RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: The foreign ministers of Brazil, China, Russia and other BRICS members began two days of talks in Rio de Janeiro Monday aimed at forging a united front to US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies.
The meeting comes at a critical moment for the world economy after the International Monetary Fund slashed growth forecasts over the impact of the US leader’s sweeping new tariffs.
Top diplomats from the 11-member bloc — which includes Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates — met to hone their agenda ahead of a July leaders summit.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira stressed the importance of dialogue at a time of “humanitarian crises, armed conflicts, political instability and the erosion of multilateralism.”
BRICS’s “role as a group is more important than ever,” he said.
Trump, since returning to the White House in January, has hit dozens of countries with a blanket 10 percent tariff, but China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products.
Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.
Senior Chinese economic planner Zhao Chenxin said Monday in Beijing that the country was on the “right side of history” in the face of what he called Washington’s “unilateralism and bullying.”
BRICS has expanded significantly since its 2009 inception as a group of four powers — Brazil, Russia, India and China — seeking an alternative platform to Western-led international organizations such as the G7.
It now makes up nearly half of the world’s population, 39 percent of global GDP and weighs in on issues from Ukraine to Gaza to global trade.
Vieira opened the talks with a call for a “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza, terming Israel’s more than 50-day aid blockade of the territory “unacceptable.”
The group has had generally less to say about the war in Ukraine, issuing calls for peace while steering clear of condemning Russia’s invasion.
And Vieira on Monday called for a “diplomatic solution” which respects the “principles and objectives” of the United Nations charter.
The meeting comes at the start of what the United States has called a “critical week” for talks on ending the Ukraine war.
Trump appeared to turn against Putin at the weekend after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Pope Francis’s funeral, saying he felt the Russian leader was “just tapping me along.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by announcing a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10.
The White House, however, suggested the pause was not sufficient, saying Trump had “made it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire first.”
At the same time the US president has been piling pressure on Kyiv to give up hopes of reclaiming Russian-annexed Crimea.
A BRICS challenge to the hegemony of the dollar is expected to feature high on the agenda.
At a summit last year, BRICS members discussed boosting non-dollar transactions, eliciting a swift rebuke from Trump who threatened them with 100 percent tariffs if they undercut the US currency.
Speaking to Brazil’s O Globo newspaper ahead of the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said BRICS nations planned to “increase the share of national currencies in transactions” between member states, but said talk of transitioning toward a unified BRICS currency was “premature.”
Vieira, whose country has so far been spared the worst of Trump’s trade ire — Brazilian imports to the US are subject to 10 percent tariffs, a fraction of those imposed on China — also denied any plans to create a new currency.
Another issue expected to feature prominently in the joint statement issued after the BRICS meeting Tuesday is climate change.
Brazil is the host of this year’s UN COP30 climate conference, which will take place in November in the Amazon city of Belem.
Trump trade war dominates BRICS meeting in Brazil
https://arab.news/vye4j
Trump trade war dominates BRICS meeting in Brazil
- A BRICS challenge to the hegemony of the dollar is expected to feature high on the agenda
Australia to toughen gun laws as it mourns deadly Bondi attack
- Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of leaders of Australia’s states and territories in response on Monday, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation”
SYDNEY: Australia’s leaders have agreed to toughen gun laws after attackers killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, the worst mass shooting in decades decried as antisemitic “terrorism” by authorities.
Dozens fled in panic as a father and son fired into crowds packing the Sydney beach for the start of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a local rabbi were among those killed, while 42 others were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of leaders of Australia’s states and territories in response on Monday, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation.”
Albanese’s office said they agreed to explore ways to improve background checks for firearm owners, bar non-nationals from obtaining gun licenses and limit the types of weapons that are legal.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the town of Port Arthur in 1996, which led to sweeping reforms long seen as a gold standard worldwide.
Those included a gun buyback scheme, a national firearms register and a crackdown on ownership of semi-automatic weapons.
But Sunday’s shooting has raised fresh questions about how the two suspects — who public broadcaster ABC reported had possible links to the Daesh group — obtained the guns.
- ‘An act of pure evil’ -
Police are still unraveling what drove Sunday’s attack, although authorities have said it targeted Jews.
Albanese called it “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores.”
A string of antisemitic attacks has spread fear among Australia’s Jewish communities after the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
The Australian government this year accused Iran of orchestrating a recent wave of antisemitic attacks and expelled Tehran’s ambassador nearly four months ago.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of “pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the months before the shooting, referring to Canberra’s announcement that it would recognize Palestinian statehood in August.
Other world leaders expressed revulsion, with US President Donald Trump condemning the “antisemitic attack.”
The gunmen opened fire on an annual celebration that drew more than 1,000 people to the beach to mark Hanukkah.
They took aim from a raised boardwalk at a beach packed with swimmers cooling off on the steamy summer evening.
Witness Beatrice was celebrating her birthday and had just blown out the candles when the shooting started.
“We thought it was fireworks,” she told AFP. “We’re just feeling lucky we’re all safe.”
Carrying long-barrelled guns, they peppered the beach with bullets for 10 minutes before police shot and killed the 50-year-old father.
The 24-year-old son was arrested and remains under guard in hospital with serious injuries.
Australian media named the suspects as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram.
Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, said the father arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998 and had become a permanent resident. The son was an Australia-born citizen.
Hours after the shooting, police found a homemade bomb in a car parked close to the beach, saying the “improvised explosive device” had likely been planted by the pair.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel said his brother-in-law was among the dead.
“We need to hold strong. This is not the Australia that we know. This is not the Australia that we want.”
Wary of reprisals, police have so far avoided questions about the attackers’ religion or ideological motivations.
Misinformation spread quickly online after the attacks, some of it targeting immigrants and the Muslim community.
Police said they responded to reports on Monday of several pig heads left at a Muslim cemetery in southwestern Sydney.
- Panic and bravery -
A brave few dashed toward the beach as the shooting unfolded, wading through fleeing crowds to rescue children, treat the injured and confront the gunmen.
Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired.
The 43-year-old wrestled the gun out of the attacker’s hands, before pointing the weapon at him as he backed away.
A team of off-duty lifeguards sprinted across the sand to drag children to safety.
“The team ran out under fire to try and clear children from the playground while the gunmen were firing,” said Steven Pearce from Surf Life Saving New South Wales.
Bleeding victims were carried across the beach atop surfboards turned into makeshift stretchers.
On Monday evening, a flower memorial next to Bondi Beach swelled in size as mourners gathered.
Hundreds, including members of the Jewish community, sang songs, clapped and held each other.
Leading a ceremony to light a menorah candle, a rabbi told the crowd: “The only strength we have is if we bring light into the world.”
