For the first time, Xi is missing a China-backed BRICS summit. Why?

A summit of leaders from the BRICS group of major emerging economies kicks off in Brazil Sunday – but without the top leader of its most powerful member. For the first time in more than one decade of rule, Chinese leader Xi Jinping – who has made BRICS a centerpiece of his push to reshape the global balance of power– will not attend the annual leaders’ gathering.Xi’s absence from the two-day