Few of the country’s previous World Cup winners traveled to pay homage to the football legend
Some of Brazil’s best-known footballers have faced a furious backlash as fans and pundits questioned why they had failed to attend ceremonies bidding farewell to Pelé.
Hundreds of thousands of people waited for hours under a burning sun on Monday to file past the recently deceased soccer legend’s coffin at Santos’ Vila Belmiro ground.
Continue reading...Statement contradicts president’s announcement of six-month truce between country’s five largest armed groups
Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla group has contradicted government claims that they had agreed a national ceasefire, in a setback to plans to bring peace to the Andean nation after decades of violence.
President Gustavo Petro had announced on New Year’s Eve that the country’s five largest armed groups had agreed to a six-month truce, but on Tuesday the National Liberation Army (ELN) rejected the claims, saying it had not been consulted on any such plan.
Continue reading...Coffin of Brazilian footballer, who died aged 82, taken to cemetery near stadium where he began career
The Brazilian footballer Pelé has been buried in the port city where he began his career nearly 70 years ago, with the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, flying in to lament the “irreparable loss”.
Pelé, who died last week age 82, scored most of his 1,283 goals for Santos football club and it was at a cemetery near the team’s Vila Belmiro stadium where he was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon after an emotional three-hour procession through town.
Continue reading...Republican is accused of using stolen checkbook and fake name at shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008
As the fabulist New York Republican representative-elect George Santos prepares to be sworn in on Tuesday, Brazilian prosecutors say they are reopening a criminal fraud case against him.
Santos, who faces federal and state investigations involving possible criminal activity related to his two congressional campaigns, is accused of using a stolen checkbook and fake name at a clothing shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008, the New York Times reported on Monday citing court documents.
Continue reading...Spain’s poor western region is welcoming back heirs of those who once left it – especially from troubled Argentina
Galicia has long been one of Spain’s poorest regions and since the mid-19th century Galicians have emigrated in their tens of thousands to seek a brighter future in the Americas. But now they’re coming back.
The Galician regional government says that returnees – the majority are Argentinians – are settling in the area at a rate of three a day. After more than 150 years of steady depopulation, in 2019 more people arrived than left, while, for the first time in its history, the reverse was true for Argentina.
Continue reading...Family and friends stand over open coffin in Santos, as Fifa president asks countries to name stadiums after football legend
Thousands of mourners braved punishing heat to pay their final tribute to footballing legend Pelé on Monday as the president of Fifa said he would ask every member country to name a stadium after the recently deceased Brazilian player.
Fans lined up outside the 106-year-old Vila Belmiro ground in Santos – the city in south-eastern Brazil where Pelé first made his name as a star goal scorer in the 1950s – overnight and at about 10am mourners began filing past the coffin that had been placed under a shaded tent in the middle of the field.
Continue reading...Leftwinger promises environmental protections and social progress as he’s sworn in as president
A tearful Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to haul Brazil out of Jair Bolsonaro’s era of “devastation” and kickstart a new phase of reconciliation, environmental preservation and social justice after being sworn in as president.
Fighting back tears as he addressed tens of thousands of supporters who had packed the plaza outside the presidential palace in Brasília, Lula declared the end of “one of the worst periods in Brazilian history” under the former far-right president.
Continue reading...The return of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has led to an outpouring of optimism in the South American country – and relief at the downfall of Jair Bolsonaro
They are billing it as Lulapalooza – a momentous explosion of Brazilian politics and dance – and Mayse Freitas wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“I think it’s going to be the greatest show on earth … It’ll be the happiest day of my life,” said the social activist from the Complexo do Alemão, one of Rio’s largest favelas, as she geared up for the festivities.
Continue reading...Remains discovered wrapped in aluminium foil at Queretaro airport while being sent to South Carolina
Four human skulls were discovered inside a package at a Mexican airport that was due to be sent by courier to the United States, local authorities say.
The skulls were found wrapped in aluminium foil inside a cardboard box at Queretaro intercontinental airport in central Mexico, the national guard said on Friday.
Continue reading...Huge crowds expected for funeral of footballing great as well as the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Brazil has been gearing up for one of the most monumental new years in its history as the South America nation prepared to both welcome a new president and say goodbye to one of its most famous sons.
Huge crowds are expected in Brasilia on 1 January to see Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva inaugurated for a four-year term, while a day later football fans will gather in Santos to bid farewell to Pelé, the football legend who died on Thursday.
Continue reading...Strike announced in Santa Cruz on Friday as Luis Fernando Camacho detained on ‘terrorism’ charge
Outside the office of the Civic Committee of Santa Cruz, a powerful umbrella organisation in Bolivia’s biggest and richest region, hundreds of people – some in Dior sunglasses, others with makeshift riot shields – were screaming for immediate action after the arrest of Luis Fernando Camacho, the region’s governor and a prominent leader of the national opposition.
After hours of deliberations, the committee announced a 24-hour civic strike on Friday, demanding Camacho’s release – with the implied threat of an indefinite strike that could cripple business and trade.
Continue reading...Authority says it is holding digital assets until they can be returned to creditors and former customers
The Bahamas securities regulator has said it has seized assets worth $3.5bn (£2.9bn) from the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX and plans to return them to creditors and former customers.
The Securities Commission of the Bahamas said it had transferred all digital assets under the custody or control of FTX Digital Markets, a Bahamas subsidiary of the FTX operation, to its own digital wallets for “safekeeping”.
Continue reading...Storms followed months of heavy rain on the North Island, while temperatures in France and Spain rose to almost 20C
Over the Christmas period, the upper North Island of New Zealand experienced stormy conditions, grounding flights and flooding roads. Thunderstorms broke out on 22 December, leading to heavy rainfall and an incredible 4,500 lightning strikes in just two hours. Unfortunately, one of these lightning strikes set a property alight in the town of Waitōtara in the south of the island. Although no injuries were reported, the property and surrounding farmlands were mostly destroyed. Furthermore, a small tornado was spotted in the Southland region of the South Island, though thankfully, no damage was caused.
Although there were long sunny spells on Christmas Day, thunderstorms arose once more on Boxing Day. Between 2pm and 7pm local time, about 25-40mm fell over the upper North Island, although one rain gauge in the Auckland suburb of Ōtāhuhu recorded 50mm in just one hour. Parts of the motorway close to Mount Wellington were consequently closed, and several flights grounded. This excessive rainfall comes after several months of above average precipitation for the area, which exacerbated the risk of ground flooding and landslides.
Continue reading...The Brazilian star makes the front pages of newspapers around the world on Friday, as they mourn a legend of the game
The death of Brazilian footballing virtuoso Pelé, at the age of 82, makes headlines in newspapers all over the world on Friday.
The Guardian carries an image of the star sat upon the shoulders of his teammates and fans after Brazil’s victory in the 1970 World Cup final in Mexico City.
Continue reading...A retired businessman recalls the time when, in 1958, the then-17-year-old World Cup footballer practised at his school
Renato Carvalho was 11 years old when he met Pelé for the first and only time.
It was 1958 and he was a schoolboy in a small city called Poços de Caldas. To the amazement of him and his friends, the Brazilian team were preparing for the World Cup on his school pitch.
Continue reading...Pelé, the Brazilian virtuoso whose captivating skill and athleticism ensured he was universally regarded as one of football’s greatest players, has died at the age of 82.
Pelé, who had a colon tumour removed in 2021, was readmitted to Albert Einstein hospital in São Paulo in November amid deteriorating health. A hospital statement on Thursday confirmed the death of “our dear King of Football” at 3.27pm local time, “due to the failure of multiple organs, a result of the progression of cancer of colon associated with his previous clinical condition.”
Continue reading...Ministry for Indigenous peoples is created but new government faces huge challenges from Bolsonaro era
Two internationally celebrated Amazon defenders, Marina Silva and Sônia Guajajara, have been named as ministers in Brazil’s new government in an attempt to contain the intensifying assault on Indigenous territories and the environment.
The announcement was made by incoming president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will take office on Sunday after the country’s four years of rainforest-wrecking under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Continue reading...These days the Canadian singer, 75, is as likely to be belting out protest songs as performing whimsical tunes
With 13 albums, more than 12m sales in North America and a devoted following, he’s been called the most popular children’s singer in the English-speaking world, a title that has spanned generations. But pivoting from hits such as Bananaphone and Baby Beluga, the Canadian singer Raffi Cavoukian has since followed in the footsteps of his folk music heroes, dedicating much of his later career to advocating on children, social justice and the climate crisis.
“Nobody can guarantee a future, but who has the right to steal our children’s future?” the 75-year-old, who performs as Raffi, said in an interview. “The stakes are very high right now. People ask me if I’m hopeful. But I heard recently that hope is a verb. So I’m active.”
Continue reading...Santa Cruz governor and former presidential candidate flown to La Paz after what his supporters called a ‘kidnapping’
Bolivian police have detained prominent opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho on charges of “terrorism” in a move that significantly escalates tensions between the national government and Camacho’s Santa Cruz base.
Bolivia’s state attorney’s office confirmed the detention on Wednesday of 43-year-old Camacho, the governor of Santa Cruz who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020.
Continue reading...Castillo is appealing against his detention earlier in December over an attempt to illegally dissolve Congress
The former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, who is being held in pretrial detention after attempting to illegally dissolve Congress, said he was a victim of “political revenge” by his adversaries.
Castillo, speaking at a hearing on Wednesday to appeal against the detention, said he had not committed the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy for which he is under investigation.
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