The grand military parade that United States President Donald Trump had been wanting for years barrelled down Washington, DC’s Constitution Avenue, with tanks, troops and a 21-gun salute, the spectacle played out against a counterpoint of protests around the country by those who decried the Republican leader as a “dictator” and “would-be king”.
Trump, also celebrating his 79th birthday, sat on a special viewing stand south of the White House to watch the display of US military might, which began early on Saturday and moved swiftly as light rain fell and clouds shrouded the Washington Monument.
The procession, with more than 6,000 soldiers and 128 tanks, was one Trump tried to hold in his first term after seeing such an event in Paris in 2017, but the plan never came together until the parade was added to an event recognising the US Army’s 250th anniversary.
As armoured vehicles rolled down the street in front of the president, millions of people packed into streets, parks and plazas across the US as part of the so-called “No Kings” protests, marching through city centres and small towns, blaring anti-authoritarian chants mixed with support for protecting democracy and immigrant rights.
Authorities across the US urged calm and promised no tolerance for violence, while some governors mobilised the National Guard ahead of the demonstrations.
Police in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration enforcement raids erupted a week ago, used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the formal event ended. Officers in Portland city also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building well into Saturday evening.
Huge, boisterous crowds marched, danced, drummed and chanted shoulder-to-shoulder in New York City, Denver, Chicago, Austin and Los Angeles, some behind “No Kings” banners. Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity event quickly reached its limit, with thousands more gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol. Officials in Seattle estimated that more than 70,000 people attended the city’s largest rally in the city centre, the Seattle Times reported.
The demonstrations came on the heels of protests over the federal ICE raids which began last week, and Trump’s order for the US National Guard and Marines to be deployed to Los Angeles, where protesters blocked a motorway and set cars on fire.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US – will meet on Sunday in the remote town of Kananaskis, Alberta, nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, for three days of intense discussions.
This will be the 51st G7 summit meeting. The first took place in 1975 in Rambouillet, France. Back then, it was known as the G6 meeting, as Canada did not become a member until the following year.
Russia joined the forum in 1998, making it the G8, but was effectively expelled in 2014, following its annexation of Crimea. Since then, the forum has been known as the G7.
Tensions at this year’s gathering, taking place June 15-17, are likely to be high for many reasons.
Intense discussions are expected about the unfolding crisis in the Middle East after Israel carried out massive strikes on military and nuclear sites in Iran on Friday. This year’s meeting also takes place against the backdrop of aggressive trade tariffs set – and then paused for all countries except China, which has now reached a deal with the US – by US President Donald Trump earlier this year.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney may also still be reeling from comments by Trump that Canada should become the 51st US state. In May, Carney stated that Canada was “not for sale … ever” during a meeting with Trump at the White House.
The G7 represents 44 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) but only 10 percent of the world’s population. Within the group, the US is by far the largest economy. Having campaigned for the presidency on an “America First” message, Trump has frequently expressed displeasure about how much it contributes to global affairs.
At the last G7 summit attended by Trump in 2018, his national security adviser, John Bolton, posted on social media: “Just another G7 where other countries expect America will always be their bank. The President made it clear today. No more.”
So, who is coming this year and what will they be talking about?
Who is attending the G7 meeting this year?
Canada is hosting this year’s G7 meeting – it’s the seventh time it has assumed the presidency of the group. Besides leaders of the G7 countries and the EU, which is also represented at the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited several heads of state from non-G7 countries as guests.
These include Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who confirmed her attendance on Monday after saying in May that she was undecided, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was invited, but it is unclear whether he will attend.
The invitation for Modi has raised eyebrows in Canada. Relations between India and Canada have been strained since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of assassinating a Sikh separatist leader in Canada in 2023. The World Sikh Organisation said Carney’s invitation was a “betrayal of Sikh Canadians”, and the Sikh Federation of Canada called it “a grave insult”.
But Carney, who is trying to diversify Canadian trade away from the US, defended his decision, saying it makes sense for the G7 to invite India, since it is the world’s fifth-largest economy and is at the heart of a number of trading supply chains.
“In addition, bilaterally, we have now agreed, importantly, to continued law enforcement dialogue, so there’s been some progress on that, that recognises issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi in that context,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa.
In March, Carney also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to this week’s gathering.
Leaders of Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and South Korea are also expected to attend.
[Al Jazeera]
Will they discuss US trade tariffs?
During his current tenure as president, Trump has imposed broad tariffs on every member of the G7, as well as on most other countries around the world, sparking a global trade war in the process. Trump says he wants to reverse large trade deficits between the US and other countries.
However, it is unlikely this issue will be formally addressed during G7 discussions as Carney will primarily be trying to prevent a fallout over trade between the member states, many of whom are still scrambling to secure trade deals with the US.
The UK reached the first trade agreement with the US in May, when it agreed to reduce tariffs on US goods from 5.1 percent to 1.8 percent and provide greater access for US goods. In return, the US dropped higher tariffs, leaving only its universal 10-percent tariff in place.
Both the EU and Japan are hoping to strike their own agreements before the July 9 end of Trump’s 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs.
Trump also had a rocky relationship with the G7 during his first term as US president and left the 2018 summit – also in Canada – in a huff. At the end of what was thought to be a successful gathering, Trump wrote on social media that he had directed his staff not to sign the final communique – the statement G7 countries issue in a show of unity at the end of the summit – and called then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “very dishonest and weak”.
Even though the communique is never usually formally “signed”, the incident pointed to Trump’s unpredictability, experts say.
John Kirton of the G7 Research Group, based at the University of Toronto, said Trump is less likely to cause a scene this year. He told Indian channel NDTV World that Carney is on better terms with Trump and noted that the US is due to host the G7 in 2027. “He doesn’t want to kill the G7 golden goose before he can produce the ‘biggest, best summit ever’ for the whole world stage two years from now,” Kirton said.
So, what will be on the agenda for this G7 meeting?
The G7 2025 summit website lists three core actions on the agenda for this year’s discussions: “Protecting our communities around the world”; “Building energy security and accelerating the digital transition”; and “Securing the partnerships of the future”.
But G7 leaders are likely to focus on the unfolding conflict between Israel and Iran.
If this does not dominate discussions entirely, other items on the agenda at this year’s G7 summit are likely to be global trade issues, the Russia-Ukraine war and China.
Israel-Iran crisis
Julia Kulik, director of strategic initiatives for the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College, said conversations on global peace that would have focused on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Israel’s war on Gaza will now likely pivot to Iran.
“There will be tough questions from other leaders around the table to Donald Trump about what went wrong with the negotiations and about what he’s going to do to get Israel to de-escalate before things get worse,” Kulik told Al Jazeera.
The G7 “was designed to be a crisis response group with the ability to act and adapt quickly to international challenges … so in some ways it’s good they’re meeting this weekend as they’ll have the ability to respond quickly”, she added.
Robert Rogowsky, professor of trade and economic diplomacy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said there is no way G7 members can avoid the subject of the latest crisis in the Middle East. “That attack, counterattack, and the US declaration that it was not involved and its warning about staying away from American assets as targets is likely to be the first thing discussed, as it now creates the possibility of a real, all-out war in the Middle East. The major neighbouring parties will have to decide how to align themselves.” Rogowsky said.
Global trade
While Carney is hoping to cover uncontroversial themes, such as building friendlier global supply chains for materials like critical minerals, China may also be a focus of discussions.
Following a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Canada in May, the group issued a joint communique saying they would continue to monitor “nonmarket policies and practices” which contribute to imbalances in global trade. The statement did not mention China, but “nonmarket policies” often refer to export subsidies and currency policies that the Trump administration says provide an advantage in international trade. The statement was seen as a swipe at China’s trade practices, in particular its lending practices, which many see as adding debt for poorer countries.
Leaders of the G7 are also expected to discuss concerns about rising tensions between China and Taiwan in the East and South China Seas, as well as China’s expanding military presence there.
Russia-Ukraine war
A joint statement of G7 foreign ministers following an earlier meeting in Quebec in mid-March expressed strong support for Kyiv. It said finance ministers had “discussed imposing further costs on Russia” if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire.
The UK and the EU announced a new round of sanctions against Russia in May, but Trump, who has been conducting discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the US would not follow suit.
Sanctions against Russia and achieving a ceasefire may, therefore, also be a focus of discussions this week.
Global development
This could be a thorny issue.
Global development, particularly in African countries, has long been a primary focus of G7 discussions. However, this year, the US has made clear that it wishes to de-prioritise economic and humanitarian assistance for other countries. It has largely shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and says it plans large cuts to funding for other health and development initiatives overseas, as well.
What meetings could take place on the sidelines of the G7 summit?
US-EU
Donald Trump is expected to hold meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Japan’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba. Both leaders are eager to agree on a trade deal with Trump as soon as possible to avoid reciprocal tariffs, due to come back into place following a pause in early July.
US-Canada-Mexico
Trump, Carney and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum may also hold a separate meeting of North American leaders on trade and border security. In February, Trump postponed his planned 25-percent import tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods at the last minute. Canada’s then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sheinbaum both agreed to increase border security to prevent the trafficking of drugs and migrants into the US, averting a trade war. Trump says he has been particularly concerned about the flow of the drug fentanyl into the US from both Canada and Mexico.
Washington, DC – It was the 250th birthday of the United States Army, and Trump’s 79th.
Tanks and other armoured military vehicles rumbled down the streets of Washington, DC, on Saturday, in what Trump had teased as an “unforgettable” event and critics had called a pricey tribute to the “egoist-in-chief”.
Speaking after the hour-long procession, which cut through a balmy evening dotted with raindrops, Trump framed the spectacle as a long time coming.
“Every other country celebrates their victories. It’s about time America did, too,” he told the crowd, which sprawled sparsely across the National Mall.
“That’s what we’re doing tonight,” he said.
Vice President JD Vance, who introduced the president at the end of the parade, was the only official to acknowledge the dual birthdays.
“June 14th is, of course, the birthday of the army. It is, of course, the birthday of the president of the United States,” he said. “Happy birthday, Mr President.”
For critics, the overlapping dates sent a disconcerting message.
Away from the celebrations, among about 100 protesters at Logan Circle in Washington, DC, Terry Mahoney, a 55-year-old Marine veteran, described the parade as “dictator behaviour”.
“If you take everything else he’s done, stomping on the US Constitution, this parade may just be window dressing,” he told Al Jazeera.
Soldiers march during a military parade to commemorate the US Army’s 250th Birthday in Washington, DC [Brian Snyder/Reuters]
“But it’s the worst kind of window dressing,” said Mahoney, who was among the tens of thousands of protests who took to the streets nationally to oppose Trump’s leadership on Saturday. “So I wanted to make sure that my voice was represented today.”
But blocks away, near the entrance to the heavily fortified parade route, Taras Voronyy, who travelled from South Carolina, was less concerned about the blurred lines of the parade than the soldiers it was honouring.
“It’s a chance to celebrate the military, and also, Trump will be here,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I was actually a little confused if it was supposed to be for the Army’s 250th anniversary or for Trump’s birthday,” he said. “So I guess it’s a twofer.”
A birthday celebration
Trump had sought a massive military parade ever since attending a Bastille Day celebration in Paris in 2017, but faced pushback from defence officials during his first term.
This time around, he sent 28 Abrams tanks, a horde of armoured vehicles, cavalry, military planes and helicopters, both modern and antique, to the US capital, in a show of military hardware without comparison since 1991, when the US marked the end of the Gulf War.
Spectators gathered along Constitution Avenue – a thoroughfare that connects the White House to the US Capitol – for a pageant that stretched from the Army’s 1775 birth, through World War II, the Vietnam War, and the so-called “war on terror”.
Trump’s arrival prompted cheers, and a handful of jeers, from the crowd, which was dotted with red Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats. Attendance appeared to be less than the military’s prediction of about 200,000 people.
For Freddie Delacruz, a 63-year-old US Army veteran who travelled from North Carolina for the parade, Trump’s birthday and the Army celebration were distinct phenomena.
“It’s a coincidence,” he said. “I got married on June 6, which is the anniversary of D-day [the landing of allied forces on the beaches of Normandy, France].”
“So these things happen,” he said. “But we’re here to support the army. I spent 32 years in the army – I want to see the tanks, the planes, the helicopters flying around.”
A person holds up a ‘No Kings’ sign in protest against US President Donald Trump’s policies and federal immigration sweeps, during the US Army’s 250th birthday festival in Washington, DC, US, June 14, 2025 [Carlos Barria/Reuters]
Delacruz also did not see much significance in Trump’s deployment earlier this week of the US National Guard to California to respond to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles and other cities.
Local officials and rights advocates have said the deployment, which was soon followed by Trump sending Marines to protect federal property and personnel, represented a major escalation and overreach of presidential power.
A judge on Thursday sided with a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, ruling that Trump’s deployment without the governor’s approval was unlawful. However, an appeals court paused the ruling just hours later, allowing the deployment to temporarily continue.
Delacruz acknowledged that Trump has “got a lot of power… I mean, he’s got the Department of Defense, he’s got the Department of Department of State and now, all the Cabinet members are supporting him 100 percent”.
“But he’s still just the president, and he can’t control Congress,” he added. “This is what the people voted for.”
Freddie Delacruz attends the US Army parade in Washington, DC [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera]
Aaron M, a 57-year-old Army veteran from Miami, Florida, also said he did not see an issue with how Trump has used federal forces in local law enforcement.
Trump’s decision was the first time since 1965 that a president had activated the National Guard without a governor’s consent. Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have indicated that the approach could be replicated across the country.
In recent days, Trump has also floated invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow US troops to take part in domestic law enforcement, in what critics call a step towards martial law, but has not yet done so.
“If governors can’t get their states under control, then Trump should send [the National Guard] in,” said Aaron, who declined to give his last name.
“Look, I was born in Nicaragua. I came here when I was 12,” Aaron added.
“I know what a dictator is. This is not a dictator,” he said, motioning to the grandstand from where Trump watched the parade.
Armoured vehicles take part in a military parade to commemorate the US Army’s 250th birthday in Washington, DC [Brian Snyder/Reuters]
‘Protesting is patriotic’
For Anahi Rivas-Rodriguez, a 24-year-old from McAllen, Texas, the military pageantry underscored a more troubling turn, which she said included Trump’s hardline immigration policies melding with the country’s military might.
“I have a lot of people in my life who are scared. We do not belong in a fear in America,” said Rivas-Rodriguez, who joined a group of protesters marching in front of the White House.
“I do not stand by an America that tears families apart and targets people because they look brown and they look Mexican,” she said, her eyes welling up, “because they look like me”.
Trump earlier this week described the protesters as “people who hate the country”, adding that those who came out on Saturday would be “met with very big force”.
Rivas-Rodriguez bristled.
“Protesting is patriotic, and I am here for my country because I care about America,” she said. “Maybe I’m a little intimidated [by Trump], but I am not scared because I am still here.”
Anahi Rivas-Rodriguez attends a protest in Washington, DC [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera]
About 60 arrests were made in a protest at the US Capitol late on Friday, but no major incidents were reported in the US capital on Saturday, with many groups choosing to hold protests elsewhere.
The organisers of the national “No Kings” protests held no official event in DC, despite hosting demonstrations in about 2,000 cities across the country.
In a statement, the group said they did so to avoid “allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity”.
Still, Roland Roebuck, a 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran from Puerto Rico, said he wanted to attend the parade in protest to send a message.
“Trump has been allergic to military service and deeply disrespectful of the military,” he said, pointing to Trump’s medical exemption from serving in Vietnam due to “bone spurs”, in what critics have said amounted to draft dodging.
Roebuck said the parade – with a price tag of between $25m and $45m – rings tone deaf at a time when Trump has been rolling back federal services, including those that affect veterans.
He also accused Trump of “erasing” the contributions of Black soldiers like himself through his administration’s anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) campaign at the Pentagon.
“Many of the people that are here are very confused with respect to what this parade represents,” Roebuck said.
“This represents a farce.”
President Donald Trump speaks during a celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday at the National Mall in Washington, DC [Doug Mills/Reuters]
Lionel Messi led a strong second-half resurgence from Inter Miami in a surprisingly thrilling 0-0 draw with Al Ahly in Group A to open the FIFA Club World Cup in Florida.
The Argentinian forward, much like the rest of his teammates, had a quiet first half at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday.
Egyptian giants Al Ahly dominated the play and the chances in the opening 45 minutes but were denied on numerous occasions by Inter keeper Oscar Ustari.
It appeared that the 39-year-old’s efforts were going to be in vain going in at the break, when Trezeguet stepped up from the spot in the 43rd minute, but Ustari was equal to the Al Ahly threat once more.
Inter Miami’s Argentinian goalkeeper Oscar Ustari makes a save on a penalty kick by Al Ahly’s Egyptian midfielder Trezeguet [Chandan Khanna/AFP]
The second period was a vastly improved performance by the Major League Soccer side, and ended with Messi thumping a long-range effort off the bar.
Al Ahly keeper Mohamed El Shenawy managed to get fingertips onto Messi’s late left-footed curler.
The stopper had to be just as alert from the resulting corner – deep into stoppage time – to deny Maximiliano Falcon’s header.
Al Ahly’s Mohamed El Shenawy makes a save from Lionel Messi [Hannah Mckay/Reuters]
It was his opposite number, Ustari, who kept his side in the contest at the break, leading Inter manager Javier Mascherano to reflect that his side were only “alive” thanks to their keeper.
Wessam Abou Ali and Emam Ashour were both denied from close-range chances, but the big moment came after Zizo cut into the box before being clipped from behind by Telasco Segovia.
Former Premier League player with Aston Villa, Trezeguet, stepped up from the spot and sent his kick to his left – the keeper guessed correctly and made the save.
“I’m happy with the performance. It was much better in the second half,” Mascherano continued in conversation with broadcaster DAZN after the full-time whistle.
“In the first period, we lost some balls and some transitions, where they are very dangerous.
“We dominated the second half and had the chances to win the game.”
Inter Miami’s Tadeo Allende shoots at goal [Marco Bello/Reuters]
Inter’s first big chance came just a few minutes after the break, when Tadeo Allende was denied with a similarly smothering save from Al Ahly keeper El Shenawy as had been seen by his opposite number early in the piece.
The possession and pressure had clearly switched to the home side, who looked a vastly different side to the showing in the opening 45 minutes.
Messi hit the side netting with a free kick, and was a constant thorn in the side of the Egyptians, who, with 155 trophies, are the most successful side in the world.
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi shoots at goal from a free kick [Hannah Mckay/Reuters]
It was late in the game, though, that a short corner taken by Messi was rolled back to him on the right and he whipped a shot to the far post, only for the keeper to tip it onto the bar and over.
The recovery by the home side was even more impressive given the extraordinary turnout of Egyptian fans, who made themselves heard from start to finish.
Their team, however, could not do the same with their performance on the field.
“It’s not about what went wrong. We had a decent amount of chances in the first half to put the game into a different space. We couldn’t,” Al Ahly’s new manager, Jose Riviera, told DAZN after the match.
“In the second half, we had a time where we were suffering, but a lot of positives and things to correct to do better next time.
“It seems like we were playing in Cairo. It was a big surprise for me in my first match. Hopefully, next time, we can give them a victory.”
The second match of the group is played on Sunday between Palmeiras of Brazil and Porto of Portugal.
Who: Paris Saint-Germain vs Atletico Madrid What: FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Where: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, United States When: Sunday, June 15, 12:00pm PDT kickoff (19:00 GMT)
How to follow our coverage: We’ll have all the build-up from 6pm (16:00 GMT) on Al Jazeera Sport.
Freshly crowned kings of Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, are treating FIFA’s lucrative new-look FIFA Club World Club not as a nuisance at the end of an exhausting season but as a serious objective.
“I think it is an incredible competition,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said of the Club World Cup in the immediate aftermath of his team’s UEFA Champions League triumph in Munich.
“Our aim is to be competitive and try to win a fifth trophy of the season.”
The Qatar-backed French giants could be forgiven for wanting some time to bask in the glory of their 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in Munich, which allowed them to finally win the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Paris St Germain’s Achraf Hakimi arrives in Los Angeles ahead of the Club World Cup [Daniel Cole/Reuters]
There had been numerous agonising failures in Europe’s elite club competition, as well as billions of euros spent on transfer fees for stars like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, prior to captain Marquinhos raising the trophy aloft.
“We have made history for the club, for the city and for the whole country,” defender Lucas Hernandez told the sports daily L’Equipe, after the PSG squad paraded their trophy down the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, attended a reception with President Emmanuel Macron and celebrated with almost 50,000 fans at their Parc des Princes stadium.
PSG players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League final against Inter Milan [Michael Probst/AP]
Will PSG play their star names at the Club World Cup?
PSG have played 58 matches since last August, and also swept all the available domestic trophies in France this season, as has become the norm in recent years.
But there is simply no time to stop and reflect.
Many of their players, including Champions League final hero Desire Doue, spent last week on international duty before returning to their club and departing for Los Angeles, where they will begin their FIFA Club World Cup adventure this weekend.
“The tournament itself is a really attractive prospect,” Luis Enrique told FIFA.com.
“We have to strike the balance between managing the physical and mental fatigue we’re experiencing now at the end of a long season and harnessing the motivation that comes with being involved in the competition.”
Paris Saint-Germain CEO Victoriano Melero and Adrien Frier, the French consul-general in Los Angeles, pose for a picture in Beverly Hills [Rory Carroll/Reuters]
PSG’s opening game is against another European heavyweight as they take on Antoine Griezmann’s Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, just outside Los Angeles, on Sunday.
They will then also face South American champions Botafogo, of Brazil, before moving north to take on Seattle Sounders in their remaining Group B matches.
Expected to qualify for the knockout phase without too many issues, PSG could end up playing a total of seven matches if they make it all the way to the final in New York on July 13 – just a month before their scheduled first game of next season in the UEFA Supercup against Tottenham Hotspur.
Have PSG made any new signings since their Champions League win?
The strain of such a long campaign is telling, with Ousmane Dembele – their top scorer this season with 33 goals – struggling with an injury picked up playing for France last week.
They did not manage to add any new players to their squad during the brief transfer window that opened at the start of this month ahead of the tournament. Reported interest in Bournemouth’s Ukrainian defender, Illia Zabarnyi, did not turn into anything concrete.
But the rewards for success in the Club World Cup are enticing and should be enough to keep Luis Enrique’s squad focused on their objective, with up to a stunning $125 million in prize money on offer for the best-performing European team if they manage to go all the way.
Paris Saint-Germain players arrive in Los Angeles on a Qatar Airways aeroplane with the PSG and Champions League logos ahead of the Club World Cup [Daniel Cole/Reuters]
Paris Saint-Germain (France) full squad:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matvey Safonov, Arnau Tenas Defenders: Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Lucas Peraldo, Presnel Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes, Lucas Hernandez, William Pacho, Noham Kamara Midfielders: Gabriel Moscardo, Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves, Senny Mayulu, Warren Zaire-Emery, Vitinha Forwards: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Goncalo Ramos, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Lee Kang-In, Bradley Barcola, Ibrahim Mbaye
At least 100 people have been killed in a northcentral Nigerian town following an overnight attack by gunmen, as Amnesty International called for the government to end the “almost daily bloodshed in Benue state”.
The attack, which occurred from late Friday into Saturday morning, took place in Yelwata, a town in Benue State, according to Amnesty.
“Amnesty International has been documenting the alarming escalation of attacks across Benue state where gunmen have been on a killing spree with utter impunity. These attacks have been causing massive displacement and may affect food security as majority of the victims are farmers,” the rights group wrote on X.
“The Nigerian authorities’ failure to stem the violence is costing people’s lives and livelihoods, and without immediate action many more lives may be lost,” the organisation said, adding that many people were still missing from the attack.
The Nigerian authorities must immediately end the almost daily bloodshed in Benue state and bring the actual perpetrators to justice.
The horrifying killing of over 100 people by gunmen that invaded Yelewata; from late Friday into the early hours of Saturday 14 June 2025, shows…
Tersoo Kula, a spokesperson for the state governor’s office, told the AFP news agency earlier on Saturday that the attack lasted about two hours and a “number of houses [were] burnt down”.
He added that government officials and police officials had visited Yelwata and “confirmed” a lower death toll of 45.
Police spokesperson Udeme Edet confirmed the attack to AFP and said police had engaged the attackers in a gunfight.
But locals told AFP that they feared that more than 100 people had been killed in the attack.
“It is terribly bad, many people have died,” Amineh Liapha Hir, a resident of the town, said. “It could be more than 100, and many houses were also burnt,” Hir added.
Another resident, Christian Msuega, said he escaped the attack, but his sister and brother-in-law had died after being burned alive.
In the region, attacks are common as local herders, mostly Muslim ethnic Fulani, and farmers, many of whom are Christian, clash over the limited access to land and water.
