BRICS News

Flooding will affect most of Europe, the report says; the Danube reached record levels in Budapest in 2013 [Xinhua]
The European Environment Agency (EEA) warned in a report on Wednesday that all regions of the continent are facing severe meteorological conditions in the years ahead, including rising sea levels, flooding and more extreme weather due to global warming.
It says European nations will face a rise in the frequency and occurrence of heat waves, floods, droughts and storms.

South Africa has steadily improved its status on the transparency index, coming first among BRICS nations [GCIS]
Denmark and New Zealand tied for first place as the world’s “cleanest” nations in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
Both received 90 on a 0-100 scale, but Transparency International says most countries of the 176 in the index fall below the midpoint on the scale.

Narendra Modi said he had a warm conversation with US President Donald Trump during their phone call Tuesday [Xinhua]
US President Donald Trump has said his Tuesday phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a “great conversation”.
Trump extended an invitation for Modi to visit Washington later this year.
“During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world,” the White House said in a statement.

The World Bank also sees a rise in demand for oil and energy in the second half of 2017 [Xinhua]
In its January 2017 Commodity Markets Outlook report, released on Tuesday, the World Bank forecast a revival of demand in the commodity markets.
It says that falling supply and increased demand will largely contribute to a rise in gains for energy and metal commodities in 2017.

China launched the world’s first quantum satellite on top of a Long March-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China’s Gansu Province, Aug. 16, 2016 [Xinhua]
China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for Self-Defense announced on Tuesday that it’s high-resolution imaging satellite is now fully operational.
The Gaofen-3 satellite uses a high-resolution synthetic (SAR) lens and covers the entire earth with an all-weather 24-hour observation system.

Xi has always viewed the TPP as exclusionary; none of the BRICS countries were members of the now defunct TPP [Xinhua]
China has responded to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by reiterating its commitment to economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

Grain supplies were significantly decreased last year due to loss of arable land in China [Xinhua]
Concerns about food security and last year’s dismal drop in grain supplies has pushed the Chinese authorities to increase funding to the agricultural sector.
Han Jun, deputy director of the central agricultural work leading team office, said on Monday that China will inject 600 billion yuan (around $88 billion) into the sector by 2020 to improve farmland quality and compensate for the grain shortfall.

The TPP has not been popular among many Republicans and some sectors of the US workforce. People attend a rally protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Maui, Hawaii, the United States, July 29, 2015 [Xinhua]
International media pundits are warning that America’s retreat from the Asia-Pacific as it abandons the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not only indicative of US President Donald Trump’s commitment to isolationist and protectionist policies, but also paves the way for other countries to step in and fill the vacuum.

The Astana talks will in part look at ways to strengthen the current ceasefire in place throughout Syria [Xinhua]
The Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan kicked off this morning with a forward-looking agenda that seeks to strengthen the current ceasefire in place and move negotiations forward in tandem with UN-sponsored meetings in Geneva in two weeks.

The real estate sector has started to cool, the NBS says, after years of incredible growth and skyrocketing property prices [Xinhua]
Although China’s GDP rose to 6.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016 and there was a general improvement in both the services sector and domestic consumption, there was a visible retreat in the real estate market.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Saturday that the real estate sector growth dipped from 8.8 per cent in Q3 to 7.7 per cent in Q4.