BRICS Invites Six New Members in Bid to Expand Global Influence |
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are due to become the newest members (Reuters) of the BRICS group of major emerging economies. That group, currently comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, announced the expansion as it wrapped up its annual summit in South Africa with leaders voicing goals of reshuffling the current Western-led world order. Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the summit virtually due to an international warrant for his arrest. The bloc’s expansion will take effect on January 1, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
At the summit, UN Secretary General António Guterres echoed the BRICS countries’ longstanding calls for reform of international institutions, saying “today’s global governance structures reflect yesterday’s world.” On the summit sidelines, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a rare in-person meeting (Nikkei) to discuss peace efforts on their border.
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“Some of the US’s top Middle Eastern allies—including the world’s biggest oil exporter—are moving closer into the orbit of China and Russia, further complicating geopolitics upended by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Bloomberg’s Sam Dagher and Fiona MacDonald write. “Arab and other countries like the idea of not having to choose between the three poles that the world has right now: the US, Russia, and China,” the Royal United Services Institute’s Jalel Harchaoui tells Middle East Eye.
“For the moment, at least, this move is more symbolic than anything—it’s an indication of wide-ranging global south support for a recalibration of the global order,” the Inter-American Dialogue’s Margaret Myers tells the Guardian.
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Ukraine, Russia Trade Air Attacks; Putin Acknowledges Deadly Plane Crash |
Russia said that Ukrainian missiles and drones targeted Crimea (RFE/RL) today, while Ukraine reported a barrage of new Russian missile strikes on its territory. In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time (BBC) the plane crash that is thought to have killed Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prighozin, saying that Prigozhin was a “talented person” who “made serious mistakes in life.”
In this In Brief, CFR expert Stephen Sestanovich unpacks Prigozhin’s demise.
Europe: New rules for social media platforms come into effect today under the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which requires tech firms to submit risk assessments (FT) outlining how they plan to restrict personalized advertisements, monitor disinformation, and handle sensitive user data. |
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U.S. Commerce Secretary To Begin Four-Day Trip to China |
Gina Raimondo’s trip beginning Sunday is the latest in a series of visits by high-ranking U.S. officials aimed at steadying the bilateral relationship. She is expected to announce a working group (Bloomberg) on export controls and commercial issues as Beijing grapples with an economic slowdown and the fallout of U.S. “de-risking” efforts.
China: China experienced 1.87 million excess deaths (Reuters) in the two months following the sudden dismantling of its COVID-19 controls late last year, far exceeding Chinese government estimates for the period, a new study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle found.
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UNICEF: Four Million Pakistani Children Need Assistance |
A year after large-scale flooding devastated parts of Pakistan, the United Nations Children’s Fund said an estimated eight million people, half of whom are children, still lack access to safe water (AP) in flood-affected areas.
India/Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend (PTI) the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
This Backgrounder by Anshu Siripurapu and CFR’s James McBride and Noah Berman examines the role of the G20.
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Middle East and North Africa |
WSJ: Saudi Arabia Considers Chinese Offer to Build Nuclear Power Plant |
Saudi officials, who are weighing competing U.S. and Chinese bids, said the Chinese offer (WSJ) aims to push Washington to compromise on calls for Riyadh to commit to limits on uranium enrichment. China’s offer reportedly does not include such conditions. On this episode of The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR expert Steven Cook discusses U.S. efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Turkey/Iraq: Turkish drone strikes killed seven people (AFP) in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region during a visit by Turkey’s foreign minister to the Iraqi Kurdish capital.
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CFR’s Robert McMahon and Carla Anne Robbins discuss the European Union Digital Services Act; the death of Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin; two years of Taliban rule; and Iran-Saudi Arabia normalization. |
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Niger Junta Authorizes Burkina Faso, Mali Troops To Intervene If It is Attacked |
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Panama Canal To Extend Restrictions on Daily Transit Amid Drought |
Requirements that ships lighten their cargoes due to low water levels will continue (Reuters) for at least ten more months, a canal official said. Panama is grappling with a prolonged drought.
Mexico: The head of Mexico’s agency on finding disappeared people resigned (FT) amid a government review of the agency’s work. Some human rights groups have voiced concerns that the government is trying to underestimate the numbers of disappeared people ahead of upcoming elections. More than 100,000 people are missing, according to Human Rights Watch.
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Fed Chair to Comment on Inflation-Fighting Efforts |
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will address global central bankers (Washington Post) gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, today in a speech expected to cover the Fed’s ongoing campaign to tame U.S. inflation. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is due to speak as well. |
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