Brazil's Deadly Landslides
Flash floods and mudslides in the Brazilian city of Petr\xf3polis north of Rio de Janeiro have left more than 170 people dead. Authorities blamed the intensity of the rainfall yet one of the biggest factors was inequality \u2013 most of the worst-affected neighbourhoods were poorer, unofficially built areas. Katy Watson met with survivors who had lost family members and were helping with the rescue effort. \nIn recent years, the Catholic church has been overwhelmed by the scandal of sexual abuse of minors. It\u2019s been exposed and investigated in several countries, yet Italy, which has the highest number of priests of any country hasn\u2019t confronted it. Mark Lowen went out to investigate one such case, and set out to find the priest involved. \nWe visit the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur in Iraq. Believed by many to be the birthplace of Abraham, the site was excavated in the early 20th century by a British man, Leonard Woolley, who recovered bountiful treasures. Once popular with tourists, decades of war and political instability - and now Covid \u2013 have kept visitors away and there has been very limited recent efforts towards conserving the site. Charlie Metcalfe was given a tour by a local. \nAustralia has imposed one of the world\u2019s strictest travel bans throughout the pandemic, but this week, finally, the country re-opened to foreign travellers in all states except Western Australia. Australian citizens were allowed to return from late last year, but the return of tourism to the country has been greeted with relief by many businesses who have struggled during the pandemic. Shaimaa Khalil worked in Sydney throughout the pandemic and reflects on being reunited with her husband recently after eighteen months apart.