live from washington. this is bbc news. wildfires kill at least 18 people in greece. officials say they re likely migrants crossing from turkey. a legal shadow hangs over a political showdown. donald trump, the republican presidential debate , and the elephant not in the room. and, building a case for the brics alliance. leaders of brazil, russia, india, china and south africa try to present a united front injohannesburg. we begin in greece where 18 bodies have been found in a national forest where wildfires have been raging for days.
not have high growth or nuclear weapons so the brics seal has been quite important for, in orderfor brazil to been quite important for, in order for brazil to project itself globally. if you are expand and basically that you re everyone in then brics will lose its exclusivity and prestige that it infers on its members. brazil has always, i ve seen throughout the years of meetings, is always trying together with india to tone down the rhetoric of the final declarations. if you and say five countries, brazil worries that it may not be able to do that it may not be able to do that that it may not be able to do that - that it may not be able to do that if you add five countries. president lula is known to sometimes speak of the calf and get carried away and he has called for venezuela s inclusion, something the foreign ministry rejects. he has also spoken in favour of argentina s inclusion, which seems unspeakable given the next president may be a far
the session. so whether he was tired and skipped it or whether he was feeling ill, we do not know. it is interesting that he chose to the session that was with the business people, which has been a source of criticism of things that have been operating in the chinese economy lately. we operating in the chinese economy lately. operating in the chinese econom latel . ~ ~ ., ., economy lately. we know that china s economic economy lately. we know that china s economic interest - economy lately. we know that | china s economic interest plays very large in this forum and i thought it was interesting how president lula said he did not want brics to rival the g7 g20 but that is what russia and china are aiming to build his so to what extent is brazil seeing this as an opportunity to counter the us influence? that s exactly the key division between brics countries. india, south africa and brazil consider themselves to be basically non allying countries. they would like to deepen ties to chi
the global united states, but more of sharing the global power supremacy alongside other powers as well. we don t really other powers as well. we don t really have a very clear criteria which really have a very clear criteria which country we consider being brics which country we consider being brics and which country we consider being brics and which is not. we can t really brics and which is not. we can t really pass brics and which is not. we can t really pass anyjudgment on what this organisation is really for. clearly this organisation is really for. clearly being anti western alone is not enough to rally the developing world and now is a you of would be members forms, these masters of the future face an identity crisis to define notjust the negative, what they are against, but what the new truly multipolar world can be. joining me now in the studio to discuss the brics alliance and the importance of it, is cindy yu, host of the spectator s chinese whispers podcast, live
byfleet when the family used to live there, she may not have been attending school since moving here in april. attending school since moving here in aril. . ~ i. an international trading bloc made up of brazil, russia, india, china and south africa has begun a three day summit injohannesburg where its members are discussing expanding the alliance after what they re calling a surge in interest injoining the group knowns as brics. russia s foreign minister sergei lavrov is representing president putin, who has made a video address at the summit. the group wants more opportunities for trade and investment and is seeking to extend its influence against wealthy western nations. our chief international correspondent lyse doucetjoins me now. how important is this brics alliance does it have that much influence? this alliance matters and if two of its most powerful members, china and russia, have their way, its most powerful members, china and russia, have theirway, it its most powerful