Saturday, June 30, 2018

                 NEWS SUMMARY AT THIS HOUR



There were demonstrations across the United States Saturday in opposition to immigration policies separating families in detention.  At a protest here in York, Pennsylvania around a hundred people participated with many signs using the word "shame".  President Trump's name was featured prominently on many protest signs across the country in what appear to attempts to hurt Trump and the Republican Party ahead of this fall's mid-term elections.

President Trump, who has issued an executive order to suspend family detention separations, responded on Twitter saying that "When people come into our country illegally, we must IMMEDIATELY escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering." 
Trump called current laws 'the dumbest in the world'.  He also gave a political response saying that unlike Democrats, the Republicans want "strong borders" and "no crime".

In Portland, Oregon police revoked a permit for a 150 member Patriot Prayer group march when it came under attack by an Antifa group twice its size, declaring a riot.   Portland Police say they have made arrests but the Patriot Prayer group shouted at Portland police about a lack of protection in the face of the Antifa assault.   The right-leaning group started its rally in a federal plaza and federal law enforcement fired paintballs with pepper spray at the leftists who assaulted with fire crackers, eggs and water bottles.

Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini  has closed his country's ports to boats carrying migrants that are run by Non-Governmental Organizations saying the NGO's are not legitimate and linked to human trafficking.  A Salvini Facebook post proclaimed:  "Halt the mafia of human trafficking: the fewer that depart, the fewer will perish."  

Mexican voters go to the polls in hours to elect candidates for 18-thousand offices led by president.

Polling going into this Sunday's election shows the leading presidential candidate is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.   The former Mexico City mayor leads the left-leaning MORENA movement which has brought in other left-wing elements and a small party with roots in Neo-Pentecostal Christianity.

Obrador has been critical of President Trump during the campaign  and has said he will get Trump to 'see reason' if he is elected president.

Inflation in Venezuela has surged to over 40,000 percent.  Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke told Reuters Venezuela's inflation rate is now 41,838 percent, a record high.

Hanke has been tracking inflation there for two decades.

In recent days, Vice President Mike Pence has been visiting Latin American countries, urging that the left-wing government of Venezuela be isolated.  Pence included a visit to refugees from the country who fled to Brazil.

One of Pence's stops was Ecuador, where he discussed Julian Assange's status with President Lenin Moreno.  The Wikileaks founder sought refuge at Ecuador's embassy in London more than six years ago in the face of extradition to the United States for publishing embarrassing classified information.

The White House said that Pence and Moreno agreed to remain in 'close coordination' on 'potential next steps moving forward".  Ecuador cut off Asange's internet connection with the outside world in March.

A high court judge in the United Kingdom will be hearing the appeal of activist Tommy Robinson at London's Royal Courts of Justice on July 10th.  Robinson was arrested May 25th for a live stream video report from outside a child sex abuse trial involving Muslim defendants in Leeds.  Robinson got threats when transferred to a new prison with a high Muslim population last month and was forced to ask for solitary confinement.   He now spends 23 and a half hours a day in a cell with a mat on the floor for a bed.

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