Daily Headlines: June 18, 2015

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla admitted that he considered seeking Congressional approval to declare bankruptcy for Puerto Rico but instead decided that it “would have been less than impossible to obtain approval for such a measure.”

* South America: Colombia men’s national soccer team broke a 24-year-long winless streak against Brazil, while the female sides from both countries made it through to the Round of 16 at the Women’s World Cup.

* Cuba: Twitter execs are planning to expand service to Cuba despite the poor communications infrastructure on the island.

* Vatican: Pope Francis urged developed countries to take stronger actions against climate change, advocated phasing out fossil fuel usage and rejected population control as a tool to protect the environment.

YouTube Source – Monocle Magazine

Online Sources – Goal.com, Politico, BBC Sport, The Guardian, Fox News Latino

Brazilian Women’s Soccer Chief Focused on Looks, Not Talent

Brazil is one of the favorites to win the Women’s World Cup (WWC) currently taking place, and the team has excelled to a perfect two wins in two matches in group play. Yet for Brazil’s top women’s soccer official, Marco Aurelio Cunha, the talent on the field doesn’t matter as long as the players look pretty for the spectators.

 “Now the women are getting more beautiful, putting on make-up. They go in the field in an elegant manner,” Cunha said in a June 14th article from Canada’s The Globe and Mail. “Women’s football used to copy men’s football. Even the jersey model, it was more masculine. We used to dress the girls as boys. So the team lacked a spirit of elegance, femininity. Now the shorts are a bit shorter, the hairstyles are more done up. It’s not a woman dressed as a man.”

Cunha later claimed his comments were taken out of context and were not meant to sound chauvinist.

His remarks appeared as part of a news piece calling attention to how women’s soccer has been largely ignored in Brazil. Sadly this has been the case in the case of most Latin American nations whose women’s teams are participating at this year’s WWC.

Take the case of Colombia, which shocked France last Saturday in one of the biggest upsets in WWC history but is the only South American country without a female national soccer league.  Ecuadoran columnist Alejandro Ribadeneira, meanwhile, bemoaned the local press for generally ignoring the women’s national team despite La Tri qualifying to the tournament for the first time.

Rather than emphasizing appearances, national soccer federation leaders like Cunha perhaps should reflect inward and provide greater support to promoting and nurturing players. Last month Mexican soccer officials announced the launch of two new ladies youth competitions that will begin playing in September.

“The CBF (Brazilian soccer federation) doesn’t give a damn,” said Fernando Ferreira, the head of Brazil’s leading sports-development consultancy firm. The CBF has recently announced a $15 million investment in the women’s game yet Helena Pacheco, the former coach of Brazilian soccer star Marta, noted that the federation and affiliated soccer clubs must do more:

Weekend World Watch: Japan’s Cinderella story

* Japan: In one of the biggest upsets in women’s soccer history a plucky and determined Japanese squad beat the U.S. to capture the Women’s World Cup.

* Britain: The media phone hacking scandal has claimed the scalps of Scotland Yard police chief Sir Paul Stephenson and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

* Egypt: Ex-president Hosni Mubarak is believed to be in stable medical condition and not in a coma as was originally rumored.

* U.S.: The Chinese government is upset that U.S. President Barack Obama held private talks at the White House with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Image – Mike Hewitt/Fifa via Getty Images via The Guardian (“Japan players celebrate winning the women's World Cup after beating USA on penalties in the final.”)
Online Sources- USA TODAY, The Guardian, BBC News, The Independent

Daily Headlines: July 11, 2011

* Argentina: Singer and songwriter Facundo Cabral may not have been the target of an ambush that killed him in Guatemala on Saturday but that hasn’t stopped the immense mourning throughout the Americas.

* Latin America: Mexico won its second U-17 men’s soccer title in six years with a 2-0 victory over Uruguay while the U.S. eliminated Brazil from the Women’s World Cup in a thrilling quarterfinal match.

* Venezuela: Ailing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is doing “very well, very well” according to his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales.

* Costa Rica: The Central American country could emulate states like Uruguay and enact tough anti-smoking laws.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube (Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral was tragically gunned down over the weekend while visiting Guatemala).
Online Sources- LAHT, CBC, USA TODAY, MSNBC, insidecostarica.com

Daily Headlines: July 4, 2011

* Brazil: A pair of goals by Marta helped Brazil qualify to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup while the men began the Copa America with a tepid 0-0 tie against Venezuela.

* Venezuela: “Libertarian socialist” Noam Chomsky, who had one of his books become an overnight bestseller after it was publicly praised by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, blasted him for his “assault on democracy.”

* Puerto Rico: The commonwealth’s police chief resigned on Saturday after facing mounting criticism over a high crime rate.

* Chile: Fourteen of the 33 miners rescued in an operation that captured global attention last year are seeking early pension benefits.

Image – Jens Meyer/Associated Press via CBC Sports (“Marta, second from left, scored two goals and set up another by teammate Rosana, far left, in Brazil's 3-0 win over Norway on Sunday.”)
Online Sources- The Guardian, AFP, Boston.com, LAHT

Daily Headlines: June 30, 2011

* Brazil: A neat individual effort from Rosana in the 54th minute was enough for Brazil to win 1-0 over Australia in their opening women's World Cup match.

* South America: Ecuador extradited to Colombia an alleged FARC guerilla leader who is linked to Sinaloa’s drug gang.

* Haiti: A scientific study "strongly suggests" that U.N. peacekeepers spread a deadly cholera strain that has killed thousands of Haitians.

* Honduras: The Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras was placed back on the UNESCO list of endangered world heritage sites.

Image – Getty Images via BBC News (“Brazil's Rosana celebrates her goal for the runners-up of the last World Cup.”)
Online Sources- UPI, Goal.com, Xinhua, MSNBC

Today’s Video: “Tri”-mendous goals!

It’s a good time to be a fan of Mexico’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams.

Three weeks ago the men's squad faced an uncomfortable situation when five players were removed from the Gold Cup team after testing positive for a banned substance. El Tri were still able to overcome adversity throughout the tournament, culminating in their defense of the Gold Cup title. Mexico’s young stars shined in an emphatic 4-2 victory on Sunday over their bitter rivals, the U.S. Despite falling behind 2-0 early in the match Mexico retained their composure and Pablo Barrera and Andres Guardado tied the match up just before halftime. The second half was all Mexico with this golazo by Giovanni dos Santos serving as an exclamation mark for El Tri:

Sadly the team’s off-field troubles continued less than 48 hours after their Gold Cup victory. According to the Mexican soccer federation eight players were removed from the squad heading to Argentina for the Copa America after allegedly partying with prostitutes in a Quito, Ecuador hotel.

In the meantime, the ladies started out their participation in the Women’s World Cup on the right foot. Much like their male compatriots, the Mexican women fell behind early in their first group match to England yesterday. But in a moment of inspiration Monica Ocampo launched a 40-yard rocket that allowed Mexico to equalize in a match that ended tied 1-1:

Video Source - YouTube
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, El Universal, Boston.com