BRICS News

Bolton met with Putin in Moscow on October 22 and explained the US reasons to withdraw from the nuclear missile treaty [PPIO]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US National Security Advisor John Bolton in Moscow that a meeting with President Donald Trump would be constructive in order to bridge differences, most recently about a critical nuclear arms treaty.
Bolton arrived in Moscow two days after Trump announced that he would pull the US out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) because of alleged Russian violations.

There is consensus that Assad’s government would not have likely survived the Islamist extremist attacks had Russia not intervened politically and militarily [PPIO]
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the press Saturday that his country’s intervention in Syria over the past three years helped the government there defeat the Islamist extremists.

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo urged the 189 members of the International Monetary Fund to work together to avoid a global economic calamity
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde acknowledged the global imbalances caused by trade and that these may have fueled populism [PREUSS]
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo warned that “winter is coming”, borrowing an expression from the Emmy-winning television series Game of Thrones made by HBO from an adaptation of a series of novels written by George RR Martin.

Tito Mboweni is being seen as the comeback kid in South Africa [Courtesy: Ministry of Finance]
When Tito Titus Mboweni was announced as the future Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in July 1998, South Africa’s financial markets reacted negatively.
But two decades later, they greeted his appointment as Minister of Finance with glee, resulting in the rand gaining more than 30 cents against the US dollar this week.

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]
Despite US objections and the threat of sanctions, India says it will go ahead and purchase advanced Russian defense systems.
Chief of India’s Army Staff Bipin Rawat told the media on Monday that New Delhi will determine a military procurement of its own choosing.

The general elections in Brazil on October 7 come amid recent upheavals which have resulted in a sharp political divide, with a large portion of the population either defending the idols they see as persecuted, or turning to the right in an attempt to escape the left they see as fully responsible for corruption and graft.
Meanwhile, a large percentage of the electorate are reeling in horror at the thought of voting for either of the two frontrunners.

South Africa, a member of the BRICS nations and G20, is a beacon of hope for Africans beyond its borders. Her unique history and the exemplary negotiated political settlement following Apartheid remains one of the most highlighted periods of the end of 20th century.

Lavrov addressed the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 28 [PPIO]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told reporters on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York that his government has formally invited US President Donald Trump to visit Russia, despite relations being at their lowest.
Lavrov also revealed that Trump had also formally invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the US.
Both leaders have in recent weeks hinted that they were looking forward to another summit meeting.

In 2017, there were some 130 million Chinese tourists traveling all over the world [Archive]
The first commercial air link between China and Israel opened to passenger traffic on Wednesday when Sichuan Airlines inaugurated its first direct 10-hour flight to Israel from Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province to Tel Aviv.
The flight scheduled for every Sunday and Wednesday, will employ the Airbus A330 aircraft and is expected to meet demands of the ever-growing Chinese overseas tourism market.

Ramaphosa’s plan focuses on youth, women and small businesses, but was short on detail [GCIS]
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday unveiled his stimulus and recovery plan to boost economic growth after the economy entered a technical recession in the first half of this year.
“Fellow South Africans, it is generally agreed that in order for our economy to grow at a rate that will lead to job creation on a meaningful scale we need to significantly increase the level of investment,” said Ramaphosa in Pretoria.