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[1/3] A general view after a series of explosions at grain silos owned by agro-industrial cooperative C. Vale, in the city of Palotina, Parana State, Brazil, July 27, 2023. Brazil's Parana Firefighters/Handout via REUTERSSAO PAULO, July 27 (Reuters) - At least eight people have died, one was missing and nearly a dozen others wounded after a grain silo explosion on Wednesday at an agricultural co-operative in southern Brazil, the government of Parana state said on Thursday. The blast occurred at the C.Vale co-operative in the small town of Palotina, about 600 km (370 miles) from the state's capital Curitiba. Experts say grain dust particles are highly combustible and can cause fires or explosions in confined spaces such as grain storage facilities. Fire Department Official Manoel Vasco said dogs were helping in the search of the missing worker potentially trapped under a pile of grains.

Persons: C.Vale, Jose Ricken, Ricken, Manoel Vasco, Carlos Favaro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Darci Piana, Leonardo Benassatto, Ana Mano, Gabriel Araujo, Christina Fincher, Bernadette Baum, Alison Williams Organizations: Vale, Brazil's, Brazil's Parana Firefighters, REUTERS SAO PAULO, Fire, Agriculture, Thomson Locations: Palotina, Parana State, Brazil, Brazil's Parana, Parana, Curitiba . Parana, Paraguay

☆ Ancient pendants made from giant sloth bones suggest humans were in Americas earlier than thought
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

While G. phoenesis was thought to have been a relatively small species of giant sloth, some ancient sloth species were so big that their fossilized burrows are now caves in southern Brazil that humans can walk through. One of the three pendants made from giant sloth bone. However, Pansani said the team dated other material — sediment, charcoal and other giant sloth bones — from the same layer as where the artifacts were recovered. Many experts are skeptical that humans occupied the Americas any earlier than 16,000 years ago, the study noted. For the new study, Pacheco said the team hadn’t considered the possibility of trying to extract genetic material from the sloth-bone pendants.

Persons: —, Thais Pansani, Federal University of São Carlos, phoenesis, Thaís Pansani, Pierre Gueriau, Mírian Pacheco, Pacheco, ” Pansani, Pansani, “, ” Pacheco, hadn’t, ” Organizations: CNN, Federal University of São, Paleobiology, Royal Society Locations: Brazil, Santa, Americas, South America, New Mexico, Russia

☆ Cyclone leaves 11 dead, 20 missing in southern Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Steven Grattan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] An aerial view shows damage and floods due to heavy rains after an extra-tropical cyclone, in Sao Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Diego VaraSAO PAULO, June 17 (Reuters) - At least 11 people have been killed in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul after an extra-tropical cyclone struck the region on Friday, according to the state's authorities. The storm caused torrential rains and helicopter searches are underway in flooded neighborhoods to find 20 others who have gone missing, the government of Rio Grande do Sul said in a press release. As of Friday night, Maquine, a municipality on the eastern coast, had received around a foot of rain, authorities said. We are rescuing people who are stranded, locating missing people and giving all the support to the families," he said.

Persons: Diego Vara, Eduardo Leite, Leite, Steven Grattan, Franklin Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Diego, Diego Vara SAO PAULO, Franklin Paul Our, Thomson Locations: Sao Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Caraa, Rio Grande

☆ Cargill enters dispute for Brazil soy crusher's assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In court documents seen by Reuters, Cargill expressed interest in bidding for the assets but sought clarification about the liabilities attached to the plants. Geraldo Gouveia Jr, Imcopa's attorney, told Reuters the bankruptcy judge has made no decision yet related to the request to suspend the court-supervised auction. Bunge, which has long sought to acquire Imcopa's assets, signed a contract to buy the Araucaria and Cambe plants in May 2020. Citing bankruptcy court filings, Imcopa's Gouveia Jr said Bunge has publicly reiterated interest in buying Imcopa's plants. The assets remain attractive because they produce high value soy byproducts for export and the domestic market.

Persons: Cargill, Bunge, Geraldo Gouveia Jr, Imcopa's Gouveia Jr, Ana Mano, David Evans Organizations: SAO PAULO, Reuters, Bunge, Imcopa, Thomson Locations: Parana, Paranagua, Brazil

☆ Neo-Nazi groups multiply in a more conservative Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Steven Grattan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Items seized from a neo-Nazi group who call themselves Crew 38 are displayed in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina state, Brazil April 24, 2023. "Santa Catarina is a land of WHITE PEOPLE, FOR WHITE PEOPLE," the anonymous sender wrote, signing off with the Nazi salute "SIEG HEIL." Researchers at Sao Paulo state's Unicamp university have tracked a more than 10-fold rise in the number of neo-Nazi cells in Brazil since 2015. SOUTHERN HATEThe problem of neo-Nazism is particularly acute in Santa Catarina, a state where many have German and Italian ancestry. The state has the largest proportion of white residents in Brazil, with 84% declaring as white in the last census.

Persons: Cristiano Estrela, Andrea Muller, Jair Bolsonaro's, Adolf Hitler, Bolsonaro, Flavio Dino, CONIB, Guilherme Franco de Andrade, Bolsonaro's, Arthur Lopes, Lopes, Luis Eduardo de Quadros, de Almeida, Steven Grattan, Gabriel Stargardter, Deepa Babington Organizations: Nazi, REUTERS, Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Federal Police, Nazism, Santa, Brazil's, Sao Paulo state's Unicamp, Federal University of Mato, Blacks, Haitian, Thomson Locations: Florianopolis, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Itajai, Santa Catarina, Haiti, Nazi, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Sul, U.S, United States, Europe

☆ Brazil poultry lobby sees little risk of nationwide export ban over bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Slideshow ( 4 images )Ricardo Santin, head of a group representing firms like JBS and BRF, told Reuters the agreements with trade partners should limit any export restrictions to smaller geographic regions. Still, the details of a 2004 bilateral sanitary protocol with China, Brazil’s top chicken buyer last year, could spell some pain for exporters. WOAH outlines best practices for “zoning” and compartmentalizing HPAI infection to specific areas at risk in order to ease nation-wide restrictions, allowing countries to continue to sell and export of poultry. The U.S., which competes with Brazil in poultry export markets, had HPAI outbreaks but continued to ship products. Still, total poultry meat exports rose 3% by volume and 14% by value, as revised trade agreements limited trade restrictions compared with a previous record U.S. bird flu outbreak in 2015.

Persons: Ricardo Santin, Santin, HPAI, WOAH Organizations: SAO PAULO, Reuters, World Organization for Animal Health Locations: China, Beijing, Brasilia, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, U.S

Companies would also have to pay content providers and copyrights on material posted on their sites. The Brazilian proposal is shaping up to be one of the world's strongest legislations on social media, comparable to the European Union's Digital Services Act enacted last year. They also say it will endanger free posting services for users while allowing censorship as practiced in authoritarian societies. Brazil's Justice Minister Flavio Dino has asked the consumer protection authority to investigate whether the companies engaged in "abusive practices" in campaigning against the bill. The bill was fast tracked in the lower house after a series of fatal attacks in schools which social media allegedly encouraged, and new articles added to the bill have not been debated in Congressional committees before going to the vote.

☆ Brazil could suspend social media sites over school violence content
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Brazil could fine or suspend social media companies that do not effectively regulate content related to school violence, Justice Minister Flavio Dino said on Wednesday. The new measures, set to be published through an ordinance on Wednesday, seek to curb threats of school violence in the country, which have soared after two separate attacks left five dead in recent weeks. The Supreme Court is currently discussing this law's scope and validity. In March, Meta Platforms (META.O) and Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) appeared before Brazil's Supreme Court to defend the law, while the government looks to expand regulation over social networks. Dino said Brazil's consumer secretariat will immediately start determining each company's responsibility in proactively regulating harmful content to students.

☆ Young victim of Brazil daycare center attack is buried
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Parents stands alongside the coffin, that contains the remains of their 5-year-old, Bernardo Cunha Machado, who was killed by a man inside a daycare center, during a wake at the Sao Jose cemetery, in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Vinicius BretzkeBLUMENAU, April 6 (Reuters) - Residents of Blumenau, a city in Southern Brazil, gathered on Thursday at a cemetery to attend the burial of one of the four children killed by a man armed with a small axe in a local daycare center. On Wednesday, a 25-year-old man scaled the wall of the daycare center, killed four children and wounded five others, before turning himself in. Police said three boys - two aged 4 and one aged 5 - and one girl aged 7 were killed. The attack came nearly a week after a 13-year-old student stabbed a teacher to death and wounded five others in a Sao Paulo school.

☆ At least four children killed in pre-school axe attack in southern Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A view shows forensic technicians, ambulances and policemen outside a pre-school after a 25-year-old man attacked children, killing several and injuring others, according to local police and hospital, in Blumenau, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, Brazil April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Denner OvidioApril 5 (Reuters) - At least four children were killed and four other injured when a 25-year-old man armed with a small axe attacked a pre-school in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina on Wednesday, local police and a hospital said. Police said the man responsible for the attack in the city of Blumenau has been arrested. The attack, dubbed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a "monstrosity," happened nearly a week after a 13-year-old student stabbed a teacher to death and wounded five others in a Sao Paulo school. Reporting by Fernando Cardoso in Sao Paulo, Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Steven GrattanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazilian fishermen follow instructions from wild dolphins to know where to throw their nets, video shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A video shows a rare example of wild dolphins collaborating with humans to fish in a small lagoon in Brazil. The dolphins learned how to tell the humans exactly when to throw their nets to catch the most fish. The fishers need the dolphins to know when to cast their netsFishermen toss these circular nets to catch the fish in the water. After the net is cast, the dolphins can catch stray fish or pick a few fish out of the net. The Laguna dolphins are about 13% more likely to reach old age, per the study.

☆ Russia’s war in Ukraine sparked a historic food crisis. It’s not over
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“All the major causes of the food crisis are still with us — conflict, Covid, climate change, high fuel prices,” Cary Fowler, the US special envoy for global food security, told CNN. But high food prices mean that funding can’t go as far, and Russia’s war continues to generate volatility. “The Ukraine crisis has had this ongoing negative impact on world food prices and [added] even more volatility,” said Abby Maxman, CEO of Oxfam America. Russia “is not assisting in alleviating the food crisis in slowing down the grain inspections,” Fowler said. Oxfam’s Maxman, who traveled there in September, said disruptions to food supplies were obvious in markets.

☆ Landslides cut off major Brazilian grains port, dozens missing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Roberto Samora | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Landslides after heavy rains in southern Brazil left dozens of people missing in Parana state and cut off access to a major port for grains and sugar shipments, authorities said on Wednesday. The BR-277 road to Paranagua and Antonina ports has been closed to vehicle traffic toward the coast since Tuesday. About 80% of goods exported at from Paranagua, Brazil's second-biggest port for grains and sugar, arrive by trucks, the port authority said, declining to estimate losses from the disruption. Rumo said goods are being delivered to the port and that it was monitoring the conditions of the tracks. The main products arriving by rail are sugar, soybeans and corn, according to the port authorities.

☆ Factbox: Some of the world's worst stampedes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

April 1998: One hundred and nineteen Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the haj in Saudi Arabia. Feb 2004: A stampede kills 251 Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia near Jamarat Bridge during the haj ritual stoning of the devil. Jan 2005: At least 265 Hindu pilgrims are killed in a crush near a remote temple in India's Maharashtra state. July 2010: A stampede kills 19 people and injures 342 when people push through a tunnel at the Love Parade techno music festival in Duisburg, Germany. Sept 2015: At least 717 Muslim pilgrims are killed and 863 injured in a crush at the haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Brazil’s potentially record-breaking soybean crop was 34% planted as of Monday, behind last year’s 38%, and progress slowed significantly in No. The southern state was 44% planted as of Monday, the date’s slowest pace in eight years and about 12 points below average. Soybean planting progress in Parana, BrazilBut Parana’s large second corn crop, planted right after soybean harvest, is certainly at risk if the soy season becomes delayed. The Center West state is among Brazil’s most stable soybean producers as it has not harvested a poor soy crop in seven seasons. A third straight season with La Nina, the cool phase of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, should keep analysts on guard as it tends to dry out Southern Brazil during its growing season.

☆ Cops on Brazil's campaign trail call for backup as violence spikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

They asked the top Federal Police officers in each state to reinforce Lula campaign events with bulletproof cars, tactical teams, drones and intelligence reports. Some of them have responded by stockpiling guns and lashing out at leftists during a tense campaign marred by high-profile cases of violence. Ten years of troubles have resulted in stark political polarization - embodied by Lula and Bolsonaro - that has become increasingly menacing on the campaign trail. BOLSONARO STRONGHOLDSThe Federal Police have also sought to open two other criminal probes over threats to Lula, according to the source. Lula has just 27% support in Santa Catarina, against 49% for Bolsonaro, according to the latest survey by pollster Ipec.

☆ Fact Check-Viral video does not show crocodiles ‘invading’ a beach in Brazil, contrary to claims online
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A video showing a riverbank full of caimans in the Pantanal region of Brazil has been misrepresented in viral social media posts, with users falsely claiming the clip shows crocodiles crowding a beach in the South American country, leading to panic among locals. Experts said the scene resembles caiman activity in the Pantanal region. More information about the climate conditions in the Pantanal region can be found (here) (here) (here). This clip does not show crocodiles “invading” a “beach” in Brazil. According to experts, the footage shows Yacare Caiman in the interior Pantanal region of Brazil, clustering near a river due to seasonal drought.

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