After a long and spectacular campaign, the world’s fourth-largest democracy will take one of two very different paths – but even in the very last stages of the campaign, it’s impossible to confidently…
The forest is home to animals, birds, plants, and tourist trains.
EPA
Brazil’s Atlantic forest – Mata Atlântica – is one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, rivalling even the Amazon. Running on and off for several thousand kilometres along the coast, the forest…
Xi Jinping’s tour through Latin American countries signals the time is right to reassess Chinese investment in Australia.
AAP/EPA/Cubadebate
Chinese President Xi Jinping has just returned from his second state visit to Latin America, having achieved what no other leader could. His dash through Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Cuba has breathed…
Swag bags and getaway cards are so 20th century.
Andrey_Popov
The number of physical robberies on banks has fallen dramatically in recent years, but the amount of money banks are losing through electronic methods has rocketed. In 2013 for example, the annual fraud…
The top news from this year’s BRICS summit was the announcement of a New Development Bank. Headquartered in Shanghai, the bank will become operational in 2016 with an initial capital of US$50 billion…
The enduring image of Brazil’s World Cup?
Marcus Brandt/EPA
The World Cup has come to an end and what a mixed bag it was for Brazil. Central to Brazil’s desire to host the World Cup was the opportunity to showcase their economic achievements to the world and enhance…
Germany: world champions for the fourth time.
EPA/Antonio Lacerda
No one can say the Germans did not deserve to win the 2014 World Cup: they remained unbeaten throughout, destroyed the hosts along the way, and then saw off those other historic guardians of South American…
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is over. It brought much joy, and huge disappointment for the hosts – perhaps even worse than the Maracanazo in 1950. Now attention in Brazil will turn to hosting the next…
The World Cup may be safe in German hands, but the legacy the tournament will leave in Brazil might be contested for some time.
EPA/Srdjan Suki
The losing World Cup teams and fans are licking their wounds, while newly crowned world champions Germany will celebrate for at least the next four years. However, the world has already started to ask…
A Brazilian PhD student in Canada as part of the Science without Borders programme.
Canadian Light Source
One of the reasons Brazil took its loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals so hard was because many Brazilians wrongly believe the rest of the world only looks up to them for their footballing skills…
Brazil’s cattle herd is the world’s second-biggest - and welfare standards are on the up.
Zeloneto/Wikimedia Commons
Monika Merkes, La Trobe University and Rob Buttrose, The University of Melbourne
While Brazil’s footballers have failed spectacularly to live up to expectations, there are other areas where the country is quietly exceeding them. Perhaps surprisingly, Brazil’s rapidly improving animal…
The shock, disappointment and shame felt in Brazil after their humiliating semi-final defeat to Germany has been apparent for all to see. In fact, the despair that the defeat caused both team and their…
Look to the future now, Brazil.
Thomas Eisenhuth/EPA
The extraordinary 7-1 defeat of Brazil by Germany in the World Cup semi-final is richly ironic. Many Brazilians had hoped that by hosting the World Cup in 2014, their country could finally exorcise the…
Since inception in 1960, Brasília has grown into a true metropolis of some 2.8 million people.
Xavier Donat
The media coverage of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup – in the UK at least – emphasises the familiar. The BBC has given the impression of a competition largely taking place in Rio de Janeiro. The city’s Avenida…
Brazil 1, Germany 7. Very few people would have thought such a result was possible, especially in a World Cup semi-final where both teams would be anxious to succeed. Both teams had been on a journey of…
It is entirely predictable that the famous Audi advertisement and its tagline, “Vorsprung durch Technik”, came to mind while watching Germany’s epic World Cup victory over Brazil. In fact, using this tagline…
The food company sponsorship of the World Cup, including from soft drink giant Coca-Cola, is arguably a direct attack on efforts to improve child health in Latin America.
EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo
On Saturday night, just hours before the latest quarter-finals of the World Cup, viewers watching SBS World News were exposed to over two and a half minutes of marketing for Coca-Cola. And that’s not even…
It was a fearsome blow. It was the first World Cup after World War II, on home soil, and the country was desperate for international recognition. Brazil reached the final, only to lose 2-1 in a shock defeat…
The decision to host the World Cup caused significant conflict among Brazilians. This issue was, of course, not about the football itself, but over the arrangements that are necessary to host such a huge…
Samba’s origins lie in the dances and religious practices of the West African slaves.
EPA/ Marcelo Sayao
All eyes are on Brazil and its vibrant culture, with the FIFA World Cup now into its third week and Rio de Janeiro set to host the 2016 Olympic Games. But while football is arguably Brazil’s most popular…