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Global South

BRICS Adds 13 New ‘Partner Countries’ At Historic Summit In Kazan, Russia

The Global South-led organization BRICS is growing. More and more countries support the group’s mission: to build a multipolar world, with alternative economic institutions that are more representative and democratic, not dominated by the Western powers. BRICS held a summit in Kazan, Russia in October 2024, where 13 new “partner nations” were accepted. At this historic meeting, China’s President Xi Jinping referred to BRICS as “a vanguard for advancing global governance reform” and “reform of the international financial architecture”. Bolivia’s left-wing President Luis Arce argued that “the shield of BRICS and multipolarity” can protect formerly colonized nations, helping them resist “Western unipolarity and the tyranny of the dollar”.

Our Revolutions Are For The Survival And Development Of Human Civilisation

Next year is the seventieth anniversary of the Asian-African Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955 and attended by heads of government and state from twenty-nine African and Asian countries. Indonesia’s President Sukarno (1901–1970), who had led the freedom movement in Indonesia against Dutch colonialism, opened the conference with a speech entitled ‘Let a New Asia and a New Africa be Born!’, in which he lamented that, while human technical and scientific progress had advanced, the politics of the world remained in a state of disarray.

16th BRICS Summit Opens In Kazan, Russia

During his speech at the ongoing BRICS summit on Wednesday, October 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his desire to see the grouping play a greater role in global affairs and in resolving regional and international challenges. Putin asserted that BRICS unites “like minded countries, civilizations, and cultures” and “all member states stand for equality, good neighborly relations, and mutual respect, for high ideals of friendship, global prosperity, and well-being.” The 16th summit of the 10-member grouping is being held in Russia’s fifth largest city of Kazan from October 22 to October 24.

Legal Experts Criticize Biden For Praising Israel’s Killing Of Nasrallah

US President Joe Biden issued a statement praising Israel for the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling it “a measure of justice” for the victims of Hezbollah’s actions, including Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians. The assassination, carried out by Israeli airstrikes, has killed dozens of civilians in addition to Nasrallah and threatens a full-scale regional war. The US statement has sparked sharp criticism by legal experts who argue that the endorsement of extrajudicial killings undermines international law. Legal scholars and human rights advocates have expressed concern over Biden’s framing of the operation, calling it a dangerous precedent that disregards the rule of law.

Spring Flowers Turn Into Fruits In The Fall

Amid the stench of death, aggression, murder, and the extermination of an ancient, noble, and civilized people and the international impotence and hypocrisy that have become a catastrophe for humanity at large, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation commenced in Beijing between September 4 and 6, with the participation of over fifty African countries and a comprehensive, serious, and profound agenda that touches upon the wisdom and heritage of the ancients. The forum draws upon the spirit of friendship and constructive cooperation to build on these foundations, adding the fruits of human intellect to envision a future based on shared interests, mutual respect, and the pursuit of benefit for all.

BRICS Plus, FOCAC And The Battle For The Global South

A media conference was held in Russia during the weekend of September 14-15 as a precursor to the upcoming Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa Plus Summit to be held in October. This gathering of journalists, editors, publishers and other media workers represented efforts to create a narrative that provides an alternative to the news reports and analyses that dominate western media outlets and their surrogates in the Global South. The media conference was hosted by the Russian state news agency, TASS, which on September 1, celebrated its 120th anniversary. TASS and many of the other media agencies visiting Russia for the conference are presenting different views on world events than what is routinely highlighted by the corporate and governmental networks in the United States, Britain and the European Union (EU).

Trade Unions Find Their Place In Global Peace Efforts At ManiFiesta 2024

At ManiFiesta 2024, the trade union square was buzzing with activity for two full days. Belgian labor activists preparing for a demonstration on September 16 to protest job cuts at Audi’s Brussels factory shared the space with union members from across Europe—Dutch, Italian, German, and French activists all exchanging struggles and strategies. Under the tents, the General Federation of Belgian Labour (ABVV-FGTB) and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ACV-CSC), alongside the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), discussed campaigns to defend workers’ rights.

US Seizes Venezuelan Jet Plane, Confirming Who Is The Rogue Nation

The Biden/Harris administration is renewing its attacks on Venezuela. On Monday, September 2, US officials seized a jet plane belonging to the Venezuelan government when it was in the Dominican Republic for servicing, then flew it to Florida. Contrary to a false report in the NY Times, the plane was not "owned by Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro". It is owned by the Venezuelan government and used for travel by various Venezuelan officials in addition to the president. The NYT article claims, "The Biden administration is trying to put more pressure on Mr. Maduro because of his attempts to undermine the results of the recent presidential election.

Iranian President Vows To Neutralize West’s Sanctions

Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, announced that his government will prioritize neutralizing the impact of all illegal sanctions imposed on the country. The announcement was made during the inaugural ceremony of the country’s new foreign minister, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday, August 27. The president said he believes that the best way to mitigate the impact of sanctions is to develop strong ties with neighboring countries. “Connections and development of relations [with neighbors] make sanctions ineffective,” he was quoted as saying by the Islamic Student News Agency (ISNA).

Olympic Games Once Again Marred By Western Bias And Controversy

The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, in Paris, France, officially ended on Aug. 11. There were certainly some historic moments achieved by athletes who hail from the Global South. These included gold medal winners Julien Alfred from St. Lucia, Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic and the legendary Cuban boxer, Mijain Lopez, the only athlete in Olympics history to win gold medals in five successive games. In another historic moment, North and South Korean athletes took collective selfies together during the table tennis medal ceremonies in a show of unity.

Lessons Of Desert Oases For Eco-Resilient Transformation

To the Western mind, the presence of lush oases in the middle of deserts is a strange aberration, almost a dream. What moderns fail to appreciate is that oases are actually deliberate human creations, socio-ecological examples of commoning. Colonial powers may see oases as a miraculous fantasy, but locals realize that their cultures of interdependence over the course of millennia have made oases possible, enabling them to collect and sustain natural flows of water in arid climates. Safouan Azouzi, a scholar of the commons, grew up in Gabès, Tunisia, where as a boy he lived within ancient traditions that sustain oases in the desert.

Ukraine Summit Failed: Global South Rejected Pro-War ‘Peace Conference’

The Western powers held a conference in Switzerland in June in an attempt to gain more international support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. The vast majority of the world population, in the Global South, rebuked this so-called “Summit on Peace in Ukraine”, to which Russia was not invited. Only 78 countries, mostly in Europe, endorsed the meeting’s final declaration. Together, these nations represented a small minority of the global population. At least 160 countries were invited to the conference from June 15 to 16 in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. Just around 90 ended up attending, and most sent low-level officials.

Global South Countries Break With West On Ukraine Summit Declaration

Key Global South countries attending the Ukraine “peace” conference in Switzerland this past weekend refused to sign the joint communique issued at the end of the two-day summit. Many of them underlined the need for Russian participation in any such initiatives for them to be credible. Countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, and BRICS members, India, South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not agree to what was outlined in the communique despite participating in the summit over the weekend. Russia, which was not invited to join the summit, had already rejected the outcome and questioned the basis of the summit. President Vladimir Putin had also called the summit an attempt by the West to distract the world’s attention away from the root causes of the conflict.

Safe Abortions Everywhere, Regardless Of The Law

In 2008 in Quito, high in the Andes Mountains, a group of young feminist activists dropped a banner from the top of an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that towers over Ecuador’s capital city. ​“Aborto Seguro,” the banner read, alongside the number for a new hotline that offered callers information on safely using medication to end a pregnancy outside the medical system. In a country where abortion access is extremely restricted and the majority of the population is Catholic, the Ecuadorian ​“safe abortion hotline” was a bold declaration of women’s bodily autonomy. It was also the beginning of what has since become a transnational movement that is increasingly relevant far beyond the region where it was born.

Report From The World Social Forum 2024, Kathmandu

WSF is an open space where civil society movements worldwide can open windows on to each other’s practice, to talk, listen and learn, and to develop insights and intuitions leading to cross-region, cross-movement solidarity and perhaps collaboration or coordination on strategies or actions. Here’s the WSF2024 website, here’s a summary of its thirteen themes, and here’s the final schedule of sessions. Digital literacy, and mobile capacity, certainly were at stake in this gathering; and I have to admit, as a Global Northerner, I was lacking in both departments. Since WSF is essentially a political and values-based rather than an economic frame, manifestly ‘economic’ sessions in WSF convergences are in a minority.
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