Michael GoldfarbDecember 23, 2011 12:30

In Europe, migration history repeats itself

Back in the days of empire have-nots used to head out to the colonies. Guess what? They are doing it again. Although the colonies are now independent, prosperous nations

Enlarge

If you were a young unemployed Portuguese person moving to Rio in the former colony of Brazil must seem like a no-brainer (ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images)

Back in the days of empire have nots used to head out to the colonies. Guess what? They are doing it again - although the colonies are now prosperous, independent nations

Sarah ChildressAugust 23, 2011 12:52

Google maps the Amazon

The famous forest will soon appear on Google's Street View.

Enlarge

Google cameras see trees of green: the Amazon rainforest. (Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images)

In its quest to map the entire planet, Google has started in on the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

Google started its Street View in Brazil last year. But until recently, it’s just been focused on the country’s bustling cities and towns.

Now, it plans to send its street-view cameras on tricycles down dirt trails, and even mount them on boats to capture on-the-ground pictures.

Google also will rely on the aid of local people to add details that only they would know, such as well-traveled paths or far-flung villages. The tech giant plans to work with Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, a non-profit organization backed by the Brazilian government that works to conserve the forest and improve the livelihood of communities who live there.

Sarah ChildressAugust 19, 2011 12:24

Boeing courts Brazil

The aviation giant sweetens its bid to sell fighter jets to Brazil

Enlarge

Brazil's next fighter jet? Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet (Pierre Verdy/AFP/Getty Images)

Most of the world’s economies may be in freefall, but Brazil’s still going strong.

Any doubts about this regional giant’s economic clout should be put to rest after this report about its bid to buy military aircraft.

Brazil has been shopping around for fighter planes to bolster its military prowess. Its budget? $5 billion.

That got some attention from Sweden, France and U.S.’s Boeing Co., which expects Latin American air traffic to grow at accelerated rates over the next 20 years. And Brazil, as the regional powerhouse and by far the largest economy, will want increasingly to assert its dominance.

The bid is so important to the U.S. that President Barack Obama has even stepped in, personally lobbying his counterpart in Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff, to help sway the deal.