Seeking solace

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at the annual BRICS summit in Johannesburg today with big trouble brewing at home: a decelerating econo [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at the annual BRICS summit in Johannesburg today with big trouble brewing at home: a decelerating economy, a property-market crisis and persisting trade tensions with the US. Things are even worse for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who’s missing the gathering of emerging-market powers to avoid an international arrest warrant and will give a remote speech. His 18-month war in Ukraine shows no sign of ending and he’s facing setbacks on the battlefield. Key Reading: [Putin, Xi and BRICS Allies See Chance to Shake Up World Order]( [Five Things to Watch as South Africa Hosts BRICS Summit]( [BRICS Expansion Gets Interesting If Saudis Join, O’Neill Says]( [India, China Soften Tone in Border Talks Ahead of BRICS, G-20]( [Click here]( for the latest news from the BRICS summit. Both look set to use three days of meetings with fellow BRICS members Brazil, India and South Africa to try and burnish their international images, build a united front against the US and its allies, and expand trade avenues. Key to those efforts will be expanding the group. While consensus has emerged to do so, it still needs to be agreed who can join and when: India, for instance, is wary of BRICS turning into a pro-China bloc. Dozens of nations have expressed interest, with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia near the front of the line. The summit will also discuss how to increase trade in domestic currencies to reduce members’ reliance on the dollar, and enhancing the role of the bloc’s New Development Bank. There are hurdles: Since its founding, the group has had little impact on the global policy agenda, and the countries continue to play secondary roles in top international institutions. Xi and Putin are seeking to change that, and the fact that so many nations want to join is a symbolic win. Even so, a host of questions remain about what a more heterogeneous BRICS can achieve in practice and whether more countries joining will help their quest to erode US influence around the world. — [Monique Vanek]( Putin and Xi at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2019. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg Check out the Bloomberg Politics [webpage](, and if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines Donald Trump said he’d surrender to authorities in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be booked on state charges that he [led a criminal conspiracy]( to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The former US president agreed to a $200,000 bond in the case brought against him by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. It’ll be Trump’s fourth set of criminal charges this year. - Special Counsel Jack Smith [blasted efforts]( by Trump to delay until 2026 his separate federal trial in Washington over election interference, saying there was no justifiable reason the case can’t start in January. President Joe Biden toured areas of Maui devastated by recent wildfires and where hundreds of people are still missing, calling it an “unimaginable tragedy” and seeking to reassure residents frustrated by his handling of the disaster. Biden promised to provide “[whatever you need](” to the people of Hawaii for “as long as it takes” after US government estimates put the damage at more than $5.5 billion. New York and California have in the past three years lost firms that managed close to [$1 trillion of assets](, Bloomberg News calculated, after going through corporate filings from more than 17,000 companies since end-2019. The exodus from the Northeast and West Coast has meant the loss of thousands of high-paying jobs, straining city and state finances by sapping tax revenue. Commercial property markets have also lost valuable tenants as they struggle with hybrid work. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Extreme Weather Is Coming for Your Town, Too: Opinion Wrap]( - [A BRICS Common Currency Is Still a Pipe Dream: Daniel Moss]( - [China Is Losing Friends and Influence in Asia: Karishma Vaswani]( Elon Musk told US Pentagon officials during a call about the satellite-based internet that SpaceX supplies to Ukraine’s military that he’d spoken personally with Putin, the New Yorker reported. The report revives the controversy that erupted after Musk proposed “peace plans” that the Kremlin praised and Ukraine criticized. Soon after, Ukrainian troops reported Starlink outages and Musk [threatened to stop funding]( Kyiv’s access to the service. - Read more of our rolling coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [here](. A resurgent Labour Party under Keir Starmer is trying to [claw back]( voters in Scotland lost to the pro-independence Scottish National Party to ease its path back to power in the UK Parliament at the next general election. Making inroads in Glasgow, once a loyal heartland, will be key, and an early preview of the political showdown will come in a special election due shortly. Glaswegians have crowned their Duke of Wellington statue with a traffic cone for decades. In 2014, a “Yes” cone appeared in support of Scottish independence. Photographer: Emily Macinnes/Bloomberg Explainers You Can Use - [Trump’s Absence Puts Ron DeSantis at Center of Republican Debate]( - [China Ramps Up Fight With Yuan Bears to Stop Selloff Spiraling]( - [Thaksin Returns From Exile After Deal With Former Thai Foes]( Cambodia’s parliament approved a new government led by the son of outgoing leader Hun Sen following an election last month widely criticized as neither free nor fair. West Point-educated Hun Manet officially assumed the role of prime minister, marking the conclusion of a [political succession]( years in the making. Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - The Republican ultraconservative Freedom Caucus in the US House raised the risk of an Oct. 1 [government shutdown]( with demands for spending cuts and conditions on money for Ukraine in exchange for their support for stopgap spending legislation. - The US [lifted]( restrictions on 27 Chinese companies and organizations, a sign Washington is extending an apparent olive branch ahead of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s planned trip to Beijing this month. - Japan will begin a contentious plan to release treated [wastewater]( from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. - Srettha Thavisin, a former property tycoon and a political newcomer, was on course [to be elected]( as Thailand’s new prime minister after he won enough votes outside his coalition to reach the majority threshold. - North Korea’s state airline made its first international trip since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, to Beijing, in a sign of [easing border restrictions]( that could repatriate its stranded nationals abroad and increase trade with China. And finally ... Computer-generated children’s voices so realistic they fool their own parents. Masks created with photos from social media that can penetrate a system protected by face ID. They sound like the stuff of science fiction, but such [deepfake]( techniques are already available to criminals preying on everyday consumers, as the AI explosion offers new tools and the potential for life-changing financial loss. Attendees watch deepfake technology ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg More from Bloomberg - [Washington Edition]( for exclusive coverage on how the worlds of money and politics intersect in the US capital - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Supply Lines]( for daily insights into supply chains and globe trade - [Bw Daily]( for unique perspectives, original reporting and insightful analysis from Businessweek’s renowned journalists - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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