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Rio de Janeiro

Affirmative action helps students thrive at universities across Brazil

The World's Global Classroom

The US Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action policies in a 2023 ruling, stating race-based college admissions were unconstitutional. But in Brazil, not only is affirmative action alive and well — it’s thriving.

A Brazilian navy soldier patrols Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 30, 2017

A year after the Rio Olympics, gunfights continue and troops patrol the streets

Conflict
Paralympic rowers train on the Charles River.

US rowers aim for gold in the Rio Paralympics

Sports
March against house speaker Eduardo Cunha's abortion bill on International Day to End Violence Against Women in Rio de Janeiro

A mother’s fight for abortion rights in evangelical Brazil

Justice
Residents observe as policemen take up position near an area where two men were found dead on top of the Sao Carlos slums complex in Rio de Janeiro May 15, 2015.

Rio de Janeiro’s pacification program slips back to tactics from its bloody ‘War on Drugs’

Justice
Biologist Mario Moscatelli along the shores of Guanabara Bay in Rio

This ‘Star Wars rebel’ biologist isn’t giving up on cleaning Rio’s polluted bay

Environment

One year ahead of the 2016 Summer Games, Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay remains a polluted mess and a serious health hazard for Olympic athletes who are due to compete there. But one biologist in Rio, who says this pollution is a “disruption of the force,” isn’t giving up on efforts to clean up the bay.

Activists put banner on pedestrian bridge in Rio

Brazil’s new idea to fight crime: Sentence teens to adult jails

Justice

The US is moving toward lowering its prison population. Brazil may go in the opposite direction. Its Congress is considering lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16. That would send thousands of adolescents to a dangerous adult prison system with 200,000 too many inmates.

Funk Na Caixa’s “Rasterinha”

Funk na Caxia continue the fight to get the world moving with ever more dance-ready grooves. This time they’ve got a new 11 song EP of rasterinha ready for streaming/download. The electronic dance music scene in Rio de Janeiro is … Read more »

An anti-World Cup "Roman" takes a breather after hours of singing and dancing at a Rio carnival party.

At Rio’s carnival, as long as you’re dancing, why not make it a protest

Global Politics

This year, Rio’s Carnival features protests masquerading as street parties. Protesters are upset about how much the country is spending to host the World Cup.

An anti-World Cup "Roman" takes a breather after hours of singing and dancing at a Rio carnival party.

At Rio’s carnival, as long as you’re dancing, why not make it a protest

Global Politics

This year, Rio’s Carnival features protests masquerading as street parties. Protesters are upset about how much the country is spending to host the World Cup.

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