BRICS News

There are far fewer children living under poverty in South Africa, the Child Gauge 2017 report found [Xinhua]
A new report from South Africa’s Children’s Institute is raising alarm bells that development of children in the country appears to be lagging behind.
The South African Child Gauge, published in Cape Town every year since 2005, monitors the progress of children in the country with particular emphasis on their rights.
This year, the report warned that violence against children remained widespread in South Africa.

China and Russia have fat-tracked their cooperation and alliance in recent years. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will meet on the sidelines of the SCO Meeting in Sochi November 30, 2017 [Xinhua]
The 16th meeting of the Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which opens in the Russian port city of Sochi on Thursday, will look at global economic recovery, regional security and counter-terrorism efforts among its Eurasian members.

China has repeatedly accused the US of straining their vast economic relationship through a slew of anti-dumping measures [Xinhua]
Beijing has again criticized the US for its recent anti-dumping investigations on general aluminum alloy sheets imported from China.
“China is strongly discontent with the trade protectionism tendency shown in the U.S. move,” a statement from the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

Bill Gates has dedicated millions to helping farmers around the world with new farming innovations. In this file photo, new research by scientists at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) shows that China consumed 162,000 tons of antibiotics in 2013, or more than half of the global total. About 52 percent was used on livestock and 48 percent by humans. More than 50,000 tons ended up in the water and soil [Xinhua]

Xi wants to improve China’s image and bring more tourists to the country [Xinhua]
President Xi Jinping is proposing a revolution of a different sort – a toilet revolution to improve China’s image as well as the quality of life for its citizenry.
The proposal is part of Xi’s initiative to establish a new countryside.
The construction of clean toilets is an important part of pushing urban and rural civilization, and more efforts should be made in both cities and rural areas to upgrade toilets, Xi said in remarks carried out by the state news agency Xinhua.

OPEC total production declines would have been stronger had it not seen increased output from Iran and Nigeria in recent months [Xinhua]
With just three days remaining for a pivotal meeting of Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) with non-OPEC producers in Vienna, experts are expecting oil prices to continue their recent climb.
Reports emerged over the weekend that OPEC delegates have managed to convince Russia, one of the world’s largest oil and gas exporters, to agree to extend a provision which calls on members and non-OPEC nations to production cuts.

Temer’s party has been beset by corruption accusation, potentially derailing his efforts to spearhead a revitalization of Brazil’s economy in 2017? [Xinhua]Doctors at the Sirio Libanes Hospital in Sao Paulo, where Michel Temer had surgery to clear three blocked coronary arteries, said the president is recovering well.
Temer is expected to leave hospital either late Monday or early Tuesday, his doctors said.
Temer, 77, has been undergoing a number of medical procedures since he was admitted to hospital on October 25 during a session of Congress.

Modi has called on the world to cooperate against terrorism and extremism [Archive]
India is today commemorating the ninth anniversary of the deadly Mumbai terrorist attacks which killed 170 people and wounded more than 300.
On November 26, 2008, 10 heavily armed militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group infilitrated the city of Mumbai, considered the financial capital of India, and began killing people sporadically.

World powers accuse North Korea of pursuing a nuclear and ballistic weapons program in violation of UN sanctions [Xinhua]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono say that the issue of North Korea’s threats in the Asia-Pacific region should be settled through the United Nations Security Council.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah El Sisi said the attack on worshipers at a mosque in Sinai on November 24 was “dastardly and cowardly” [Courtesy: Egyptian State TV]
There has been a general outpouring of condemnation and grief over a bomb attack at a mosque in northern Sinai in Egypt, which killed at least 235 and wounded more than 100.
The Egyptian State Prosecutor issued a statement today saying that an improvised explosive device went off just as Muslim worshipers were gathering for Friday prayers at the Beur El Abes, in North Sinai’s Al-Arish city, shortly before noon.