The longest shutdown in US history
The partial government shutdown became the longest funding lapse in U.S. history Saturday, as it dragged into its 22nd day.
This week, Congress was unable to break the deadlock due to President Donald Trump’s desire to allocate more than $ 5 billion to build the proposed border wall with Mexico. The closing of the nine federal departments is likely to last a long time: Congress is not going to meet again until Monday.
According to the American President, the United States suffers from the negative effects of illegal immigration such as drug trafficking and crime. As Trump stressed in his address, 90% of the heroin, which results in over 300 dead each week, is brought to the country across the southern border. In addition, over the past two years, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service carried out 266,000 arrests in connection with crimes by illegal migrants.
On Tuesday, Trump made a special televised address which focused on the need to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
Yellow vests, Act 9
On Saturday, France saw Act 9 of the Yellow Vest protests take place across the country.
84,000 people participated in the protests (34,000 more than last week). Over 240 protesters were detained throughout France, as police used tear gas and water cannons
In Paris, according to media reports, at least 24 people are injured. Also, 5,000 “Yellow vests” in Bourges honored the memory of firefighters who died during an explosion on Trevis Street in Paris the day before the action.
Broad protests also took place in other countries, including the Netherlands (in 14 different cities including The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam).
Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron has yet to understand his mistakes – on the contrary, he criticized the citizens of France for not making sufficient effort to oppose the Yellow Vests. The statement was greeted with rage across the country.
Protests in Sudan
Last week was particularly brutal in Sudan. The prosecutor’s office reported that 24 people were killed during protests.
Earlier, it was reported that two people were killed and six people were injured during the January 9 protests in the Sudanese city of Omdurman.
The protests in Sudan began in December 2018 amid rising prices for fuel, bread and flour.
Starting on December 19 in Atbara (North Kordofan), the unrest swept through 30 cities of the country, reaching Khartoum and Omdurman. In some cities, people set fire to the offices of the ruling National Congress party, demanding the resignation of the president and the government, police responding with tear gas and other crowd control measures.