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/ 30 April 2008

Ronaldo in hiding after incident with sex-workers

Ronaldo went into hiding on Tuesday after an encounter with cross-dressing sex-workers that prompted police to investigate whether to charge one with trying to extort money from the three-time Fifa player of the year. The AC Milan striker, in Brazil recovering from a knee surgery, cancelled two TV appearances, and local media said he will continue physiotherapy at his home.

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/ 23 April 2008

Strong earthquake startles Brazilians

An earthquake measuring 5,2 on the Richter scale shook southern Brazil overnight, scaring many but causing no significant damage or casualties, officials and media said. It was the strongest temblor to hit the region in a century, the news group Globo said. The epicentre was 270km off Brazil’s south-east coast.

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/ 9 April 2008

More than 30 dead in Brazil floods

At least 33 people have died in two weeks of flooding in north-east Brazil, and more than 77 000 people have been left homeless, with officials warning on Wednesday that the heavy rain would continue. The state of Paraiba was the worst-hit, according to the national Civil Defence service. Twenty-six of the fatalities occurred there, and 76 towns are under water.

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/ 9 January 2008

Will Dakar Rally run through the Andes?

The Amazonian rainforest and the Andes mountains could replace the African desert as South America vies to stage the Dakar Rally. Argentina, Brazil and Chile are looking into the possibility of hosting the race later this year and there are also talks about a race through several South American countries and climate zones.

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/ 27 November 2007

Brazil takes stock of crumbling stadiums

A stadium collapse that killed seven people highlighted the crumbling state of Brazil’s soccer arenas less than a month after the country was chosen to host the 2014 World Cup, architects said on Monday. The victims fell 15m through a 3m wide hole that opened in the concrete stands of the Fonte Nova stadium in Salvador.

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/ 27 November 2007

Rich and poor gird for climate change

People around the world are preparing for floods, droughts and other natural disasters in ways largely dictated by wealth and poverty as evidence of climate change mounts, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. Even if countries took steps to cut greenhouse gases, temperatures would continue to rise until 2050 due to accumulated carbon emissions.

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/ 26 November 2007

At least eight dead as stadium collapses in Brazil

At least eight people were killed in Brazil when a section of the stand at a football stadium collapsed as fans were celebrating minutes after a match ended. Dozens of people were also injured, some of them seriously, in the accident late on Sunday in Salvador, the capital of the north-western state of Bahia, media reports said, citing authorities.

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/ 25 November 2007

Brazilian psychic stands by quake alert

A Brazilian psychic who set officials in Indonesia scrambling after he predicted a huge quake would hit Sumatra island next month reaffirmed on Wednesday that the disaster is indeed coming. "The danger of this earthquake exists, there is no doubt," Jucelino Nobrega da Luz (45) said by telephone from his home in south-east Brazil.

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/ 16 November 2007

Latin-American film fans ask: Where are our movies?

Latin-American cinema may be enjoying a Golden Age, but the movies must sometimes travel the world before they can get a showing on their home turf. The governments of Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil and others are handing out money to encourage local productions, and the results are gaining wide acclaim, but they are struggling in a continent saturated with Hollywood blockbusters.

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/ 29 October 2007

Sale of the sanctuary

How do you save the Amazon rainforest? Easy. All you need is a bit of cash and a computer. Then go to the site of Cool Earth and, with a click of the mouse, you can ”Add to cart” half-an-acre (0,2ha) of endangered rainforest for £35. Cool Earth claims this will keep locked up 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide and protect 400 unique species.

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/ 23 October 2007

Perfect end to dramatic F1 season

It was a fitting climax to a dramatic season. The Brazilian Grand Prix followed form with an upset finish — Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari taking the final race of the season to vault past McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for the title.