A mythical Amazonia of lost tribes or lost cities is easy to challenge on a factual basis, but such objections appear rather feeble in the face of the power of cliché.
Water is one of our most precious resources, yet it’s in danger. World Water Day reminds us of the need to develop policies and governance to avoid squandering water.
Thousands of dirt roads crisscross the Brazilian Amazon, serving ranchers, loggers and miners. The area’s fragile waterways — and the spectacular fish that live in them — pay a high price.
About 263 million children and youth worldwide are out of school. If some progress have been made, especially on school attendance, huge gaps remain on gender parity or equity in schooling choices.
Robert Muggah, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)
Since 2000, 8.8 million Brazilians have been displaced by disaster, development and crime, new data shows. Now Venezuelan migrants are pouring into the country. Still, Brazil has no real refugee plan.
An appeals court ruling against popular Brazilian ex-president Lula has hotly divided Brazil. A legal scholar argues that this is a case of activist judges taking their anti-graft crusade too far.
Sporting extravaganzas are a way for globalising cities in emerging market economies to try and play the “modernity game”. But they don’t make the rules, and so they can never “win”.
Before #MeToo, Brazilian women launched #MyFirstHarrassment and marched for racial equality. Today, this feminist resurgence is tackling health care, plastic surgery, violence and more.
Andre Ramos, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and Marina Empinotti, University of Beira Interior
The combination of knowledge and communication, along with a few other fundamental conditions such as liberty and respect , leads to social, cultural and technological development.
Deepak Kumar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Stephen P. Long, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Vijay Singh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Scientists have engineered sugarcane to increase its oil content and are developing renewable jet aircraft fuel from the oil. The engineered sugarcane could become a valuable energy crop.
Robert Muggah, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)
As hard-line Pentecostalism spreads across Brazil, some drug traffickers in gang-controlled areas of Rio de Janeiro are using religion as an excuse to attack nonbelievers.