Fighting for a Future in Rio’s Toughest Neighbourhoods

Teachers at a local primary school here, the Escola Municipal IV Centenário, are trained to help their pupils find cover in case of gun battles.

Brazil Measures Rain Against Dengue

Mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever need clean, still water and warm night temperatures to reproduce and thrive. That is common knowledge, but now scientists in Brazil have managed to measure the relation between increased rainfall and temperatures and the risk of dengue epidemics in this city.

New Feminism Tears Down Walls in Brazil

Anarkia Boladona has turned the streets of Brazil into billboards against domestic violence. As a self-titled feminist political graffiti artist, she represents a new trend in women’s rights that seeks less academic and more daring and popular avenues of expression.

Brazil’s Economic Model Offers Ray of Hope

As governments struggle to find ways out of the persistent global financial crisis, Brazil’s development model offers an alternative path to recovery and growth, according to some economists and politicians.

Antigua Prepares for Consequences of Superstorm Sandy

Tourism-dependent Antigua may have been spared the ravages of superstorm Sandy, but the island is nevertheless feeling its effects on environmental, political and economic fronts.

Brazil, Turkey, India, Indonesia Key to U.S.-Backed Global Order

The United States should focus increasingly on courting Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey, four “global swing states” critical to the preservation of the Western-dominated international order, according to a new report released here Tuesday by two major U.S. think tanks.

Brazil Emerging as Key Player at U.N.

When a U.N. member state agrees to hold an international conference in its capital, the host country is not only offered the privilege of chairing the mega meeting but also given pride of place as the keynote opening speaker.

Brazil Frustrated with European “Backtracking” on IMF Reforms

In the aftermath of last week’s elections to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s executive board, Brazil and others are expressing frustration that a reforms process aimed at increasing the representation of developing countries is being stymied by European countries.

Brazil Launches Campaign to Decriminalise Drug Use

A host of academic, legal, health, political and social figures are joining together to back a campaign to decriminalise drug use in Brazil, as tens of thousands of consumers uninvolved in the drug trade are currently jailed.

Brazilian Environmental Activists Killed in Shadow of Rio+20

Far from the plush surroundings which hosted Rio+20, the most ambitious global conference on the environment of the past two decades, events in a fishing village in the state of Rio de Janeiro show the cost of fighting environmental crime can be as high as life itself.

New Set of Sustainable Development Goals Looks Beyond 2015*

When world leaders from over 100 countries wind up their three-day Rio+20 summit in Brazil next week, they will leave behind the shattered remains of a slew of proposals that never got off the ground.

Cilantro Spices Up Coexistence with Drought in Brazil

Many grow lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, beets and other vegetables. But cilantro is ever-present in the gardens that are helping rural families weather the lengthy drought that is once again wracking Brazil’s impoverished Northeast.

Brazil and China, Oiling the Wheels of Business

China's voracious demand for energy has prompted it to embrace Brazil as a major oil partner, fuelling the dramatic expansion of Chinese companies in this South American country. But while some see this as a boost to the Brazilian economy, others fear that it poses a risk to this country’s future self-sufficiency.

Belo Monte Dam Hit by Friendly Fire

Those who made the final decision on the design of Brazil’s Belo Monte hydroelectric dam will face legal action in the future for the damages caused. This is the kind of warning one would expect from environmentalists, but in this case it comes from a surprising quarter: staunch supporters of hydropower.

Brazil Drives Energy Integration in South America

Energy integration in South America will be a reality "in the medium to long term," driven by hydropower and drawing on Brazil’s experience, predicts Altino Ventura Filho, secretary of planning in this country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy.