BRICS News

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seeking to expand the number of countries joining the Silk Road [Archive]
China has hailed the beginning of a new era in ties with Italy following President Xi Jinping’s visit to Rome on the weekend.
Xi met with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and the two presided over a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding making Italy the first G7 country to join the One Belt One Road initiative, despite US protests over the move.

A screen grab of the entrance to one of the mosques from the livestream’s first few seconds of the Christchurch, NZ massacre of Muslims  
The mass murder of Muslims in two Christchurch, New Zealand mosques today serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of unchecked social media exchange.
Those who plotted and executed the attack which killed at least 49 Muslims worshipers could not have done so without inspiration and support from other extremist groups on social media and other online networks.

Russian and Chinese Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at the Kremlin, Russia on 4 July 2017. The Silk Road runs through parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and aligns with Russia’s strategic interests [PPIO]Thirteenth Century adventurer and explorer Marco Polo opened Europe to China when he journeyed from his home in Venice to then capital Peking (now Beijing).
He chronicled his trip on the legendary Silk Road in a series of writings which introduced Europeans to the splendor and wealth of China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on 14 May 2017 [PPIO]
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has confirmed that President Xi Jinping will visit Russia and meet President Vladimir Putin to take their strategic ties to a “new stage”.
The two leaders and BRICS allies have met several times in the past year and share a very close view of world affairs. Both are strong proponents of multilateralism and both have opposed the US policy of isolationism.

Final sales grew 10.7 per cent in fourth quarter as net exports add 8.7 percentage points to GDP growth

With a range of 400 kilometers, S-400 Triumf is designed to shield from air strikes, strategic, cruise, tactical and operating tactical ballistic missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles [Russian MoD]
 
Turkish media has quoted government officials saying a deal to purchase advanced Russian air defence systems from Russia has been completed.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told local media on Wednesday that delivery of the S-400 system is scheduled by the end of the year.

Will a possible trade agreement with China boost global markets?
 
With less than a week to go before the deadline for China and the US to avert an escalation in their ongoing trade disputes, negotiators from both sides have indicated that they have made significant progress.
Trade delegations are today meeting for the second day of talks in Washington to formalize an outline of a deal which may be made public next week.

“This is a Budget that plants a seed for renewal and growth.” Tito Mboweni
Should Ramaphosa establish a Growth Commission? [GCIS]
In his maiden budget in February 2019, Tito Titus Mboweni, the current Minister of Finance, said he was planting a new seed as he walked a tight rope between what the ratings agencies would allow before a downgrade and what was needed to provide policy certainty.
There was no way that the Treasury would be able to provide R100bn in debt relief to Eskom in one go, so instead he provided R69bn spread over three years.

The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey have met several times in a bid to preserve Syrian sovereignty [PPIO]
The leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey have signed a 17-point final communique outlining their trilateral approach to stabilizing Syria but Moscow says there will be no new offensive in the north.
Presidents Hassan Rouhani, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they were committed to “the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic”.

Greater regulatory certainty has unleashed the “animal spirits”.