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Rio de Janeiro is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.  In order to get Rio ready for these global events the government has taken over many of Rio’s slums, known as favelas.  That’s meant demolishing buildings and in many instances evicting people from the

Hungary’s conservative Fidesz party overhauled the central European nation’s constitution and passed laws that consolidate power. The changes may violate the Lisbon Treaty, which governs E.U. membership.

Worldview cuica demonstration from WBEZ on Vimeo.This week on Global Notes, Jerome and Radio M host Tony Sarabia explore a drum from Brazil called the cuíca.

In September 1969, left-wing activists kidnapped U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Charles Burke Elbrick to protest the military dictatorship in power. In exchange, they demanded the release of 15 of their comrades.

This week on Global Notes, Damian Platt, co-author of the book Culture is Our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio de Janeiro, tells us about the favela-born group AfroReggae.

The $3.2 billion HidroAysen project is a controversial hydroelectric dam complex planned for Chile. The project’s five dams would flood almost 15,000 acres of Patagonian wilderness. Getting the power to market would require transmission lines to gauge a 1,200 mile swath through the forest.

This week on Worldview we’re taking a look at nuclear power around the world. Today's focus is on Brazil. Brazil’s nuclear energy program was in part inspired by American efforts to promote peaceful uses of nuclear science.