Killing of two girls stokes outrage over Brazil's horrific toll of black lives

Shooting of cousins aged just four and seven, allegedly by police, heightens calls for national reckoning over genocide'

The shooting of two young black girls - who had between them enjoyed fewer than 11 years of life - has sparked outrage in Brazil and intensified the debate over police violence and structural racism in a country still grappling with the legacy of slavery.

Emily Victoria Moreira dos Santos and Rebeca Beatriz Rodrigues Santos, cousins aged four and seven, were killed on Friday night as they played outside their grandmother's home in Barro Vermelho, a redbrick favela on Rio's rundown northern fringe.