Tag: Saudi Arabia

BRICS May Add More Countries to the Group. Here’s What to Know.

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Dozens of countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, a group encompassing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that views itself as a counterweight to the West, and is meeting this week in Johannesburg. Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are thought to be among those most likely to be admitted. Iran has also expressed interest. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, backs expanding the group. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India is said to be concerned about adding nations close to Beijing; India and China have border disputes and…

Trump Condemns Hunter Biden’s Foreign Business. He’s Quiet on His Own.

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After his fourth indictment, bringing his total count of felony charges to 91, former President Donald J. Trump last week posted a video online accusing President Biden and his family of being criminals. “The Biden crime family,” he claimed, had received millions of dollars from foreign countries. “I believe we have a compromised president,” Mr. Trump said, adding: “He’s a Manchurian candidate. That’s why Crooked Joe is letting other countries walk all over the United States.” For Mr. Trump, outrage is a selective commodity when it comes to presidential families…

At BRICS Summit, Putin Tries to Rally Support

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The five-nation BRICS summit is focused on whether to expand the club and how to be a counterweight to Western powers, but the meeting opened in Johannesburg on Tuesday in the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with President Vladimir V. Putin attempting to rally the members via video to Moscow’s side. In a speech to fellow leaders of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa group, Mr. Putin blamed the West for Russia’s exit from an agreement on Ukrainian grain exports that had helped stabilize global food supplies…

China has its own reasons for being at Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia

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When the Chinese envoy Li Hui arrived in Saudi Arabia, to join international talks on a peace deal for Ukraine this week, it was a pointed contrast with Beijing’s decision to skip a similar forum in Copenhagen in June. At the summit, which excluded Russia, Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy promoted his vision for ending the war to a large gathering of countries from the global south. His 10-point plan would mean the total, humiliating defeat of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping’s closest and most important major ally. China’s representative, a mid-level…

Saudi Arabia stepped in when China would not buy Australian barley, but will that trade survive?

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The Australian barley trade is expected to shift back to China from the surging Saudi Arabian market after the resolution of a dispute over tariffs that wiped out nearly $1bn a year in exports. China slapped 80.5% tariffs on the grain in 2020 after a dispute with the Morrison government, forcing Australian growers to find new markets. At its peak, the Chinese market imported almost 70% of Australia’s barley. However, since 2020, much of that grain was redirected to Saudi Arabia in a move welcomed by farm advocates and the…

UAE, a US Ally, Looks to China and Russia for Deeper Ties

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The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, is a key American ally who counts on the United States to defend his country. But he has traveled twice to Russia over the past year to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, and in June, his country was celebrated as the guest of honor at the Russian leader’s flagship investment forum. Later this month, the Emirati and Chinese air forces plan to train together for the first time, a notable shift for an oil-rich Gulf nation that has…

China ‘backs further Ukraine peace talks’ after Saudi Arabia summit

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China is said to be in support of a third round of talks to find a framework for peace in Ukraine after a meeting of senior officials from about 40 countries in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The two-day summit in Jeddah was the second of its kind, after a similar forum in Copenhagen earlier this summer, and aims to draft key principles on how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he hoped the initiative would lead to a “peace summit” of world leaders this…

Ukraine Invites Talks in Saudi Arabia as an Effort to Weaken Russia

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Ukraine will make a renewed push this weekend at a gathering in Saudi Arabia to win the support of dozens of countries that have remained on the sidelines of the war — the start of a broader campaign in the months ahead to build the diplomatic muscle to isolate and weaken Russia. Ukraine and Saudi Arabia invited diplomats from some 40 governments to talks in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Notable among them were China, India, Brazil, South Africa and some of the oil-rich Gulf nations that have tried…

Saudi Arabia to Extend Oil Production Cut by a Month

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In a move to support oil prices, Saudi Arabia said Thursday it would extend its decision to cut oil production by one million barrels a day for another month, to September. Oil prices have recovered strongly in recent weeks partly because of smaller stockpiles of fuel in the United States, but China’s tepid economic recovery has kept oil prices under pressure for most of the year. Saudi leaders need oil prices to stay high because the money from energy sales pays for government spending and ambitious plans to diversify the…

Saudi Arabia’s big-spending league seeks to avoid China’s failed gamble

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Saudi Arabia is the new China. “The system of buying the players that almost ended their career is not the system that develops football,” said Uefa’s chief executive Aleksander Ceferin recently. “It was a similar mistake in China …” When Oscar left Chelsea in December 2016 in a transfer window during which Chinese Super League clubs spent more than £300m, then Blues manager Antonio Conte warned of the Chinese danger. Other stars such as Carlos Tevez, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka also moved east. It ended badly with bankruptcies, corruption…