One project in Brazil is stands out for its support to refugees arriving in the country: the Migration and Human Rights Institute, founded by Sister Rosita Milesi, a Roman Catholic nun who’s work were recognized this month by the U.N. refugee agency, which awarded her this year’s coveted Nansen Award.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous and wealthiest state, the first few months of 2024 have been the deadliest for motorbikers. Almost seven motorcyclists lost their lives in São Paulo on average every day.Experts on health and traffic say the main reason is the rapid expansion of food delivery apps.
Earlier this month, historic floods that destroyed everything in their path ravaged southern Brazil. In addition to displacing over 500,000 Brazilians, the floods claimed over 150 lives. The unprecedented devastation is attributed by scientists to a combination of several weather variables that are all impacted by climate change.
As dengue fever cases rise across the country, Brazil is preparing to launch a public vaccination program. Brazil’s Health Ministry reports that in the first five weeks of this year, the number of cases has increased by about five times compared to the same period in 2023.
Indigenous people in Brazil demonstrated against a measure that opponents say will limit their land rights and safeguard the environment, and that was approved by the lower house of Congress.
Transparency International reports that due to increased violence and insecurity, there hasn’t been much progress made against global corruption in the past year.
Brazilian national security forces have intervened to restore order after an estimated 4,000 supporters of the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who reject results of the elections in October, took over and vandalised the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President’s Palace in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia.
Amnesty International calls for the relevant authorities to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations so that the acts of this Sunday, 8 January, are appropriately investigated and sanctioned.
Brazilians will cast their votes on Sunday in what is anticipated to be the final contest between incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, and former President and leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazil, which was once a small player in the drug trade, is now one of the world’s major cocaine suppliers and the main location for the transshipment of drugs to Europe.The illegal drug trade has also turned entire neighborhoods in Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America, into wastelands