Argentina Formally Announces it Won't Join the BRICS Alliance in Milei's Latest Policy Shift

FILE PHOTO: Argentina's President Javier Milei looks on as he attends a Hanukkah celebration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 12, 2023. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta//File Photo/File Photo

Asharq Al Awsat

11:19-30 December 2023 AD ـ 18 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1445 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

11:19-30 December 2023 AD ـ 18 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1445 AH

Argentina Formally Announces it Won't Join the BRICS Alliance in Milei's Latest Policy Shift

FILE PHOTO: Argentina's President Javier Milei looks on as he attends a Hanukkah celebration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 12, 2023. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta//File Photo/File Photo

Argentina formally announced Friday that it won't join the BRICS bloc of developing economies, the latest in a dramatic shift in foreign and economic policy by Argentina's new far-right populist President Javier Milei.
In a letter addressed to the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — all members of the alliance — Milei said the moment was not “opportune" for Argentina to join as a full member. The letter was dated a week ago, Dec. 22, but released by the Argentine government on Friday, the last working day of 2023.
Argentina was among six countries invited in August to join the bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to make an 11-nation bloc. Argentina was set to join Jan. 1, 2024.
The move comes as Argentina has been left reeling by deepening economic crisis.
Milei's predecessor, former center-left president Alberto Fernandez, endorsed joining the alliance as an opportunity to reach new markets. The BRICS currently account for about 40% of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the world’s GDP.
But economic turmoil left many in Argentina eager for change, ushering chainsaw-wielding political outsider Milei into the presidency.
Milei, who defines himself as an “anarcho-capitalist” — a current within liberalism that aspires to eliminate the state — has implemented a series of measures to deregulate the economy, which in recent decades has been marked by strong state interventionism.
In foreign policy, he has proclaimed full alignment with the “free nations of the West,” especially the United States and Israel.
Throughout the campaign for the presidency, Milei also disparaged countries ruled “by communism” and announced that he would not maintain diplomatic relations with them despite growing Chinese investment in South America.
However, in the letter addressed to his counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva in neighboring Brazil and the rest of the leaders of full BRICS members — Xi Jinping of China, Narenda Mondi of India, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Matamela Ramaphosa of South Africa — Milei proposed to “intensify bilateral ties” and increase “trade and investment flows.”
Milei also expressed his readiness to hold meetings with each of the five leaders.

Google Maps Will Show ‘Lake America’ in US, not ‘Lake Ontario’

A sign reading "Lake Ontario, Now and Always," unveiled by Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Fifty Point Conservation Area, after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America," near Grimsby, Ontario, Canada, August 29, 2026. (Reuters)

17:10-30 August 2026 AD ـ 17 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Google Maps Will Show ‘Lake America’ in US, not ‘Lake Ontario’

Google Maps has changed the ‌name of "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" for US users to reflect President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the lake, according to a Google statement.

Trump announced on Thursday that he was changing the name of the smallest of the five Great Lakes, part of an escalating trade feud with Canada that has prompted the two countries to impose reciprocal tariffs on billions of dollars in goods.

The president's order affects the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which sets ‌the standards for ‌official US maps. It does not have ‌any ⁠impact on Canadian ⁠naming conventions or how the rest of the world refers to the lake.

"Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the US, people using Maps in the US will see 'Lake America,' those in Canada will continue to see 'Lake ⁠Ontario,' and those outside of the US and ‌Canada will see both names," ‌Google said in a blog post issued on Saturday.

The White ‌House, Carney's office and Ford's office did not immediately comment ‌on Sunday on Google's decision.

Google Maps made a similar change to the Gulf of Mexico last year, labeling it the "Gulf of America" following Trump's executive order on his first day ‌in office renaming the body of water.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney immediately rejected the lake's name ⁠change on ⁠Thursday. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul of New York, which shares a long border with Canada, declared that "New York won't be calling it that," while Phil Scott, the Republican governor of neighboring Vermont, called Trump's decision "petty and disappointing" on social media.

The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, on Saturday unveiled a large lakeside sign that reads, "Lake Ontario: Now and Always," in both English and French.

"President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you, the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario," Ford said.

World

Trump Says US Will Refill Strategic Petroleum Reserve Using Venezuelan Oil

An oil tanker sails off the coast of Maracaibo, Venezuela, 29 August 2026. (EPA)

17:06-30 August 2026 AD ـ 17 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Trump Says US Will Refill Strategic Petroleum Reserve Using Venezuelan Oil

An oil tanker sails off the coast of Maracaibo, Venezuela, 29 August 2026. (EPA)

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that oil from a recently struck deal with Venezuela will be used to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has been drawn down sharply in recent years to respond to global supply disruptions ‌and high ‌fuel prices.

Trump said in ‌a ⁠social media post ⁠that the "topping out" process will begin shortly, describing the Venezuelan oil as a “Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States.”

It is unclear ⁠how quickly the Venezuela ‌deal could ‌provide oil for the reserve or deliver ‌any near-term benefit to US motorists. ‌

The agreement Trump announced on Friday is aimed at reviving Venezuela's battered oil industry, but it will ‌require significant investment and infrastructure work before production can rise substantially.

The ⁠reserve ⁠held about 290 million barrels as of August 21, near a 44-year low, after the United States drew down its stockpile under both the Biden and Trump administrations in response to global supply disruptions, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict with Iran.

World

Saved by a Lunch Break: Nepal Floods Destroyed Many Schools, but Students at This School Survived

Mud covers the floor of a classroom damaged in the recent flash floods at the Shree Bagheswori Madhyamik School in Galchhi, Dhading district of Nepal Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP)

17:03-30 August 2026 AD ـ 17 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Saved by a Lunch Break: Nepal Floods Destroyed Many Schools, but Students at This School Survived

Mud covers the floor of a classroom damaged in the recent flash floods at the Shree Bagheswori Madhyamik School in Galchhi, Dhading district of Nepal Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP)

In one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday’s catastrophic floods in Nepal, a group of schoolchildren managed to survive when they happened to leave their classroom for their lunch break.

Children attending other classes at the school in Dhading also escaped because teachers told them to quickly evacuate their classrooms shortly before the waters came crashing in.

“The teachers said, ‘There is a flood and you should leave bags and tiffins,’” said Lakshmi Shrestha, the mother of a student attending the school. “That’s how they managed to survive.”

Shrestha was among mothers and children who began to return to their school on Sunday to find the kids' belongings and see what could be salvaged. The majority of the children at the school appeared to have survived the floods, the families said.

Thick brown and gray mud coated the surfaces of school benches, walls and notebooks while the school’s courtyard was filled with sediment. Lines on the walls showed how high the water rapidly rose. A pile of small mud-caked backpacks, some with colorful key chains, were on the benches and floors, waiting to be claimed.

Kopila Mizar, the mother of a student, was unable to find her son’s backpack, but remained positive.

“My son is alive, that is my biggest happiness,” she said.

At least 69 schools in Nepal’s flood-devastated districts have been destroyed or damaged, putting education at risk for nearly 19,000 children, according to the nonprofit Save the Children. Those numbers are likely to rise as rescue teams reach more areas, they said.

The government ordered schools and universities to shut down for three days following torrential rains that triggered severe flash floods and landslides across parts of the country. University exams were also paused.

With communities still receiving constant flood warnings advising them to move to higher, safer areas, it’s unclear when classes will be able to resume.

Nepal’s disaster agency said Sunday the death toll had climbed to 788 with 2,502 missing, while Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on the Chinese side of the border.

The missing include hundreds of people from over a dozen countries who were in the region to work, visit the mountains or make a pilgrimage to a peak. On Sunday, Chinese state media said 261 foreigners were missing in Tibet, including over a hundred Nepalis and others from around the world.

Argentina Formally Announces it Won't Join the BRICS Alliance in Milei's Latest Policy Shift

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Google Maps Will Show ‘Lake America’ in US, not ‘Lake Ontario’

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