Plus: G7 kicks off in Italy, and 62-year-old wreckage is found ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Police and protesters have clashed in Buenos Aires as a controversial economic reform cleared a hurdle in the Argentine Senate. We take a look at President Javier Milei's measures and record so far. As world leaders arrive in Italy for the G7 summit, Mark Lowen reports on how the country prepared for the gathering and what's on the agenda. BBC Arabic's Abdelrahman Abu Taleb examines whether Iran and Qatar have supplied drones to the warring parties in Sudan's civil war. Finally, the search for Ernest Shackleton's Quest is over. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Argentines protest against Milei's reform | | At least two cars, including one appearing to belong to a local news organization, were set on fire during the clashes. Credit: Reuters. | There have been violent clashes in Buenos Aires outside the Congress building, where senators narrowly approved President Javier Milei's controversial economic reform package. Footage captured police using tear gas and a water cannon, with protesters throwing petrol bombs and stones. Mr Milei, a self-styled libertarian, was elected with close to 56% of the vote last year, promising drastic measures to address the country's spiralling inflation and poverty rates. However, his party has no majority in Congress. His initial bill, containing privatisation plans and other economic measures, failed to pass a second reading in February. The package approved on Wednesday was a streamlined version of that bill, and includes cutting pensions and watering down labour rights. Critics argue that the measures will hurt millions of Argentines. The reform will now be closely surveyed before its expected full approval on Thursday. It will then return to the lower house.
Economic record: President Milei has been in power for six months - Robert Plummer looks into whether he's keeping his election promises.
In his own words: Last month, Ione Wells confronted President Milei on the state of poverty in the country.
Listen to this: Economist Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, examines whether Mr Milei's measures have contributed to a fall in inflation. | |
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| Italy prepares to host G7 leaders | | The luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia has previously hosted the likes of Madonna and the Beckhams. Credit: EPA | Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plays the host at this year's G7 summit. On the agenda is the war in Ukraine - specifically, a plan to loan the country $50bn (€46bn; £39bn) from the interest on frozen Russian assets in the West - but also the climate crisis, economic development in Africa, and AI. Plus, a special guest: Pope Francis. |
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| | Mark Lowen, Rome correspondent |
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| | Two accommodation options for this week’s G7 summit in the southern region of Puglia have been on show: one, a sumptuous resort of bougainvillea-clad villas and private pools, housing the leaders of the world’s largest advanced economies. The other, a giant ship moored off the coast of Brindisi, full of water leaks and broken air conditioning units spewing dirt onto bedsheets, brought in to accommodate the 2,600 police officers providing security. Two faces of Italy: the sublime and the shoddy. |
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES | Weapons suppliers in Sudan civil war |
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| | | Cities such as Omdurman have been turned into ghost towns by a year of fighting. Credit: Reuters | The arrival of drones in the skies of Sudan has had an impact on the ongoing civil war. Iran and Qatar are suspected of supplying these weapons to the warring parties, which would be a violation of a 2005 UN Security Council resolution dating from the conflict in the region of Darfur. We look at the evidence. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | For the sport | Painting and sculpture were once Olympic events. | |
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And finally... | Wreck hunters have found Quest, the ship on which the famous polar explorer Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage. The vessel sank on 5 May 1962 but has been finally located off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Take a look at the sonar image of the wreck, looking down 390m (1,280ft) of water. | |
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