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Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with 20% of girls becoming wives before their 15th birthday, even though 18 is the minimum age allowed by law. Why? "It is the new kind of slavery," says Mirna Ming Ming Evora, who's the country director for the NGO Plan International.

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has approved controversial legislation that eases rules on how much land farmers must preserve as forest. Brazil's powerful farmers' lobby argues that the changes will promote sustainable food production. But environmentalists say the new forest code will be a disaster and lead to further destruction of the Amazon.