BRICS summit 2026: What are the key takeaways? | Explainer News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with leaders including Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin on Sunday to discuss the growth of the BRICS alliance. • Modi stated that the group has expanded because member countries feel their voices are heard and their experiences are respected.

• Houthi forces in Yemen have advanced their positions, creating a new geopolitical challenge for Gulf states and the United States. • Analyst Fawaz Gerges told Reuters that this move is a game changer that alters the regional balance of power.

• France’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva expressed regret for criticizing U.S. human rights in a social media post. • The diplomatic dispute resulting from the post has delayed the arrival of a new French ambassador in Washington.

Richard Tice says donations are legally compliant amid speculation on overseas rules proposed by Rycroft reportReform UK’s deputy leader has declined to say when two crypto billionaires who gave a combined £72m to the party returned to the UK, as the architect of a review into overseas donations said anyone here for less than 12 months would be subject to a limit on donations.Richard Tice said that while he was completely confident Reform had complied with all current and proposed laws on donations, he could not say when Ben Delo returned to the UK from Hong Kong, or how much time the Thailand-based Christopher Harborne spent in Britain. Continue reading...

Price spike comes as rebel Houthis in Yemen target oil infrastructure and capture strategic island in Bab al-Mandab straitBusiness news – live updatesOil prices have climbed above $107 a barrel after a series of drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia to close its east-west crude pipeline.Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, surged to as much as $108 a barrel at one point on Monday, later easing back to $107.7 – a 3% increase on the day. Continue reading...

A new public consultation has opened on the 150bn-litre above-ground White Horse project in Abingdon, OxfordshireThames Water has amended the blueprint of a planned mega-reservoir in Oxfordshire as the struggling utility tries to convince regulators that construction should go ahead amid warnings of “catastrophic consequences”.The White Horse reservoir near Abingdon is scheduled to hold 150bn litresof water with a surface area of 6.7 sq km (2.6 sq miles) – almost the same size as Gatwick airport. Continue reading...

Report by Israeli human rights group says systematic and broad assault being waged on conditions required for Palestinians’ existenceIsrael is working towards the systematic “elimination” of the conditions that sustain Palestinian collective life in the occupied West Bank, according to a major report published by the human rights group B’Tselem.The Israeli organisation’s hard-hitting report, shared with the Guardian in advance of publication, says Israel is “dramatically intensifying its attacks on every aspect of Palestinian life in the West Bank”, including “the ability to get to work, take children to school or university, receive medical treatment or municipal services, meet family and friends, cultivate land or go on vacation … routine activities that make up human life”.1,107Number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the West Bank since October 2023 Continue reading...

Shares in tech firms tumble across Asia with Nasdaq also likely to dip later after Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX leaders back callAI-linked stocks tumbled on Monday after the bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX called for a slowdown in “reckless” development citing fears the technology could soon run out of control.Shares in SoftBank, a Japanese investor that is a big backer of OpenAI, slumped 13%, while the South Korean Kospi stock index, which relies heavily on chip makers that supply AI companies, dropped by 3%. Continue reading...

Indigenous senators have criticised One Nation leader saying the comments showed ‘wilful ignorance’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastFederal parliamentarians from across the political spectrum have joined in condemning resurfaced comments by Pauline Hanson as “nasty” and “derogatory”, after she labelled Indigenous Australians the “most primitive race on Earth”.The Indigenous affairs minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, a Yanyuwa and Garrwa woman, described the One Nation senator’s comments as “totally outrageous” while her opposition counterpart, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, said Hanson’s comments showed “wilful ignorance” and had “dragged the conversation into appalling territory”. Continue reading...

Big manufacturers planning to produce more of the forever chemicals to meet demand from datacentresPfas companies are launching a “tidal wave” of forever chemicals production to meet demand from the AI industry, a campaign organisation has warned.Despite alarm over the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, a survey of the 10 biggest manufacturers found most had plans to increase production. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: As Labour MPs scramble to realign later today around a bill that could stop donations like this in their tracks, a look at new game-changing donations to a party engulfed in financial scandalsGood morning. Nigel Farage has a confirmed talent for upending the laws of political gravity, and this weekend has been no exception, as he declared himself “humbled” by two donations of £36m each from cryptocurrency tycoons Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.I’d shoehorn a joke about buses in here but, honestly, this feels too consequential for that.Economy | Former chancellor George Osborne said Britain’s economy had “fallen off a cliff” since Brexit – and that rejoining the European Union’s customs union would be the fastest route to recovery.Technology | Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s call to “slow the pace” of AI development. Amodei had cautioned that an AI swarm could otherwise become capable of “taking over the entire internet” within a year.Sweden | With most of the votes counted, Sweden’s national election remained too close to call on Sunday night, with left-wing parties holding a lead of just a single seat according to a partial tally by the election authority.Ukraine | A train carrying Boris Johnson and the former CIA chief David Petraeus may have been the target of a Russian drone strike that hit a train engine near the Poland-Ukraine border, according to Ukrainian Railways.Travel | The air traffic control outage that caused thousands of flights to be grounded across the UK earlier in the week was caused by a military aircraft entering “spurious” flight data into the system, according to a report.Monday | First ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will meet in Cardiff to discuss moves towards self-determination across the nations.Tuesday | The final report of the Thirwall Inquiry into events at the neonatal unit where Lucy Letby worked will be published. Letby was sentenced to 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others.Thursday | Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, will address the European parliament. Continue reading...