Brazil: forest fires at highest level in a decade

Despite sanctions, North Korea has been steadily ramping up missile tests, firing a record number of weapons last month. North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Sunday, South Korean and Japanese officials said.

In a crime that shocked Brazil, 24-year-old Congolese refugee Moise Mugenyi Kabagambe was beaten to death in January. The worker at a beach kiosk in Rio de Janeiro had simply asked that his employers pay his overdue wages. His brutal xenophobic killing highlights the deeply rooted racism in Brazilian society. According to the latest Atlas of Violence, in 2019 in Brazil, 77% of homicide victims were Black.

North Korea has fired suspected artillery pieces into the sea, as it continued an unusually high pace of missile launches this year. It comes just days after a failed missile firing was carried out.

Bitterly cold temperatures and floods in north-west Syria have worsened the plight of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons, destroying their tents, food and belongings in the midst of winter. DW's Birgitta Schülke reports.

At least 14 people have died in Rio de Janeiro state after heavy rainfall triggered mudslides this weekend. Brazil has lately been reeling from a pattern of destructive storms.

At least 14 people have died in Rio de Janeiro state after heavy rainfall triggered mudslides this weekend. Brazil has lately been reeling from a pattern of destructive storms.

Brazil has more than three million "ghost citizens": people who don't have a birth certificate or ID card. In administrative terms they do not exist and have no access to public health care or education. They also can't vote. But in the run-up to October's elections, these people could constitute a potential political force. Our correspondents Perrine Juan, Louise Raulais and Tim Vickery take a closer look at the legal and social workers who are trying to help "ghost citizens".

The imprisonment and political exclusion of former President Lula da Silva was a violation of his rights, the UN has said. Lula is currently leading in polls for October's presidential election.

At the beginning of December, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, said he would make sure that fuel prices go down. Just the opposite has happened, and now unrest in the South American country is growing.

The catastrophic weather has forced dozens to flee their homes in Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state. A red alert has been issued in the city of Recife for Sunday as well.

Concerned about illegal logging and pollution in the Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan's Banco National Park, authorities are erecting a concrete perimeter wall they hope will preserve its distinctive ecosystem.

President Kais Saied issued the order with a list of judges to be dismissed, accusing them of corruption and stalling terrorism cases. Critics have blasted the dismissals as an "affront" to judicial independence.