By Anna Kaiser, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Heavy rains hit Rio de Janeiro in the early hours of the morning yesterday, causing the closure of Santos Dumont Airport and much flooding, major traffic and power outages around the Rio metropolitan area during commuter hours. Traffic delays continued throughout the day and into [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Senate has approved by a wide majority a bill that changes rules governing how the country’s ports are regulated, in a victory for the ruling government, despite last-minute attempts by opposing senators to derail the bill. The bill aims to open state-run ports to [...]
By Anna Kaiser, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As Brazil is emerging as one of the world’s largest financial powers, foreign companies are eagerly looking to expand in Latin America’s largest economy. However, the Brazilian market is exceptionally difficult to enter, ranking as the 126th most difficult country to conduct foreign business in [...]
By Robbie Blakeley, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup is just two months away and Brazil is putting the finishing touches to what will be its first taste of hosting such a mammoth global footbal (soccer) spectacle for over fifty years. The latest positive news on the stadium [...]
Opinion, by Michael Royster RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – ¡Habemus papam! Or, rather, perhaps, given that Roman Catholics are a minority among the world’s seven billion people: ¡Habeunt papam! [¡You/They Have a Pope!] Or, rather, perhaps, given that Benedict XVI is now Pope Emeritus, ¡Habemos papam et emeritum! There’s apparently no plural for Pope in [...]
By Anna Kaiser, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Dilma Rousseff announced that Brazilian flags will fly at half-mast for three days to mourn the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who lost his two year long battle with cancer Tuesday afternoon in Caracas. Chávez held rule in the Latin American petroleum-producing power [...]
Opinion, by Michael Royster RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – No, not last year’s film nominated for an Oscar in Costume Design. Rather, it’s shorthand for what’s happening this month in the “real” world of Heads of State. We all know our nursery rhymes, but the Curmudgeon, feeling Grimm, will explain why no dwarves, Snow Whites [...]
By Lucy Jordan, Senior Contributing Reporter BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL – At least 232 people have died in a nightclub fire in central Rio Grande do Sul, police have said. A band’s pyrotechnics reportedly started the blaze at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria at 2:30 AM Saturday night. Police finished removing bodies from the scene late [...]
By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Families will see an estimated eighteen percent decrease in their electrical bills while the industrial sector should expect an up to 32 percent decrease in charges, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced on Wednesday, January 23rd. “I have just signed the Act that starting [Thursday, January [...]
By Lucy Jordan, Senior Contributing Reporter BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL – From municipal elections to the mensalão, from dams to deforestation, for the slowing economy and the booming middle class, 2012 was big for Brazil. The year began with devastating building collapses in Rio de Janeiro, and ended with a farewell to world-renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer. In [...]
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