Brazil: The Future's Country

(Newser) - A Brazilian rancher facing charges in the death of a 73-year-old American nun has been arrested again for fraud and slavery in the same Amazon region where the nun was shot three years ago, reports CNN. Evidence supporting the latest charges will be used at his murder trial. Four others have already been convicted of killing Sister Dorothy Stang, who fought for peasants' property rights. New action in the case follows release of acclaimed film They Killed Sister Dorothy. More »

(Newser) - Brazilians have mixed feelings about recently adopted drunken-driving laws that threaten to undermine their carnival lifestyle. The 0.02% alcohol limit—much stricter than America’s 0.08%—aims to curb the 35,000 deaths that occur on Brazil’s roads annually. But with just 900 breathalyzers for a nation of 200 million, police have had more than a few hiccups in getting the debauchery under control, the Washington Post reports. More »

(Newser) - The wayward penguins marooned on Brazil's beaches got a one-way ticket home over the weekend, but ferrying hundreds of birds 2,000 miles is no simple feat, explains Nina Shen Rastogi in Slate. After being fed and tagged, 399 Magellanic penguins were crated and loaded aboard an Air Force plane for a journey to southern Atlantic waters, with military personnel, veterinarians, and biologists in tow. More »

(Newser) - Every year a few Magellanic penguins, native to southern Argentina, accidentally make the 2,000-mile trip to the beaches of Brazil. But this year the influx is looking less like a wayward few and more like an invasion, with sunny beaches overrun by more than 1,000 exhausted and starved birds. Many Brazilians have leapt to their rescue, reports the Washington Post. More »