Free Republic

It is not hyperbole to say that the 15th BRICS Summit, that wrapped-up today in Johannesburg, South Africa, was a historic event and a geopolitical milestone that is bound to have deep repercussions in the years to come. Even before the summit there was drama and suspense, like French President Macron fishing for an invite and being snubbed, or the realization that Putin would not be there personally because of the ICC arrest warrant. Add to that the successful Indian space mission that put a spacecraft in the Lunar surface, and the shock with Wagner PMC’s Prigozhin plane crash death,...

The South African government has elected to consider allowing Vladimir Putin's remote attendance to the 2023 BRICS summit ion an effort to navigate the bureaucratic headache that the Russian leader's presence risks due to the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his capture, News24 reports. According to City Press, a hybrid sitting is under consideration for the summit which would allow multiple leaders, including Putin, to attend the event virtually. A government official said: "The Ramaphosa administration is the one that revoked the earlier decision to leave the ICC and decided the country would stay....

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for the world to reject protectionism even as American and European pressure mounts on Beijing to lower market barriers, speaking at the start of a Chinese-led summit of five large emerging economies now overshadowed by North Korea’s sixth nuclear test. […] Xi was speaking to business representatives of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — a day before he opens a summit with the leaders of these major emerging markets in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen. This will be the ninth summit of the BRICS grouping, which...