Tag: Brazil

With bows and spears, Indigenous ‘warriors’ defend the Amazon

By Hervé BAR Agence France-Presse JAVARI, Brazil (AFP) — In a remote pocket of the Brazilian Amazon under siege from illegal fishermen, poachers, loggers and drug traffickers, Indigenous people have taken it upon themselves to defend the land and its resources. With bows, arrows and spears, young men of the Sao Luis village patrol the Javari River by motorboat in the valley of the same name. They call themselves the “Warriors of the Forest,” the […]

Brazil state approves ‘Vini Jr’s law’ against football racism

BRASÍLIA, June 7, 2023 (AFP) — Legislators in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro approved a law on Tuesday to curtail football matches affected by racist abuse, after a wave of disgust over the treatment of Vinicius Junior. The Real Madrid star, a native of the state, has been targeted multiple times by terrace racists over the past two years in Spain. State deputy Prof. Josemar, who drafted the legislation, said the winger’s treatment […]

Brazil unemployment hits eight-year low in April

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – Brazil’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent for the three months through April, an eight-year low for the period, officials said Wednesday, welcome news for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s bid to jump-start the economy. The rate was down from 8.8 percent for the period from January to March, and the lowest for February-April since 2015, when it was 8.1 percent, according to national statistics institute […]

Bolsonaro questioned by Brazil police in vaccination forgery case

BRASÍLIA, May 17, 2023 (AFP) – Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro spoke to police for several hours Tuesday as part of an investigation into the alleged forgery of Covid-19 vaccination certificates for himself and his inner circle. Bolsonaro, whose house was raided as part of the same investigation earlier this month, arrived at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia around 1:40 pm (1640 GMT) in a car with tinted windows, and left four hours later […]

AI could replace 80% of jobs ‘in next few years’: expert

By Eugenia LOGIURATTO Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Artificial intelligence could replace 80 percent of human jobs in the coming years — but that’s a good thing, says US-Brazilian researcher Ben Goertzel, a leading AI guru. Mathematician, cognitive scientist and famed robot-creator Goertzel, 56, is founder and chief executive of SingularityNET, a research group he launched to create “Artificial General Intelligence,” or AGI — artificial intelligence with human cognitive abilities. With his […]

Foreign chefs conquer Paris with childhood flavors for French cuisine

By Olga NEDBAEVA Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — “My mum doesn’t agree with what I do here: at home, we don’t eat like this,” laughs Alan Geaam, the first Lebanese chef to earn a Michelin star in Paris. The self-taught chef, who fled his country’s civil war in 1999, nonetheless believes that promoting Lebanon’s culinary riches means combining them with some of “the elegance and refinement” of French cuisine. At his self-titled restaurant in […]

Brazil court suspends Telegram app in neo-Nazi probe

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered the countrywide suspension of messaging app Telegram after its parent company failed to provide data sought by authorities on neo-Nazis operating on the network, officials said. The move came after a spate of violent school attacks, at least one of them linked to exchanges on a group with anti-Semitic leanings. Justice Minister Flavio Dino said the court had fined Telegram a million reais […]

Brazil may surpass US as world’s No. 1 corn exporter

by Morgann JEZEQUEL Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — On his farm in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil’s grain basket, Ilson Jose Redivo finished planting his corn crop a few weeks ago, acting quickly once he’d harvested the soybeans that he’d grown on the same fields. In this region of west-central Brazil, the fields stretch as far as the eye can see and the schedule is well established: The farmer plants the […]

Under fire, Brazil’s Lula ‘condemns’ invasion of Ukraine

Brasília, Brazil (AFP) — Under fire for “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda,” Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday made clear his condemnation of Russia’s “violation of the territorial integrity” of Ukraine. The White House on Monday had criticized Lula’s remarks during a recent trip to China that Washington was “encouraging the war” in Ukraine and that Kyiv shared blame for the conflict. “Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all […]

Brazil rejects US criticism, defends Russia ties

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil rejected US criticism that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda on the Ukraine war as he held talks with Moscow’s top diplomat on Monday. Lula’s meeting with Sergei Lavrov in Brasilia follows state visits to China and the Middle East, during which he said the United States should “stop encouraging war and start talking about peace” in Ukraine. He also claimed that Kyiv shares […]

Russia’s Lavrov meets Lula as Brazil, US trade barbs on Ukraine war

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Russia’s foreign minister met in Brazil on Monday with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as Washington criticized the South American leader’s recent remarks on US defense support for Ukraine. Lula is fresh off a trip to China and the United Arab Emirates, during which he raised eyebrows in the West by accusing the United States of “encouraging the war” in Ukraine. He also said the United States and Europe “need […]

White House says Brazil ‘parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda’ on Ukraine

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The White House on Monday sharply criticized Brazil after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on a trip to China that the United States is encouraging war in Ukraine. “In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Lula said Saturday during a visit to Beijing, where he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping, […]