Free Republic

The Dutch Labour Party is demanding an emergency parliamentary debate on what has become known as the Brazilian child pornography case. Labour MP Khadija Arib wants Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin to explain to the house why two Dutch men cannot be extradited to Brazil to serve their sentences. The two were sentenced to 17 and 21 years' imprisonment by a Brazilian court for child pornography offences, including the abuse of 24 girls. They managed to leave Brazil using emergency Dutch passports, which they obtained from the Dutch consulate in Rio de Janeiro while awaiting the result of their appeal....

20,000 Brazilians Protest Attempted Expansion of Abortion By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman BRASILIA, August 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Tens of thousands of people from fifteen Brazilian states marched through Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, to protest proposed legislation to permit more abortion, last Wednesday. The event was organized by "Brazil Without Abortion", an organization supported by several national organizations, including the Brazilian National Bishops' Conference, the Brazilian Spiritual Federation, the Council of Evangelical Churches, and the leadership of other religious groups.   Appearing with the marchers were several notable Brazilians, including current and former members of the Brazilian Congress, and religious leaders...

West Boca · Thousands of Brazilians settled in northern Broward County in the last decade. Their businesses and churches subtly changed the character of Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach. Now a Brazilian spillover is transforming a neighborhood west of Boca Raton. Brazilian flags and storefront windows adorned in green, yellow and blue -- the colors of the national flag -- are everywhere on a two-block stretch on U.S. 441 between Marina Boulevard and Oriole Country Road.

World Cup favorite Brazil will kick off its World Cup campaign on Tuesday as the opening round of the tournament continues in Germany. The defending champions will face Croatia at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN2) in Berlin in the second Group F match, following Australia's come-from-behind victory over Japan Monday. The match will feature the highly-anticipated debut of FC Barcelona great Ronaldinho as he looks to lead the South Americans to a record sixth championship. But the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year is hardly the only weapon in coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's arsenal. Also at his disposal are Ronaldo,...

A sense of vulnerability helped Brazilians reject an effort to ban the sales of guns and bullets. CAREIRO CASTANHO, Brazil - For Ezaias Guedes da Lima and his neighbors in this Amazonian town, the idea of giving up their guns is as ridiculous as surrendering the machetes they have used to carve out livelihoods in the thick jungle. Life here is an isolated, dangerous affair, with only a handful of police covering a huge area and wild boar, alligators and other menaces a constant hazard. That isolation was demonstrated Thursday morning, when three men armed with pistols and revolvers calmly...

ASSOCIATED PRESS RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Brazilians soundly rejected a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum Sunday, striking down the bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates following a campaign that drew parallels to the U.S. gun control debate. Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year. While supporters argued that gun control was the best way to staunch the violence, opponents played on Brazilians' fears that the police can't protect them. "I don't like...

Thursday night the Board of Selectmen voted and approved a measure to keep outspoken critics of illegal immigration from airing their concerns during the Citizen's Participation segment of the selectmen meetings. Joseph and Jim Rizoli periodically have brought to the attention of the board of selectmen the issue of how illegal immigration has negatively affected the schools and hospitals in Framingham, a town where as much as 70% of the estimated 20,000 recent immigrants from Latin American countries are here illegally. For airing their concerns, they have been labelled as "haters" and "xenophobes". During the Thursday night meeting, the Rizoli's...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - A river polluted with waste from Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo covered the streets of a small colonial town with a thick layer of snow-like foam that emits harmful acidic gas on Friday. A Town Hall official contacted by Reuters said the foam had been affecting Pirapora do Bom Jesus for about a month, but a clogged clear-water channel made the foam levels rise especially high, blocking bridges across the river Tiete which runs through the town and nearby streets. "It is all a dreadful consequence of Sao Paulo city's pollution," said Mare...

Ananova: Demand for breast implants causes silicon shortage in Brazil Plastic surgeons in Brazil say they are running out of silicon because so many women want breast implants ahead of the world-famous carnival. Paulo Matsudo, director of the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery, says demand for breast - and buttock - implants is at record levels. He told Terra Noticias Populares: "The summertime plus the proximity with carnival, that starts on March 1, are increasing the demand for silicone breast implants. Imports are not sufficient to meet so many requests. "Brazil is a tropical country with a huge seaside and...

A Brazilian woman, shot in the crossfire between police and drug dealers was saved by silicone breast implants.Doctors said the silicone had slowed the bullet up enough to prevent it from causing her serious injury.Jane Selma Soares was caught up in shooting between police officers and drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro.She told Las Ulitmas Noticias newspaer, even though she tried to hide the bullet hit her in the chaest.

LULA DA SILVA, CASTRO AND CHINA By Constantine C. Menges The Washington Times Washington E.U. La Nueva Cuba Diciembre 11, 2002 Today President George W. Bush is to meet with President-elect Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who will take office on Jan. 1, 2003. There will be cordial statements on both sides, photographs of friendly handshakes, and most observers will continue to believe Mr. Lula da Silva — despite his more than 20 years of self professed admiration for Fidel Castro — will govern as he posed during the election campaign, when he left behind his radicalism and...