Four people died while voting over the weekend in Brazil’s general elections, the press reported.
A retired woman, whose age was not released, fainted in front of a voting machine in Frutal, a city in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, the Uol Web site reported.
A man identified as 43-year-old Jose Carlos Nascimento Souza died from a massive heart attack while standing in line to vote in Igaci a city in the northeastern state of Alagoas, Uol reported.
A 38-year-old woman died from a heart attack in Diamante, a city in the northeastern state of Paraiba, after appearing nervous while waiting to cast her ballot, eyewitnesses told Uol.
The election precinct’s supervisor asked the woman to not vote because of her condition, the eyewitnesses said.
A 62-year-old woman passed out in front of an electronic voting machine in Guarulhos, a city in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, and died at a hospital.
Ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff and opposition member Jose Serra will face off in a runoff election for Brazil’s presidency on Oct. 31 after the leading candidates failed to win a majority of the vote in Sunday’s balloting.
Rousseff, of the governing Workers’ Party, or PT, won 46.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, while Serra, the standard bearer of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, or PSDB, garnered 32.61 percent of the vote, with 99.99 percent of the ballots counted, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said.
Green Party candidate Sen. Marina Silva came in third with 19.33 percent of the vote.
EFE
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The Knight Center’s blog “Journalism in the Americas” features a new map pinpointing the instances of media censorship in Brazil that have occurred in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 3 elections for president, all 27 governors, and members of federal and state legislatures. Journalists are invited to consult the map as they prepare to cover the election.
The map by Knight Center blogger Maíra Magro illustrates how journalists and media have experienced acts of censorship in at least nine states in each of Brazil’s five main regions: the north, northeast, central west, southeast, and south. It was inspired by a similar map prepared by Brazilian journalist Marcelo Soares during elections in 2008.
Magro’s map specifically tracks judicial decisions, legislation, and acts by government institutions that have prohibited journalists and media from reporting without restrictions on the campaign. The censorship has taken various forms. In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, for example, police confiscated 850 copies of the weekly newspaper Impacto Campo Grande for criticizing the state’s governor, who is running for reelection. Also in the state, a journalist was banned from publishing news about a senator who accused the journalist of attacking his honor.
In the northeastern state of Paraíba, the map reveals eight acts of censorship, including several in which politicians successfully obtained court orders to ban local media from publishing information about them.
The map is the first in a series of original content that will be produced by the Knight Center’s blogs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
By Dean Graber
http://knightcenter.utexas.edu
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A California judge is being asked to determine the ownership of a giant emerald, thought to be one of the largest of its kind.
The Bahia emerald - named after the region of Brazil in which it was discovered - weighs 380kg (840lb).
It is said to be worth more than $370m (£235m) - and at least six people are claiming they are the rightful owners.
A judge will hear from all the parties claiming ownership of the gem before deciding the case in October.
One those at the centre of this dispute is Anthony Thomas, a construction executive from California, who says he paid two Brazilian gem dealers $60,000 for the emerald shortly after it was unearthed nine years ago - a fraction of its current value.
Mr Thomas says he arranged to have the stone shipped to his home in San Jose, but that it never showed up.
He believes he was tricked into believing it had been stolen so it could be resold for more money. (more…)
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Edeilson Manoel do Nascimento holds an X-ray showing a knife that was inside his head. (AP Photo/Helia Scheppa, JC Imagem)
Brazil doctors remove knife blade stuck in man’s head for 3 years
A man in northeastern Brazil is recovering after surgeons removed a 4-inch (10-centimeter) blade that had been stuck in his head for three years following a bar fight. Edeilson Nascimento, a 29-year-old tire repairman, tells reporters Friday he is feeling great after the three-hour surgery earlier this week.
He is expected to be released from a hospital in the city of Recife next week.
Nascimento says he got into a bar fight in 2007 and was attacked by assailants when he returned home.
At the time, doctors only removed the knife handle, fearing that pulling the blade from his head would cause brain damage.
But three years of intense headaches led Nascimento to take a chance on the surgery.
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On Saturday the 18th of September 2010 there was a small get-together of friends at Scorpions Paintball in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, arranged by www.paraibaparadise.com
It seems that a great day was had by all and even before the event was over people were asking to do it again.
We will try to arrange it again for Saturday the 30th October and will let you know via the Paraiba email list.
Below are the pictures of the event.
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