#mod nise da silveira

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

All but two São Paulo districts facing dengue epidemic

Having already recorded more than 1,600 deaths from dengue fever in the first three and a half months of 2024, Brazil’s epidemic of the mosquito-transmitted disease has reached previously unprecedented levels. And in the country’s biggest city, São Paulo, home to more than 12 million people, all but two districts are officially facing dengue epidemics.

Epidemics are officially recorded when there are more than 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In São Paulo’s 96 adminstrative districts, only two still find themselves below that threshold: the wealthy areas of Moema and Jardim Paulista.

Conversely, the district of Vila Jaguara, to the northwest of the city center, has recorded more than 9,650 dengue cases per 100,000 residents.

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#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #dengue #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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Elon Musk Is Trying to Break Another Democracy

X’s chief troll is inciting a “censorship” moral panic in Brazil, undermining the democratically elected government’s efforts to squash far-right extremism.

Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil who is barred from seeking public office until 2030, held a grievance-laden rally Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Against the alluring backdrop of Copacabana Beach, and before thousands of supporters clad in the national colors of yellow and green, he decried his opponents while celebrating one man in particular: 

Now they accuse the richest man in the world, a man who was born in South Africa, who was naturalized as an American, who owns a platform whose aim is to make the whole world free, which is X, our old Twitter. A man who really seeks to preserve liberty for all of us, a man who had the courage to show, with some evidence, more will surely follow, where our democracy is headed, how much freedom we’ve already lost. I now respectfully ask for a round of applause for Elon Musk. 

Almost overnight, Musk, the graceless tech overlord and self-proclaimed free speech absolutist (who is anything but), has become a heroic figure among the reactionary right of Latin America’s largest nation. One rally-goer told The Guardian that Musk “is supporting Brazil against this shameless bloody dictatorship that we have in this country,” and another insisted that “Elon Musk has been an essential guy for us. God has used this man to expose the dictatorship that has taken hold in Brazil to the whole word. He is a crucial tool.” A bolsonarista member of Congress told the crowd that “Elon Musk is definitely watching what is happening here right now.”

There’s no doubt about that, as Musk’s X timeline shows—but he’s doing much more than simply watching. After years of overtures from the Brazilian right, Musk earlier this month finally plunged headlong into the country’s raging politics in a way that may sound familiar to Americans: Portraying himself as politically agnostic, and interested only in defending free speech, he is in fact taking the side of authoritarian, antidemocratic forces whose claims about government-sponsored censorship are a disingenuous rhetorical cover for attacking the rule of law.

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#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #elon musk #twitter #supreme federal court #alexandre de moraes #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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In Brazil, hopes to use AI to save wildlife from roadkill fate

In Brazil, where about 16 wild animals become roadkill every second, a computer scientist has come up with a futuristic solution to this everyday problem: using AI to alert drivers to their presence.

Direct strikes on the vast South American country's extensive road network are the top threat to numerous species, forced to live in ever-closer proximity with humans.

According to the Brazilian Center for Road Ecology (CBEE), some 475 million vertebrate animals die on the road every year—mostly smaller species such as capybaras, armadillos and possums.

"It is the biggest direct impact on wildlife today in Brazil," CBEE coordinator Alex Bager told AFP.

Shocked by the carnage in the world's most biodiverse country, computer science student Gabriel Souto Ferrante sprung into action.

The 25-year-old started by identifying the five medium- and large-sized species most likely to fall victim to traffic accidents: the puma, the giant anteater, the tapir, the maned wolf and the jaguarundi, a type of wild cat.

Souto, who is pursuing a master's degree at the University of Sao Paulo (USP), then created a database with thousands of images of these animals, and trained an AI model to recognize them in real time.

Numerous tests followed, and were successful, according to the results of his efforts recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #environmentalism #science #computer science #artificial intelligence #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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Deforestation in Indigenous Brazilian Amazon lands sees greatest plunge since 2018

Deforestation identified in Indigenous Lands located in the Brazilian Amazon has seen a 42% decrease between August 2023 and March 2024, dropping from 125km² of devastation to 73km². This marks the lowest level of destruction detected in the region since 2018.

The data was released on Wednesday (17) by the Institute of Man and the Environment of the Amazon (Imazon), which monitors and analyzes the main human activities causing degradation in the Amazon using satellite imagery and information databases.

According to the report, the Apyterewa Indigenous land, located in the state of Pará, underwent a successful disintrusion process after spending four consecutive years as the indigenous reserve most affected by illegal deforestation in the Amazon. Now, following security forces’ actions to remove land invaders and prevent environmental crimes, researchers say that Apyterewa Land has not appeared on the list of most deforested areas for four months.

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#brazil #politics #brazilian politics #environmentalism #environmental justice #indigenous rights #amazon rainforest #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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Musk vs. Brazil Supreme Court: five things to know

X owner Elon Musk is under investigation in Brazil after he accused a Supreme Court judge of censoring social networks, calling him a "dictator" and vowing to disobey rulings blocking users found to be spreading disinformation.

Musk went on the attack at the weekend against Moraes, who has waged a crusade against disinformation -- especially attempts by far-right supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro to discredit the electoral system ahead of Brazil's 2022 elections.

Moraes has "betrayed the constitution" and "should resign or be impeached," the Tesla and SpaceX boss wrote on X, the former Twitter, threatening to defy court orders blocking users.

The flare-up came after US journalist and activist Michael Shellenberger last week accused Moraes of a "sweeping crackdown on free speech," in a report based on the "Twitter Files," a cache of internal documents Musk released in 2022 after buying the company.

Shellenberger said the files showed Moraes "sought to censor... sitting members of Brazil's Congress" and "weaponize Twitter's content moderation policies against supporters of then-president @jairbolsonaro."

Bolsonaro narrowly lost the 2022 elections to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #elon musk #twitter #supreme federal court #alexandre de moraes #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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This Brazilian frog might be the first pollinating amphibian known to science

Nectar-loving tree frog likely moves pollen from flower to flower

The creamy fruit and nectar-rich flowers of the milk fruit tree are irresistible to Xenohyla truncata, a tree frog native to Brazil. On warm nights, the dusky-colored frogs take to the trees en masse, jostling one another for a chance to nibble the fruit and slurp the nectar. In the process, the frogs become covered in sticky pollen grains—and might inadvertently pollinate the plants, too. It’s the first time a frog—or any amphibian—has been observed pollinating a plant, researchers reported last month in Food Webs.

Scientists long thought only insects and birds served as pollinators, but research has revealed that some reptiles and mammals are more than up to the task. Now, scientists must consider whether amphibians are also capable of getting the job done. It’s likely that the nectar-loving frogs, also known as Izecksohn’s Brazilian tree frogs, are transferring pollen as they move from flower to flower, the authors say. But more research is needed, they add, to   confirm that frogs have joined the planet’s pantheon of pollinators.

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#brazil #science #biology #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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‘Pirate’ Streaming Apps Beat Netflix and Disney in Brazil’s Play Store

Pirate streaming apps are leading the entertainment category in Brazil's Google Play Store. These unauthorized streaming apps draw a massive audience and beat official streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney, and HBO in download rankings. While piracy is a worldwide phenomenon, Brazil certainly stands out.

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#brazil #politics #television #technology #brazilian politics #arts #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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So, in Brazilian feminism and technology news, the Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that criminalizes the creation and sharing of nude images and videos created by artificial intelligence.

The text, authored by deputy Erika Kokay (Workers' Party) and reported by deputy Luisa Canziani (Social Democratic Party), sets a penalty of 1 to 4 years in prison, in addition to a fine, for anyone who creates or disseminates “montages or modifications that aim to include a person in a nude scene or sexual act, including the use of artificial intelligence in video, audio or photography."

The bill now heads to the Senate.

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#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #feminism #technology #artificial intelligence #erika kokay #luisa canziani #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt #translations and summaries #good news

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Collagen craze drives deforestation and rights abuses

For the first time an investigation has linked collagen powder to violence against Indigenous peoples in Brazilian forests

The stench arrives before the lorries do. They are carrying skins that were stripped from cattle carcasses days ago. Flies are everywhere.

The lorries’ destination is Amparo, a small industrial town in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. Here, Rousselot, a company owned by the Texan business Darling Ingredients, extracts collagen – the active ingredient in health supplements at the centre of a global wellness craze.

But while collagen’s most evangelical users claim the protein can improve hair, skin, nails and joints, slowing the ageing process, it has a dubious effect on the health of the planet. Collagen can be extracted from fish, pig and cattle skin, but behind the wildly popular “bovine” variety in particular lies an opaque industry driving the destruction of tropical forests and fuelling violence and human rights abuses in the Brazilian Amazon.

An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the Guardian, ITV and O Joio e O Trigo has found that tens of thousands of cattle raised on farms damaging tropical forests were processed at abattoirs connected to international collagen supply chains.

Some of this collagen can be traced all the way to Nestlé-owned Vital Proteins, a major producer of collagen supplements championed by the actress Jennifer Aniston. Vital Proteins is sold globally – including online on Amazon, in Walmart stores in the US, in Holland & Barrett and Boots in the UK and in Costco in both countries.

The investigation – the first to connect bovine collagen with tropical forest loss and violence against Indigenous peoples – found at least 2,600 sq km of deforestation linked to the supply chains of two Brazil-based collagen operations with connections to Darling: Rousselot and Gelnex, which is in the process of being acquired by Darling for $1.2bn. It is unclear how much of this deforestation, which was calculated by the Center for Climate Crime Analysis, is linked to Vital Proteins.

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#brazil #politics #brazilian politics #environmental justice #environmentalism #indigenous rights #beauty industry #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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Rich nations must pay for historic environmental damage, says Brazil's Lula

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday said richer nations with their "historic debt" to the planet should foot the bill for environmental damage that is being hoisted on poorer countries.

"Who polluted the planet in these last 200 years were those who made the industrial revolution," Lula said in a speech to a large crowd in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, at the "Power Our Planet" event.

"And for this, they have to pay the historic debt they have with planet Earth," he added, arguing that developed countries should take responsibility for financing the preservation of forests in low-income countries.

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Brazil's Lula welcomes citizens rescued from Gaza, condemns 'inhumane violence'

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday welcomed 32 nationals that his government managed to rescue from the Gaza Strip this week following a month of negotiations, receiving them at the Brasilia Air Base after a nearly day-long flight.

The Brazilians crossed the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday and were taken to Cairo, where this morning they boarded an Embraer presidential airplane loaned by Lula and traveled to Brazil via Las Palmas, Spain.

Lula greeted passengers with hugs and kisses after their arrival late on Monday evening, offering his support to Brazilians still in or arriving from the Gaza Strip and condemning the killing of civilians in Gaza.

"I have never seen such brutal, inhumane violence against innocent people," Lula said in a short speech on the tarmac.

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#brazil #politics #palestine #israel #gaza #brazilian politics #luiz inacio lula da silva #foreign policy #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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Brazil high court rules homophobia punishable by prison

Brazil's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that homophobic slurs are now punishable by prison, in a decision applauded by rights activists in a country with rampant violence against the LGBTQ+ community.

The 9-1 ruling puts homophobic hate speech on the same legal level as racist hate speech, which was already punishable by prison in Brazil.

Justice Edson Fachin, the lead judge on the case, said in his ruling it was a "constitutional imperative" to give LGBTQ+ citizens equal protection under the law.

The court had ruled in 2019 that homophobia was a crime, just like racism.

But the earlier decision applied to slurs against the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, not attacks on specific individuals.

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A Brazilian journalist claims that, albeit they don't officially state it, the country's Foreign Affairs Ministry (aka Itamaraty) has the impression that Israel is stopping Brazilians from leaving Gaza as retaliation for the Brazilian government asking for a ceasefire and calling out the current ethnic cleansing campaign.

#brazil #politics #palestine #israel #gaza #brazilian politics #israeli politics #international politics #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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Pro-Palestine manifestations in Brazil on October 2023.

#politics #brazil #palestine #israel #gaza #brazilian politics #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt #originals #if you have any cities or protests in other days to add please tell me so i can reblog this with additions

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A community-led strategy to save Brazil’s dry forests from desertification

In northern Bahia state, 35 communities have come together to conserve and recover close to 100,000 acres of Caatinga dry forest in northeastern Brazil.

With the Recaatingamento project, families learn to preserve native vegetation, control the overpopulation of goat, and invest in sustainable sources of income, such as gathering wild fruits.

Affected by recurrent droughts, the Caatinga is one of the region’s most susceptible to climate change; it’s also Brazil’s third-most deforested biome, which contributes to accelerating desertification — 13% of the soil there is already sterile.

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#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #environmentalism #caatinga #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt