Brazil

Record-setting wildfires are raging in the Pantanal region in Brazil. In a densely vegetated rural area the size of England, it can be hard for firefighters to find and reach the blazes to combat them. That’s why one nonprofit is training local fighters to use drones to pinpoint the exact location and size of fires, and scope out roads to reach them. 

The Pantanal, Brazil’s wetlands region, covers an area roughly the size of England. Although this region is typically flooded for much of the year, droughts have led to wildfires, destroying large swaths of vegetation and wildlife. 

Balneário Camboriú is known as Brazil’s Dubai for the rows of skyscrapers that line the beachfront. It’s home to the three tallest buildings in Brazil. But there’s another city that Balneário Camboriú seems to be increasingly emulating: Orlando, Florida, for its theme parks.

Prudentópolis, in southern Brazil, was founded by immigrants from Ukraine in the late 1800s. They’ve clung to their culture, and in recent years, they’ve also welcomed Ukrainians displaced by war.

Billionaire Elon Musk has closed the Brazilian offices of his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. It’s part of a battle that’s playing out all over the world: Does free speech include the right to spread hate and misinformation?