News and reports from North, Central and South America.
Interest rates are going back up, so what will it mean for people who have bought property or are looking to get their first foot on the ladder? Rates are rising and when rates go from five per cent to seven per cent, that's a 40 per cent increase in the amount of interest a […]
Continue ReadingA British student who became a correspondent as New Orleans was ravaged by floods finds Mardis Gras in the jazz capital is on form… Over a year ago I made the decision to travel to Louisiana in order to start my dissertation research in jazz music. The legendary culture and musically historic settings of […]
Continue ReadingDr. Hermann Scheer spoke these prophetic words at the Renewables Expo in Denver, Colorado in August of 2004: “It’s time for a general shift to renewable energies,” Sheer emphasized. “This is the elementary challenge of our century. There is no time for further postponements. The curve of cheap fossil reserves, and therefore its supply possibility, […]
Continue ReadingEx-President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, vows to make a comeback in the country’s elections in April, despite an election tribunal banning him from holding office until 2011… Fujimori, President of Peru from 1990 to 2000, was widely regarded as a successful leader until accusations of corruption ended his presidency in 2000 and he exiled himself […]
Continue ReadingEntertainer Michel Jackson has been told all charges against him, alleging he had abused a child and given alcohol to minors, have been dropped… The singer superstar returned to his home at his Neverland ranch in California without speaking to fans or the media who had assembled outside. Jackson had strenuously denied molesting 13-year-old Gavin […]
Continue ReadingThe execution of a TV reporter by a drug trafficker sent shockwaves through Brazil. Now, nearly three years on, the killer has been jailed… They began with his feet. Armed with a hidden camera and microphone, the television reporter Tim Lopes had last been seen entering a slum in Rio’s North Zone, at around 9pm. […]
Continue ReadingDeforestation in Brazil’s rainforests is running at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world, according to newly released data… Data released by Brazil’s National Institute of Spatial Investigation (INPE), shows deforestation levels in the Amazonian rainforests have reached a record high. According to the country’s environmental minister, Marina Silva, these “undesirable” levels rose […]
Continue ReadingThousands of homeless children in Rio de Janeiro face beatings and execution by gangs of vigilantes. Here, they explain why they can’t go to the authorities… Jefferson can’t remember exactly how his mother died. Homeless on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, he spends his time sniffing cocaine and trying to forget. On his 13th […]
Continue ReadingBrazilian football clubs are setting up security of record levels for the families of their players in the wake of the fifth high-profile kidnapping in six months… Sao Paulo was scandalised last week following the abduction of the mother of yet another famous footballer. Alice Custódio Nazaré, 62, whose son is Corinthians defender Mario (known […]
Continue ReadingBezerra da Silva, the sambista dubbed the godfather of gangsta rap and unofficial spokesman of Rio de Janeiro’s slums, has died aged 77. For 30 years Bezerra da Silva’s controversial brand of samba provided the soundtrack for the city’s favelas and enraged the country’s politicians, often the victims of his sharp tongue. His music, which […]
Continue Reading
