- 'People will come back': Kazakhstan debates nuclear future
- 'They even murder children': Burkinabes caught in conflict crossfire
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Deadly strike on central Beirut after Israel, Iran trade threats
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Conte plays down Napoli's title chances
- Tolstoy's descendants in family saga over Russian peace prize
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Tigers, Royals, Padres advance in MLB playoffs, Brewers stay alive
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- Singapore ex-minister sentenced to 12 months in prison in rare graft trial
- Baseball 'superhuman' Ohtani finds new ways to amaze among greats
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Australia's world No.7 Green wants women to play Presidents Cup
- Mexico leader worried about drinking water after Hurricane John
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- Messi scores two as Miami clinch MLS Supporters' Shield
- US election like no other enters nail-biting final month
- Morocco mobile desalination units quench remote areas' thirst
- US election: five key moments in an extraordinary campaign
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Chappell Roan drama sees US singer's fandom get political -- and pushy
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
- Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
- Huge protests in Argentina over public university cuts
- Deadly Israeli strike on central Beirut after soldiers killed
- Trump 'resorted to crimes' to overturn 2020 election: special counsel
- Tigers and Royals complete sweeps to advance in MLB playoffs
- 'Heartbreaking': Biden, Harris tour storm areas as deaths surpass 160
- Australia's most capped footballer Polkinghorne to retire
- Emery masterminds 'statement' Champions League win for Aston Villa
- Ancelotti holds hands up as Real Madrid's long unbeaten run ends
- Juventus played like a team 'possessed', says Vlahovic
- Real Madrid beaten in Champions League as Villa shock Bayern
- US urgently tries to shape Israel's response to Iran
- Tigers sweep Astros to advance in MLB playoffs
- Dodgers say pitching icon Valenzuela 'focusing on health'
- Rampant Benfica smash Simeone's Atletico in Champions League
- Conceicao stunner nets 10-man Juventus win at Leipzig
- Aston Villa stun Bayern in repeat of 1982 European Cup final
- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- Rampant Benfica smash Simeone's absent Atletico
- David strikes as Lille claim Real Madrid scalp in Champions League
- Slot makes Liverpool history as Reds beat Bologna
- Biden, Harris tour areas slammed by major storm
CMSD | -0.04% | 24.93 | $ | |
BCC | -1.33% | 139.53 | $ | |
NGG | -1.85% | 68.78 | $ | |
SCS | -2.56% | 12.87 | $ | |
BCE | -1.13% | 34.44 | $ | |
RIO | -0.48% | 70.82 | $ | |
GSK | -2.15% | 39.45 | $ | |
BTI | -1.33% | 35.97 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 24.78 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 32.37 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 59.99 | $ | |
JRI | -1.12% | 13.38 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.14% | 6.91 | $ | |
RELX | -0.11% | 47.29 | $ | |
AZN | 1.14% | 79.58 | $ | |
VOD | -2.16% | 9.74 | $ |
Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
Argentine President Javier Milei has made good on threats to veto proposed increases to university funding, with the measure made official early Thursday after a day of major student-led protests.
Thousands of Argentines joined the demonstration Wednesday in defense of the country's cherished public university system -- the second large-scale protest in six months on the issue.
The law, which would have guaranteed funding for universities, angered Milei, a self-professed "anarcho-capitalist" who came to power vowing to take a figurative chainsaw to public spending to tame chronically high inflation and eliminate the deficit.
While inflation has fallen, his spending cuts have been blamed for a surge in poverty levels, which affected more than half the population in the first six months of his presidency.
A huge crowd packed a vast square outside Congress in central Buenos Aires, where demonstrators waved placards reading "Without education for the people, no peace for the government" or "How can we have freedom without education?"
Ana Hoqui, a 30-year-old psychology graduate from a village 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Buenos Aires who was among the demonstrators, said she came to show support for a system which helped her study medicine.
"My parents sacrificed a lot so that I could come study at Buenos Aires University. I could never have trained without the free, public university system," she told AFP.
"That's why I came to defend it, because I feel it's in danger."
Protests were also held in several cities nationwide on Wednesday.
In April, hundreds of thousands of Argentines took to the streets in a first pivotal show of anger over Milei's policies after the government froze university funding for 2024 at the same level as 2023, despite persistently high inflation.
The government responded by increasing funding for university hospitals and infrastructure.
- Presidential veto -
At the center of the latest protests was a new law passed by Congress that provided for universities to receive regular funding increases, and for teachers and staff to receive salary increases to counteract the effects of annual inflation of 236 percent in August.
Milei vetoed the law, as he has done with other laws he opposes, after calling the salary increases for teachers "unjustified" and lawmakers "fiscal degenerates." His decision was published in the official government gazette.
That veto could however be overruled by a two-thirds majority in Congress where his party is in a minority.
While the protests were ongoing, Milei met with disgraced Wall Street trader Jordan Belfort, whose corrupt, excess-driven lifestyle was depicted in Martin Scorsese's "Wolf of Wall Street."
Belfort posted a picture of the meeting on X, captioned "two passionate advocates for free markets and individual liberty."
A.Gasser--BTB