Hundreds of veterans burned tires and blocked highways in Lebanon on Thursday to protest plans to tax their pensions and other measures in a 2019 budget intended to slash the country’s deficit. Parliament is debating a draft budget approved by the cabinet last month. It aims to cut the deficit to 7.6% of gross domestic […]
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Brazil Senate blocks Bolsonaro move to ease gun carrying
Brazil’s Senate on Tuesday overturned a decree signed last month by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro that drastically expanded the number of people allowed to carry weapons in public. Bolsonaro pledged when campaigning for the presidency last year to change the laws to allow more Brazilians to bear arms for self defense. The temporary measure needs […]
A road bump a can be a stumbling block
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, who has met failure upon failure in his mission over the last few months, has again mustered hope and tweeted that a “bump in the road isn’t reason to slow down”. The “bump in the road” reference in his message is to the spring offensive the Afghan […]