Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner has become the first human to break the sound barrier by a freefall jump from the edge of space. Baumgartner, 43, leaped off a capsule more than 39 kilometers above the earth with his speed reaching 834 miles (about 1,342 kilometers) per hour, or 1.24 times the speed of sound, on Sunday. He jumped from an altitude of 39,045 meters and landed in the New Mexico desert... 

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff delivers a speech to the Summit of South American and Arab Countries (ASPA), in Lima, on October 2, 2012. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has once again voiced opposition to any military attack on Iran’s nuclear energy facilities, warning it would have serious repercussions for the region. “Such a move could have dire consequences for the region and beyond,”... 

The United States might officially be the worst neighbor on Earth: the US now owes its allies $5.2923 trillion, the most money the country has ever been indebted to its foreign friends in the history of the nation. Statistics released this week by the US Treasury indicate that, as of June 2012, the United States has borrowed bucks from most of the world’s major countries and has accumulated a debt... 

Botched escape: A dog stuck in a fence in Tamaulipas, Mexico Scantily-clad prostitutes touting for trade in Amsterdam are among the unusual scenes to feature in a new art exhibition. They were captured going about their daily business by one of Google’s international army of Street View cars. Artist Jon Rafman, from Montreal, Canada, spent hours at a time on the website searching for oddball... 

Brazil’s Yanomami indigenous tribe has been complaining of land encroachments by illegal gold miners in the remote rainforest reserve along the Venezuela border. Brazilian police have arrested at least 26 people in a major operation against illegal gold miners in an Amazon reserve near the border with Venezuela. The operation was carried out in the Yanomami indigenous reserve, where illegal gold... 

Ousted Paraguay President Fernando Lugo South American foreign ministers have suspended Paraguay from the regional trade bloc, Mercosur, over last week’s ouster of former President Fernando Lugo. However, the bloc stopped short of imposing economic sanctions on Paraguay, which is one of the four founding members of the Mercosur bloc, along with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Paraguay was banned from... 

Five million Brazilian farmers are locked in a lawsuit with US-based biotech giant Monsanto, suing for as much as 6.2 billion euros. They say that the genetic-engineering company has been collecting royalties on crops it unfairly claims as its own. The farmers claim that Monsanto unfairly collects exorbitant profits every year worldwide on royalties from “renewal” seed harvests. “Renewal”... 

As I write this piece, many things are happening around us, some visible and some aren’t. A bit of a blast from the past took place recently when Vladimir Putin refused to attend the G-8 summit at Camp David and instead sent his buddy and right hand man, Dmitry Medvedev, to oversee Russia’s role. It was kind of reminder of the cold-war era, yes, ‘Russia is strong and getting stronger... 

A grim Ministry of Finance report circulating in the Kremlin today states that the shocking record rise this past week of the United States outstanding debt to $15.692 trillion (just $600 billion short of their debt ceiling) has pushed the world’s most powerful economy into a situation of its outstanding obligations now being 101.5% of its entire gross domestic product (GDP), which when coupled... 

A former Brazilian club employee plans to file a lawsuit against the US embassy in Brasilia and five of its personnel for injuries she sustained from the US authorities late last year. Romilda Aparecida Ferreira says she was run over on December 29, 2011 by an American embassy driver, who was dispatched to the club to pick up three US marines and one civilian staffer. Little was noticed about the... 

After the president of Brazil Dilma Rousseff accused the United States of the organization of “money tsunami” and “reckless” expansionary monetary policy, leading to currency wars and devastation of the national industry, she arrived in Washington with a return official visit. After these statements the Western media tried to present her visit as a mere formality, without any... 

Three Brazilian cannibals cooked their victims and turned them into pastries in a real-life version of the Sweeney Todd, police revealed today. Karate expert Jorge Beltrao Negromonte, his wife Isabel Pires, 51, and his mistress Bruna da Silva, 25, lured the women to their house with the promise of work as a nanny. The sick trio then killed their victims and used the flesh to make stuffed pastries... 

US President Barack Obama (R) and Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff speak after a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House April 9, 2012 in Washington, DC. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has criticized the United States for its expansionary monetary policies, saying they are hindering the progress of developing countries. Speaking on Monday after meeting with US President Barack Obama... 

A metal object of unknown origin fell down on Earth in the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The unusual event caused panic among the local population. The ball-shaped, 30-50 kilograms object about one meter in diameter was found on Feb. 22. In December 2011, a similar incident happened in Namibia, where a metal “Teletubby head” weighing 5.9 kilograms and measuring 35 centimeters in diameter hit the... 

A plane being unloaded at Rafiq Hariri International Airport in the Lebanese capital city, Beirut. Lebanon’s security officials say a suspicious cargo containing huge amounts of US dollars, guns, special passports and credit cards have been seized upon arrival in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, from the US and Brazil. The items, packed in a number of chests and delivered via airmail, were discovered...