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Graphic Truth: G7 vs BRICS, who has more economic clout?
The G7 countries – the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan – will convene this weekend in Kananaskis, a rural town in the mountains of Alberta, Canada. High on the meeting’s agenda are tariffs, artificial intelligence, and international security, with special focus on Russian sanctions and Israel’s recent attacks on Iran.
While the G7 was originally formed as an informal grouping of the world’s wealthiest democracies, the BRICS – composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – have sought to challenge their dominance of the global agenda.
Here’s a look at how the share of the global economy held by G7 and BRICS nations has evolved over time.
East and West German citizens celebrate as they climb the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate after the opening of the East German border was announced, on November 9, 1989.
You had to be there: How our memories shape our politics
– By Willis Sparks
Sometimes I find myself talking with one of my super-smart, well-informed younger acquaintances about some major event from “recent” history. I’ll tell them I remember watching nightly coverage of the fate of Americans held hostage in Tehran by furious Iranian students while I was in high school. Or, sitting on the floor of my grad school apartment, watching live TV coverage of Chinese tanks crushing Chinese protesters, and later of giddy Germans dancing and drinking atop the Berlin Wall. Then there’s the sunny fall morning when a plane struck a tower in lower Manhattan.
Then I remember that the person I’m speaking with wasn’t yet born when most (or any) of these things happened.
Everywhere in the world, succeeding generations have formative experiences that shape their understanding not only of the past but of the present and future. When we think about the politics of various countries today, this “horizon of memory” can help us consider something important about what’s happening and why.
50.5% of Americans are under 40. This means they have little memory of the Cold War, and didn’t grow up with the assumption that America has a “responsibility to lead” on the global stage. If you didn’t experience Cold War hopes and fears firsthand, you might find it odd that US presidents were once called “leader of the free world.”
43.3% of Germans are under 40. I haven’t visited Berlin since there were two of them. I went in the spring of 1990 because I wanted to put my hand on the Wall, to touch history, before it was gone. No German under the age of 40 will remember that surreal historical inflection point or the complex (sometimes contradictory) feelings triggered by Germany’s reunification.
45.9% of Russians and 42.4% of Ukrainians are under 40. No Russian under 40 will remember the Soviet superpower and the daily life that came with it. Even the Mikhail Gorbachev-period that I saw for myself on a visit to Moscow in April 1989 will be largely unfamiliar. Across the border, no Ukrainian under 40 will remember life in an empire ruled from the Kremlin. On both sides of the border, Vladimir Putin’s arguments about Russia’s historic claims to Kyiv land differently with people over 60 than those who are 30.
69.4% of South Africans are under 40. Everyone in that country knows the African National Congress was once the party of liberation. But unless you’re over 40, you likely won’t remember the astonishing day in February 1990 when a smiling Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for 27 years, walked out of his small cell in suit and tie. Nor will you recall the widely shared jolt of raw idealism when he became his country’s president. If you’re under 40, the ANC is the party of power.
64% of Brazilians are under 45. No Brazilian under 45 can remember living under the military dictatorship that was the “Fifth Brazilian Republic,” which lasted from 1964 to 1985. For them, debates over threats to democracy posed by former President Jair Bolsonaro might not resonate as they do for their parents.
78% of Iranians are under 50. No Iranian under 50 will remember life before the revolution that established the Islamic Republic (1979). They know the days of the Shah only through the happy or unhappy memories of their parents and the ideological education they continue to receive.
Without doubt, these events are crucial for all of us. No matter our age today, these are the movements of history on which we build the world around us. But I know my grandparents understood the poverty and fear of the 1930s differently than I ever can. My parents came of age in the peaceful but paranoid 1950s and entered adulthood with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
At 60, I’m blessed to have seen some dramatic historical turning points and to value the perspective they offer. But I’ve also learned that politics, anywhere and everywhere, is impossible to understand without reminders of our horizons of memory — and respect for the assumptions, beliefs, and aspirations of those who’ve engaged the wider world since.
What memories of historical events have shaped your worldview? Let us know here, and if you include your name and where you’re writing from we may include your response in an upcoming edition.Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on May 14, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Israeli air strike in Gaza kills 50, Houthis try and fail to hit Israel, Al Qaeda-linked group kills Burkina Faso soldiers, Uruguayan liberal hero dies, Brazil’s secret cash cow
50: An Israeli air strike in Northern Gaza killed at least 50 on Tuesday night, including 22 children and 15 women, according to an Indonesian hospital operating in the area. Israel has ramped up its latest Gaza offensive, with its security cabinet reportedly approving a plan to “capture” the enclave.
3: The Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired three missiles at Israel during a 24-hour period spanning Tuesday and Wednesday, two of which were intercepted. Israel seems ready to respond, ordering a trio of Yemeni ports to be evacuated.
60: An Al Qaeda affiliate killed 60 Burkina Faso soldiers in the country’s northern Loroum province, amid mounting tensions in a place that has been roiled by an Islamist insurgency for nearly a decade. It’s not clear when exactly the attacks took place.
89: Uruguay’s former president José Mujica, renowned for his humble lifestyle, died at the age of 89. He had cancer of the esophagus. Once the leader of a violent guerilla group in the 1960s, he served 15 years in prison before eventually becoming president in 2010. He earned cult status among liberals worldwide when he became the first leader to legalize weed.
80%: Zebus, an Indian cow breed renowned for its humped back and turkey wattle, now comprise 80% of Brazil’s total cattle herd. They are more resistant to heat and parasites than their European cousins, allowing them to proliferate, which in turn has helped Brazil become the largest net exporter of food.
What is Trump after in his latest Gulf states tour?
On Ian Bremmer’s World in 60 Seconds: Ian dives into the Brazil-China relationship, India and Pakistan ceasefire, and Trump’s Gulf States tour.
Ian Bremmer's takeaways:
- On Brazil-China ties: “As the Chinese de-risk away from the United States, that is a significant benefit to Brazil.”
- On India-Pakistan tensions,: “The ceasefire will hold—for now—but the region is more dangerous than it was a few weeks ago.”
- On Trump’s Middle East visit: “He (Trump) wants this to be the most successful foreign trip he’s had as president.”
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro walks after the Supreme Court voted that he should stand trial for allegedly attempting a coup after his 2022 electoral defeat, in Brasilia, Brazil, on March 26, 2025.
Brazil’s top court greenlights Bolsonaro trial
Much like Jair Bolsonaro’s beloved Seleção, which lost its soccer match to Argentina this week, the former Brazilian president has reason to be concerned about his own defensive strategy. On Wednesday, the country’s Supreme Court ordered him to stand trial for his alleged efforts to overturn the last election. The ruling raises the prospect of the 70-year-old ending up behind bars and imperils his hopes of running for office in 2026.
The case at hand: Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet charged Bolsonaro and 33 others in February with attempting a coup on Jan. 8, 2023, and accused them of forging a plot to poison President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court justice. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.
It is “highly likely” that the court will also find Bolsonaro guilty, said Eurasia Group Managing Director Chris Garman, but that wouldn’t stop him from holding significant sway at the next election in 2026.
“From an electoral point of view, he will remain a kingmaker on the right for the 2026 presidential election,” said Garman. “Polls consistently show his public support hasn’t dropped since the last presidential election, and he will be seen as a martyr among the conservative voters who will agree with claims he is being politically persecuted.”
Bitcoins are being displayed in Huai 'an city, Jiangsu province, China, on June 26, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Wisconsin school shooting, Crypto keeps cooking, what Russia got out of A$$ad, Japan’s biggest bank makes huge apology, Brazil tracks DNA of gold
2: Police have identified that the shooter who opened fire at a Christian school in Wisconsin was a 15-year old female student. The shooter killed two people, a student and a teacher, and left six others severely injured before taking her own life.
106,000: Whether you see them as heroes or as villains, one thing is for sure: the crypto bros are absolutely cooking these days. The value of Bitcoin, the world’s largest crypto currency, has tripled in value this year, hitting a record high of $106,000 on Monday before settling back to a still-scorching $105,000. Investors in the currency are eagerly awaiting a crypto-friendly Trump administration. Last week Trump proposed creating a strategic stockpile of Bitcoin, akin to the US strategic oil reserves.
250 million: What did the Kremlin get out of supporting the now-deposed Syrian despot Bashar Assad for so long? At least $250 million, for one thing. According to a phenomenally detailed report by the Financial Times, Assad, under severe US and EU sanctions, airlifted two tons of cash in that amount to Moscow in 2018 and 2019, as part of a broader scheme of embedding Syrian interests in Russia’s financial system.
1 billion: Japan’s biggest bank on Monday apologized after one of its employees allegedly stole more than 1 billion yen (about $6.6 million) from clients’ safety deposit boxes. The thefts occurred over the past four years at two Tokyo branches of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, known as MUFG for short. Gomenasai indeed.
38: Call it the 23 and Me of Brazilian gold.Brazil, which has long struggled to rein in illegal mining in the Amazon, has developed a database that classifies samples of the metal from different regions, based on “radio-isotope scans and fluorescence spectroscopy” (we can’t tell you what that is but it sounds cool). This database of gold’s “DNA” has helped the authorities to better trace illegal gold hauls, boosting seizures of illegal gold by 38% in 2023 alone.FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a signing ceremony for an addendum to the works on the Transnordestina railway, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil November 28, 2024.
Brazil’s Lula goes under the knife. Is he healthy enough to run again?
On Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva underwent a successful craniotomy in Sao Paolo after complaining of a severe headache. The 79-year-old leader was diagnosed with an intracranial hemorrhage — basically, bleeding in the brain — linked to a fall he suffered in October. He is said to be recovering well and is expected to be able to return to work next week — but the health scare is opening questions about his political future.
Can Lula keep a healthy image? On the campaign trail, he often joked that he had the energy of a 30-year-old, but his vitality will now loom large in public discourse. Running Latin America’s largest country is a stressful, 24/7 job, and with elections looming in 2026, the politicos in Brasilia may start hearing echoes of Joe Biden.
Lula’s approval ratings are considerably higher than Biden’s were during the US campaign — Bloomberg has him at 47% approval — but in the anti-establishment environment that has dominated elections in 2024, the old warhorse might do better out to pasture. That said, most presidents don’t get elected without a healthy ego, and no one expects Lula to see himself out.
Who could step in? If Lula should experience further health problems that lead him to step down before the end of his term, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin would be his constitutional successor, but not a member of Lula's party or popular with his base. Longer term, we’re watching Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, a close ally of Lula’s who is rumored to be the president’s favorite for a running mate in 2026.Police reinforcements patrol before the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Israel at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Nov. 14, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Soccer security à Paris, Deadly Brazil court blast, OECD sees migration uptick, Illegal miners targeted, Velvet Revolution anniversary, Alex Jones vs. The Onion
5,600: France deployed 5,600 police officers and security guards to manage the risk of violence at a soccer match between France and Israel in Paris on Thursday. Pro-Palestinian protests were held nearby, and only minor scuffles were reported from within the stadium, where the match ended in a draw. The police ramp-up was a law enforcement response to violent attacks on Israeli fans last week in Amsterdam.
98: On Wednesday, a man blew himself up in an attempt to attack Brazil's Supreme Court. A former failed candidate for local office, the man had stood for ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s political party in 2020 and received just 98 votes. The public square near the Supreme Court was also hit by violent protests by Bolsonaro supporters after their candidate lost the last presidential election. A Bolsonaro spokesman responded to the news on X: “There are crazy people everywhere.”
6.5: About6.5 million people moved legally to the 38 OECD countries in 2023 – a sizable jump from the previous record of 6 million who moved to these countries in 2022.
4,000: South Africa’s government has threatened to “smoke out” about 4,000 illegal miners who are reportedly inside an abandoned mine searching for gold in the country’s North West province.
35: On Sunday, Czechs and Slovaks will mark the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which ended the 41-year rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
$3.5 million: A judge temporarily halted the sale of InfoWars to The Onion after the satirical outlet on Thursday said it had won a bankruptcy auction to acquire the website founded by Alex Jones, a well-known conspiracy theorist. The judge moved to put a hold on the sale until a hearing next week after complaints from Jones and a company linked to him that put in a $3.5 million bid for InfoWars.