The Iguassu Falls Area Guru

Vanda Felbab-Brown   Over the coming decades, as more and more people move into urban centers, the world’s major cities will increasingly play a key role in the 21st century distribution of global power. More than ever, writes Vanda Felbab-Brown, governing capacity and legitimacy will be shaped by how states manage public security, suppress crime, and deliver stability and prosperity for millions of inhabitants.  Good reading

Carla Daniele with 6-month-old son Victor in Foz do Iguaçu Carnival in Brazil and everywhere else ended two weeks ago. And what I've got to say I will say it right now because otherwise time will make this thought incredibly old. I want to scream Thank you Brazil for not having canceled carnival 2016 because of the Zica Virus threat and explosion. Thank you World, because so many beautiful, brave people came in a time when all kinds of voices said that coming to Brazil would be dangerous. People came from Italy, from Portugal from the USA, from Canada, from Japan, Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, France, the UK from all over.Thank you, Gracias, Grazie.

Alex Ferro Photo of students holding cards with relay host cities The Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay will begin on 3 May, but a taste of the colour and excitement that it will spread around Brazil was experienced in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday (24 February). In a celebratory event held alongside the Rio 2016 headquarters, the full relay route, the first torchbearers and the uniform they will wear were revealed to the sound of forró music accompanied by dancers on stilts. Children weaved among the dancers, proudly holding aloft the names of all 329 towns and cities that will host the relay which will visit all five regions of Brazil between 3 May and  5 August, reaching 90 per cent of the population. Despite a hot summer sun that produced 40-degree heat, it was an energetic and multicultural celebration, as the relay and the Games themselves are expected to be. Rio 2016 Olympic mascot Vinicius was the first to model the torchbearers uniform, showing off his samba skills

The lady in the photograph grew up beleiving that she was part of Germany's Royalty and that she was Countess Nora Daisy von Kirschberg. She was never able to question why a Countess had to live a life in utter poverty, most of this time in Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) where she shared a shack with dogs, cats, garbage, lice, mice? She had arived to Foz do Iguaçu back in the early 70s with mother Countess Nora von Kirschberg who had once been married to a Count and Former Military called Kurt Bruno von Kirschberg. The family had to escape Germany with the Nazis on their heels.

Iguassu Falls Night Sky Fans of NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day might have noticed Friday’s installment: a stunning shot of the southern sky over Iguaçu Falls, as seen from deep in the Brazilian side of the national park surrounding the falls. But really, you have to see it on a much more cosmic scale … I was lucky enough to get in touch with the astrophotograher who snapped the shot, Babak Tafreshi , a photographer, science journalist, astronomy communicator, and award-winning creator of The World at Night (TWAN) project. By Victoria Jaggard posted in 2010.  See photo check text  HERE