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The morning after the night before, Brazil will wake up, shake its head and pray it had all been a terrible nightmare. Left disorientated, punch drunk and confused by the 7-1 annihilation in the Estádio Mineirão it will take time for the full implications to sink in for a country that had so much invested – in all senses of the word – in World Cup success. The newspapers, broadcasters and websites that had spent the last few days whipping up a sentimental tidal wave of sympathy for Neymar turned on Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men. David Luiz, the capering heartbeat...

Luiz Felipe Scolari apologised to the people of Brazil after they were humiliated 7-1 in the World Cup semi-final by Germany. SNIP Scolari, who insists he will not resign after this shameful defeat, said: ‘My message is, to the Brazilian people and fans, that we did and we tried to do what we could. ‘Please excuse us for this mistake. I’m sorry we couldn’t get to the final. This is a catastrophe. ‘It’s probably the worst moment of my career. This is the worst day of my life, but life goes on. ‘I’ll be remembered probably because I lost 7-1,...

Germany routed Brazil 7-1 today to reach the World Cup final, handing them its worst loss ever and breaking the hearts of millions of Brazilians. Brazil played without its injured striker Neymar, who had suffered a fractured vertebra in his lower back last Friday during its quarterfinal clash against Colombia.

Voodoo dolls of Colombian star James Rodriguez, candles in Brazil colours and prayers to deities, Neymar and co are getting full support from the World Cup hosts' Afro-Brazilian religions. Before every game, Helio Sillman lights four yellow, green and blue candles in the colours of the national flag and places them in a rectangular box representing a football pitch. He places dolls inside and sends them "strength and energy," with the help of Orixas, the gods of Macumba and other religions that mix Roman Catholic and African beliefs.

Neymar has been ruled out of the World Cup after Brazil's team doctor confirmed he suffered a broken vertebra late in Friday's quarterfinal victory against Colombia.

Members of an Indian tribe that has long lived in voluntary isolation in Peru’s south-eastern Amazon have attempted to make contact with outsiders in a tense encounter that almost ended in violence.More than 100 members of Mashco-Piro clan appeared across the Las Piedras river from the remote community of Monte Salvado in the Tambopata region of Madre de Dios state in June. They asked for bananas, rope and machetes from the local Yine people but were stopped from crossing the river by rangers posted at the settlement who directed them to a banana patch on their side of the river....

A tribe of Indians that lives in voluntary isolation in Peru’s southeastern Amazon has made a tense attempt at contact. The president of the regional FENAMAD indigenous federation says more than 100 Mashco-Piro appeared across a river from the remote community of Monte Salvado in Madre de Dios state. Klaus Quicque says they asked local Yine people for bananas, rope and machetes. Newly available video that Quique says was shot by forest rangers over three days in June shows Mashco-Piro of all ages and sexes, including men with lances, bows and arrows. Quicque said Monday there were tense moments but...

UPDATE: 4 February An extraordinary new film of the tribe in these pictures has been released. It is the first aerial footage of any uncontacted community. Watch now » New photos obtained by Survival International show uncontacted Indians in never-seen-before detail. The Indians are living in Brazil, near the Peruvian border, and are featured in the ‘Jungles’ episode of BBC1’s ‘Human Planet’ (Thurs 3 Feb, 8pm, UK only). The pictures were taken by Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department, which has authorized Survival to use them as part of its campaign to protect their territory. They reveal a thriving, healthy community with...

HE man behind photos of warriors from an "undiscovered" Amazon tribe that were beamed around the world has admitted it was a publicity stunt aimed at raising awareness of logging. Indigenous tribes expert, José Carlos Meirelles, said the tribe had been known of since 1910, and had been photographed to prove that they still existed in an area endangered by logging, The Guardian reported. Mr Meirelles, who was working for Funai, the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency dedicated to finding remote tribes and protecting them, said he spent three years gatheiring "evidence" about the tribe, and then planned the publicity to...

I know - it seems like it’s been going on forever! And still two weeks to go. It’s not the World Cup itself, it’s the Google Doodles. How many more of these stupid multicultural soccer gifs on its header (hee, hee) do we have to endure? 48 so far, and counting:Yeah, Team USA lost to the chocolate people - and no, that’s not racist, it’s just who they are:Sure, it would have been nice to win something for a change, as we’ve been on a losing streak for a while now. First we were handed a bitter loss when the...

Brazil's Ilha de Queimada Grande is the only home of one of the world's deadliest, and most endangered, snakesFrom Iguazu Falls to Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, there are some breathtakingly beautiful places in Brazil. Ilha da Queimada Grande, located about 90 miles off the São Paulo coast, seems like another one of those beautiful places—at first glance. Almost every Brazilian knows about the island, but most would never dream of going there—it's infested with between 2,000 and 4,000 golden lancehead vipers, one of the deadliest snakes in the entire world. These vipers' venom can kill a person in under an...

Brazil striker Fred got his first goal just in the whisker of time at the World Cup, scoring as the group stage was coming to an end. He's attributing the change in fortunes to the new mustache. The much-criticized forward scored Brazil's third goal in a 4-1 win over Cameroon on Monday, helping his team reach the second round. SNIP "As incredible as it seems, the ball came in hard and it ended up hitting my mustache," Fred said. "It was a mustache goal." SNIP

The polio virus has been found in sewage samples near Sao Paulo, one of the venues for the soccer World Cup in Brazil, but no human case of the disease has been reported so far, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The virus discovered in Sao Paulo sewage collected in March at Viracopos International Airport, and reported by Brazilian health authorities last week, is a close match to a strain isolated in a case in Equatorial Guinea, the WHO said. "(The) virus has been detected in the sewage only ... To date no case of paralytic polio has been...

World Cup nations Mexico, Brazil, Croatia and Russia are currently under investigation by FIFA. The international governing body of association football are reportedly looking into the fan behavior of these four national football teams regarding recent actions at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Fans of “El Tri,” the Mexican national football team currently competing in the international tournament are allegedly set to receive disciplinary actions, according to NBC the penalizing procedures have already begun for Mexico’s loyal fans. FIFA’s response comes in the wake of fans seemingly obvious, though still at this point “alleged” racist and homophobic remarks and...

While his government’s focus remains squarely on domestic issues, Mr Modi is also charting a rather ambitious foreign policy course. He has already visited Bhutan and his future destinations over the next few months are likely to include Japan, Brazil, Southeast Asia, Australia and Nepal. Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign minister has saluted the new Modi government for injecting “new vitality into an ancient civilisation”.

Explanation: In this night skyscape setting stars trail above the western horizon over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a venue for the 2014 World Cup. Gentle arcs from the bright, colorful stars of Orion are near the center of the frame, while the starfield itself straddles planet Earth's celestial equator during the long exposure. Of course, trails from more local lights seem to create the strident paths through the scene. Air traffic smears an intense glow over an airport at the far right, while helicopters fly above the city and boats cruise near the coast. Striping the waterfront are tantalizing reflections...

DANIELLE WIENER-BRONNER, The WireJun. 20, 2014 ï‚‚Months after we all started fretting over the prospect of a global coffee shortage, it seems we might actually start to feel the caffeine-related effects of Brazil's massive drought and Central America's coffee fungus, in the form industry-wide retail price increases. The Washington Post reported back in February that coffee costs were expected to rise later in the year: For now, retail prices for coffee are stable. Roasters typically have enough supplies to cover themselves for a few months. But if the price of the Arabica (pronounced uh-RAB-ick-uh) beans continues to rise, consumers could...

On Facebook a picture has gone viral titled ‘Street kids murdered to clean up Brazil ahead of the World Cup’. The message claims that the picture has been made in Brazil, right after the Brazilian police shot multiple kids in the favelas. As the World Cup is going to take place soon, a lot of media and attention is being given to Brazil. The ‘Street kids murdered to clean up Brazil’ picture is one of the shocking things that are taking place in the Brazilian favelas.

As the world focuses on the World Cup, which opens in Brazil in less than a fortnight, many Brazilians are wrestling with painful discoveries about the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985. The BBC has found evidence that the UK actively collaborated with the generals - and trained them in sophisticated interrogation techniques. Brazil's 21-year dictatorship is less well known abroad than that of Argentina or Chile, but it was still brutal. Hundreds died and thousands were imprisoned and tortured. One of those tortured was a left-wing guerrilla who is now the country's president, Dilma Rousseff....

Today is Day Six Of World Cup 2014 in Brazil. In Group G: Belgium defeated Algeria 2-1. Game underway shortly between Brazil and Mexico. Russia and South Korea will play their first game tonight.