U.S. President Donald Trump casts his ballot for the November 3 presidential election in his adopted home state of Florida Saturday while his Democratic challenger Joe Biden spends the day focusing on the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
 
Trump, who switched his official residence from New York to Florida last year, votes early in the day in West Palm Beach after spending the night at his nearby Mar-a-Lago resort.  
 
The president then addresses crowds at rallies in Lumberton, North Carolina, Circleville, Ohio, and Waukesha, Wisconsin.FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, Oct. 23, 2020.Former Vice President Biden, meanwhile, holds drive-in events in Bucks County, a suburban Philadelphia county that Hillary Clinton captured by a slim margin in 2016, and in nearby Luzerne County. Former President Barack Obama won Luzerne County twice before voters there cast ballots overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016.
 
Biden’s campaign also seeks voter support Saturday in the key state of Florida, with Obama holding a drive-in rally in North Miami on behalf of his former vice president.
 
Although the presidential election is less than two weeks away, more than 52 million people have already voted. Another 100 million or so are expected to cast ballots before a winner is declared. 
 
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Egypt is voting Saturday and Sunday in the first phase of parliamentary elections that are expected to produce a legislative body packed with supporters of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, like the previous one.
 
Public criticism of the government in Egypt is strongly discouraged and authorities have ratcheted up their crackdown on dissent in recent years.  The crackdown targets not only the supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, but also secular pro-democracy activists, journalists and online critics, effectively leaving the president with no formal political opposition.
 
About 63 million voters are eligible to cast ballots in the two-stage election for 568 out of 596 total seats of the lower house of parliament.
 
Over 4,000 candidates are competing as individuals for 50% of the seats and 1,100 candidates are running on four party lists. Sissi will appoint 28 legislators to fill 5% of the seats for the total number of 596 deputies in the chamber.  
 
Fourteen of Egypt’s 27 provinces, including Giza and the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria are also voting this weekend.
   
The country’s 13 other provinces, including the capital Cairo and the two provinces in Sinai Peninsula, will vote in the second phase, scheduled for November 7 and 8.  
 
Each phase of the vote will be followed by runoff elections. The final results will be announced in December, with the inaugural session to follow shortly after.    
 
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Heavy fighting continues over the Nagorno-Karabakh region as Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of shelling residential areas.Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said Azerbaijani rockets hit the town of Martakert and several villages in the Martuni region overnight.Nagorno-Karabakh officials say 927 of their troops have been killed, and more than 30 civilians have died.Azerbaijan has not disclosed its military losses but has said 63 civilians have been killed and 292 wounded.While the fighting continued in the breakaway mountain enclave, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to “end the violence and protect civilians” after nearly a month of intense fighting.In a statement issued Friday after Pompeo met separately with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in Washington the state department said, “The secretary also stressed the importance of the sides entering substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to resolve the conflict based on the Helsinki Final Act principles of the non-use or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples.”Pompeo said in a tweet after his talks that he and both foreign ministers discussed “critical steps” to halt the violence. “Both must implement a ceasefire and return to substantive negotiations,” he said.Mnatsakanyan told VOA the talks were “very good” on Friday as he left the State Department, where about two dozen demonstrators, mostly Armenians, were gathered outside. When asked about a timeline for a cease-fire, he said “we [will] keep working on that.” The meeting in Washington was arranged after two failed Russian attempts to broker a cease-fire in the worst outbreak of fighting over the region in more than a quarter-century.Pompeo has joined other global leaders in pushing for an end to the fighting over the disputed territory. But Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Wednesday he sees no possibility of a diplomatic solution at this stage of the conflict.For his part, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said Armenian forces must withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh to end the fighting, which Russian President Vladimir said may have killed about 5,000 people since the violence erupted.Turkey said Wednesday it will not hesitate to send troops and provide military support to help Azerbaijan if such a request is made. Pompeo has called on other countries not to provide “fuel” for the conflict.Shortly before the meetings in Washington began, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped to collaborate with Russia to resolve the conflict.Aram Avetisyan of VOA’s Armenian Service contributed reporting.  
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Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari acknowledged Friday that “many lives have been lost” in weeks of unrest in the country but failed to denounce the police killing of peaceful protesters demanding an end to police brutality.Buhari made the comment in a meeting with former heads of state on how to address some of the country’s most intense violence in years.”In the mayhem that ensued, many lives had been lost and there are a number of public and private properties completely destroyed or vandalized… The mayhem has not stopped,” he said. “Through all the disturbances, security agencies observed extreme restraint.”The government “will not fold its arms and allow miscreants and criminals to continue to perpetrate these acts of hooliganism,” he said.Buhari did not, however, clarify how many people were killed, but after the meeting he said in a written statement that 51 civilians, 11 police officers and seven soldiers were killed during the violent confrontations.Major roads in Lagos, a major city and former capital of Nigeria, were blocked Friday by groups of people armed with knives and sticks, with many of them demanding more widespread reforms of the police and an end to corruption.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Nigerian authorities must “not abuse force when dealing with demonstrations” and added that he received assurances from Buhari.“I heard from the president his strong commitment to do everything possible to avoid these kinds of incidents and I hope it will be the case in the future,” Guterres said.On Thursday, the United States condemned the police brutality in Lagos, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for an investigation.“We welcome an immediate investigation into any use of excessive force by members of the security forces. Those involved should be held to account in accordance with Nigerian law,” Pompeo said in a statement.Congressional Black Caucus member Sheila Jackson Lee, along with caucus members Barbara Lee and Frederica Wilson, has sent a letter to the Nigerian president demanding an end to the violence, the release of those who have been arrested and an investigation into the shootings at the toll plaza.Lee told VOA she and her colleagues also wrote to the U.N. Security Council “to ask for an investigation because this is a violation of human rights and the violation of human rights should not be tolerated by the United Nations.”Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa also condemned the police brutality and called for “an immediate end to the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors.” “That security forces have used live ammunition against peaceful protestors demonstrating against police brutality is especially alarming. We urge security forces to act with restraint and for Nigerian authorities to deescalate the situation and hold perpetrators of violence to account,” Senators Chris Coons, Cory Booker, Tim Kaine and Chris Murphy said in a statement.Amnesty International on Wednesday reported that a total of 38 people died in protest-related incidents on Tuesday. Amnesty International also said at least 56 people have been killed over the past two weeks in protests directed at the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS, which the international rights group accused of torture and murders. The government disbanded SARS last week, but that has not tempered the outrage.Lagos authorities have not been able to fully enforce a curfew as anger continued to escalate. They said on Friday the curfew would be eased on Saturday, remaining in effect from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. local time.
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As the United States saw its highest number of new coronavirus cases reported in a single day, former Vice President Joe Biden announced that if he defeats President Donald Trump in next month’s election, he will push for a nationwide mask mandate.“I’ll go to every governor and urge them to mandate masks in their state. And if any refuse, I’ll go to the mayors and county executives to get local masking requirements in place nationwide,” Biden said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, 11 days before the vote.“As president, I’ll mandate mask-wearing in all federal buildings and on interstate transportation because masks save lives,” he said.More than 80,000 new COVID-19 infections were reported Friday by Johns Hopkins University, topping the single-day record of 77,362 set July 16.All but about a half dozen of the 50 U.S. states have shown increased coronavirus cases this week compared to last week. At least 14 states have reported new highs in hospitalized coronavirus patients in the past seven days.Trump criticized Biden on Friday in Florida for emphasizing the infection, for which there is yet no vaccine or cure.“All he talks about is COVID COVID, COVID because they want to scare people, and we’ve done so well with it,” Trump said in the senior citizens’ community of The Villages.“We’re rounding the turn. We’re rounding the corner. We’re rounding the corner beautifully,” he said.Later, at a second campaign rally in Pensacola, he told a packed crowd of thousands, where few were wearing masks, “we want normal to fully resume and that’s happening.”Trump’s critics have accused him of holding “super-spreader events,” in defiance of federal health guidelines and local regulations on social distancing.Biden, laying out his pandemic response plan Friday, criticized Trump for asserting during their nationally televised debate Thursday night that the country is learning to live with the coronavirus.“As I told him last night, we’re not learning to live with it,” Biden said.“We’re learning to die with it, and there is a dark winter ahead,” he said.There are predictions from public health officials of a coronavirus case surge as cold weather sets in across the Northern Hemisphere.Biden said Friday that “once we have a safe and effective vaccine, it has to be free to everyone — whether or not you’re insured.”Trump continues to defend his administration’s handling of the pandemic amid criticism he has sidelined top career government infectious diseases experts on his coronavirus task force, in favor of outsiders such as Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuro-radiologist who has minimized the importance of masks.Atlas has also reportedly promoted the argument that lockdowns and prohibitions on gatherings and indoor activities do more damage than good and lead to increases in poverty and mental problems.COVID-19 has killed more than 223,000 people in the United States and infected nearly 8.5 million.Trump on Friday, without giving specifics, vowed “we will eradicate the pandemic and defeat this scourge from China once and for all.”
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The United States has set a daily record for coronavirus cases as a new surge of the virus raises fears of a further increase during the cold fall and winter months.According to The New York Times, more than 82,000 cases were reported across the United States by Friday evening, breaking a single-day record set July 16 by more than 6,000 cases.The Times also reported that around 41,000 Americans are currently in the hospital, which represents a 41% increase from the past month. The northern Rocky Mountain states and the upper Midwest are currently seeing spikes in reported cases.A new estimate by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on Friday said the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 could surpass 500,000 by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks. It said the number of possible deaths could drop by 130,000 if 95% of Americans would wear face coverings.In Europe, France surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases, registering a record 42,032 cases in 24 hours.France becomes the seventh country to pass the milestone, after the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, Argentina and Spain.Epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the scientific council advising the French government, said, “The virus is circulating more quickly than in the spring.”President Emmanuel Macron said a curfew that took effect Friday night for two-thirds of France could be tightened if the restrictions do not lead to a lowering of coronavirus cases.Residents in many European countries, including parts of Germany, Spain, Italy, Britain, and Slovakia, are facing more restrictions in their daily lives as officials impose curfews and limits on social interaction.Countries are scrambling to look for ways to slow the spread but also to avoid the blanket lockdowns imposed earlier this year that have taken a massive economic toll and have little public support.Hundreds of protesters in Naples, Italy, protested Friday night over a new regional curfew. Demonstrators threw smoke bombs, and police responded with tear gas. Italy reached a new daily high Friday of nearly 20,000 coronavirus cases.Wales began a shutdown of nonessential businesses Friday night that will last until Nov. 9. Shops restaurants and bars will be under a severe two-week lockdown.”A firebreak period is our best chance of regaining control of the virus and avoiding a much longer and much more damaging national lockdown,” First Minister Mark Drakeford said earlier this week.Poland announced the entire country will become a “red zone” of strict restrictions starting Saturday, just short of a lockdown. The country is closing restaurants and bars, limiting public gatherings to five people, and requiring masks at all times outdoors.Other countries are taking less severe measures.Belgium, one of the hardest-hit countries, restricted social contacts and banned spectators from sporting events. Denmark said it would lower the limit on public gatherings from 50 people to 10 and would ban the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m.The New York Times reported data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control show that despite the jump in cases, hospitalizations in Europe are “still less than half of the peak in March and April,” but are rising steadily each week.Researchers around the world are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19, which has killed more than 1.1 million globally and sickened more than 42 million.
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A U.S. judge in San Francisco on Friday rejected a Justice Department request to reverse a decision that allowed Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to continue to offer Chinese-owned WeChat for download in U.S. app stores.U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said the government’s new evidence did not change her opinion about the Tencent app. As it has with Chinese video app TikTok, the Justice Department has argued WeChat threatens national security.WeChat has an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States. It is popular among Chinese students, Americans living in China and Americans who have personal or business relationships in China.WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines services similar to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Venmo. The app is an essential part of daily life for many in China and boasts more than 1 billion users.The Justice Department has appealed Beeler’s decision permitting the continued use of the Chinese mobile app to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but no ruling is likely before December.In a suit brought by WeChat users, Beeler last month blocked a U.S. Commerce Department order set to take effect September 20 that would have required the app to be removed from U.S. app stores.The Commerce Department order would also bar other U.S. transactions with WeChat, potentially making the app unusable in the United States.”The record does not support the conclusion that the government has ‘narrowly tailored’ the prohibited transactions to protect its national-security interests,” Beeler wrote on Friday.She said the evidence “supports the conclusion that the restrictions ‘burden substantially more speech than is necessary to further the government’s legitimate interests.'”WeChat users argued the government sought “an unprecedented ban of an entire medium of communication” and offered only “speculation” of harm from Americans’ use of WeChat.In a similar case, a U.S. appeals court agreed to fast-track a government appeal of a ruling blocking the government from banning new downloads from U.S. app stores of Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok.
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An international agency fighting illicit financing has urged Pakistan to deliver on its remaining commitments by February 2021 to curb money laundering and funding sources to terrorist groups.The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) met Friday at its headquarters in Paris and reviewed Islamabad’s progress under an internationally agreed upon action plan.“The plenary recognized that Pakistan has made progress. The government has now completed 21 of 27 items of its action plan,” Marcus Pleyer, the FATF president, told a post-meeting online news conference. “Pakistan remains on our increased monitoring list, the so-called gray list.”The gray list comprises nations that have weak mechanisms to counter the financing of terrorism but agree to work with FATF to address their deficiencies.Pakistan was placed on the watch list in 2018, making foreign firms more cautious about investing in the South Asian nation, which is dealing with a struggling economy and a balance-of-payment crisis.FILE – In this handout photograph released by the Pakistan’s Press Information Department and taken on June 25, 2020, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during the National Assembly session in Islamabad.Since taking office two years ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government, however, has taken administrative and legislative steps to tighten controls over money laundering and terror funding in its bid to come off of the gray list.’Very serious deficiencies’“It definitely means the world has become safer. But the six outstanding items are very serious deficiencies that still have to be repaired,” Pleyer acknowledged when asked if Pakistan still faces the risk of being moved to the FATF’s so-called black list.The black list comprises countries considered noncooperative and supportive of terror financing as well as money laundering activities. Placement on that list triggers international economic sanctions and restriction in the nations’ dealings with foreign lending institutions.Iran and North Korea are the only two currently blacklisted countries.Pleyer said that the FATF members had decided “by consensus” that Pakistan needed to work on the six outstanding items before his agency would consider sending its team for an “on-site visit” to review progress and determine whether to remove the country from the gray list.“As long as we see that the country is progressing with the action items — and we have seen progress with Pakistan — we give them a chance to repair the outstanding issues,” Pleyer said when asked whether FATF has set a deadline for the country to comply with all the commitments.Pakistan swiftly welcomed Friday’s announcement by the global agency.“This is indicative of the confidence of FATF on the efforts of Pakistani government,” said a Finance Ministry statement issued in Islamabad. It noted that the government had already carried out “considerable work” on the remaining six items in the action plan.“Pakistan shall continue to make efforts to complete the remaining items in line with its strategy by February 2021. FATF will undertake the next review of Pakistan’s progress in February 2021,” the ministry said.
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We get a glimpse into Chinese Americans’ views on politics and visit a church that welcomes the LGBTQ community.  
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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the nation late Thursday in response to weeks of protests calling for greater youth inclusion in Nigerian politics and an end to police brutality.  The president urged young Nigerians to stay out of trouble, but critics say his address failed to highlight vital issues that are driving the demonstrations.
 
Buhari’s televised address came after nearly two weeks of widespread protests by thousands of youths in Nigeria.
 
But the broadcast which lasted about 12 minutes has been widely criticized by citizens and human rights activists who say it lacked empathy and did not address the shooting of protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos Tuesday.  
 
Human rights activist Aisha Yesufu has been part of the protests.
 
“It just shows you the kind of person that the president is, and the kind of government that he is running, and the reason why they never listen to the yearnings of the people. He seems not to care, that is why he will do a speech and will not even mention the people that were killed, he will not even mention their families,” Yesufu said.
The protests to halt police brutality in Africa’s most populous nation started out quickly and expanded to include a growing demand by Nigeria’s younger citizens for better governance and inclusion in Nigerian politics.In this photo released by the Nigeria State House, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari addresses the nation in a live televised broadcast, Oct. 22, 2020.But during his speech, Buhari said protesters may have misinterpreted his government’s swift response to ban the SARS police unit as an avenue to make more demands and cause disruptions.
 
“Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests,” Buhari said.Nigeria’s politics have been dominated by the country’s older generation despite the country having a large youth population – more than 70% of Nigerians are below the age of 40.
 
Political analyst Ezenwa Nwagwu says many issues raised by protesters can only be fixed when citizens exercise their rights by voting during elections.
 
“You don’t get political change from protests in a democracy. You can address a reform issue. But once you start saying bad governance, that is an election matter, when [time for] election comes you’ll say this government is bad, and you present an alternative and people can vote. Ninety percent of the people who you see in the protests have no voter’s card, they’re not members of any political party,” Nwagwu said.
 
An escalation in violence during the recent protests has led to bans and curfews. But despite the president’s warning for citizens to stay out of trouble, protesters will press ahead for the time being, says Yesufu.
 
“So, people are used to hearing the president of course saying something and not doing it and so his words don’t mean anything. His words are not his bond and so the protesters, this was the reason why they kept saying that they will continue. They want to see action, they don’t want mere words, mere rhetoric. No, they want to see the action on ground,” Yesufu said.
 
Buhari, a general in the Nigerian army before he become head of state, was elected in 2015 at the age of 72 and re-elected to a second term last year.
 
Nigerians pushing to have a younger or simply different leader occupying the nation’s highest political office will have to wait until the next general elections set for 2023. 
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Національний банк України встановив на перший день наступного тижня, 26 жовтня, курс 28 гривень 29 копійок за долар, Це на 2 копійки більше за офіційний курс на 23 жовтня, але на 11 копійок менше від річного мінімуму щодо долара США, зафіксованого 6 жовтня.

«Частина клієнтів сподівалася на продовження зміцнення гривні у четвер після позитивних для нацвалюти подій на міжбанку у середу. Цього не сталося, і долар знову пішов вгору, що змушує компанії не брати на себе нові валютні ризики. І вони знову будуть скуповувати валюту на побоюваннях її подальшого зростання», – прогнозували експерти сайту «Мінфін» перед початком торгів у п’ятницю.

На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку 23 жовтня котирування зросли до 28 гривень 30,5–32 копійок за долар (з ранкового рівня 28 гривень 27–29 копійок за долар), свідчать дані Finance.ua.
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Belgian officials Friday announced new COVID-19 restrictions but stopped short of a lockdown to stem the surging rate of infections, which are now averaging more than 10,000 per day.At a news conference in Brussels, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced, among other restrictions, fans are now banned from sports matches; zoos and theme parks will be closed; and limits will be placed on the number of people in cultural spaces. Teleworking remains the rule wherever possible.Belgium had already closed cafes, bars and restaurants and imposed a curfew, and has Europe’s second highest infection rate per capita after the Czech Republic. New infections hit a peak of 10,500 on Thursday.De Croo said Belgium is “pressing the ‘pause’ button” for a few goals, “to ensure that our doctors and hospitals can keep doing their work, that children can continue attending schools and that businesses can continue working while preserving as much as possible the mental health of our population.”Visits at nursing homes have also been limited, but many health experts think the new curtailment won’t be enough to break the contagion chain.Since the pandemic started, the virus has killed 10,588 people in the small nation with 11.5-million inhabitants.The health situation is so dramatic in nine out of 10 Belgium’s provinces that authorities have recently warned intensive care units will hit their capacity by mid-November if new coronavirus cases continue at the same pace.”No rules, no laws can defeat the virus,” said De Croo. “The only ones who can defeat it, it is us and our collective behavior.”To avoid a collapse of the health system, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said that the number of beds available in ICUs will be increased to 2,300 while non-urgent operations will be postponed over the next four weeks.De Croo said it is not new rules and regulations that will defeat the virus, but the collective behavior of the people.  He also sent a message of support to business owners and workers affected by the measures who struggle financially and are losing their jobs.”To all the people affected on the economic level be assured that we are putting everything in place to help, we are going through a national crisis, and national crisis requires national solidarity,” he said.
 
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Witnesses say Cameroon police have chased and beaten at least 200 opposition supporters outside the home of opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who has been under de facto house arrest for over a month.  Anti-riot police were deployed to Kamto’s home this week to contain crowds of supporters demanding he be released.  Police blocked Kamto from leaving his house after he organized anti-government protests in September. An unknown female supporter of opposition leader Maurice Kamto stripped off her clothes in front of his house Thursday and shouted at the large police presence that his month-long detention was illegal.  The woman, in her early 50s, screamed that she would not leave until police allowed Kamto out of his house to speak with her.  She was one of over 200 opposition supporters gathered outside Kamto’s house to mark one month since police surrounded his home, placing him under de facto house arrest.  Kamto supporter Giselle Malongo says she came from the western town of Bafoussam to ask why Kamto has been stopped from leaving his house since September 22. She told VOA the police violently brutalized and blocked supporters from meeting Kamto, a man she called “their president.”  Malongo said armed police seized mobile phones from supporters who tried to take photographs (of the clashes).  She said police also prevented them from delivering food donations to Kamto and his family.  A reporter also witnessed police beating and blocking Kamto’s supporters, some of whom were trying to donate food.  Christopher Ndong,  secretary general and legal advisor of Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement party, said police beat 13 supporters so badly that they had to get treated at a hospital.”Kamto was very furious at this gesture by the military refusing people to come and give him food aid after he had been locked up for a month,” Ndong told VOA.  “There were a lot of hot exchanges.  We decry the attitude of government and its military operatives.  We are saying in fact, this is an infringement to democratic principles and democratic rights.”Cameroon police gave no official statement on the clashes and would not answer a reporter’s questions.  Authorities have not officially declared Kamto to be under house arrest, but police have not allowed him to leave his home since he organized nationwide anti-government protests in September. Cameroon Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji said police are watching Kamto because he is being investigated for hostilities against the state.  “I want to sound a stern warning to unscrupulous politicians that they will face the law.  It must be clear that the discontinuance of legal proceedings does not imply that the charges have been dropped.  Any further act of public disorder will take them back to square one,” Nji said.The September opposition protests were against Cameroon holding December 6 regional elections.  The opposition says the electoral laws favor long-ruling President Paul Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party.  Biya has been in power for 38 years, making him one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.  Kamto and about 200 supporters were jailed last year for protesting against the 2018 presidential election results, which named Biya the winner.  Kamto was released after nine months following international pressure.  Since then, Cameroon police have closely monitored his activities and all of his political rallies and protests have been declared illegal.                 
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