Languages
Sunday, October 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
BRAZIL: Rapid Ageing of Population Paves Way for Social Chaos
The elderly portion of the Brazilian population is expanding rapidly, which bodes for social chaos in the near future, considering that the social security system is already suffering a serious deficit./ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-BRAZIL: The Harsh Reality of Savage Capitalism
Honest entrepreneurs eliminated by their cutthroat partners, widespread corruption, and the triumph of hardcore criminals - no matter their social class - is the panorama of Brazilian society trapped in its lust for money, captured in a new film by Beto Brant.EDUCATION: Catholics Want to ‘Revolutionise’ Their Teaching
The education provided by Catholic schools, which teach 40 million students worldwide, must be transformed to face up to the challenges raised by the globalisation process and to meet their own goal of inculcating the concept of social justice as well as humanistic values.TRADE-BRAZIL: Pirated Goods Poison Economy, Relations with US
The Brazilian authorities ordered 680 tons of contraband destroyed, using the spectacle of rumbling tractors crushing the illegal goods to highlight the government's resolve to fight the piracy of intellectual property, a practice that has caused tensions in Brazil-U.S. relations.BRAZIL: Critics Doubt Population Is 81 Percent Urban
The 2000 census in Brazil indicates that a full 81.2 percent of the population lives in urban areas. But critics say that figure amounts to a statistical distortion that could undermine the country's rural development policies.POLITICS-BRAZIL: Election Disputes Begin to Affect Economy
Draft laws considered essential by the Brazilian government have run aground in parliament due to disputes arising from the campaign for the October presidential elections, the impact of which threatens to cut short the country's economic recovery.POPULATION: Brazil’s Youth Increasingly Opt for Emigration, Crime
Many young people in Brazil are taking the routes of emigration or crime due to limited economic and career prospects, according to a new study by the Secretariat of Development, Labour and Solidarity in the city of Sao Paulo.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Tyres Roll against Nature
The seriousness of the pollution caused by fossil fuels, particularly greenhouse gases, overshadows another problem originating from automotive vehicles: discarded tyres, the natural degradation of which can take centuries.HEALTH: Move Your Body!
The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Gro Harlem Brundtland, launched the activities for World Health Day - celebrated Sunday - in Brazil, calling on people worldwide to engage in physical activity to prevent disease.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Transgenic Soy Rampant, Despite Ban
Fuelled by the Brazilian government's failure to enforce a ban on genetically engineered crops, transgenic soy has been smuggled over the border from Argentina, and is spreading fast in Latin America's biggest country.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Battle over Used Tyre Imports
Brazil, which has always rejected environmental conditions placed on international trade, claiming they are used for protectionist ends, is suffering the effects of its own arguments because has been unable to prevent imports of reconditioned used tyres.TRADE-BRAZIL: Cachaca Ready to Challenge Tequila and Rum
Cachaça, an alcoholic beverage made by distilling sugarcane, is abandoning its humble, centuries-old origins, and has become the target of a programme to boost Brazilian exports.MEDIA-BRAZIL: Foreign Capital to Boost Local Programming Content
The Brazilian parliament is set to approve a constitutional amendment that pursues apparently contradictory objectives: opening the media, especially TV, up to foreign investment in order to increase local content in programming.CULTURE-BRAZIL: Bolshoi School Helps Children Make Social Leap
Brazilian children are the first to benefit from an effort by the famed Russian Bolshoi Ballet to create dance schools abroad as a tool for cultural diplomacy and social development.BRAZIL-U.S.: Trade and Arms Complicate Bilateral Relations
Tensions between Brazil and the United States are on the rise with trade disputes simmering and Washington attempting to oust the Brazilian official who heads the intergovernmental Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Wind is Better than Rain
It took an energy crisis, electricity rationing and threats of outages to drive home to Brazil the advantages of harnessing its ample wind power potential, in order to reduce its heavy dependence on hydroelectricity.HEALTH-LATAM: As Dengue Spreads, Brazil Learns from Cuba
Cuba's experience in combating dengue fever is Rio de Janeiro state's newest weapon in its own battle against the disease, whose rapid spread has resulted in an epidemic of uprecedented proportions in Brazil./ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-BRAZIL: Social Wounds Subject of Budding Genre
"Latitude Zero", the first feature-length fictional work by Brazilian filmmaker Toni Venturi, has joined a new cinematographic current that examines Brazil's social wounds under the harsh light of reality.ENVIRONMENT: Financial Pillar Key to Sustainability
The environment and finances come together to create a market with a brilliant future, but one that for now remains merely a promise and a challenge, according to a two-day international meeting on the issue that ended Friday in this Brazilian city.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Doors Begin to Open for Transgenic Crops
The Campaign for a Transgenic-Free Brazil, waged by seven non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and backed by 50 more, has mobilised activists in response to advances made by those seeking to liberalise the cultivation and trade of genetically modified crops.ECONOMY-LATAM: IADB Pessimistic about Immediate Future
Foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean is shrinking, but the region is expected to grow two percent this year and inflation will be kept under control, says a new Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) report.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
