Medvedev confident BRIC countries' prestige will grow.

MOSCOW, April 13 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is
confident that the new international forum, the BRIC, comprising Brazil,
Russia, India, and China, is very authoritative and promising. The Russian
leader pointed this out in an article headlined "BRIC Countries: Common
Goals -- Common Actions". The article is published in all the four
countries on Tuesday, ahead of BRIC's second summit, which is due to be
held in Brasilia from April 15 to 16.
Medvedev wrote, "I am sure that our four countries' cooperation has a
great future. Despite the fact that we are only at the beginning of the
road, a reliable foundation of our dialogue in the BRIC format -- the
tried-and-tested partner's mutually beneficial relations -- makes it
possible to count on success of this promising forum for the benefit of
our countries and peoples".
The Russian President's opinion is that "BRIC summit is a forum,
although a young one, which from the very outset won a high international
prestige". "And this is no wonder, for the four countries account for 26
percent of the world's territory, 42 percent of the world's population,
and 14.6 percent of the gross domestic product. In recent years BRIC
contribution to the growth of the world economy exceeded 50 percent," the
RF President explained.
Medvedev mentioned BRIC successes, "Since the BRIC's first full-format
summit in Yekaterinburg (June 16, 2009), the four countries have succeeded
in creating a substantial margin in many areas of work planned out by us.
Thus, our countries actively participate in the Group of Twenty (G-20),
which has become the main mechanism for the coordination of international
efforts towards establishing a new system of global economic management.
It was precisely on the basis of a common approach -- at the G-20 summit
in Pittsburg -- that we succeeded in bringing into effect a decision to
redistribute five percent of votes in the International Monetary Fund and
three percent of votes in the World Bank in favour of new and developing
economies." He emphasized that BRIC countries come out in favour of
"adopting clear-cut 'rules of the game' that would ensure equal
participation of all BRIC members in G-20 activities".
"Besides, BRIC countries will strive for successful completion of the
current and long-ripe reforms of the Bretton-Woods system. I think that we
could also jointly come out in favour of working out a G-20 Action Program
in the post-recession period, and making a common contribution to this
work," the Russian Head of State suggested.
Medvedev pointed out, "By strengthening the economic foundation of the
multipolar world, BRIC countries objectively promote the creation of
conditions for the enhancement of international security".
"We are unanimous in agreeing that the international community must
base itself on politico-diplomatic and legal methods, rather than the use
of military force, to settle conflicts. We are convinced that it is
essential to strengthen the collective principles in international
relations and fashion a just and democratic world set-up," Medvedev stated.
The Russian President recalled that Russia, China, India, and Brazil
actively cooperate at the United Nations Organization. As an example of
such work he mentioned "co-sponsorship by these four states of UN General
Assembly's resolutions on the prevention of the deployment of any kind of
weapons in outer space and non-application of use-of-force methods with
regard to space objects".

.Shanghai TV tower blaze put out, no visible damage.

SHANGHAI, April 13 (Itar-Tass) - The blaze that broke out here at
Asia's highest television tower Oriental Pearl on the night from Monday to
Tuesday has been put out, Chinese media reported.
Within one hour, firemen extinguished the flame that had appeared near
the antenna at the top of the 468-metre-high tower. According to police,
no one was hurt and there was no visible damage.
The Xinhua news agency reported that lighting was possibly the cause
of the blaze, for there had been a clap of thunder before flame emerged.
The TV tower, which consists of two spheres connected with columns, is
located in Pudong district -- the financial center of Shanghai -- and is a
tourist attraction.
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