BRICS News

The meeting of the heads of state comes as the Obama administration is pushing its Asia pivot plan through [Xinhua]
US President Barack Obama arrived in Hangzhou, China Saturday ahead of a pivotal G20 summit being held there and met with senior Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping.
The trip comes amid tensions between Beijing and Washington over the Obama administration’s so-called Asia pivot – to boost US alliances with Asian countries and shift military focus there in a bid to implement a strategy of rebalance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Antalya is considered one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations [Xinhua]
Five days after Moscow lifted a ban prohibiting its citizens from using charter flights to Turkey, a Royal Airlines Flight Boeing 767 carrying 309 Russian passengers from Moscow landed at Antalya International Airport.
The airport is 20 kilometers northeast of Antalya city, a popular tourist destination on the Mediterranean Sea.
The Russian tourists were given flowers as they disembarked in a sign of warming relations between Ankara and Moscow.

Putin says that those who are committed to creating a stable oil market should agree to a production cap [Xinhua]
In an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was time for major oil producers – such as Russia and OPEC – to agree to an output cap.
This is the first time the Russian president weighs in publicly on what has become a farce among oil investors and analysts as repeated year-long efforts to reach consensus among major producers have collapsed.

This is Temer’s first official visit to the G20 or with BRICS members since he became president [Xinhua]
Just days after he took over from his predecessor to serve the rest of her mandate as president, Michel Temer arrived in Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province ahead of a pivotal G20 summit there.
Shortly after his arrival, Temer met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping who pressed the Brazilian to strength the two country’s strategic partnership to new heights.

Entire cities have been destroyed by five years of intense warfare in Syria [Xinhua]
New Zealand’s UN ambassador announced late Thursday that the Security Council will hold a meeting on Syria later this month on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly.
New Zealand currently holds the UNSC’s rotating presidency; its Prime Minister John Key is expected to chair the meeting.
The announcement comes amid the international community’s continued stalled efforts to end the five-year Syrian civil war which has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced millions.

The uptick comes after disappointing data showed a drop in July [Xinhua]
China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday that the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 50.4 in August, a slight jump up from 49.9 in July.
The Chinese government’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 50.0 in June, versus 50.1 logged in May, although output hit a 12-month high.
The government survey tracks the health of large and state-owned companies.

“Renewing our relationship with China is extremely important for Canada,” Trudeau said after meeting with Li and Xi in Beijing on Wednesday [Xinhua]
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late on Wednesday that he is looking forward to further progress in relations with Canada.
Trudeau arrived in Beijing for his first official visit since winning election last year late on Tuesday.

Rousseff could choose to appeal the impeachment decision [Xinhua]
The Brazilian Senate voted 61 to 20 to impeach suspended President Dilma Rousseff on charges of mishandling and misrepresenting the federal budget during her 2014 reelection campaign.
Rousseff will now formally resign from the presidency and Vice-President Michel Temer, who held her post in the interim, will now serve out the rest of her mandate until 2018.

Temer, Rousseff’s replacement, is very unpopular in Brazil; polls show voters want elections – and not his presidency – if Rousseff is impeached [Xinhua]
Pro-Rousseff demonstrators protesting the president’s impeachment trial set fire to tires along six of the thoroughfares leading to the city of Sao Paulo in Brazil on Tuesday afternoon.

Both Kerry and Swaraj agreed that Pakistan must do more to end militants using its territory to launch terrorist attacks against India [Xinhua]
India and the US signed a number of agreements Tuesday to boost military cooperation as well as anti-terrorism initiatives.
The agreements to boost anti-terrorism cooperation by exchanging screening information were signed during the second US-India Strategic Dialogue summit in New Delhi and attended by Secretary of State John Kerry and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.