Brazil News in English: Travel, Tourism, Crime, Culture, Celebrities, Videos, Beautiful People
| BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil – On Friday, guards at Presídio Sebastião Satiro Prison caught a prisoner returning from furlough stuffed with 50 balloons of narcotics. The man, Ildo Francisco Souto, 35, was taken to an area hospital where an x-ray image confirmed the presence of the balloons in the his digestive tract.
Swallowed Balloons of Narcotics (Photo: patoshoje.com.br)
| VITORIA, Brazil – Miss Brazil 2010, Debora Lyra, who was involved in a serious automobile accident on Tuesday, remains in the ICU of the Unimed Hospital in Vitoria. A medical update was released on Friday advising that Debora is stable, lucid, breathing without the aid of a respirator and feeding orally. Debora will undergo further testing and remain under clinical observation in the ICU.
Debora Lyra Miss Brazil 2010 (Photo: top-beautiful-woman.blogspot.com)
| SAO PAULO – Staff at the Primate Sanctuary in Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, hope that 2012 will be a special year for Jimmy the Chimpanzee, who has a new companion. Jimmy, who suffered maltreatment at the Niteroi Zoo in Rio de Janeiro, arrived at the sanctuary four months ago.
Jimmy the Chimp (Photo: G1 SP)
| SAO PAULO – A prison inmate on temporary leave for the New Year holiday was shot 11 times and survived on Friday afternoon, in Piracicaba, 159 km (99 miles) from Sao Paulo.
Illustration Only (Photo: amigosdaguardacivil.blogspot.com)
| PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – Police in the city of Canoas are looking for an 18-year-old man who is suspected of robbing a radio station Wednesday night. Announcer Dari Oliveira Filho, 57, was on air when the suspect entered the studio and ended up being assaulted when he tried to intervene. About R$1,000 ($600 USD) in electronic equipment was taken.
Dari Oliveira Filho on-air (Photo: CS FM Radio/Diario de Canoas)
| SAO PAULO – The runner up in the Best Butt Brazil 2011 beauty pageant, Graciella Carvalho, chose more modest photos than the winner to promote her upcoming spread in Sexy magazine. Nobody can really complain, though.
Graciella Carvalho (Photo: Folha de Sao Paulo)
| RIO DE JANEIRO – Military Police Sergeant Luiz Fernando Conceição Filho, 46, yesterday won the photo contest “Rediscovering Downtown Rio,” sponsored by the City of Rio.
Woman with Vase Fountain (Photo: Luiz Fernando Conceição Filho/Folha de Sao Paulo)
| JOAO PESSOA, Brazil – Late Wednesday, police in Campina Grande, 130 km (81 miles) from the capital, caught an 11-year-old boy driving a bus.
Paraiba Bus – for illustration only (Photo: busesworldwide.org)
| FORTALEZA, Brazil – Two Dutch women, 21 and 22, were arrested early Thursday by Federal Police (PF), while trying to board a flight while carrying 8 kg of pure cocaine. The suspects were in possession of two suitcases with 8.162 kg (18 lbs) of pure cocaine hidden in false linings.
Cocaine hidden in Suitcase (Photo: PF-CE/G1 CE)
| SAO PAULO – A resident of Campo Limpo Paulista got quite a scare on Thursday morning, when leaving for work, he came face to face with a jaguar in his garage. Frightened, the resident went back inside and called the Municipal Guard (GM) and firefighters.
Jaguar in Garage (Photo: G1 SP)
| SAO PAULO – State government health officials announced today, that as of Friday, there will be aggressive enforcement of the new law banning alcohol sales to minors. There will be sweeps in bars, restaurants, nightclubs and beach kiosks. Violators are subject to fines of up to R$87,00 reals ($47,000 USD) as well as other sanctions.
Sao Paulo Now Bans Alcohol Sales to Minors (Photo: terra.com.br)
| SAO PAULO – Rosana Freitas, voted owner of Brazil's most beautiful bottom this year, posed beside the pageant's runner up, Graciella Carvalho in a Sao Paulo studio. The Miss Best Butt Brazil 2011 contest took place earlier this month at a Sao Paulo nightclub.
Rosana Freitas & Graciella Carvalho (Photo: terra.com.br)
| VITORIA, Brazil – The health status of Miss Brazil 2010 Debora Lyra is stable after undergoing successful surgery for cervical spinal fusion. The procedure took place at Estadual São Lucas Hospital in Vitoria, and lasted about four hours on Wednesday afternoon.
Miss Brazil 2010 (Photo: Roberto Vazquez/ Futura Press/ G1 Archive)
| CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil – On Friday, Arnaldo Carvalho, 34, lost in seconds, a R$120,000 ($64,000 USD) and 14-year investment restoring an American muscle car. The massage therapist and tattoo artist, from the state capital, totaled his beloved 1970 Mercury Cougar last Friday, in a traffic collision involving another vehicle at an intersection in Campo Grande.
Arnaldo Carvalho and his 1970 Mercury Cougar (Photo: Arnaldo Carvalho archive/G1 MS)
| ANTWERP, Belgium – Wednesday morning, shipping company employees near Antwerp discovered about 300 kg (661 lbs) of pure cocaine shipped from Brazil. The cocaine, worth an estimated €11 million euros ($14.2 million USD), was hidden in a shipment of shoe polish which arrived at the port of Antwerp, in northern Belgium, this week.
300 kilos Pure Cocaine (Photo: deredactie.be)
| PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – Images from a CCTV security camera vividly show the cold-blooded murder of a businessman on Monday, in southern Brazil. The 51-year-old construction contractor was shot two times in the back, in the town of Feliz, Rio Grande do Sul, where he lived.
Businessman about to be murdered (Photo: RBS TV/G1 RS)
| VITORIA, Brazil – An accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Guarapari, Espirito Santo, leaving Debora Moura Lyra, Miss Brazil 2010 seriously injured. The head-on crash happened during foul weather in Guarapari, on the BR-101 highway, about 50 km (31 miles) from the state capital, Vitoria.
Debora Moura Lyra (Photo: terra.com.br)
| SALVADOR, Brazil – In a mega-operation, called 'Velocity-5', held between December 21st and 24th, police in Bahia made the largest marijuana seizure ever in the Northeast. Civil Police (PC) presented the details of the operation at a news conference on Monday afternoon.
Operation Velocity-5 (Photo: d24am.com)
| FORTALEZA, Brazil – Early Tuesday morning, Federal Police (PF) seized 50,000 ecstasy tablets at the Pinto Martins International Airport in Fortaleza. According to the PF, this is the largest ever seizure of the drug in the Northeast of the country.
50,000 Ecstasy Tabs (Photo: PF CE/G1 CE)
| CUIABA, Brazil – Police on Sunday morning caught a 26-year-old man trying to trade places with his brother, 27, an inmate in the Mata Grande Penitentiary. The incident took place during a family visit on Christmas morning. The prison is located in Rondonopolis, 210 km (130 miles) from the state capital, Cuiaba.
Mata Grande Prison (Photo: agoramt.com.br)
| CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil – A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty to public obscenity on December 12th, after police caught him wearing only ladies panties in public. The court in Maracaju, 160 km (99 miles) from Campo Grande, imposed a fine of R$300 reals (about $162 USD).
Man in Panties (Photo: Maracaju Speed/G1 MS)
| CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil – On Christmas Eve, retirees Sebastiana de Oliveira Nates, 82, and Isauro Ferreira Nates, 86, celebrated 65 years of marriage. The family gathered together at the Campo Grande home belonging to one of the couples five daughters. Only about 1.2% of all marriages last as long.
Dona Sebastiana and Dom Isauro (Photo: G1 MS/TV Morena)
| CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil – Giordana Mazzurana, 8, from the southern Brazilian state of Parana, was elected Miss Brazil Child, in a competition held last weekend in Campo Grande. In an interview with G1 MS, Giordana said she was surprised by the victory. “I had no idea that I would be chosen, but I had hope because I prepared well for the contest. I was thrilled when I saw the result,” she said.
Miss Brazil Child 2012 (photo: Tatiane Queiroz/G1 MS)
| PORTO ALEGRE, Rio Grande do Sul – The city of Canoas' experience with the ShotSpotter gunshot detection and location system is serving as a model for Rio de Janeiro. Rio, long regarded as one of the most violent capital cities in Brazil, conducted the first round of calibration for the system in early December. More testing and calibration is scheduled for next year after Carnaval.
ShotSpotter Guajuviras (photo: Vinicius Carvalho/GES/diariodecanoas.com.br)
| SAO PAULO – A Civil Police (PC) action against drug trafficking arrested 17 people on Thursday, in the Presidente Prudente neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Police were investigating the scheme set up by a criminal gang, in which ambulances were used to transport drugs around the greater Sao Paulo metropolitan area, reported G1 SP.
Ambulance Driver Arrested (Photo: G1 SP)
| FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – Police arrested a man Friday morning after he chased a woman into a hotel in the city of Blumenau, 120 km (75 miles) from Florianopolis. The man, who was trying to attack the woman, was arrested a short time later as he was walking down the street naked, reported terra.com.br.
Blumenau Brazil (Photo: tripadvisor.com)
| RIO DE JANEIRO – Adriana Almeida, known as the Mega-Sena Widow, said she would not rest until we find who is to blame for the death of her lottery-winner husband. In a trail this month, 34-year-old Adriana was acquitted of orchestrating the killing her husband, who won R$52 million (about $28 million USD) in 2005 and was gunned down outside a bar in 2007.
Adriana Almeida the Mega-Sena Widow (Photo: sidneyrezende.com)
| RIO DE JANEIRO – Summer officially arrived in Rio at 3:30 am on Thursday, bathing the city in sunshine from dawn. Day broke with few clouds and cool air but, as promised by the weather service, by mid-morning the clear-blue sky was virtually cloudless and the mercury hit 30º C (86º F) at the beach.
Summer Arrives in Ipanema (Photo: O Globo)
| GOIANIA, Brazil – Firefighters in Jaragua on Tuesday captured a baby alligator that was in the backyard of a residence. A spokesman for the local fire department told terra.com.br that the animal was rescued “utilizing appropriate techniques.”
Baby Alligator (Photo: terra.com.br/Corpo de Bombeiros Jaragua, GO/Release)
| ARLINGTON, Virginia – BAE Systems, a multi-national defense contractor, announced today a new contract with the Brazilian Army worth $41.9 million USD. The company said that, in partnership with the Brazilian Army, they will upgrade 150 M113B armored personnel carriers to the M113A2 Mk1 configuration.
M113 Modernization Project (Photo: forte.jor.br)
| SAO PAULO – Rosana Ferreira, the winner of Miss Best Butt Brazil 2011, graces the cover of the January issue of Sexy magazine. The magazine's photo essay hits Brazilian newsstands on 26 December.
Sexy Magazine (Photo: acritica.uol.com.br)
Click “Read more »” to see the nude photo released by the magazine today.
| FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – The heat wave that hit this South Atlantic capital city last Saturday continues with the beautiful people going to the beach. The mercury topped 37º C (98.6º F) in some cities in the state on Tuesday afternoon.
Woman on Brazil beach (Photo: Fabrício Escandiuzzi/Special for Terra)
| PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – A young man in southern Brazil probably owes his life to the Shotspotter gunfire detection and location system. At about 7 am, on September 14th this year, Alessandro Nascimento Maia, 25, was shot 12 times and left for dead in the middle of a street in the city of Canoas.
Shotspotter (Photo: asibrasil.com.br)
| LISBON – The border police of the European Union, Frontex, is warning of a new trend of middle-class tourists from Brazil who engage in drug tourism. The organization points out that young people can earn a premium of $20,000, on top of a sightseeing trip through Europe with all expenses paid just by bringing a load of ecstasy pills or LSD back to Brazil.
Ecstacy Tablets (Photo: G1 SP)
| MONTIVIDEO – The state of Palestine and the Mercosur trade group signed a free trade agreement today in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo. Palestinian foreign affairs minister Riyad Al Maliki signed the agreement with the foreign ministers of each of the core Mercosur nations – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Mercosur Foreign Ministers Sign Trade Agreement with Palestine (Photo: france24.com)
| RIO DE JANEIRO – Police this morning seized an amount of cash estimated to be over R$2 million from a mansion being used by bookies involved in the numbers racket. Police needed a shopping cart to help load the cash, worth just over one million U.S. dollars, into vehicles to be transported to secure facilities where the money is still being counted.
$2 million cash (Photo: Jornal do Brasil)
| RIO DE JANEIRO – Police on Monday afternoon seized more than 220 Christmas Gift Baskets that were to be distributed to players and “pointers” in the numbers racket. Authorities were tipped off to the house on Rua Carlos de Oliveira, where the gift baskets were found, in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Abolition.
Christmas Gift Baskets (Photo: G1 RJ)
| VITORIA, Brazil – A dog named “Princess” followed her owner to the hospital in Vitoria after he was injured and waited for him outside for two weeks. The owner died at Sao Lucas hospital, and still the dog waited near the front door for his return until today when a woman took her to an animal shelter.
Princess the Loyal Dog (Photo: TV Gazeta/G1 ES)
| MANAUS, Amazonas – On Saturday, Federal Police (PM) in Manaus found R$144,000 ($77,000 USD) in cash hidden inside two flat screen TV sets during a routine inspection. The appliances were on board a vessel in the Port of Manaus which was about to leave for Tabatinga.
R$144 thousand cash (photo: Reuters / Federal Police / G1 Amazonas)
| SAO PAULO – Police found the body of a young woman stuffed in a suitcase in a Sao Paulo apartment on Sunday after neighbors called to complain of an overwhelming odor. Police said they were called to the apartment building, in the working-class neighborhood of Bela Vista, in the center of the city, by neighbors who said that the strong smell had been emanating from the apartment for days.
Body of Woman Found in Suitcase (Photo: noticias.r7.com)
| SAO PAULO – The first preview photo of Miss Best Butt Brazil 2011 Rosana Ferreira was released by the men's magazine 'Sexy' on Sunday, 18 December 2011. The magazine, featuring the aspiring actress posing nude, is expected on newsstands within the next 25 days.
Miss Best Butt Brazil (Photo: 'Sexy' Magazine via Folha de Sao Paulo)
| CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil – The Federal Police (PF) seized 13.7 metric tons of marijuana being transported in two trucks, Saturday night, on a highway in Central-West Brazil. The vehicles were stopped at a roadblock while driving along the MS-156 highway near the town of Caarapo, 273 km (170 miles) from Campo Grande, according to G1 MS.
13 tons of marijuana seized (Photo: Reuters/PF/G1 MS)
| RIO DE JANEIRO – A 36-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday night by officers of the Special Operations Police Battalion (BOPE) after brandishing two pistols in a bar. The confrontation and arrest took place in the neighborhood of Larangeiras, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, according to the Civil Police (PC).
Two Pistols (photo: shutterstock.com)
| FLORIANOPOLIS, Santa Catarina – The last weekend of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere began with temperatures of 32º C (90º F.) and beaches crowded with beauties in Floripa. On Saturday, the heat was intense beginning in the early hours and by 10 am had reached its high for the day.
Beautiful Women on Florianopolis Beach (Photo: Fabrício Escandiuzzi/Specially for Terra.com.br)
| PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – A hail storm on Thursday, hit several cities in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, leaving them in a state of emergency. According to the Civil Defense authorities, the situation was most dire in Sao Geronimo, where 12,000 people were affected.
White Christmas Brazil (photo: terra.com.br)
| BRASILIA – A sergeant of the Federal District Military Police (PMDF) was hit by a car and killed this morning in Vicente Pires, 17 km (10 miles) from the capital. Police said the officer, 32, who was traveling in a van with a friend when they stopped the vehicle on the roadside to urinate, was struck by a car and killed.
PMDF (image: pilotopolicial.com.br)
| BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil – A rhea at the Municipal Zoo of Uberlandia died Friday morning, after undergoing surgery to remove a 6 cm (2 ¼") padlock it had swallowed. The large flightless bird, resembling an ostrich but smaller, took advantage of its keeper's inattention and swallowed the lock, which was hanging on its cage.
Rhea Swallowed Padlock (image: Correio de Uberlandia)
| BRASILIA – A survey released on Thursday says that half of Brazilians believe the country will be the target of foreign aggression in the next 20 years. The study, done by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), shows that 50% believe “totally” or “very” likely that Brazil will be attacked militarily because of concerns about the Amazon. Another 45% believe that Brazil could be attacked because of the pre-salt oil basins.
Amazon (photo: new7wonders.com)
| SAO PAULO – A suspect in the triple-homicide involving victims from Finland, arrested Wednesday in Sao Paulo, will be returned to Paraiba to face justice. The 58-year-old mechanic, who was named as a suspected accomplice in the gruesome crime, will be sent back to Paraiba today and is expected to arrive by Monday.
Suspect in triple murder (photo: G1 Paraiba)
| FLORIANOPOLIS, Santa Catarina – Before dawn Thursday, Federal Highway Police (PRF) found U.S. $87,000 in cash hidden in a space meant for a car airbag. The cash was seized and the occupants of the vehicle were arrested.
$87,000 U.S. dollars cash seized(photo: clicrbs.com.br/PRF Release)
