Brazil

SAO PAULO — Josimayra Ayres is one of the luckier members of Sao Paulo's army of domestic workers. While many live in suffocating conditions at their employers' houses, she works set hours and lives at her own home with her husband. "We know maids who never leave the house in which they work. They can't breathe," she says. "When they do succeed in going out, they come back to a complete mess. The sink is so full there's nowhere else to put dirty dishes. " But this week, Brazil's Senate finally ended entrenched legal...

SAO PAULO — Brazil is using more than 20,000 troops along its borders with 10 South American nations to reinforce security ahead of the Confederations Cup soccer tournament in June. The Defense Ministry says in a statement that 25,000 army, navy and air force troops began deployment on Saturday along the nearly 17,000 kilometers (10,600 miles) of border Brazil shares with its neighbors. Planes, helicopters, and patrol boats will be used to stop drug trafficking, arms smuggling and other crimes, as...

What: Confederations Cup final. Where: Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg. When: Today, 2 p.m. TV: ESPN, Univision. Club in parentheses United States: GK Tim Howard (Everton, England); Ds Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France); MFs Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Ricardo Clark (Houston, MLS), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS)

SAO PAULO — Brazil plans to modernize and expand its overcrowded ports, attract private investments to the sector and make it easier for companies to hire skilled foreign workers, in a bid to spur economic growth, The Brazilian Congress approved legislation late Thursday that allows the private sector to invest in state-owned ports and lifts restrictions that have hindered the building of private terminals. The legislation, which must still be approved by President Dilma Rousseff, eliminates a rule that...

Brazil has been criticized for battling a slowdown in its growth with protectionist trade policies, restrictions on capital flows and programs that favor local industry. Can one of its diplomats now become the world's free-trade champion? World Trade Organization members announced in Geneva on Wednesday that they had chosen Brazil's Roberto Azevedo to be the next director general, turning to a longtime trade diplomat from a prominent developing country to run an organization fighting to restore its...

On a scorching afternoon in the Amazon, all Agustin Villa and his partner needed was a chain saw and gasoline to take down an 82-foot hardwood in less than two minutes. Battling thick brush and mosquitoes, the pair downed 25 trees in all that day, from silk-cotton softwoods to figs, clearing the limbs and sawing them into sections for tractors to drag to a nearby dirt road. Across this corner of eastern Bolivia, peasants torch the forest for subsistence crops, while soy producers clear trees to plant one...

I?ve been taking a brief respite from my international travels, but the last weekend in August I am hitting the tarmac again. This time, it?s a few weeks in Brazil. Right now, I?m planning on spending the time in Sao Paolo but am open to exploring the country further if anyone knows of great start-up activity elsewhere. I?m working closely with Endeavor which has done amazing work in South and Latin America for more than a decade. But as always, I want to ferret out the best entrepreneurs and investors in the country so send me an...

LUCAS DO RIO VERDE, BRAZIL -- For nearly 20 years, Luiz Alberto Bortolini cleared trees and planted soybeans as fast as he could, one of many pioneers who turned this barren outpost into prosperous farmland. Now, he and hundreds of other successful farmers are replanting trees as part of an ambitious initiative to reduce deforestation. Their goal -- to set aside one-third of their farms for native vegetation -- is revolutionary in a region long resistant to environmental controls.

GETTING THERE AND GETTING AROUND A number of airlines offer round-trip flights to Florianopolis, Brazil, from Dulles, with January fares starting at about $1,300. From there, it's an hour-long bus ride south to Garopaba, the launching point for destinations in this article. Bus terminals in Brazil are modern, pleasant places. Riding the bus is a great way to meet Brazilians, who are famous for their friendliness. WHERE TO STAY El Centro de Yoga Montanha Encantada, ...

WHEN WAS the last time an American president stood before an audience in a foreign country and announced that he looked forward to importing more of its oil? Answer: Just over a week ago, when President Obama joined political and business leaders in Brasilia in hailing the fact that their newly discovered offshore petroleum reserves might be twice as large as those in the United States. Americans "want to help with technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely , and when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your...

SAO PAULO — The Brazilian government says some of the security robots bought to improve public safety during the 2014 World Cup will be ready for the Confederations Cup in June. The company iRobot says the 30 robots would be delivered by the end of the year, along with spares and other support gear. The government confirmed Thursday that some will already be in action in the six cities hosting Confederations Cup matches. The company said Brazil signed a $7.2 million contract, which included...

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A Maltese-flagged coal ship anchored at Portsmouth Marine Terminal for nearly a month has lost a court battle to sail out of Virginia waters amid a federal environmental investigation. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the ship and its crew of 20 must remain in Portsmouth while a legal battle is waged, the Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/10IDCJq) reported. According to court records, the Antonis G. Pappadakis, its crew and the...

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — It is clear where Jose Mujica's priorities lie. And they are not across the River Plate. After a spot of morning work on his tractor, the maverick Uruguayan president dismisses Argentina as "very, very, very closed in on itself, very 1960s-ish. " The former leftist guerrilla then lauds his northern neighbor, Brazil, for "knowing what it wants and going for it. " "We're betting on complementary integration with Brazil," Mujica, dressed in a fleece and tracksuit trousers, said in an interview...

WASHINGTON — Rookies Tayler Hill and Emma Meesseman scored 12 points apiece and the Washington Mystics held Brazil's national team to 18 second half points in a 71-56 exhibition win Wednesday. The Mystics opened the second half with a 10-0 run in the first five minutes, and Brazil got no closer than within six the rest of the way. Monique Currie added 11 points and six assists for Washington. Damiris Amaral led Brazil with 12 points. The game was the debut of new Mystics coach and general...

SEROPEDICA, Brazil — There's a storage room just off a university lab that gives students more experience than many can handle: Skinned pigs and cats, disembodied cow livers, intestines, brains and the other unidentifiable detritus of years' worth of dissections fill a dozen wading pool-sized vats to the brim. With the veterinary department's incinerator long on the fritz, the stomach-turning, formaldehyde-drenched mass of animal carcasses and organs grows by the...

SAO PAULO — Brazil's Supreme Court has annulled the trial and conviction of a rancher jailed for ordering the 2005 murder of U.S. nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang. In a ruling posted Wednesday, the court said Vitalmiro Moura was not given enough time to prepare his defense in 2010 when he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The court said Moura will remain behind bars until he his retried at a yet-to be scheduled date. Also convicted of ordering Stang's...

The U.S. Olympic women's basketball team played its first exhibition game in more than two months on Monday night, and the extended inactivity showed with uneven possessions and in the early going against Brazil even a hint of vulnerability. Accustomed to winning by outsize margins, the United States wasn't able to pull away until late in the second quarter at Verizon Center, underscoring Coach Geno Auriemma's concern that his charges are still seeking an identity less than two weeks before their opener in...

SAO PAULO — Brazil is using more than 20,000 troops along its borders with 10 South American nations to reinforce security ahead of the Confederations Cup soccer tournament in June. The Defense Ministry says in a statement that 25,000 army, navy and air force troops began deployment on Saturday along the nearly 17,000 kilometers (10,600 miles) of border Brazil shares with its neighbors. Planes, helicopters, and patrol boats will be used to stop drug trafficking, arms smuggling and other...