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It's a long way from San Francisco to Brazil. But a 1955 Chevrolet 235 pickup truck named "Nellie" got a Dutch soccer fan there in one piece. Ben Oude Kamphuis drove Nellie nearly 13,000 miles to watch his team play in the 2014 World Cup. "Four years ago when we, Holland, lost again in the final I was crying one more time -- that's three times that I cried in the final,” Oude Kamphuis said. “So I was telling my friends and family back in San Francisco, you know what, I'm driving old Nellie to Brazil." His journey began on...

Barring Unlikely Run By U.S., Planet's Biggest Sporting Event Lost On This CountrySoccer fever will grip the planet this week as the 2014 World Cup kicks off in Brazil. I already have a headache. Before you pounce on me with derivations of “ugly American,” hear me out. I know full well why this 32-team tournament has such a large global following, including a very healthycontingent of soccer nuts in this melting pot called the United States. For many countries, this is the most major team sport with which they grew up. Baseball may hail its World Series, but no one...

One person dies and at least two others are injured after a beam falls at the construction site of a monorail project in São Paulo. One person has died and at least two others were injured after a beam fell at the construction site of a monorail project in São Paulo, it was reported. The accident happened at around 5.20pm local time on Monday in the south of the city, which is due to host the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday, according to news website G1. The monorail had been due to be finished and running before...

Before they see their teams battle on the fields, soccer fans arriving in Brazil will first have to fight their way past airport scaffolding, terminal flooding and two-hour taxi lines. The World Cup opens Thursday and airports are bracing to welcome the crush of international travelers flying in for soccer's premier event. Brazilian authorities insist they're ready, but passengers may find themselves in for a rough landing. For example, officials had nearly seven years to prepare Brazil's largest airport, Sao Paulo's Guarulhos, yet only a quarter of the new $1.3 billion international terminal is operational. Many weary travelers will deplane...

Those traveling to Brazil this summer to the World Cup better bring their credit cards. Brazil has become one of the most expensive country’s in the world, and it’s shocking those visiting for the World Cup expecting low prices due to the country’s astounding poverty rate. Unlike the countries surrounding Brazil, where American and European money seems to last forever, Brazil is astoundingly pricey. Pizza in Rio commonly sells for $35, and cheeseburgers go for upwards of $17. The steep prices in Brazil are commonly referred to as “Brazil Cost,” the combination of high taxes and import tariffs coupled with...

Brazilian Nightmare: World Cup, Spanking and Abortion By Julio Severo For foreigners coming to Brazil for the World Cup, this mega-football event often spells “sex tourism.” But for Brazilians, it’s the old Roman appeasement politics of “bread and circuses.” Give football to Brazilians and they will forget their social and moral woes — at least for a while. The special reason the Brazilian government under socialist President Dilma Rousseff has staged the World Cup is for Brazilian to overlook the consequences of her ill-fated politics and planned woes. In the recent few days, with Brazil under the spell of...

Brazil is constructing five new submarines, including one atomic-powered vessel, to boost patrolling across the South American country's 8,500km coast. The $10bn project is being undertaken by a joint venture comprising the Brazilian Navy, construction firm Odebrecht and French state-defence firm DCNS, reported AFP. The new submarines are expected to replace the navy's existing ageing fleet of five conventional vessels. "The new submarines are expected to replace the navy's existing ageing fleet of five conventional vessels." Construction on the nuclear submarine, named SNBR, is expected to commence in 2017 with its launch targeted for 2025. Brazil Navy official Gilberto Max...

Originally blue-eyed with blonde hair, he became interested in having plastic surgery after spending some time as an exchange student in Korea. He was inspired by how common plastic surgery is here. Xiahn, who asked not to be named to protect his family from Internet scrutiny, underwent 10 surgical procedures on his eyes, along with other less-invasive procedures, which cost him around $3,100. He also began wearing contact lenses to change his eye color.

If you go on Google Maps and ask for driving directions from San Francisco to Salvador, Brazil, you get a discouraging response: “Sorry, we could not calculate directions from “San Francisco, CA” to “Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.” But that didn’t stop Ben Oude Kamphuis, a hardcore Dutch soccer fan and Hulk Hogan look-alike, from hopping into his orange 1955 Chevy truck, Old Nellie, and going on the road trip of a lifetime to the World Cup. “The whole experience has been mind-blowing,” Oude Kamphuis, 52, told me via Skype recently from a pit stop in Urcos, Peru. “It all started four...

Football legend Ronaldo, a member of Brazil's World Cup organizing committee, said only 30 percent of the infrastructure projects undertaken for the tournament would be completed. Brazil promised a host of projects in conjunction with the World Cup to improve its roads, airports and urban transport networks. But the country has struggled to finish even essential ones such as stadiums, and has shelved much of the rest. "I think we're missing an opportunity. A series of investments were promised that won't be delivered. Only 30 percent will be delivered," two-time World Cup winner Ronaldo told a forum organized by newspaper...

Head of Israel Football Association says he's willing to hold match "for peace" if Palestinian side agrees. FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter said yesterday that he does not see a reason to take actions against Israel in next month’s FIFA Congress, though Palestinians have said they will urge delegates to do so. Palestinians say Israeli security forces, who control movement between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, frequently prevent athletes from traveling freely between the two separated territories.

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Their faces hide behind scarves, gas masks and motorcycle helmets. TV images show them smashing cars, hurling bricks at police and setting tires ablaze on the streets of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian politicians have claimed they are a national security threat. But who really are these protesters who plan to run riot at the World Cup as soon as the inaugural game kicks off on June 12? Brazil's police allege the militants form an extremist group called the Black Bloc, and say they are watching its leaders. The local press has published exposes...

Promoting travel to the U.S. as a job creator, President Barack Obama wants to make it easier for people from other countries to visit the 50 states and spend money at their hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions and other businesses. Obama planned to discuss the economic benefits of tourism to the U.S. and the latest steps he is taking to boost it at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, on Thursday. Obama acted two years ago to speed the processing of tourist visas for visitors from China and Brazil, steps that have dramatically reduced the length...

Yikes! During training of the cadet corps of the Units of Pacifying Police (UPP) in Rio de Janeiro last week, Brazilian police evidently thought it would be a swell idea to let this girl with zero experience toss  a grenade -- a LIVE grenade. Well let's just say it didn't exactly go as planned... WATCH:

Brazilian police reportedly have a warning for those visiting for the World Cup this summer: If you are robbed, don’t scream. The instruction comes in a pamphlet advising visitors on how to stay safe that will be distributed by Brazilian embassies and consulates, according to a report. “Do not react, scream or argue,” the brochure says. The advice is meant to keep tourists from provoking robbers into further violence once a robbery is underway, as robberies that end in murder are becoming increasingly common. It is also recommended that visitors avoid showing off valuable objects, be careful at night, avoid...

Nicholas Wade, a British-born science reporter and editor for more than 30 years with The New York Times, is no longer with the newspaper — just days after the release of his latest book, in which he depicts blacks with roots in sub-Saharan Africa as genetically less adapted to modern life than whites and Asians. Was The New York Times uncomfortable with Wade’s science or his conclusions? It’s unclear. Neither Wade nor his former employer returned requests for comment. Wade’s last Times article appeared April 24. His Penguin Press book “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History” arrived in...

Rio's preparations damned as 'worst ever' but IOC knocks down suggestion London could be last-ditch replacementMisty-eyed fans can forget about digging out their Team GB shirts, the army of 2012 volunteers can leave their distinctive purple uniforms in the wardrobe, and Boris Johnson can stand down. Much to the disappointment of those hoping for an action replay of the heady summer of 2012, the International Olympic Committee has rejected as "totally unfeasible" claims that London could step in for troubled Rio to host the 2016 Olympics. A report in the London Evening Standard has claimed that the capital had been...

“How do you say [in advance] it is not going to work?”

So worried are Olympic organisers by how far behind schedule the 2016 Rio Games has fallen, London has reportedly been asked, in secret, if it could host the event at the last minute. According to the London Evening Standard, an informal approach has been made by IOC chiefs to ascertain whether London's 2012 Olympic venues could be brought back into use.