Brazil

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Brazil's First Female President Sworn In

Dilma Rousseff faces challenge of living up to predecessor

(Newser) - Dilma Rousseff was sworn in as Brazil's first female president today, capping a rapid political trajectory for the career technocrat and former Marxist rebel who was imprisoned and tortured during the nation's long military dictatorship. Rousseff, 63, takes the helm of Latin America's largest nation, which has risen both financially...

Undertaker Sends Breathing Woman Back to Hospital

Brazil doctors made the biggest of mistakes

(Newser) - An 88-year-old Brazilian woman was being prepared for burial when the undertaker noticed an odd thing: She was breathing. The funeral parlor then sent her back to the hospital that had declared her dead hours before, reports the Telegraph . The woman, who has Alzheimer's along with blocked arteries, is recuperating...

Rio Cops Storm Gang Haven
 Rio Cops Storm Gang Haven  
Nov 28, 2010 11:33 AM CST

Rio Cops Storm Gang Haven

Crackdown on longtime crime center

(Newser) - Hundreds of Brazilian police stormed a Rio slum today in a war-zone scene aimed at reclaiming longtime gang turf ahead of the city's 2016 Olmpiad, reports the AP. Backed by helicopters and armored vehicles, the police said they quickly overran several hundred gang members and seized huge stashes of guns...

Rio Cops Try to Reclaim Gang-Ruled Slums

City begins long cleanup ahead of 2016 Olympics

(Newser) - Now that Brazil has won its bid for the 2016 Olympics, the housecleaning has begun. Police mounted intense raids on shantytowns that have been co-opted as operating bases by gangs. Ten suspected criminals were killed in gunfights with police, the AP reports. The overall plan is to push the gangs...

Brazil Elects First Woman President

Dilma Rousseff takes 56% in runoff vote

(Newser) - Brazil has elected its first woman president: Dilma Rousseff took the top slot after yesterday’s runoff election. The former energy secretary and chief of staff to president Luiz Inácio da Silva declared in her victory speech that her “mission is to eradicate poverty,” CNN reports. A...

McDonald's Manager Wins Suit: Job Made Me Obese

Brazilian judge awards him $17,500

(Newser) - This might top the infamous McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit. A court in Brazil has found the fast-food chain liable for the obesity of a franchise manager and ordered it to pay $17,500 in damages, the AP reports. The 32-year-old man claims he gained 65 pounds over a dozen years...

To Help World's Poor, Hand Them Cash

Government 'cash-transfer' programs prove successful

(Newser) - It might seem counter-intuitive, but in some 45 countries across the globe, it’s working: Governments are handing cash to the poor to use at their own discretion, writes Christopher Werth in Newsweek . Some 110 million families are getting aid, and the World Bank has spent $5.5 billion on...

US Air Marshals Who Busted Judge's Wife Flee Brazil

Their passports were confiscated after restraining drunk

(Newser) - Two US air marshals who were charged with assault and had their passports confiscated after arresting a judge's drunk wife on a flight to Brazil used alternate travel documents to flee the country, sources tell CNN . The woman, the wife of a prominent Brazilian judge, bit one of the marshals...

Google Street View Comes to Brazil, Finds Bodies

Company has to take down several images

(Newser) - Google's Street View has come to Brazil, but only a week after its debut in South America, the tech giant has been hit with complaints of grisly images available on the service, the Telegraph reports. It seems the world at large is not quite ready for an unadulterated look at...

Student Booted for Minidress Wins $24K in Damages

Geisy Arruda compensated after thigh-high controversy

(Newser) - A Brazilian student briefly expelled from her university for wearing a dress officials deemed too short has been awarded $24,000 in damages. Geisy Arruda—whom school officials accused of having a flagrant lack of respect for ethical principles, academic dignity and morality—was readmitted to the Sao Paolo institution...

Spitzer Madam Loses Brazil Election

Andreia Schwartz, formerly of Emperors Club VIP, got just 476 votes

(Newser) - She may have been able to hook up Eliot Spitzer with high-price prostitutes, but she wasn't able to hook herself up with very many votes. Andreia Schwartz, the 35-year-old who ran the Emperors Club VIP, lost her bid to become a Brazilian lawmaker yesterday, garnering just 476 votes in her...

Meet World's Next Most Powerful Woman
 Meet World's Next 
 Most Powerful Woman 
PROFILE
Sep 26, 2010 11:20 AM CDT

Meet World's Next Most Powerful Woman

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's likely next president and former guerrilla

(Newser) - You might not have heard of her, but Dilma Rousseff is likely to be the most powerful woman in the world about a week from now. The stout 63-year-old ex-guerrilla and cancer survivor is poised to become Brazil's next president in elections next Sunday, reports the Independent, with a 50%-to-30%...

Fire Tornado Strikes, Vanishes
 Fire Tornado Strikes, Vanishes 
viral video
Aug 25, 2010 3:50 PM CDT

Fire Tornado Strikes, Vanishes

Apocalyptic phenomenon hits Aracatuba, Brazil

(Newser) - It doesn't quite seem possible, but a tornado of fire has ripped through a town in Brazil, Yahoo News reports. Aracatuba has been caught in a ghastly 3-month drought, and brush fires combined with strong wind currents to suspend the fire in a column. The tornado left a trail of...

Brazil Comedians: Ban on Mocking Pols a Joke

Broadcasters are set to protest

(Newser) - The Brazilian equivalents of Jon Stewart plan to gather in Rio de Janiero this weekend to protest a law that prevents them from making fun of politicians. The law—a relic from Brazil's days of authoritarian rule—outlaws ridiculing candidates for 3 months before an election, the Telegraph reports. Broadcasters...

Plane Breaks in 3, but Only 1 Dies

 Plane Breaks in 3, 
 but Only 1 Dies 
miracle crash
Aug 16, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

Plane Breaks in 3, but Only 1 Dies

130 survive jet's total destruction in 'miracle' crash

(Newser) - A plane with 131 passengers aboard broke into three pieces as it prepared to land on a Colombian island in the Caribbean this morning, killing just one passenger in what local officials are calling a miracle, the AP reports. The plane, which was carrying 8 US citizens, skewed off course...

Man Walks Entire Amazon River
 Man Walks Entire Amazon River 
Aug 9, 2010 6:31 AM CDT

Man Walks Entire Amazon River

Brit walks 2 years, facing anacondas and hostile tribes

(Newser) - After 859 days, thousands of miles, and "50,000 mosquito bites," Ed Stafford will be the first person known to have walked the entire length of the Amazon river when the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lap his feet in northern Brazil today. "I am simply doing...

Brazilian Business Accused of Mutilating Sharks for Fins
 Brazilian Business Accused 
 of Mutilating Sharks for Fins
Shark Week Bummer
Aug 3, 2010 11:11 AM CDT

Brazilian Business Accused of Mutilating Sharks for Fins

Shark fin soup is the hot ticket in Asia

(Newser) - Here’s a story sure to rain on your Shark Week parade: A Brazilian environmental advocacy group is suing a Brazilian seafood exporter, alleging that it has been capturing sharks, cutting off their fins, and throwing the severely wounded creatures back into the water. Removing a shark’s fin is...

Brazil Offers Asylum to Iranian Mom Facing Stoning

Overture by key ally raises hope

(Newser) - Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's chances of avoiding death by stoning have improved greatly thanks to a surprise offer of asylum from Brazil's president. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's overture this weekend to the Iranian mother of two, who has been sentenced to death for adultery, prompted a serious reaction from...

Brazil Tribes Grab 'Burial Ground' Dam Workers

Hostages freed as Indians demand reparations

(Newser) - A group of 300 Brazilian Indians from eight tribes have freed some 100 dam workers that were held hostage for over 24 hours in an action protesting construction of a dam over an ancient burial ground. The Indians—wearing war paint and brandishing bows and arrows—encircled the dam site...

Hundreds of Penguins Wash Up in Brazil

Scientists scrambling for answers

(Newser) - Some 500 dead penguins have washed up on Brazil's beaches, and stumped scientists are searching for a reason. The birds' bellies were completely empty, indicating they starved to death. The cooler than usual temperatures off the coast could have driven away the fish and squid the penguins feed on, one...

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