25/04/2018 by Amanda Erickson Originally published on the Washington Post   Friends of 13-year-old Maria Eduarda Alves da Conceicao — killed by stray bullets while in a gym class at her school — attend her funeral in Mesquita, north of Rio de Janeiro, on April…

Most of the world’s critical infrastructure—nuclear plants, electrical transmission systems, water treatment plants, etc.—is managed by internet-connected hardware and software that makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks. 10/04/2018 By Robert Muggah and Nathan B. Thompson Originally published on the Council on Foreign Relations website   For almost twenty-four hours,…

Rejecting official information channels, Rio’s citizens are navigating their city using crowdsourced data on shootings and robberies as they happen 05/04/2018 By Flávia Milhorance Originally published on The Guardian A red spot on the map means gunfire, so I avoid going there,” says Leonardo Duarte, who…

Latin America’s violent crime, and ways of dealing with it, have lessons for the rest of the world 05/04/2018 Originally published on The Economist ON JANUARY 11th 2017 no one was murdered in El Salvador—a fact that was reported as far away as New Zealand,…

Innovations from Kenya Giovanna Marques Kuele and Adriana Erthal Abdenur, in Nairobi With the budget cuts to peace operations implemented last year and the prospect of even more reduction in resources, debates about UN peacekeeping effectiveness have intensified. One of the areas sorely in need…

26/03/2018 by Robbert Muggah Originally published on the Los Angeles Times Gunfire kills or injures at least 127 Americans a day. While the gun debate in the U.S. rages around the question of regulating firearms, it’s the bullets that do the damage. Depending on their weight, velocity…

Allegations that some of the victims were innocent residents executed in a revenge mission after a police officer was killed there 25/03/2018 Dom Phillips and Júlio Carvalho Originally published on The Guardian A police operation in a Rio favela has left at least eight people…

By Anastasia Moloney MEDELLIN, Colombia, March 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As a pink dusk settles on this poor hillside slum in the city of Medellin, 19-year-old Esteban Arrieta skips and shadow punches with a small group of budding boxers in a bare classroom. Just…

The police have failed to control violence. The army is doing no better 22/03/2018 Originally published on The Economist On the sweltering afternoon of March 18th some 2,000 people crammed the narrow streets of Maré, a favela in the north of Rio de Janeiro, to…

22/03/2018 Por Katherine Aguirre Tobón Publicado originalmente en El País Cali El Plan Fortaleza es un eje importante de la actual política de seguridad de la ciudad. Éste parte de unas instituciones de seguridad fuertes y con presencia en el territorio, donde la policía cuenta…

20/03/2018 By David Biller Originally published on Bloomberg In the world’s most murderous country, gun control is starting to lose its appeal.  Desperate Brazilians are wondering whether they’d be better off armed, given that around 60,000 of their compatriots are killed each year. Polls show…

19/03/2018 By Anthony Faiola and Marina Lopes Originally published on the Washington Post RIO DE JANEIRO — Before stepping into her Chevrolet Agile at 9:04 p.m. last Wednesday, Marielle Franco had just done what she did best: fire up a room. “Let’s do this,” the 34-year-old politician with the cascading…

15/03/2018 As published on the New York Times RIO DE JANEIRO — On the eve of her killing on a downtown street on Wednesday night, a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman suggested that the death of a young man earlier in the week had been the…

Ousmane Diallo and Gustavo de Carvalho   More than two and a half years since its signature in Bamako, the agreement for peace and national reconciliation between the government of Mali, the Coordination of the Movements of Azawad (CMA), and the Plateforme coalition is at…

An influx of eateries and artistic businesses is helping to sweep away decades of neglect and decay 13/03/2018 Originally published on the Financial Times It is a Friday night in central São Paulo and the terrace at Orfeu, a restaurant-cum-club, could be New York’s Greenwich…