Brazil mutant mosquitoes to breed out diseases Piracicaba, Brazil | AFP | Scientists in Brazil are preparing to release millions of factory-bred mosquitoes in an attempt to wipe out their distant cousins that carry tropical diseases. The insects’ method: have sex and then die. British firm Oxitec says its …
Read More »Brazil’s ‘eternal captain’ Carlos Alberto dies at 72
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Carlos Alberto, the revered captain of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning side, considered one of the greatest of all time, died on Tuesday aged 72. The right-back starred alongside Pele, Tostao, Jairzinho and Rivelino in the legendary Brazil team that beat Italy 4-1 in …
Read More »Brazil’s big party is over – now the hangover?
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazil’s been partying hard for five years, hosting a string of international mega-events that end this Sunday with the Paralympics. So is it time for the hangover? There was the 2014 football World Cup, the Confederations Cup, the Rio+20 United Nations environmental summit, …
Read More »Olympics: ‘Marvellous’ Rio flames out as Super Abe takes baton
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | The Rio Olympics ended in a blaze of colour with an exuberant closing ceremony on Sunday as Tokyo took up the baton promising to host the best Games yet in 2020. After a rollercoaster fortnight which mixed off-field hitches with compelling sporting drama, …
Read More »Olympics: Reborn Brazil make quarters as crisis-hit Argentina exit
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Hosts Brazil finally launched their campaign for Olympic gold as sought after starlet Gabriel Barbosa struck twice to defeat Denmark 4-0 on Wednesday, as two-time champions Argentina bowed out of Rio 2016. Barcelona star Neymar is still yet to hit the net, but …
Read More »Rio’s glittering opening launches Olympics 2016
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | The Rio Olympics opening ceremony started with fireworks and laser lit choreography on Friday as Fireworks and laser-lit choreography launched the Rio Games on Friday as Brazil sought to forget seven years of troubled preparations and the Olympic movement temporarily put aside …
Read More »Football: Neymar tasked with delivering Brazil’s elusive gold
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazil has barely got over its World Cup disaster and now it is counting on Barcelona star Neymar to finally deliver a treasured first football Olympic gold medal. Olympic gold is the only international title to elude Brazil in an illustrious history that …
Read More »Brazilian judge blocks WhatsApp nationwide
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | A judge on Tuesday suspended the WhatsApp smartphone messaging service across Brazil, where it is hugely popular, for failing to surrender user data in a police investigation. “WhatsApp is blocked across the whole national territory,” a spokesman for the court in Rio de …
Read More »Zika experts say quitting Olympics an ‘over-reaction’
Paris, France | AFP | Only pregnant women and people planning a family need fear Zika, disease experts said Wednesday after golfer Rory McIlroy became the latest athlete to withdraw from the Olympics over virus fears. The mosquito-borne virus, which can also be transmitted via sex, is thought to cause …
Read More »WHO: Zika will not spread or disrupt Olympics
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | There is a “very low risk” of the Zika virus spreading further internationally as a result of the Olympic Games in Brazil, the World Health Organization’s emergency committee on the disease said Tuesday. The statement came as worry mounted that the mosquito-borne virus, which has …
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