Brazil

Low-profile Massa out to prove a point

Low-profile Massa out to prove a pointRio de Janeiro  - Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa is out to show in 2009 that he has the stuff of champions and to prove wrong those who say he is not good enough to get beyond the position of perennial second driver at Ferrari.

When he joined the Italian scuderia in 2006, Ferrari boss Jean Todt said a low profile could be his new driver's main problem.

"Felipe is a great guy. He has a good spirit, he's a team player, he's humble, he's shy - probably too humble and too shy in this business, because he's not rated as he should be," Todt said.

ROUNDUP: Obama: "There are no sides" over stimulus at G20

US President Barack ObamaWashington  - US President Barack Obama insisted Saturday

Obama, Lula discuss economy, energy

Barack Obama and Luiz Inacio Lula da SilvaWashington  - US President Barack Obama met Saturday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for talks on the global financial crisis and energy issues.

Obama's meeting with Lula at the White House was his third with a foreign leader and first with one from Latin America, signalling the importance with which his administration views the region and its role in pulling the world economy out its downturn.

Brazil so far has been able to weather the bad economy. The two leaders discussed next month's summit of the world's 20 leading economies.

ROUNDUP: US pressing Brazil to return boy to father

US pressing Brazil to return boy to fatherWashington  - The US government is urging Brazil to return an 8-year-old boy to his father in the United States in a case that could come up when US President Barack Obama holds his first meeting with his Brazilian counterpart on Saturday.

The boy lives with his stepfather in Brazil. A New Jersey court has ruled in favour of his father, David Goldman, and decided the boy, Sean, should be returned to the United States. But a Brazilian court has granted custody to his stepfather.

US pressing Brazil to return boy to father

US pressing Brazil to return boy to fatherWashington  - The US government is urging Brazil to return an 8-year-old boy to his father in the United States in a case that could come up when US President Barack Obama holds his first meeting with his Brazilian counterpart on Saturday.

The boy lives with his stepfather in Brazil. A New Jersey court has ruled in favour of his father, David Goldman, and decided the boy, Sean, should be returned to the United States. But a Brazilian court has granted custody to his stepfather.

Man abducts daughter, steals plane and crashes on mall in Brazil

Man abducts daughter, steals plane and crashes on mall in Brazil Rio de Janeiro  - A man suspected of having raped a teenage girl caused a tragedy in Brazil, when he attacked his wife, abducted his 5-year-old daughter in a stolen airplane and crashed on the parking lot of a shopping mall.

The crash Thursday at the shopping mall in the city of Goiania, near Brasilia, initially put the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) on alert, thinking it was a terrorist attack similar to that perpetrated on September 11, 2001 in the United States.

The man and his child died in the crash of the single-engine plane.

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