Brazil coach Mano Menzes
New Brazil coach Mano brings back only four World Cup players for a Tuesday friendly against the United States, his debut in the job after taking over from Dunga.
Santos striker Robinho, AC Milan defender Thiago Silva, Barcelona defender Daniel Alves and Benfica midfielder Ramires will be joined by 10 new players as the South Americans look to the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 World Cup.
AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato, Santos playmaker Neymar, Liverpool midfielder Lucas and defenders Rafael da Silva of Manchester United and Marcelo of Real Madrid are among the newcomers being touted as the top of the next generation of superstar talent for the five-time World Cup champions.
The Netherlands ousted Brazil in last month’s World Cup quarter-finals, sparking Dunga’s exit and a call for more flair from the Brazilians. (more…)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva highlighted on Monday the outcome of last week’s 39th Summit of the Southern Common Market in Argentina, which he said was the best in eight years.
He noted that the meeting eliminated a double trade tariff paid by all of the bloc’s member countries, which was hurting the region’s trade because of a “distortion,” he said.
The Brazilian president emphasized that the end of the tariff, known as the TEC, and the approval of a MERCOSUR customs code is creating space to consolidate “customs unity.”
He added that the MERCOSUR member countries had also approved the funding of nine projects worth $795 million to support regional development, and which will especially benefit the bloc’s smallest countries, Paraguay and Uruguay.
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Construction begins on the Gibe III hydroelectric dam in southern Ethiopia. Photograph: Xan Rice for the Guardian
Dams in Brazil, Ethiopia and Malaysia will force people off land and destroy hunting grounds, says Survival International
Giant hydroelectric dams being built or planned in remote areas of Brazil, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Peru and Guyana will devastate tribal communities by forcing people off their land or destroying hunting and fishing grounds, according to a report by Survival International today.
The first global assessment of the impact of the dams on tribes suggests more than 300,000 indigenous people could be pushed towards economic ruin and, in the case of some isolated Brazilian groups, to extinction.
The dams are intended to provide much-needed,low-carbon electricity for burgeoning cities, but the report says tribal people living in their vicinity will gain little or nothing. Most of the power generated will be taken by large industries, it concludes. (more…)
A former British army captain is about to finish the longest jungle trek in history after completing a 6,000 mile expedition along the Amazon River.
Ed Stafford, 34, is expected to arrive at Maruda Beach in Belem on the Atlantic coast of Brazil after 859 days hacking through some of the most difficult terrain in the world.
The former Afghanistan war veteran began his epic journey near the Pacific Ocean at Camana in Peru in April 2008 and had been expecting to complete the 4,000 mile journey in one year.
But huge detours caused by flooding more than doubled his schedule and added an extra 2,000 miles to his route.
The former Dorset and Devonshire Light Infantry Officer, who has used his walk to raise awareness of environmental issues and collect money for charity, said he was relieved it was finally almost over. (more…)
It’s something for the records book. For a second day running it snowed Wednesday in Southern Brazil. The same happened in twelve of Argentina’s 24 provinces including parts of Buenos Aires as a consequence of the polar front covering most of the continent’s southern cone with zero and below zero temperatures.
Light snow storms in Brazil were concentrated in areas of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Globo network aired snow flakes falling in early morning, cars covered with a thin white coating and some roads dangerously slippery because of ice.
According to meteorologist Estael Sias, Rio Grande do Sul had not seen so much snow since 2000. The cities of Bom Jesus, Cambará do Sul, Caxias do Sul, Crissiumal, Gramado, São José dos Ausentes, Vacaria and Lagoa Vermelha seemed scenes of an European city on winter. People even had a chance to build their snowmen.
In Argentina the phenomenon extended to Northern provinces, geographically sub-tropical while in the Patagonia and along the Andes snow reached over a meter deep, isolating villages and causing yet undisclosed losses to crops and livestock. (more…)
