Brazil, Germany, Spain and South Africa sign motion for fairer tax system to deliver £250bn a year extra to fight poverty and climate crisis

• ‘Why we need a global tax on billionaires ’

The world’s 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their fast-growing wealth to raise £250bn a year for the global fight against poverty, inequality and global heating, ministers from four leading economies have suggested.

In a sign of growing international support for a levy on the super-rich, Brazil, Germany, South Africa and Spain say a 2% tax would reduce inequality and raise much-needed public funds after the economic shocks of the pandemic, the climate crisis and military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.

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Finance chiefs say higher taxes for the super-rich are key to battling global inequality and climate crisis

• Billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers

When the governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund convened for the spring meetings last week, it was all about the really big questions. What can the international community do to accelerate decarbonisation and fight climate change? How can highly indebted countries retain fiscal space to invest in poverty eradication, social services and global public goods? What does the international community need to do to get back on track towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How can multilateral development banks be strengthened to support these ambitions?

There is one issue that makes addressing these global challenges much harder: inequality. While the disparity between the richest and poorest countries has slightly narrowed, the gap remains alarmingly high. Moreover, in the past two decades, we have witnessed a significant increase in inequalities within most countries, with the income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 50% nearly doubling. Looking ahead, current global economic trends pose serious threats to progress towards higher equality.

Svenja Schulze is Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development; Fernando Haddad is the minister of finance in Brazil; Enoch Godongwana is the minister of finance in South Africa; Carlos Cuerpo is the minister of economy, trade and business and María Jesús Montero the minister of finance in Spain

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Shock in Brazil after woman is arrested and charged with violating a corpse and attempted theft through fraud

When Érika de Souza Vieira wheeled her lethargic-looking uncle into a Brazilian bank, clerks quickly sensed something was amiss.

“I don’t think he’s well. He doesn’t look well at all,” remarked one distrustful employee as Vieira tried to get her elderly relative to sign off on a 17,000 reais ($3,250) loan.

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We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2021: Flordelis grew up in a Rio favela, but rose to fame after adopting more than 50 children, becoming a hugely successful gospel singer and winning a seat in congress. And now she is on trial for murder. By Tom Phillips

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João Cândido and other navy sailors radicalised in England held Rio de Janeiro hostage in a revolt over corporal punishment

He was a Black Brazilian sailor who led an unprecedented mutiny against abuse by white officers, and helped end flogging in the country’s navy – only to be imprisoned, persecuted and die in poverty.

For five days in 1910, João Cândido Felisberto held Rio de Janeiro hostage under the guns of the Brazilian fleet, in an uprising known as the Revolt of the Lash.

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Brazilian president Lula’s proposals have the backing of the World Bank. Now we need action

All things considered, the world’s richest countries have emerged from the global pandemic in better shape than they could have imagined when Covid-19 first appeared just over four years ago.

To be sure, the impact of lockdown and its aftermath has been painful, but the effects on poor countries have been far more severe.

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This year’s ‘Olympics of the art world’ features many artists wrestling with ideas of colonialism and its lingering influence

This year’s Venice Biennale is being billed as an event rooted in the now, in a world of conflict and division – or, as one newspaper put it, the celebration of global art will be full of “ war, refugees, destruction ”.

Another theme that runs through many of the pavilions is colonialism: both its legacy in the form of restitution debates, and Europe’s lingering presence – physically and psychologically – in those countries that were formerly colonised.

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Two fugitives eluded law enforcement for 51 days, indicating a widening network for crime factions CV and PCC

After nearly two months on the run, the Amazon outlaws nicknamed Hammerhead and Armadillo might have felt they were nearing the home straight – albeit a long and muddy one.

Just ahead over the Tocantins River lay the Trans-Amazonian highway, a rundown and poorly patrolled jungle track that cuts more than 1,200 miles east-west across the largest rainforest on Earth. After completing that gruelling journey, the fugitives reportedly hoped to sneak across the border into Bolivia, far from the long hand of the Brazilian law.

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Through the G20, Brazil’s president is challenging the dominance of the richest countries. This year will be a huge test of his strategy

The world stage often seems sepia-toned, dominated by the dusty international structures of the post-second world war era, favouring the world’s richest countries. However, it is increasingly clear that this setup isn’t sufficient to respond to the interests of the global south, including combating climate breakdown and expanding economic development.

Recognising this mismatch, Brazil under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has positioned itself as an international leader, focused on the agenda of emerging economic powers who prize stability, and in fact have much to lose from conflict and power struggles between rich countries.

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