Word: braziller
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...case has caused a furor. Abortion is illegal in Brazil except in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger, both of which apply in this case. (The girl's immature hips would have made labor dangerous; the Catholic opinion was that she could have had a cesarean section.) When the incident came to light in local newspapers, the Church first asked a judge to halt the process and then condemned those involved, including the 9-year-old's distraught mother. Even Catholic Brazilians were shocked at the harshness of the archbishop's actions. "In this...
...downturn has slowed growth, but it has not stopped it. To make Brazil even more business-friendly, the government is spending $263 billion on tax breaks and infrastructure. Like Lula's social projects, the Growth Acceleration Program, which began in 2007, was funded largely by high commodity prices, most of which have now plummeted. But Brazil seems to have invested the windfall smartly. Exports have been diversified so as to reduce reliance on commodities, and before the downturn the nation socked away a record $208 billion in foreign reserves. The banking system has remained well regulated, and so far seems...
...Latin leaders, Lula wants Obama to lift the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. And he is keen (he may be disappointed) to see the U.S. throw its weight behind a last effort to save the Doha round of world trade talks, which could offer farm-export nations such as Brazil new opportunities...
...confidence that Brazil is showing abroad, there's a lot to fix at home. Aside from corruption, Brazil's public bureaucracy is one of the world's most wasteful. Education, despite increased funding and access, is an embarrassment: students consistently score near the bottom of international math, science and reading tests. Exorbitant taxes and violent crime scare off foreign investors, and in the Amazon, deforestation remains a problem...
...like the brawny, business-minded megalopolis he has made his home, has set a sturdy example. São Paulo's vast, stalagmite horizon of skyscrapers can't match the glamour of Rio de Janeiro, but the city of 20 million people is a truer and smarter reflection of Brazil's bandeirante (pioneer) character. This year, work will start on the hemisphere's first bullet train, which will eventually link the two cities. High-speed rail won't mask all Brazil's flaws. But it does show, perhaps, that the country of tomorrow has a brighter future...