I'm accredited to cover the #BRICSSummit2023 ๐ง๐ท๐ท๐บ๐ฎ๐ณ๐จ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฆ
HUGE developments today. All news and updates below. Bookmark and share the thread!
BRICS has just added six new countries! They shall become formal members in January 2024. The list includes major oil producers, as well as other large, emerging economies:
Egypt ๐ช๐ฌ
Ethiopia ๐ช๐น
Argentina ๐ฆ๐ท
UAE ๐ฆ๐ช
Iran ๐ฎ๐ท
Saudi Arabia ๐ธ๐ฆ
(In light of this huge news, it would perhaps be wiser to rename the organization BRICS+, which has a nicer ring to it than BRICSEEAUIS. Lol)
This is the first time that BRICS add new member states since 2010, when South Africa officially acceded. The organization originally included only Brazil, Russia, India and China.
I'm sure the NYT will conjure some cheap op-ed claiming BRICS is irrelevant.
Anyway, here's the massive room where over 40 heads of state are meeting. #BRICSSummit2023
Putin: BRICS is not competing with or opposing itself to anyone. But it's also obvious that this emergence of a new world order will have fierce opponents who try to slow down the process, to contain the emergence of new, independent centers of development in the world.
BRICS now has 6 of the world's top 10 oil producers among its ranks (Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brazil, UAE)
Putin at BRICS: "The countries of the so called "golden bullion" [...] try to substitute the world order by their 'rules based order', although no one has seen these rules."
Putin slams Western neocolonialism and debt traps imposed on developing countries. (Pretty obvious he means IMF/World Bank)
"African blood runs through our Latin American veins, and African blood also fertilized our libertarian and liberation struggles" #Bolivia #BRICSSummit2023
"I would like to honor two distinguished African patriots: Nelson Mandela, father of South African independence, and Patrice Lumumba, national hero and PM of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, overthrown and assassinated by the infamy of imperialist and colonialist interests"
"The expansion of the BRICS group is a new milestone in human history, because it allows nations to access international markets without the need to compromise their dignity, and without political conditioning, sanctions, or military threats" #Bolivia #BRICSSummit2023
"We need to reform the global order. "
"Africa pays the highest cost of capital than any other on the globe" #BRICS2023
"Over the years, China has stood in solidarity with fellow developing countries. China has been and will always be a member of developing countries." #BRICSSummit2023
"The BRICS are playing a fundamental role in the geopolitical dynamics [...]
The BRICS countries represent 31.7% of the global GDP, 30% of the territory, 43% of the population [...], 8.7% of the World's oil reserves and 25.2% of gas reserves." #BRICSza
"We need to make international tax cooperation more inclusive and effective so countries can support each other" #Argentina #BRICSza
"We are moving towards a multipolar world. And that is a positive thing, but multipolarity in itself is not enough to guarantee a peaceful or just global community." #BRICS
#BRICS family photo
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๐ง๐ท President Lula: ''In few years, we went back from a benign multi-polarity juncture to going back to an absolute mindset of cold war and geopolitical competition. [...] The world needs to understand the risks that are [...] unacceptable for humanity.'' #BRICSSummit2023
Today kick starts the #BRICSSummit2023 ๐ง๐ท๐ท๐บ๐ฎ๐ณ๐จ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฆ
I'm accredited to cover the summit. Will have updates and breaking news below. Bookmark it and retweet!
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) is a collective of the world's largest emerging economies.
Together BRICS countries make up over 41% of the world population, a quarter of the global economy, and almost 30% of global trade.
The BRICS countries meet annually, but this year's summit is especially important in the context of the Ukraine war, blow-back from Western sanctions, and the rush to ditch the US Dollar, particularly after $300b was stolen from Russia's foreign exchange reserves.
๐งตBREAKING: Putin will not attend BRICS summit in South Africa
๐ฟ๐ฆ President Cyril Ramaphosa: "By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov."
There is precedent for this situation in South Africa: In 2015, Sudan's president Omar al Bashir attended the African Union summit in SA, and they refused to execute an ICC warrant and arrest a fellow African leader. Bashir was able to leave but the govt was taken to court in SA.
Courts ruled that the govt were wrong not to arrest him, and blocked SA's attempt to withdraw from the ICC.
Several African countries threatened to leave as the ICC is notorious for being biased against Africa, while giving Western war criminals like Bush & Blair a pass.
๐งตTHREAD: Biden is sending Ukraine cluster bombs, a horrific weapon banned in most countries
A cluster bomb is a large capsule that contains many tiny bomblets that are spread out over a very large area, killing indiscriminately.
123 countries have signed a convention banning cluster munitions.
94% of cluster bomb casualties are civilians. 40% are children.
Cluster bombs were used by the United States in Vietnam and Iraq. They are notorious for killing and maiming kids. How many children in Iraq have lost their arms and legs because of cluster bombs? Too many to count.
An israeli guard executed an autistic Palestinian named Eyad Hallaq.
The israeli guard shot him in the leg, chased him to a garbage room, then fired 3 more bullets in his chest with an M16.
Eyad's mother screams as the israeli court lets her son's killer walk free
Some more details, as I covered this three years ago:
-Eyad was 32 years old and from Occupied Jerusalem. He was killed by an Israeli "Border Guard" while on his way to a special needs school which he attends every day.
-The israeli who shot him claimed Eyad had a gun, which is not true.
-According to Eyad's mother, Eyda has the mental age of a 7 year old. So when the israeli started screaming at him that he is a terrorist, he began running, confused and scared.