BUENOS AIRES: Argentine lawmakers on Thursday overturned two vetoes by President Javier Milei, marking a setback for the libertarian leader ahead of key legislative elections that could shape the future of his economic reform agenda.
The opposition-controlled Senate voted overwhelmingly to override Milei’s vetoes of bills boosting funding for public universities and pediatric health care, with margins of 59-7 and 58-7, respectively.
Milei, who has implemented deep austerity policies to reduce the size of government, said the new spending would jeopardize Argentina’s fiscal balance.
In September, Argentina’s congress for the first time overturned a veto issued by Milei, reinstating a bill that increased spending for people with disabilities.
The latest pushback comes at a precarious time for Milei, as the country prepares for midterm elections on October 26 and his popularity drops, in the face of a corruption scandal and public weariness with his austerity measures.
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Argentina’s Milei suffers veto overrides again, a blow before consequential midterms
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Argentina’s Milei suffers veto overrides again, a blow before consequential midterms
Suspected Russia shadow tanker anchored off French coast
MARTIGUES: An oil tanker seized by France in the Mediterranean and suspected of being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet” lay anchored Sunday near a southern French port and guarded by the French navy.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
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