- Chinese president Xi Jinping has sparked intense health speculation after skipping the Brics summit gala dinner in Delhi and making a hasty return to China, where he has not been seen in public since.
- Footage from the summit showed Indian prime minister Narendra Modi pausing his speech to check on Xi, although Chinese journalists later claimed Modi was merely responding to a faulty translation earpiece.
- Unconfirmed reports from overseas dissidents allege the 73-year-old Chinese leader suffered a stroke and was flown to Beijing for emergency treatment, raising doubts over his scheduled meeting with Donald Trump on 24 September.
- South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has also fallen ill after returning from the summit in Delhi and has been temporarily withdrawn from public duties on medical advice.
- The summit's food has become a focal point of discussion, with speculation linking Ramaphosa's illness to the catering alongside domestic criticism of Modi for serving an exclusively vegetarian menu to visiting world leaders.
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