وارف قميحة*أن يأتي الحديث عن التنوع من كاتب لبناني يحمل دلالة خاصة. فنحن أبناء بلد صغير جغرافياً، لكنه شديد التنوع دينياً وثقافياً واجتماعياً، وشكّل التعايش بين مكوناته أحد أبرز أسئلة تجربته الوطنية. وربما لهذا السبب ظل سؤال التنوع يرافقني في رحلاتي إلى الصين، وإن كانت المقارنة بين البلدين، في الحجم والتاريخ والنظام السياسي والبنية الاجتماعية، غير ممكنة بالمعنى المباشر.زرت على امتداد سنوات عشرات المدن الصينية.

• Joint statement demands protection of civilians, respect of sovereignty, global trade routes; condemns strikes on N-plants as breaches of international law • Calls for ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria NEW DELHI: Members of the 11-nation BRICS group, including China, Russia, Iran and UAE, urged “maximum res­traint” in the Middle East on Saturday, papering over months of division to issue a joint statement even as fighting between the US and Iran shows no sign of abating. The declaration, relea­sed on the opening day of the group’s summit in New Delhi, called on countries to avoid steps that might inflame the conflict further and demanded protection for civilians, sovereignty and the free flow of trade, energy and shipping through the region. “We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East/West Asia and, recalling our respective national positions, call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation,” said the statement.

India’s success in securing consensus on reforming the United Nations Security Council is more than a diplomatic achievement. It is a reminder that the architecture built after the Second World War can no longer claim to represent a world that has changed profoundly. The New Delhi Declaration, adopted at the expanded BRICS summit, places the demand for a more representative global order at the centre of the grouping’s agenda.