Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin skipped the BRICS summit in Brazil without explanation

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were both missing from the BRICS summit that kicked off Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. According to Bloomberg, neither leader showed up, and neither sent anyone with presidential weight to fill the gap. The two-day summit brought together leaders from the group’s expanded roster, but the image that stood out was the one without China, Russia, Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Lula stood at the center of the summit’s family photo, with India’s Narendra Modi and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa flanking him. On the outer edges...