range missile launches, with Beijing supporting UN sanctions. Still, analysts say it is concerned over any build up of US power on its doorstep, and values Pyongyang as a strategic bulwark. Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of "friendly relations" to a visiting North Korean official last month, even after the envoy reportedly told Chinese officials Pyongyang would continue with its internationally condemned nuclear programme. Russia also warned Friday that the US deployment of an advanced missile defence system in South Korea would have "irreparable consequences", echoing warnings by China of a threat to regional security. "This missile defence system tends to undermine stability in the region...We hope that our partners will avoid any actions that could have irreparable consequences," the Russian foreign ministry said after the US and South Korea announced they would deploy the system to thwart potential attacks from North Korea. China is positioning itself as the dominant county in the region, claiming that the bulk of the South China Sea falls under its control. (WION, with inputs from AFP)

US and South Korea to launch high-tech anti-missile system

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