VOA NEWS

July 1, 2018

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.



Immigration advocacy groups marched in demonstrations throughout the United States Saturday to protest President Donald Trump's "zero- tolerance" stance on illegal immigration.

Here in Washington, thousands gathered in a park across from the White House to hear speeches and called for change.

Thousands more demonstrated in New York City, where Mary Jane Skelly is a neuroscientist. "... really shameful recent actions of separating families away, of deterring others for families from seeking asylum. I think it's just another level of evil."

Similar marches took place across the country, including in large cities like Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, as well as in smaller towns.

President Trump tweeted late Saturday afternoon "When people come into our Country illegally, we must IMMEDIATELY escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering. Our laws are the dumbest anywhere in the world."



Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani allowed national security forces Saturday to resume counterinsurgency operations, marking the end of an 18-day cease-fire with the Taliban.

The government had unilaterally halted anti-Taliban operations in the country for a week to mark the annual Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. The Taliban also stopped fighting for that festival.

President Ghani had extended the cease-fire by ten days and invited the Taliban to do the same. However, Taliban leaders chose not to take that offer and to resume fighting.



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U.S. President Donald Trump asserts that Saudi Arabia has agreed to boost oil production.

As AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports, the president's announcement has not exactly been confirmed by the Saudi government.

President Trump says he's spoken to Saudi Arabia's King Salman and received assurances that the kingdom will increase oil production by as much as two million barrels.

In a Saturday morning tweet, the president says he make the case that turmoil in Iran and Venezuela is disrupting world supplies, sending prices too high.

A statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency says there was an understanding between the two leaders that oil producing countries would need to compensate for any potential shortage of supplies. But it did not specifically mention the two million barrels of extra production.

Ben Thomas, Washington.



Mexicans will elect a new president Sunday and voters in the nation appear to be heading to the ballot box with sweeping change in mind.

Polls consistently show the left-leaning Andrés Manuel López Obrador, widely known as AMLO, with a double-digit lead.

???Walter Ariano is a student in Mexico City. "We are talking about dignity, the dignity of the Mexican people. We need very strong ???prescience to ???confront Donald Trump."

Voters will also pick candidates to fill 128 seats in the country's Senate and 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto, first elected in 2012, has a historically low approval rating, slipping as low as 17 percent last year.

Peña Nieto's critics say he has done little to change corruption and violence in the country.



A cease-fire agreement signed by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebels was violated Saturday just hours after it began, with both sides accusing the other of initiating attacks.

Rebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel accused government forces of attacking rebel positions on the outskirts of the northwestern South Sudanese city of Waul barely six hours after the cease-fire took effect.

A government spokesman told the Associated Press that the opposition had attacked first.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since South Sudan's civil war began in 2013.



The Jordanian army began delivering humanitarian aid to thousands of displaced Syrians who took shelter near its border when major fighting broke out in southern Syria this month.

Several thousand Syrians had gathered near a closed border crossing early Saturday pleading to enter Jordan. Jordan had closed its borders after the Syrian army launched a major offensive.



I'm David Byrd in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.