1 killed in apartment fire at Trump Tower in New York

NEW YORK - One person was killed and 4 firefighters received minor injuries in an apartment fire on the 50th floor of Trump Tower in New York on Saturday, in a blaze that was quickly extinguished, fire officials said.

The victim, a male resident, died at the hospital and has not yet been identified, they said.

US President Donald Trump, who has an office and a private residence in the midtown Manhattan structure, was not in the building at the time.

"Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!" Trump tweeted.

Fire officials have not yet released a suspected cause of the blaze, adding no member of the Trump family was in the building at the time.

"This was a very difficult fire. As you can imagine, the apartment is quite large, we are 50 stories up. The rest of the building had a considerable amount of smoke," Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said on Twitter.

About 200 fire personnel responded to the incident that the department said was a 4-alarm fire.

Video on social media showed flames outside of a few windows and black smoke billowing up from the high-rise.

In January, 3 people were injured in an early-morning fire at the top of Trump Tower. One firefighter was hospitalized while 2 people received minor injuries that were treated at the scene, the New York Fire Department said.

In addition to the president's 66th-floor penthouse, Trump Tower houses the headquarters of the Trump Organization as well as other residences, offices and stores.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Thousands march in US against Trump presidency

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES -- Chanting "Not my president" and "love trumps hate," thousands of demonstrators took the streets in cities across the United States at the weekend to protest against President-elect Donald Trump, who they say threatens their civil and human rights.

Police in Portland, Oregon, where a protester was shot early on Saturday but not seriously injured, said they arrested more than 20 people late on Saturday after protesters tossed burning flares and bottles at them and refused orders to disperse.

The biggest rallies were in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where organizers said they wanted to build on the momentum after several nights of protests triggered by the real-estate mogul's surprise win in Tuesday's presidential election.

In New York, several thousand protesters marched peacefully up Fifth Avenue past its glitzy store fronts, some already bearing Christmas decorations, before filling the streets at the foot of Trump Tower, the president-elect's skyscraper home.

"We're horrified the country has elected an incredibly unqualified, misogynist, racist on a platform that was just totally hateful," said Mary Florin-McBride, 62, a retired banker from New York who held a sign reading, "No Fascism in America."

There were also demonstrations in Chicago and Los Angeles, where several thousand protesters gathered beneath MacArthur Park's palm trees holding placards including "Dump Trump" and "Minorities Matter," before marching toward downtown.

Some waved American, Mexican or rainbow flags. Holding a "Keep Love Legal" sign, 25-year-old gay Los Angeles resident Alex Seedman called Trump a fascist and feared he would repeal marriage equality.

Evelyne Werzola, 46, an immigrant from South Africa, said she had seen what a police state could do.

"I've seen people oppressed. And this is like a heartbreak of the American dream for me," Werzola said. "So I'm fighting to keep what America has stood for alive."

In Portland, the protester who was shot had been taking part in a march across the city's Morrison Bridge. Portland police said four people had been detained in connection with the shooting, and were believed to be criminal gang associates.

Police also said some protesters attacked a film crew in the city on Saturday night and at least two people were assaulted. They began making arrests when the crowd refused to disperse.

PROTESTS LARGELY PEACEFUL

Since Trump's victory, demonstrators in several cities have decried the Republican's campaign promises to restrict immigration and register Muslims, as well as allegations that the former reality-TV star sexually abused women.

Dozens of protesters have been arrested and a handful of police injured.

The demonstrations since the election have been impromptu affairs, quickly organized, with weekend protests expected to swell in size.

Trump initially denounced the protests, saying they were "incited" by media, but later praised the demonstrators' "passion for our great country."

"We will all come together and be proud!" he said on Twitter.

Many voters were shocked by the outcome, after polls predicted a Clinton victory.

Some 60.3 million people voted for Trump, fewer than the 60.8 million who chose Clinton. But Trump's strong showing in swing states including Michigan meant he triumphed in the Electoral College which ultimately picks the president.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

In 2nd day of anti-Trump protests, civil rights a top concern

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - Demonstrators took to the streets across the country for a second day on Thursday to protest the Republican presidential election victory of real estate mogul Donald Trump, voicing fears that his triumph would strike a blow against civil rights.

Beefing up protection for two of Trump's marquee properties that have become protest rallying points, police erected security fences around his newly opened Pennsylvania Avenue hotel in Washington and placed concrete blocks in front of the high-rise Trump Tower in Manhattan.

About 100 protesters marched from the White House, where Trump had his first transition meeting with President Barack Obama on Thursday, to the Trump International Hotel blocks away, chanting "love Trumps hate."

"This generation deserves better than Donald Trump," said Lily Morton, 17, joining classmates from the Georgetown Day School. "The queer people, colored people, women, girls, everyone that is going to be affected by this, we need to protest to help them."

Later in the day in Los Angeles, a small band of anti-Trump protesters marched onto a freeway near downtown, blocking traffic until police cleared them away.

Trump's critics have expressed concern that his often-inflammatory campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims, women and others - combined with support he has drawn from the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists - could spark a wave of intolerance against various minorities.

Anti-Trump rallies were held in more than a dozen major US cities on Wednesday, with thousands turning out for each of the biggest gatherings - in New York, Los Angeles and Oakland, California. In Oakland, unruly protesters smashed windows, set fires and clashed with riot police.

A Trump campaign representative did not respond to requests for comment on the protests. Taking a far more conciliatory tone in his acceptance speech early Wednesday than he had at many of his campaign events, Trump vowed to be a president for all Americans.

Earlier this month, his campaign rejected a Klan newspaper endorsement, saying Trump "denounces hate in any form."

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a high-profile Trump supporter, called the demonstrators "a bunch of spoiled cry-babies," in an interview with Fox News.

White House spokesman Joshua Earnest said Obama supported demonstrators' right to express themselves peacefully.

'GET IT OUT OF THEIR SYSTEMS'

Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer urged the protesters to give Trump a chance once he is sworn into office in January.

"I hope that people get it out of their systems ... but then they give this man that was just elected very historically and his new vice president an opportunity to govern," Spicer said in an interview on MSNBC.

In San Francisco, more than 1,000 high school students walked out of classes Thursday morning and marched through the city's financial district carrying rainbow flags representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, Mexican flags and signs decrying Trump.

Several hundred students at Texas State University in San Marcos took to the campus to protest Trump's election, with many saying they fear he will infringe the civil rights of minorities and the LGBT community.

Civil rights groups and police reported an uptick in attacks on members of minority groups, in some cases carried out by people claiming to support Trump. There were also reports of Trump opponents lashing out violently against people carrying signs indicating support for Trump.

Organizers used social media to plan and schedule many of the protests. A Facebook group named "#NotMyPresident," formed by college and high school students, called for an anti-Trump rally on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

Several hundred protesters gathered in New York's Washington Square Park. Three miles (5 km) to the north at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, where the president-elect lives, Alex Conway, 29, stood holding a "not my president" sign.

"This sign is not to say he isn't the president of the United States, but for two days I can use my emotion to be against this outcome and to express that he's not mine," said Conway, who works in the film industry.

More anti-Trump demonstrations were planned for the weekend.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Donald Trump happy with strong sales of Trump Tower in Makati

MANILA, Philippines - Century Properties Group said sales of residential units at Trump Tower at Century City in Makati have been brisk.

In a statement, CPG said it has pre-sold 94 percent of Trump Tower's units two years ahead of its completion. Trump Tower has over 250 units with a total sales value of P6.13-billion.

"We would like to congratulate our great partners, Century Properties Group, on this very exciting accomplishment. Together, we have done something very special and this fantastic property will set the standard of luxury and quality in the Philippines and beyond," said Donald J. Trump, Chairman & President of the Trump Organization.

Century Properties Chairman and CEO Jose E.B. Antonio thanked Trump for his confidence in the company.

"Putting a Trump Tower in the Philippines is Century's contribution to making Metro Manila an international destination. We are overwhelmed by the response from the market to the Trump Brand and are grateful, as this now affords the city one of the most luxurious buildings in the world, comparable to the city centers of New York, Hong Kong and Singapore," Antonio said.

Most of the buyers of units at Trump Tower are high-net-worth Filipinos and foreign nations, according to CPG Director for Investor Relations Kristina Garcia.

"The successful sales of Trump Tower is a strong indicator of the power of Trump and how Century Properties has maintained its solid position as a key developer of first-class residential developments within the central business districts of Metro Manila, while it continues to diversify into other market segments," Garcia said.

Trump Tower's construction has reached the 27th floor as of early January 2015.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com