Turkey: 2 Brazilians killed in balloon crash
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A hot air balloon collided with another balloon mid-air during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock formations in Turkey and crashed to the ground on Monday, killing two Brazilian tourists and injuring 23 other people on … Read Full Story
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Lawmakers write letter to Kerry appealing to maintain visa services in Ponta Delgada
WASHINGTON — Three U.S. congressmen are appealing to Secretary of State John Kerry to maintain U.S. visa services at the United States Consulate in Ponta Delgada, Azores.
Co-Chairmen of the Portuguese American Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives David … Read Full Story
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Brazil seeks help to curb immigration of Haitians
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil has asked six South American and Caribbean nations to help it combat human trafficking rings said to be responsible for the influx of Haitian immigrants into Latin America’s biggest country.
The request was made during
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Portugal pays lower interest rates in debt auction
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal has collected 1.75 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in a debt auction, with a sharp drop in interest rates providing further evidence that market confidence in the bailed-out country is returning.
Investors stopped buying Portugal’s debt
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Unlikely tourist ride: Rio shantytown cable car
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Tiana Martins stepped gingerly into the red cable-car gondola, giggling from nerves as the doors slid shut, the ground dropped precipitously beneath her feet and she sailed off over the conglomerate of bare-brick shacks that … Read Full Story
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Pension reform seen as crucial for ailing Portugal
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A leading international economic body says Portugal must push ahead with changes to pension entitlements, even though the planned reforms are threatening to tear apart the coalition government and will likely trigger a spate of legal … Read Full Story
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Remember Iraq?
The Syrian conflict has been of great concern to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and other lawmakers since the war began almost two years ago. They have been urging President Obama to establish a … Read Full Story
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Expert: Rhino population wiped out in Mozambique
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Mozambique’s rhinoceros population was wiped out more than a century ago by big game hunters. Reconstituted several years ago, the beasts again are on the brink of vanishing from the country by poachers seeking their horns for … Read Full Story
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AU could lift sanctions against Guinea-Bissau
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — The African Union says it could lift sanctions against Guinea-Bissau as the country’s leader promises elections later this year.
The West African country long destabilized by rebellions suffered its latest coup in April 2012.
Guinea-Bissau’s interim
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Brazil’s replacement to vuvuzela used in protest
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s replacement to the vuvuzela is already giving World Cup organizers a headache.
It wasn’t the sound of the caxirola — a maraca-like instrument not nearly as noisy as the South African vuvuzela — that attracted
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Leftist priests: Francis can fix church ‘in ruins’
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A new pope from Latin America known for ministering to the poor in his country’s slums is raising the hopes of advocates of liberation theology, whose leftist social activism had alarmed previous pontiffs.
Prominent liberation
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Scolari says Brazil deserves jeers from fans
SAO PAULO (AP) — Luiz Felipe Scolari abruptly got up and left the news conference after a question that followed Brazil’s disappointing 2-2 home draw with Chile: Will you consider resigning if Brazil doesn’t do well in the Confederations Cup?… Read Full Story
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Portugal celebrates revolution, attacks austerity
LISBON, PORTUGAL (AP) — Tens of thousands of Portuguese are marching through towns and cities in annual commemorations of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, which ousted a four-decade dictatorship and installed democracy.
In recent years the commemorations have targeted unpopular austerity
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Guinea-Bissau convicts soldier for coup attempt
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — A military tribunal in Guinea-Bissau has convicted an army captain of leading a failed coup last year.
Pansau Ntchama was sentenced on Thursday to serve five years in prison after being found guilty of treason and
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Brazil police investigate ex-president’s assistant
SAO PAULO (AP) — Local news media says that Brazil’s federal police will request access to the bank accounts of one of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s personal assistants as they investigate allegations that Silva was involved in … Read Full Story
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Hollywood yielding to China’s growing film clout
Coming soon to a theater near you: China’s Communist Party.
From demanding changes in plot lines that denigrate the Chinese leadership, to dampening lurid depictions of sex and violence, Beijing is having increasing success in pressuring Hollywood into deleting movie
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Switzerland to restrict Western Europe immigration
GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss government said Wednesday it plans to restrict immigration from Western European countries starting next month, citing constant growth in the number of people coming to work in the prosperous non-European Union country.
Under a “safeguard
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European recession hits major car makers
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s stubborn recession cut deeply into profits at major automakers Ford, Volkswagen and Daimler, first-quarter results showed Wednesday as the industry began reporting earnings.
Germany’s Volkswagen AG said its first-quarter net profit fell 38 percent to
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