Indonesia’s haze made global headlines but an intense dry season has also sparked major fires in Brazil.
Presidents Hollande and Obama. Is it still possible for nation states to build a global alliance against organisations such as Daesh?
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
To save mankind from the scourge of war… These eight words drawn from the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations have been ringing in my head for the past week. Most believe that they were penned…
The Open Government Partnership can play an important part by increasing trust among citizens and public accountability in Africa.
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The Open Government Partnership promotes transparency, public accountability and civic participation in government to combat corruption. It is hoped South Africa will help it grow in Africa.
A replica of the Temple of Solomon, built by the Brazilian evangelical “Universal Church of the Kingdom of God” in Sao Paulo.
Reuters/Nacho Doce
Members of a church expect to find mutual support from one another - emotionally and spiritually. This is not the case at the South African branch of The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
Violence has become a normal part of life in Somalia and some other countries.
Reuters/Feisal Omar
A growing field of policy analysis now focuses on reducing armed violence. Remarkable consensus has emerged at high policy levels around the basic elements of an approach to reduce violence.
The GM debate in the developing world encompasses countries with very different priorities. Through the shrill battle of interests, the real agents for change tend to be overlooked.
A view from above the burst Samarco dam in Brazil.
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
Six people are dead and more than 20 missing following the Samarco mine disaster in Brazil. But in the rush to blame we must consider the complexity of such failures.
Guatemalans demand the prosecution of their now-ex-president, Otto Pérez.
Reuters/Jorge Lopez
With anti-corruption feeling at an all-time high, a populist comedian has swept to power in Guatemala, while Brazil’s president is facing furious calls for impeachment.
Thomas Piketty argues that education is a big equaliser in a highly unequal society like South Africa. But it must be good quality education.
Reuters/Rogan Ward
Twenty years ago, Brazil and South Africa were in a similar position when it comes to inequality. Brazil has made significant progress in addressing this, but South Africa hasn’t.
The ills that afflict any society can be dealt with much more effectively when the arts are integrated into the national conversation.
John Gollings/AAPONE
What if Malcolm Turbull’s conception of “21st-century government” imagines a healthy civil society and a responsive economy that values debate, imagination, difference and surprise - all provided by the arts.
Australia’s shared past with Brazil enriches understanding of the two former European colonies.
EPA/Antonio Lacerda
The First Fleet had three layovers on its voyage to Australia – one was Rio de Janeiro. As Australia and Brazil celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations, it’s worth remembering this encounter.
Time to reorder the flags?
BRIC flags via www.shutterstock.com
Back in 2001, a Goldman Sachs economist said Brazil, Russia, India and China would become the powerhouses of the global economy in the coming decades. Is that still in the cards?
What do we want? Not quite sure. When do we want it? Now!
Reuters/Paulo Whitaker
Latin America’s two biggest players spent much of the 1980s in a low-grade arms race – and they both had nuclear aspirations. How did they manage to diffuse the tension?
Artistic reconstruction of two Tiarajudens males during combat in the Permian of southern Brazil.
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New evidence shows marked similarities between two fossils – one from Brazil, the other South Africa. This confirms compelling geological findings that continents were once one giant land mass.
Equalisers: Argentina’s Cristina de Kirchner, Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, and Uruguay’s Jose Mujica.
EPA/Leo la Valle