Rio de Janeiro  - Thanks to the Copacabana, carnival and Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro attracts millions of holidaymakers every year.

But most of them hardly ever venture beyond the outskirts of the city even though the surrounding area has plenty of picturesque colonial towns, coffee plantations, islands, national parks and verdant jungle to offer.

Rio de Janeiro - Surprised over the poor pre-season performance of the McLaren-Mercedes team, but worried about the excellence of Brawn GP and the evolution of Toyota, Ferrari's Brazilian Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa travelled to Australia Monday.

"So far it is difficult to have a clear idea, because it is the first race that counts, but I think we have never seen a McLaren so far behind, a McLaren with so many difficulties as this year," Massa said in comments that were made public by his press team Monday.

Rio 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.

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.

Rio de Janeiro - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Friday said it was "regrettable" that a Roman Catholic archbishop excommunicated the mother of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion after being raped by her stepfather.

Brazilian Archbishop Jose Gomes Sobrinho also excommunicated the doctors who performed the procedure.

"As a Christian and a Catholic, I deeply regret that a bishop has had such conservative behaviour," Lula told reporters in the city of Vitoria.

Rio de Janeiro - Ronaldo made his long-awaited return to competitive football Wednesday, making a second-half appearance as a substitute for Brazilian side Corinthians in a cup match against Itumbria.

Three-time world footballer of the year Ronaldo failed to get on the scoresheet after coming on in the 68th minute but saw his side win 2-0.

The 32-year-old striker has been out of action since undergoing knee surgery on his left knee to cure an injury he picked up while playing for AC Milan in February 2008.