Canada’s environmental, public-safety, agricultural, foreign-affairs and trade policies all affect global prosperity and resilience — and by extension in an interconnected world, Canadian prosperity and resilience.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he welcomes the initiative taken by the BRICS leaders to set up a new international development bank.  The President said in a twitter message the new bank will be a helping hand to developing nations.

There is no question that China is the linchpin in BRICS. Now the founding of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) suggest that BRICS can be looked to for bold moves in the future, with China leading the charge. All sides agree that this is a mutual partnership with noble goals of reciprocal investment and development, but it’s hard to ignore China’s considerable muscle.

Social cohesion and economic transformation are at the heart of the Arts and Culture Ministry. Briefing media ahead of his Budget Vote Speech on Thursday, Minister Nathi Mthethwa briefly outlined the role of arts, culture and heritage in the economic and social transformation of the country. He said his speech will be rooted in the National Development Plan (NDP), particularly on issues of economic and social transformation.

China’s main goals in South America are economic, but it also hopes to win public and political support.  Thus, an economic push by China is also a soft power push, as Beijing uses its funding (both public and private) to win goodwill in developing countries.

Media in India are praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's performance at the Brics summit in Brazil amid calls for better ties with China.  Papers feel the PM's "debut on the world stage" has put India "squarely on the path of pragmatic internationalism".

It seems an impossible mission to achieve economic, social and cultural growth in a country bled dry by drug trafficking guerrillas such as FARC operating in the most productive regions and retaining violent influence in the main cities. But Colombia has been making it happen.

A new international development bank and multi-billion emergency lending pool will be setup by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The move comes at a summit meeting of BRICS leaders in Brazil.