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Wednesday, September 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
BRAZIL: Bursting Prisons Are Crime Headquarters
The prisons of Sao Paulo state have seen their role reversed. Instead of sequestering criminals to protect society, jail facilities now serve as central headquarters and recruitment camps for crime gangs determined to wreak havoc throughout the greater metropolis area and dozens more Brazilian cities.
Transgenic Mosquitoes Enlisted in Fight Against Malaria
Results could emerge in a decade from research to eradicate this disease that poses a public health threat in 90 countries, home to 40 percent of the global populationENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Biodiesel Comes in All Flavours
The production of biodiesel from low-quality coffee, from the oils extracted from urban runoff, or from cattle fat is a pioneering initiative in Brazil, where efforts are under way to diversity the raw materials used as clean fuels, the consumption of which is on the rise.SPORTS: Mercosur Loses World Cup Hegemony
"Shameful", "a team with no soul", "at least the Argentines landed on their feet," said indignant fans and perplexed sports commentators here in reaction to Brazil's defeat Saturday, which sealed the loss of the Mercosur countries' longstanding hegemony in the final stages of football World Cups.HEALTH-BRAZIL: Japanese Man’s Big Heart Makes Mark Deep in the Amazon
In a story that evokes comparisons to Ernesto "Che" Guevara's famous voyage decades earlier, a one-year backpacking trip around the Americas forever changed the destiny of Japanese student Toru Sadamori. He returned home to finish his electronic engineering degree, but by then his dreams no longer included landing a good job at Sony or Panasonic.
Biodiesel Comes in All Flavors
Brazil is diversifying the raw materials it is using for clean fuel. Waste from coffee production is just one promising option.BRAZIL: Effective Policies Needed to Fight Rising Murder Rates
More than 800,000 people have been murdered in Brazil since 1980, and the annual figures continue to grow, but this tragedy with the dimensions of a full scale war has still not prompted the adoption of serious public safety policies by state and society.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Preserving the Amazon While Paving Jungle Road
A decisive factor for the future of Brazil's Amazon jungle region will be the degree of success of a challenge assumed by the government: to pave a road that connects Brazil's main soybean-growing region with a river port, while avoiding the massive deforestation caused by earlier projects.DEVELOPMENT-BRAZIL: Inequality Gap Narrowing at Last
This decade will be marked by the reduction of inequality in Brazil, just as the 1990s brought currency stability and the universalisation of primary education, according to Marcelo Neri, the head of the Getulio Vargas Foundation's Centre for Social Policies.BRAZIL: Controversy Over Digital TV
The current global battle in the field of communications is about taking a decision now for one of the three digital TV standards, or postponing it till later. But in Brazil the debate involves several dilemmas and disputes that are set to run on for years.SPORTS-BRAZIL: Fans Cope With Favourite Status, World Cup ‘Baggage’
Bad memories are putting a damper on Brazil's enthusiasm for its national football team - enough to rattle fan confidence even though the team is the international favourite to win the FIFA World Cup tournament, which kicked off Friday in Germany.BRAZIL: Innovative Small Farmers Set to Redefine Development
While their protest marches and occupations of government and business offices recall the struggles of landless campesinos, this group of Brazilian farmers are drawing attention to a distinct facet of agrarian reform. These workers have mobilised to hold onto the land they own and build a more just and environmentally sound society.RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Indigenous People – Victims of Violence and Neglect
Disputes over land ownership are the main cause of the rise in violent deaths of indigenous people in Brazil, according to the lead author of a report presented at the 10th National Conference on Human Rights, which ended Friday.SOUTH AMERICA: Criticism Rains Down on Mega Gas Pipeline
A mega pipeline in South America that would transport gas across the Amazon and other ecosystems is being drowned in criticisms in Brazil, where many say the project is dead, given the recent nationalisation of Bolivia's energy resources.BRAZIL: Fuel Alcohol Diplomacy
Biofuels, especially ethanol derived from sugarcane, are becoming increasingly important in Brazilian diplomacy, as demonstrated by the business mission to Central America headed by the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Furlán.BRAZIL: The Elderly – Victims in Their Own Homes
In most cases of mistreatment of the elderly, it is family members who commit the abuse, according to complaints filed in a public assistance centre in Natal, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte.DEVELOPMENT-BRAZIL: Music Can Conquer Poverty
Mozart's music has transformed the small, impoverished town of Sao Caetano, a forgotten backwater in the state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil, ever since its children's orchestra began to win national and international fame, 13 years ago.
Criticism Rains Down on Gas Mega-Pipeline
Opposition is growing against the continent-wide project that would transport some 150 million cubic meters of fuel daily through the Amazon.DEVELOPMENT: Reconstruction of Haiti – Part II
Brazil has expressed its staunch support for reconstruction in Haiti, signing several agreements with the new democratically elected government of René Préval to contribute to school lunch programmes, the promotion of sports as educational support, the production and use of ethanol fuel produced from sugar cane, and a massive vaccination campaign.BRAZIL: Strides and Continued Challenges for the Disabled
The first national conference for the disabled sponsored by the government in Brazil showed the strides made in the past few decades towards rights for the country's 24.5 million people living with disabilities. But it also made it clear that solutions making life easier for this diverse group are far from evenly available, due to the poverty in which so many Brazilians are steeped.BRAZIL: Human Rights – the Hidden Victim of the São Paulo Killings
Strong evidence indicates that Brazilian police have summarily executed a number of suspects in harsh retaliation for organised-crime attacks staged the May 12 weekend in the southern city of São Paulo.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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