Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | XINHUA | Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Bolsonaro came down with symptoms on Monday, including a fever of 38 degrees Celsius, cough and headache, leading to a test at the Brazilian Armed Forces Hospital. …
Read More »Fifty years ago, Brazil taught the world to play, in colour
Paris, France | AFP | Fifty years ago this month, modern football was born at the World Cup in Mexico, kicking and yelling, and live in vibrant colour for a global audience. This weekend marks the anniversary of the quarter-finals of that tournament as a star-studded cast played a thrilling series of knock-out games which built …
Read More »Brazil threatens to quit WHO, Trump says US beating pandemic
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has threatened to pull out of the WHO over “ideological bias,” as his counterpart Donald Trump said the US economy was recovering from the coronavirus pandemic while Europe slowly reopens its borders. From Africa to Europe to Asia, governments are …
Read More »Latin America virus cases top 1m as UK, Russia ease lockdowns
Brasília, Brazil | AFP | Confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America have surged past one million, while hard-hit Britain and Russia eased lockdowns Monday, despite not having their outbreaks fully under control. Governments around the world are moving to ease restrictions that have wrecked their economies, even as the number of …
Read More »South America named virus epicenter as Trump seeks US reopening
Washington, United States | AFP | South America is “a new epicenter” of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization has declared, as US President Donald Trump intensified his push to reopen the reeling American economy. Brazil led the surge across South America, its death toll passing 21,000 on Friday from …
Read More »More easing in Europe but virus hits hard in S. America, Africa
Rome, Italy | AFP | Restaurants and churches will reopen in Italy on Monday as part of a fresh wave of lockdown easing in Europe, but rising coronavirus death tolls in Brazil, South Africa and other parts of the world showed the worst is still to come in many countries. The …
Read More »99-year-old WWII vet beats coronavirus in Brazil
Brasília, Brazil | AFP | A 99-year-old World War II veteran in Brazil was released from hospital with military honors Tuesday after recovering from COVID-19. Second Lieutenant Ermando Piveta, who served in the Brazilian artillery in Africa during World War II, was brought out of the Armed Forces Hospital in Brasilia to a burst of …
Read More »Ronaldinho and brother will not face prosecution for fake passports
Asuncion, Paraguay | AFP | Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho and his brother were “deceived” and will not face prosecution for traveling to Paraguay on false documents, officials said Thursday. Prosecutor Federico Delfino said he had recommended not pursuing Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira. “But on the …
Read More »Pele’s ‘1,000th goal’ scored 50 years ago
Sao Paulo, Brazil | AFP | The revered Brazil striker Pele scored his 1,000th goal on November 19, 1969 at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium in a match between his beloved Santos and local outfit Vasco de Gama, whose vast ranks of fans gave the iconic No. 10 a standing ovation. …
Read More »Amazon fires in Brazil fall to record low in October: official
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | The number of fires in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil fell to a record low in October, even as blazes ripped across the Pantanal tropical wetlands, official data show. Satellite images from the INPE space institute recorded 7,855 fires in the Amazon last …
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