Hard Numbers: India cuts gas tax, Tigrayan amnesty, US gets European baby formula, NATO beer

May 22, 2022

Gas station worker in Kolkata, India.

Avishek Das / SOPA Images/Sipa U via Reuters Connect

8: India has slashed its excise tax on gasoline by 8 rupees ($0.10) per liter to give consumers some relief from rising prices. PM Narendra Modi is scrambling to get inflation under control ahead of several state elections later this year.

4,208: Tigrayan rebels in Ethiopia plan to release 4,208 prisoners captured in their ongoing war with the federal government. It's a sign of goodwill that comes after the Ethiopian army allowed aid convoys to enter the conflict-affected region.

78,000: On Sunday, a military plane carrying 78,000 pounds of European baby formula arrived in the US to address an acute shortage. America is running out of formula due to the temporary closure of a production plant in Michigan and also because of protectionist US trade policies.

8,000: Finland is so excited about joining NATO that a Finnish brewery has launched a NATO-themed beer, shipping 8,000 cans to local supermarkets. Will Turkey spoil the party?

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Canadian premiers urge bilateral free trade deal with US

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2020.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Donald Trump’s election win has Canadian premiers worried about the future of free trade. Trump has promised to levy across-the-board tariffs of between 10 and 20%, but it’s unclear whether Canada would be included.

Congolese ceasefire collapsing as peacekeepers’ mandate extended

Malawi soldiers part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) military mission for eastern Congo, wait for the ceremony to repatriate the two bodies of South African soldiers killed in the ongoing war between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo February 20, 2024.

REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi

Fighters from the M23 rebel group in northeastern Congo have been targeting civilians in violation of a July ceasefire agreement, according to the Southern African Development Community, whose peacekeeping mandate was extended by a year on Wednesday.

Hard Numbers: India cuts gas tax, Tigrayan amnesty, US gets European baby formula, NATO beer

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With Trump about to take power again, one of the world's most important multilateral gatherings was an exercise in cowardice and smallness.

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Fighters from the M23 rebel group in northeastern Congo have been targeting civilians in violation of a July ceasefire agreement, according to the Southern African Development Community, whose peacekeeping mandate was extended by a year on Wednesday.

Ukraine has begun using long-range missiles from the US and UK to hit targets inside Russia for the first time, after getting long-awaited permission from Washington and London.