'No to Trump:' Thousands Protest President in London, Australia

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Demonstrators march against U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest in London, England, February 4. Neil Hall/Reuters

Thousands demonstrated in London and across Australia Saturday to condemn President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration and foreign policy in general.

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Several thousand people demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in London holding black banners with blood stains bearing slogans such as "No to Trump. No to War" and "Trump: Special Relationship? Just say no." Meanwhile, about 1,000 people gathered in Sydney to protest and to call on Australia to close its offshore processing centers on the tiny Pacific Island of Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

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A demonstrator holds a placard during a march against President Donald Trump in London, England, February 4. Neil Hall/Reuters

U.S. ties with Australia became strained on Thursday after details about an acrimonious phone call between Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull emerged and Trump said a deal between the two nations on refugee resettlement was "dumb."

Trump signed an order just over a week ago putting a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the U.S. and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries. On Friday, a Seattle judge blocked the order but many in Britain are angry about the measure, which they see as discriminatory, and the time it took for Prime Minister Theresa May's government to criticize it.

Australian protests also were held in Canberra, Newcastle and Hobart, while hundreds attended an anti-Trump rally in Melbourne on Friday.

Under the "dumb deal", the United States would take up to 1,250 asylum seekers held on Nauru and Manus. In return, Australia would take refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Trump has begrudgingly said he planned to stand by the deal, but a source told Reuters on Friday U.S. immigration officials have postponed interviews with asylum seekers on Nauru.

In Sydney, protesters carried placards that said "Refugee torture, Australia's shame" and "No walls, no camps, no bans".

"Australia should not be trying to palm off people the government considers problems to the U.S.A. We have the solution here," protester Beverley Fine, 62, told Reuters.

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