INTERNACIONAL
China, Russia suffer setback to global ambitions with major player refusing to join trading bloc
New Argentinian President Javier Milei has announced that he will not let his country join the China and Russia-led BRICS trading bloc, dealing a major blow to the trade group’s ambitions.
The reversal comes after Milei’s team indicated that they merely planned to delay the country’s admission into the bloc, which was founded by members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In a letter to the leaders of each member state, Milei wrote that he did not consider it «appropriate at this time» to join.
Milei spent much of his time on the campaign trail admonishing countries ruled «by communism» and insisted he would honor the alignment with the «free nations of the West,» particularly the United States and Israel.
Since taking power on December 10, he has moved swiftly to deregulate the economy with a package of bills that would eliminate more than 350 regulatory policies in the country.
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Some of the regulations that Milei has sought to cancel include a price ceiling on rent, some worker protections and laws limiting price increases when inflation and poverty have hit certain thresholds.
The move has proven immensely unpopular, prompting the country’s labor unions to file a lawsuit against the government for what it deems as «unconstitutional» policy changes and thousands to take to the streets in support of the lawsuit as Argentinian citizens demanded the courts take action.
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The self-defined «anarcho-capitalist» argued that his foreign policy «differs in many aspects from that of the previous government,» and «in this sense, some decisions made by the previous administration will be reviewed.»
Milei insisted he would meet with each of the BRICS leaders and discuss plans to «intensify bilateral ties» and increase trade and investment, German outlet DW reported.
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The group aims to break up Western hegemonic dominance in the international economic landscape, but China largely dominates the bloc, accounting for more than 70% of the combined GDP of the member states.
China and Russia have largely posited the alliance as a counter to the G-7 and looked to more than double their bloc’s membership to 11 states, offering admission to Argentina, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Argentina was set to join on January 1, 2024.
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China and Brazil are Argentina’s two biggest trading partners, making Argentina’s membership a seeming no-brainer until Milei introduced some economic «shock therapy» to a country that has 150% inflation and more than 40% of its population living below the poverty line, according to the BBC.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
French PM to resign as leftists nab majority of parliamentary seats in snap election
A far-left political coalition that unexpectedly assembled ahead of France’s snap elections is projected to win the majority of parliamentary seats up for grabs and the country’s prime minister has announced his intention to resign – leading the country into unforeseen territory and possible turmoil.
As the election results came in, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced he will be turning in his resignation on Monday.
President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance was projected to take the second most seats, while the far right was projected to come in third.
Macron called the snap election just four weeks ago, after the right-wing National Rally (RN) scored enormous success in the European Parliamentary elections in June. Polling before the first round of voting indicated RN would continue to dominate. However, more recent polling ahead of the runoff indicates those returns have diminished and RN will fall short of a clear majority.
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The first round occurred on June 30 and resulted in just 76 of the 577 constituencies in the French National Assembly determining their representative. Candidates who did not receive an outright majority in the first round of voting went on to a second-round runoff, which happened on Sunday.
Going into the election, France was set to elect the RN as the largest party in government, though it was possible no party might emerge with a clear majority in the tightly contested election.
When the results started to come in, projections changed toward the left, signifying a lack of majority for any single alliance, which threatened to plunge France into economic and political turmoil.
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The final results of the election are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday.
Macron made a huge gamble when he called for the snap election, and the projections show the gamble may not have paid off for the unpopular president and his alliance, which lost control of parliament.
While the far-right RN greatly increased the number of seats it now holds in parliament, the results fell short of the party’s expectations.
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Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon urged Macron to invite the leftist New Popular Front coalition to form a government, given projections that put it in the lead.
Macron’s office said the president would «wait for the new National Assembly to organize itself» before making any decisions.
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A hung parliament with no single bloc coming close to getting the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers, would be unknown territory for modern France.
France doesn’t have a tradition of lawmakers from rival political camps coming together to form a working majority.
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The projections, if confirmed by official counts, will spell intense uncertainty for a pillar of the European Union and its second-largest economy, with no clarity about who might partner with Macron as prime minister in governing France.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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