The disconnect between voters and those they are asked to vote for is growing all the time. And the arrogance of that political class has not helped, writes Andrés Velasco.

If Brazil repaves the disused, 900km BR-319 highway, the rapid development that will build up around it will precipitate massive deforestation, says Jake Spring

There are many reasons why even the oldest democracies, such as the US and Britain, are increasingly riven by tribal hatreds. But when political leaders deliberately exploit these rifts and whip up hostile emotions even further, they do immense harm to the institutions that guarantee people’s freedom and safety, writes Ian Buruma

The New York Times has revealed that it sought intervention from the Irish government to prevent the expected arrest of a journalist in Egypt.

The G7 have offered aid to Brazil to combat fires in the ‘lungs of the earth’ and this has been a year of increased consciousness of the climate crisis, writes Andrew Hammond.

The 70,000 fires this year have been set to clear land for grazing and for crops, but destroying ‘the lungs of the planet’ will hasten the climate change catastrophe, says Catherine Wylie Raging fires in the Amazon rainforest — the forests are known as ‘the lungs of the planet’ — have sparked global concerns.

Whether international pressure or a parent’s conscience is enough to convince Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro to try to curtail Amazon fires is a moot point.

“Some fires matter more than others, and while the fire in the Amazon hasn’t garnered nearly as much attention or money, the impactof the devastation is far, far greater”

Leo Varadkar has also criticised the Brazilian President for claiming that environmental groups were starting the fires to make him look bad, describing it as 'Orwellian.

The front-runner to become Argentina’s new president in October elections has placed a question mark over the EU-Mercosur trade pact.

Former US president Barack Obama’s statement following shootings in Ohio and El Paso that left more than 30 people dead, was directed at Americans, but it has far wider relevance.

It is not necessary to be paranoid to see the professional assassination of Britain’s ambassador to America, Kim Darroch, as a step in the ascent of right-wing forces.

Farmers and Government authorities are collectively pushing the EU Council to take time to fully analyse the implications for agri-food producers before ratifying any Mercosur deal.

Liberal lobby groups and commentators in our part of the world tend not unnaturally to be pre-occupied with what they regard as obnoxious political and social trends in Europe, which means that undesirable developments in more distant lands, such as Brazil, attract scant attention.

The possibility that Boris Johnson might greet President Donald Trump as UK prime minister when he arrives in this part of the world cannot be discounted.

Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil in October 2018 and took office in January 2019, writes Catherine McNamara.

Cork documentary maker Kate Hardie Buckley was in Brazil to film the changing dynamic for the country’s LGBT community, writes Ellie O’Byrne

Massacres like the Christchurch shootings are not, as some claim, isolated attacks carried out by disturbed individuals but are clearly part of a growing pattern, writes Bjorn Ihler.

A generation or two ago, when the threat of purgatory or limbo carried more weight, the renewing process of self-restraint, abstention, and repentance was recognised and celebrated.

Brahma Chellaney examines how indigenous tribes are coming under increasing danger as the modern world refuses to let them live how they choose.

As usual Ireland’s presidential election was a fractious affair, which demonstrates just how worked up and vitriolic people can become in relation to an issue that is of trivial significance, at best, writes Jim Power.

Take a bow, Ireland. At a moment when so many once reliable societies shy away from the never-ending challenge of sustaining progressive, tolerant, welcoming, largely decent societies, we re-elected a president whose half-century political career has been dedicated to the long and always democratic pursuit of those noble, uplifting ideals.

Hours after Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, was suspended by a vote to put her on trial for breaking budget laws, the man who took her place unveiled his cabinet: An all-male line-up of 23 ministers.