March 14th, 2013
01:46 AM ET
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Plan to embalm Chavez body may have a snag

The plan to embalm the body of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may have hit a snag.

Scientists in a preliminary assessment have determined that the process might be "quite difficult," acting president Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday

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Filed under: Venezuela • World
France: We won't negotiate with kidnappers
Cameroonian security officials stand at the vehicle a French family was driving before being kidnapped.
February 26th, 2013
05:20 AM ET
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France: We won't negotiate with kidnappers

France will not negotiate with the Islamist rebels who kidnapped a French family in Cameroon, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.

"We do not negotiate on these bases, with those groups," Le Drian said on French radio station RTL. "We will use all possible means to secure the release of hostages."

The radio announcement comes a day after rebels in Nigeria released a chilling video of the family that was abducted in neighboring Cameroon.

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Filed under: Cameroon • France
January 29th, 2013
03:52 AM ET
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Funerals, tears, cries for justice after Brazil club fire

Souls rose to heaven symbolically Monday night, when marchers in this southern Brazilian town remembered those who perished in a nightclub inferno during a packed concert.

The mourners, wearing white, released 231 white helium balloons into the sky - one for each life lost.

They hope there won't be more.

Eighty three more victims lie hospitalized - 75 of whom could forfeit their lives to the severe burns and smoke inhalation they suffered when the Kiss nightclub went up in flames Sunday, authorities said.

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Filed under: Accidents • Brazil • Protest • Stampede • Uncategorized • World • World Update
Chavez is making decisions for Venezuela, minister says
January 22nd, 2013
10:36 AM ET
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Chavez is making decisions for Venezuela, minister says

[Updated at 10:36 p.m. ET] More news on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: He's undergoing physical therapy ahead of a return home from Cuba, Bolivian President Evo Morales said during his state of the union speech Tuesday.

[Initial post, 5:35 a.m. ET] Hugo Chavez was awake, joking and, most importantly, still making decisions for the country, Venezuela's foreign minister said of a visit with the ailing president.

Elias Jaua said he met with Chavez on Monday in Cuba, where the leader has been recovering from a fourth cancer surgery.

"Compatriots, leaving the meeting with our President Commander Hugo Chavez. We shared jokes and laughs," Jaua said in a tweet.

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Block party: Brazil builds world's tallest Lego tower
Former Brazilian footballer Cafu celebrates the construction of the world's tallest tower of lego bricks Saturday in Sao Paulo.
April 9th, 2011
08:38 PM ET
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Block party: Brazil builds world's tallest Lego tower

Move over Chile, Brazil has just finished building the world's largest Lego tower.

Standing at 31.19 meters the tower in the city of Sao Paulo breaks the previous record set in Santiago, Chile, in 2008 by 25 centimeters.

Brazilian former footballer Cafu was responsible for attaching the last piece of the tower, which was built in the parking lot of a shopping mall.

Lego sent  designers from Denmark to Brazil for the event, the company said on its website.

The tower took four days to build.

The first Lego tower was built in London in 1988 and stood just a little over 15 meters, according to Lego. Since then 53 cities have hosted the tower in more than 30 countries.

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Filed under: Brazil • Chile