Royce Gracie back to UFC against champion Matt Hughes
UFC president Dana White announced during last Ultimate Fight Night broadcast on SpikeTV that mixed martial arts legend UFC Royce Gracie (Pictures) has signed to fight current welterweight champion Matt Hughes (Pictures) on Pay-Per-View in May. A pioneer of MMA in North America, Gracie represented his family and style of Brazilian jiu-jitsu during the first five UFCs. Here is a little background of this Brazilian warrior...
"The idea of jiu jitsu is to give the little guy, a chance to beat the big guy." Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie is a legend. He started the NHB world and ruled it as its king. Before his first fights in UFC 1, all traditional strike-oriented martial artists underestimated the importance of grappling. From the days of the first UFC to his return to the ring of Pride and his epic battle against the renowned champion Kazushi Sakuraba, Royce Gracie has lived to defend the family honour and name of Gracie and has managed to show everyone that martial arts can be effective.
Borned in Rio de Janeiro, Gracie is one of nine children, seven of whom are boys. His training in Jiu-Jitsu began at a very early age as a game with his father Helio, now 88 years old. Helio never pushed any of the children to take formal classes until they wanted to do so, however they often went to the Academy in Rio after school and on weekends.
Royce began competing in tournaments at age eight. He received his blue belt at age 16 and was promoted to black belt in less than two years. Royce moved to the United States at age 18 to live with his brother, Rorion. They began teaching private classes out of their garage, sometimes for more than ten hours a day. Rorion and Royce opened the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy eleven years ago in Torrance, California. Today it is one of the largest martial arts schools in the country.
Royce's reputable career as a fighter began in 1993 after defeating three opponents in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. His brother Rorion came up with this innovative challenge as a way to show Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to the world. Discipline after discipline was defeated by the slight 6'1'', 180 pound Royce Gracie. His opponents consistently outweighed him by more than 50 pounds. In the two-hour duration of the UFC I, Royce Gracie steamrolled three skilled opponents and collected $50,000. Several months later, he raked in an additional $60,000 by disposing of four more combatants in the UFC II. By the time the third UFC rolled around, tougher fighters were starting to line up to take a crack at the unbeaten Gracie.
Six months later Gracie is back at UFC 3 defending his title as the Ultimate Fighting Champion. His first match was against Kimo Leopoldo, a tattooed giant that outweighed Gracie by 80 lbs. Gracie won with an armlock, but had to be helped out of the ring as he was completely exhausted, and did not return to action that night. Three months later he returned to action in UFC 4, tapping Dan "The Beast" Severn in the finals.
Gracie fought Ken Shamrock to a draw in UFC 5. Shamrock seemed hesitant to mount an offense, and Gracie seemed content to work from his back for the same gi-sleeve submission and heel-kicks to the Shamrock's kidneys. Royce said for the fight "Shamrock came in for a draw. He knows he cannot beat me. He came in for a draw. He knew he just didn't want to lose, that's why he requested the time limit. He knew he just wanted to have a draw, for him that's a victory".
After his victory in the first UFC 1, Gracie did not boast that his triumph had proved to the world the superiority of his family's style of jujutsu, nor did he brag that it had proved he was the toughest fighter in the world. Instead, he merely said: "It will open everybody's eyes, especially the weaker guys, that you don't have to be a monster to be the champ. You don't have to be the biggest guy or the one who hits the hardest. And you don't have to get hurt in a fight." With those three sentences, Gracie gave hope to thousands of martial artists who, like him, may not be the biggest or the strongest in their dojo, but who depend on perfect technique to overcome their opponents in competition. Royce seems very proud of the fact that his system of self-defense allows him to neutralize and control any opponent without injury to either party.
"That's why [Royce] is doing the Ultimate Fighting Championship to show people he can subdue his opponents without kicking, without punching, without hurting," Helio Gracie said after the UFC 1. "He doesn't need to hit; he doesn't need to hurt."
Royce Gracie lost for the first time in a grappling-only match with another Brazilian-jujutsu expert, Wallid Ismail, at the Rio Oscars of Jiu-Jitsu at Copacobana Beach on December 17, 1998.
In the premier match on a card that included 10 other fights, Gracie was defeated with a "clock choke," which Ismail executed approximately five minutes into the fight. Marco Ruas said for that fight: "I think Royce is a great fighter, it just wasn't his day, just like for me in Japan. "
Royce lost a second time (TKO - Towel Thrown Between Rounds) in Pride Grand Prix 2000 - Finals. In this epic battle against the renowned champion Kazushi Sakuraba Royce fought like a lion.
After the 90 minute battle with Sakuraba, 90 minutes of punishing leg kicks, and 90 minutes without rest or water, Royce Gracie conceded the match and had his brother throw in the towel. After 90 minutes, Gracie could no longer stand and suffered a broken femur. He would be out of action for a while so that his leg could heal.
Royce Gracie lost these fights, proving that he is only human. He did not lose against any huge guys but against skilled martial artists, proving that he will not lose against brute force and muscles full of steroids. Even the great Muhammad Ali lost a few fights but he still is the greatest boxer of all time.
In the ring, the 180-pound Gracie exudes a confidence and single-minded intensity guaranteed to destroy the mind-set of even the burliest brawler. Yet once he steps outside the ring, he metamorphoses into one of the gentlest, friendliest men imaginable. But that unshakable confidence still shows through, at times even seeming like arrogance when Gracie's comments are translated into print.
The legend of the Gracie family began in Brazil with Royce's father, Helio Gracie. Today Royce is privileged to spread the techniques perfected by his father all over the world. Throughout his busy fighting career Royce has maintained a rigorous travel schedule of seminars and classes. His list of students is enormous. Royce has taught many of the big screen greats like Chuck Norris, Ed O'Neal, Guy Ritchie and Nicholas Cage. He has also been very active with the CIA, FBI, DEA, Secret Service, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Navy Seals and many sheriff and police departments.
Royce makes his home in Torrance, California with his wife, Marianne and two sons, Khonry and Khor. He maintains an impressive training regimen, which includes running, weight training, cardiovascular activity, meditation and countless hours of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. He is always up to the challenge and eagerly awaits his next fight. We strongly believe that Royce will win a lot more fights because he is a true warrior.
The football world cup fever has started and the first place it has hit is Brazil.
Businesses in Brazil are cashing in on the craze that grips their country once every four years. Brazil is in the grip of soccer mania and a bit of samba.
Manufacturers in Brazil are using the vivid colors of the Brazilian flag in order to increase sales of everything that can be bought.
Stores are running out of the official Brazilian jersey.
Even an underwear factory in the state of Rio de Janeiro has decided to catch on to the fever.
"Just like carnival, soccer is in the Brazilian consumer's blood, Every World Cup year, Brazil lives a lot the competition, because of the belief that we have a lot of potential in soccer. That makes Brazilian women want to dress, even in Brazilian (themed) clothes," factory manager Neucileia Loyola says.
"It's (the underwear) all ready to go with the dress that I bought for my daughter. At my house everyone is very enthusiastic. Brazil will be world champion, I'm sure," Loyola adds.
Businessowners in Brazil expect profit to be four times greater than that of last June and July.
Street vendors are also cashing in on the craze and the streets of Rio de Janeiro are lined with everything from horns to wigs to sell to fans.
Bruna Surfistinha: Brazilian hooker's memoir flying off bookstore shelves
re-posted by popular demand
After doing it all kinds of ways with several hundred different guys and more than a few women, a 21-year-old just-retired Brazilian prostitute has written a best-selling book about her three years on the job and plans now to settle down to a "normal" family life of husband and kids.
Her scandalized middle-class family hasn't quite come around to forgetting about the lurid recent past of "Bruna Surfistinha." But her avid readers - four out of five of them reportedly women seeking tips on technique - are clamoring for more. "The Scorpion's Sweet Poison" is now the rage in Brazilian bookstores and has made its author the country's latest celebrity.
Surfistinha is the pseudonym of Raquel Pacheco, a generously curved brunette who worked for almost three years as a Sao Paulo call girl. The book's first printing of 10,000 copies sold out in just two weeks and it has risen to third place on the weekly Vega's list of non-fiction book sales.
In the 172 pages of the volume published by Panda Books, the author says that she had every possible sexual experience during her call girl years, and she recounts in detail some of her rendezvous with men, women and couples, as well as describing an orgy during which she "entertained" eight guys.
"Today, I can say that there's no fantasy that scares me because I've already done and seen everything. Some of them were pretty strange, I admit," writes Bruna, who left home before turning 18 with the aim of making money quickly.
That was how she got into prostitution, a trade she pursued in a comfortable Sao Paulo neighborhood until Oct. 26, when she decided to abandon the world's oldest profession and devote herself to her boyfriend, a divorced 30-year-old businessman who was one of her clients.
"When I got the idea that the easiest option I had to support myself when I left my parents' home would be to offer sexual services, I thought: if I'm going to be a prostitute, I don't want to be just a run-of-the-mill one," writes Bruna on the blog she created on the Internet to stay in contact with her readers and which each day receives 15,000 hits.
Bruna says that in the three years she was a prostitute, she had sex more than 1,000 times, adding that although "in theory that might not seem like a lot," in practice it's another matter. "Wild sex, orgies, many different men and women by day, almost endless nights. What can be exciting for many girls ... at 20 years old, for me is just routine," she says.
With the help of a journalist, Bruna prepared her book recounting many of her experiences, but throughout the work she maintains the anonymity of her clients. She also gives advice to women about how to act during sex so that their man does not become a client of prostitutes.
Those recommendations could be the reason why 80 percent of the people who buy the book are females between the ages of 13 and 35, according to an informal bookstore survey conducted by her editor. Because of the book's success, and the confidence with which Bruna speaks of her experiences, she has become a frequent guest on television programs, and a Brazilian men's magazine that publishes a yearly list of the world's 100 sexiest women had included her this time around.
"I got a lot from being a 'party chick.' I don't mean just money; I also made friends," she writes on her blog, where she also says that despite the occasional bad moments she experienced, overall "it was a good phase that I'll keep with affection in my memory."
With the success of her first book, Bruna now plans to write two more, study sexology, start a consulting business and lead a normal life, but she recognizes that she will have to deal with much prejudice and that it won't be easy to reconcile with her relatives, who are shocked by her adventures.
"There are ex-prostitutes, yes. But we're also women, and therefore we dream about a normal life. A life surrounded by children and a husband," she says on her blog.
Maradona to wear Brazilian jersey for $150,000 dollars
Football superstar Diego Maradona is being well-paid to live a 'nightmare.'
For 150,000 dollars, the Argentine is appearing for the first time in the yellow jersey of archrival Brazil. The member of the 1986 World Cup champion team also sings the national anthem of Brazil alongside Brazilian football starts Ronaldo and Kaka in an advertisement for a soft-drink maker that is appearing on Brazilian television.
Maradona is then shown waking up in bed wearing the blue and white colours of Argentina to find it all had been a dream. 'What a nightmare!' he says, relieved.
The ad is for a sponsor of the Brazilian national team.
Maradona is experiencing what he has termed a rebirth after years of cocaine use and obesity, which together brought him to the verge of death. He is once again fit, is the moderator of the most popular television show in Argentina and has introduced a new type of indoor football in South America together with other former Argentine and Brazilian football players.
Brazilian soccer ace Ronaldinho has knocked British striker David Beckham from the top spot of the world’s highest-earning soccer players.
The Brazilian player's earnings more than tripled in the last year to 23 million euros ($28.5 million), 5 million euros more than Beckham's, reports France Football magazine.
Ronaldinho, who calls himself ‘ugly by nice’, has a growing endorsement portfolio that includes PepsiCo Inc., Nike Inc., Cadbury Schweppes Plc and Groupe Danone.
The soccer player of the year received 14 million euros from 15 advertising contracts, 8.5 million euros in salary from Barcelona and a 500,000-euro bonus the last year, according to France Football.
According to Reuters UK, Beckham follows with a total of 18 million ($22 million), down from 25 million the previous year. Brazil and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo is in third place, having pocketed 17.4 million euros ($21.6 million) while England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is fourth in the list with an income of 16.1 million euros ($20 million).
France Football also published a top-10 list for managers and coaches, headed by Chelsea's Jose Mourinho on 10.9 million euros ($13.5 million). England's Sven-Goran Eriksson follows with 6.9 million ($8.5 million).
Brazil will award US$200,000 to World Cup winning players
The Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) said on Sunday it will give members of the national team at least 200,000 US dollars if Brazil wins the nation's sixth World Cup, in the 2006 competition in Germany.
"The 2002 prize was 200,000 U.S. dollars a player, including marketing rights... you can be sure that the prize money won't be less than in 2002," Texeira told reporters in Brasilia.
The CBF has not yet set individual prize money levels, and players will not take part in the negotiations setting the prizes, he added.
He added that for the first time the Brazilian team will not train in Brazil, reducing the physical strain on the players -- most of whom play for European teams -- who would have had to fly to Brazil for a few days before flying back to the old continent for the competition.
"When we play in Europe, there will be a five hour time difference with Brazil, and it takes a day to recover from each hour of jet lag. Theoretically we are saving 10 days of preparation," he said.
Tele Santana, 74, one of Brazil's greatest soccer coaches, died on Friday in a Belo Horizonte hospital where he had been in intensive care for an intestinal infection since March 25, the hospital said.
Santana, who led Brazil at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, was forced to retire in 1996 following a stroke.
Three years ago, Santana had his left leg amputated below the knee after developing ischemia -- a decrease in blood supply caused by blockage of the blood vessels.
Santana believed in attacking football throughout his career and the 1982 World Cup team, featuring players such as Zico, Socrates, Falcao, Junior and Eder took the game to new heights.
Brazil were surprisingly knocked out in the second round group stage following a 3-2 defeat by Italy in one of the most memorable games in the sport's history.
Santana returned to lead Brazil again four years later in Mexico where they were beaten by France in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals.
Santana went on to coach a memorable Sao Paulo team in the early 1990s, winning the South American Libertadores Cup in successive years and the World Club Cup on each occasion.
He was in charge of Atletico Mineiro when they won the inaugural Brazilian championship in 1971 -- the only time Belo Horizonte's most popular club have been Brazilian champions -- and also coached top clubs Fluminense, Flamengo, Palmeiras and Gremio.
Brazil coach says Germany favourites for World Cup
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 20 (Reuters) - Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira believes hosts Germany rather than his own team are favourites to win the World Cup.
"I think Germany and Italy are just as much favourites as we are," he said in an interview with the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper on Thursday.
"In fact, I think Germany are bigger favourites. They've played in seven finals, including three in a row (1982, 1986 and 1990) and they have the fans on their side."
Parreira added that his players had to forget about their celebrity status and work hard if they were to keep the trophy they won for a fifth time in 2002.
"Talent is not enough at a World Cup. We have to have emotion, an amateur spirit, and play with our hearts," he said.
"The players must forget that they are celebrities, with good contracts. We have to make them understand that here in Brazil, there are nearly 200 million fans.
"People want Ronaldinho to do the same for us that he does for Barcelona, but they have to remember that we haven't seem him for eight months." said Parreira.
World Player of the Year Ronaldinho has not played for his country since their match against the United Arab Emirates last November. He missed a friendly against Russia in February due to injury.
On his own future, Parreira said the only chance of continuing as Brazil coach would be if they won the tournament this July.
"There's only one possibility (to continue as coach). You have to be world champion. I have never seen a coach fail to win the World Cup and stay on here in Brazil."
Os Mutantes Added to Pitchfork Music Festival Lineup
The Pitchfork Music Festival, taking place July 29 and 30 in Chicago's Union Park, isn't only going to be two days of happy people getting drunk and rocking out. It's also going to be an historic event.
The event producers just announced that Brazilian Tropicália gods Os Mutantes, reunited and performing live for the first time since 1973, will play the second day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. The psych-rock pioneers have scheduled just a handful of shows this summer, and they have been lucky enough to score their only American festival appearance. As Os Mutantes themselves once said, everything is possible--including getting to see a group of living legends play on the same bill as members of the younger musical generation they helped inspire, all for a ridiculously low ticket price.
Here's how the Pitchfork Music Festival schedule looks now:
Saturday, July 29
Main stage:
• Silver Jews • The Futureheads • Ted Leo/Pharmacists • Art Brut • Destroyer • Mountain Goats • Band of Horses • Man Man • Hot Machines
• Os Mutantes • Spoon • Yo La Tengo • Devendra Banhart • Mission of Burma • Aesop Rock • The National • Jens Lekman • Tapes 'n Tapes • Chin Up Chin Up
Biz3 stage:
• Diplo • Tarantula A.D. • Tyondai Braxton • Bonde Do Role
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for many more additions, including many more to the Biz3 stage-- featuring the best in hip-hop, jazz, electronic, and experimental music. We will also announce some exciting new additions to the festivities, including a pre-party and more extracurricular activities that will join the WLUW record fair and DEPART-ment craft and clothing fair on site at Union Park during the festival.
Be sure to check out the Pitchfork Music Festival websitenformation about the bands, as well as lodging, location, onsite activities, vendors, sponsors, directions, and more. http://www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com
Luxemburgo not to manage national team, Brazil soccer Federation
President of Brazil's CBF soccer federation Ricardo Teixeira (photo) denied on Wednesday reports that Vanderlei Luxemburgo would replace Carlos Alberto Parreira as Brazil national team coach after the 2006 World Cup.
"I would like to tell you that any news you have involving the replacement of Parreira is a rumor," he said. "That decision will only be taken when we no longer have a manager. We have one. His name is Parreira and he is preparing the national team for the World Cup."
On Tuesday evening, Brazil media cited CBF sources saying that Luxemburgo, the Santos's current manager and manager of Real Madrid until late last year, was favorite to replace Parreira, alleging the current manager wanted to leave after the World Cup.
Luxemburgo managed Brazil at the end of the 1990s, when he helped the team to a 1999 America Cup win. He was sacked after the team failed to win gold in Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games where Brazil was elminated by Cameroon, and charges of tax-evasion and document falsification.
The reports of his alleged appointment came two days after Luxemburgo's team won the Sao Paulo Championship.
By SETH KUGEL source: The New York Times Published: April 10, 2006
Ask Internet users here what they think of Orkut, the two-year-old Google social networking service, and you may get a blank stare. But pronounce it "or-KOO-chee," as they do in Portuguese, and watch faces light up.
"We were just talking about it!" said Suellen Monteiro, approached by a reporter as she gossiped with four girlfriends at a bar in the New York City Center mall here. The topic was the guy whom 18-year-old Aline Makray had met over the weekend at a Brazilian funk dance, who had since found her on Orkut and asked her to join his network.
Orkut, the invention of a Turkish-born software engineer named Orkut Buyukkokten, never really caught on in the United States, where MySpace rules teenage cyberspace. But it is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon in Brazil.
About 11 million of Orkut's more than 15 million users are registered as living in Brazil — a remarkable figure given that studies have estimated that only about 12 million Brazilians use the Internet from home. (And that 11 million does not include people like Ms. Makray, who clicked on Hungary as a nod to her heritage, or someone named Mauricio who wrote in Portuguese but jokingly registered as being from Mauritius.)
Expect Brazilian Portuguese dictionaries to add "orkut" to upcoming editions. O Globo, Rio's biggest daily newspaper, refers to it without further explanation. And the Brazilian media routinely measures the popularity of music groups and actors by the number of user communities dedicated to them on Orkut.
"Surto," a popular comedic play showing in Rio de Janeiro, is peppered with references to Orkut. And the site's jargon has entered the Brazilian lexicon, like "scrap" (pronounced "SKRAH-pee" or "SHKRAH-pee"), meaning a note that one user leaves in another's virtual scrapbook for everyone — including jealous boyfriends and girlfriends and curious suitors — to see.
But the sheer popularity of Orkut, which people can join by invitation only, has had several unexpected consequences. Almost as soon as Brazilians started taking over Orkut in 2004 — and long before April 2005, when Google made Orkut available in Portuguese — English-speaking users formed virulently anti-Brazilian communities like "Too Many Brazilians on Orkut."
And, more darkly, Orkut's success has made it a popular vehicle for child pornographers, pedophiles and racist and anti-Semitic groups, according to Brazilian prosecutors and nonprofit groups. Hatemongering on Orkut has also been decried in the United States and elsewhere, but it is in Brazil where the biggest effort is under way to halt the problem and confront Google's seemingly tight-lipped attitude.
SaferNet Brasil, a nongovernmental organization founded late last year, tracks human rights violations on Orkut and has generated much press coverage of illegal activity on the site. (Many forms of racist speech are outlawed in Brazil.)
SaferNet's president, Thiago Nunes de Oliveira, a professor of cyberlaw at the Catholic University of Salvador, said the problem had exploded in the last few months. "In 45 days of work, we identified 5,000 people who were using the Internet, and principally Orkut, to distribute images of explicit sex with children," he said. And that was aside from the racists, neo-Nazis and other hate groups the organization found.
In February, after several failed attempts to contact Google's Brazil office, Mr. Nunes de Oliveira said, SaferNet Brasil filed a complaint with federal prosecutors in São Paulo. Prosecutors summoned Google's Brazilian sales staff to a meeting on March 10 and asked them for help identifying users breaking Brazilian human rights laws.
Google declined a reporter's requests for a direct interview with Mr. Buyukkokten, but a spokeswoman forwarded some of Mr. Buyukkokten's responses by e-mail. The Brazilian office, he said, handles ad sales and does not even work with Orkut, which produces no revenue. "Orkut prohibits illegal activity (such as child pornography) as well as hate speech and advocating violence," he wrote. "We will remove such content from Orkut when we are notified."
But Mr. Nunes de Oliveira said that removing the content was not what they were asking for. "The incapacity of the authorities to investigate these crimes is principally the lack of cooperation by Google in identifying those users," he said. He also worried that Google was not archiving evidence of crimes as it deleted offending pages.
Thamea Danelon Valiengo, part of a team of federal prosecutors working on cybercrime cases in São Paulo, agreed. She said that prosecutors had asked judges to order Google to turn over information on users who perpetrate crimes. So far, she said, Google has agreed to send a lawyer to Brazil for a meeting in May.
Mr. Buyukkokten wrote by e-mail that Google would cooperate with the authorities, but did not specify whether, for example, it would provide logs allowing users to be traced by their Internet address, as prosecutors have asked. A Google spokeswoman, Debbie Frost, said by e-mail that in four to six weeks, Orkut would deploy a tool that would "better identify and remove content that violates our terms of use."
In general, though, Orkut fanatics seem undisturbed by illegal activity on the site, which most of those interviewed said they had never come across personally. They were more interested in finding long-lost classmates and friends, one of the site's most lauded abilities. Schools, workplaces, even residential streets have "communities" joined by people who have studied, worked or lived there.
And everyone has stories of romance foiled by a telltale posting. Ms. Makray once found the page of a man who had flirted with her in a club. "He hadn't told me that he had children or that he was married," she said. "I discovered it on Orkut."
Erika Laun, 23, checks Orkut every day from work to keep an eye on her boyfriend. "When we were first going out," she said, "a girl who liked him was always sending messages and making fun of the messages that I sent him." The rival's sister, whom he didn't even know, helped out, sending messages like "Hey big boy, love you, 1,000 kisses."
"I was really angry," Ms. Laun said.
No one quite knows why Orkut caught on among Brazilians and not Americans, although the fact that it is an invitation-only network might explain why it exploded in Brazil. In a 2005 interview with the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, Mr. Buyukkokten said it might be because Brazilians were "a friendly people," and perhaps because some of his own friends, among the first to join the network, had Brazilian friends.
Fernanda Leon, an architecture student eating at a Middle Eastern restaurant here with her boyfriend, said she thought Brazil had gravitated toward Orkut because of the country's inherently social culture. "Brazilians really want to interact with other people, both old friends and new people," she said. She has 379 friends on her network.
Mr. Nunes de Oliveira of SaferNet stressed that he was only against the illegal uses of Orkut. "It's a fantastic tool, an excellent service," he said. "We do not want it gone."
Moscow, Apr 9 (EFE)- Brazil's first astronaut returned to earth early Sunday with a Russian-American crew from the International Space Station and was reported in good condition.
Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes, U.S. astronaut William McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan, in central Asia, and were later flown to Moscow.
Tokarev and McArthur had been at the space station since October.
Russian television broadcast images of the three men smiling and waving to well-wishers at the airport in Moscow.
The three were met at the airport by family, friends and officials from the Brazilian, Russian and U.S. space agencies.
Pontes, McArthur and Tokarev were taken to the Star City astronaut base, northeast of Moscow, where they will undergo medical tests and several weeks of training to help them readjust to the gravity on earth.
Pontes blasted into orbit March 30 aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space complex in Kazakhstan along with American astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, who relieved Tokarev and McArthur at the International Space Station.
The 43-year-old air force colonel spent 11 days in space as part of what was called the "Centenary" mission - named in honor of the first public flight of a powered aircraft 100 years ago by Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santo Dumont.
Brazilian Model Cinthia Moura is heading her first movie
Afer received two invitations to participate on hollywood movies "Taxi" and "Dodgeballs", the brazilian model Cinthia Moura will finally debut in the american screens. She couldn't accept the other roles because she didn't have the US work visa. Well, this time was different, after two weeks of tests, she received the invitation for a terror script and went to Canada to roll the movie. It will be her first time in primetime TV (Showtime), in a terror movie series made for TV, "Deer Woman".
About the movie Directed by John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London"), a series of bizarre murders lead a cynical Detective Dwight Faraday (Brian Benben) to suspect that an ancient Native American mythological creature is real in this sexually-charged horror comedy.
She was one of the main attraction of reality show Big Brother Brasil (BBB) version 6. No wonder, after eliminated she quickly received this invitation to pose for Playboy. Here is a quick preview of April's cover:
Five-times World Cup winners Brazil are vying to stage the finals in 2014.
Fifa said last year that, under its rotation policy, the tournament should be held in South America in 2014, after the 2010 finals went to South Africa.
Brazil's attempt to host the finals has received the backing of president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who met with the country's football federation.
Lula said: "After 64 years, Brazil meet all the criteria to organise the World Cup and the country deserve it."
Despite being the most successful World Cup winning nation - with victories in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 - they have only staged the tournament once, in 1950 when they lost 2-1 to Uruguay.
England, meanwhile, will wait until this autumn before deciding whether to bid for the 2018 finals.
We begin our love match in fair Sao Paolo, with two households, both alike in fervor.
Willowy Juliet is from a family that worships Palmeiras, the Brazilian soccer squad clad in green. Square-jawed Romeo is a second-generation booster of Corinthians, the men in black. When Juliet meets Romeo, they are magnetically attracted. But will the ancient grudge between these teams - think Philadelphia Eagles versus Dallas Cowboys - repulse them when each learns of the other's allegiance?
In the spirit of Bend It Like Beckham and Fever Pitch, Bruno Barreto's diverting Romeo and Juliet Get Married weds romantic comedy with sports film. The resulting troth is as buoyantly funny as the actors.
Barreto is particularly fortunate in his Juliet, Luana Piovani, supermodel-slim and nimble as the soccer star her character longs to be. She possesses the loopy charm of the young Paula Prentiss, while Marco Ricca, who plays Romeo, charmingly shows the trouble that ensues when sleeping with the enemy. The sight of Palmeiras green makes his ardor wilt.
By no means is Romeo and Juliet a great movie. But it is great fun, and sometimes that's just the ticket.
DETAILS: Directed by Bruno Barreto with Berta Zemel, Leonardo Miggiorin, Luana Piovani, Luis Gustavo, Marco Ricca, Martha Mellinger, Mel Lisboa, and Renato Consorte.
When I look around the world and see so much suffering, Ronaldinho's art makes me believe that anything is possbile. I know it's just football but he radiates joy and love for the game and shows what the human spirit is capable of.
At last week's Nike launch of their Joga Bonito campaign in Barcelona, Ronaldinho spoke on stage, in a question-and-answer session, about the Barcelona-Real Madrid showdown, Brazil, the World Cup, Joga Bonito, and even Arsenal's Thierry Henry.
We have seen lots of images of 'joga bonito' involving Brazil. What is it that makes Brazilian football so special? Every country has its own way of playing and ours has always been like this. Our style is an attacking style, and our players are known for their dribbling skills. We have a level of technique that sets us apart from other countries.
With that style, everyone says Brazil are favourites for the World Cup. Do you agree? I don't think you can talk about favourites. I think you have to go out for every game and play your best football, demonstrate with each match that you can win and play well. People can talk about favourites before a competition, but once it starts, you have to forget about all that and do your best to win.
Does talk of you being favourites mean extra pressure? Will the pressure force you to alter your style and be more conservative? No. We have a certain style of play and I don't think that will change... ever. We like to have a lot of touches on the ball and that won't change. There is pressure, but we have a group of players with a lot of strength and a lot of experience.
Who are the strongest teams at the World Cup, apart from Brazil? There are many strong teams. I think playing at home gives you that little extra motivation, so Germany will be strong. They have the fans on their side and that always means it's harder for the teams they play against.
You play for Barcelona in Spain. What do you make of Spain's World Cup chances? I think they're a very good side. I know practically all the players in the Spanish national team and I think they have a lot of footballers with a lot of ability. And there are a lot of my club colleagues playing in the national team. Of course, I think they are great players too.
Is the prospect of playing against your club-mate Carles Puyol a frightening one? He's bound to give you a kick! (Ronaldinho laughs) No, Carles is like a brother to me. Ever since I arrived at Barcelona, we have got on very well. We have a great friendship and I have a lot of respect for him because he's such a great player. Fear? No. But respect, yes.
(Brazil coach) Carlos Alberto Parreira said your national team-mates Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo (who play for struggling Real Madrid) are reserving themselves for the World Cup. Is he right? For me, players never reserve themselves for a competition. Footballers live for the moment. I think they are giving everything they can to help their teams out.
Is the criticism that Ronaldo has had unfair? Is he going to be the star at the World Cup? I have the greatest of confidence in him. I think people have to respect him for everything he has done for Real Madrid, Brazil and world football. As a team-mate, I will help him as much as I can so he can be the man of the World Cup once again, just as he was in 2002.
Increasingly, teams are being successful by playing defensively. Are Barcelona the biggest ambassadors for good and positive football? Every team has a style of their own and ours really suits us right now. It's a 'joga bonito' style, very attacking, always trying to score goals. There are other types of play that can get you results, but ours is a style that people like to see. I really enjoy playing at Barcelona.
So, is playing for Barcelona doubly satisfying because you are proving that it is possible to win while playing nice football? For me, it's perfect. But if we had to change our style a bit, I'd accept that too because at the club we're all competitors and we want to win. But the lovely thing is that we are competitive playing in a team that plays nice football and I don't see any reason why we would want to change.
Playing this way, how do you see your chances in the Champions League? Good, very good. We're playing very well, with a lot of confidence and we hope we can go a long way in the competition. (Barcelona drew 0-0 with Benfica away in midweek, in the Champions League first-leg quarter-finals. They meet again in Barcelona for the deciding second leg next week.)
Which is the strongest team left in the Champions League? All the teams that are left now are very strong. You get to this stage and there are lots of Europe's greatest teams in there so I wouldn't say there is one favourite.
You've won it all at individual level in the last two years. How do you keep motivated? Is there a risk of you taking it easy? I never lose the motivation. I have been lucky enough to win lots of titles with my teams and at an individual level at quite a young age. Now that I know just how nice it is to win those things once, the motivation comes from wanting to win everything lots of times, to do it again and keep on winning.
You're playing so well that the rumours are inevitable. Chelsea's name keeps reappearing. What does your future hold? My future is Barcelona. It's here. Today, I'm not thinking of anything that's not Barcelona. I don't lack anything here. I have all that I could wish for and the club have made a great effort to make sure I am happy. I am satisfied here.
In the Joga Bonito video, we see you playing futsal. Has futsal helped you? Without doubt, playing futsal has helped me. My touch on the ball and my dribbling in particular have improved by playing futsal.
You are seen dancing the samba in the advertisement. Do you like dancing and does the samba help your balance for football? It has become a kind of symbol for me. I love to dance though I am not thinking about dancing when I play. Maybe samba does come through the way I do things on the pitch.
Does playing football professionally still bring you joy? Yes, it makes me very happy. Football is the greatest thing I have, one of the things that makes me most happy. I have the great happiness of playing at a great club and with my national team.
You are known as someone who always plays with a smile. What can footballers learn from your philosophy of the game? It is hard to say what other players can take from it. That's the way I am, I always try to look on the bright side of things and enjoy myself.
The Barca-Madrid showdown is coming up. Will that result decide the destiny of the Spanish Primera Liga title? It is going to play a big part because Real Madrid are one of our most direct rivals for the League (Barcelona lead Real by 11 points, with eight games left). Our 3-0 win at their stadium (last November) changed things for us and if we win again this time, it would put us closer to the title. We know that at the end of the game, we are not going to be champions but we know it could help us a lot.
How would you feel if you won the Primera Liga and the Champions League with Barcelona, then the World Cup with Brazil? I'd feel like the happiest person in the world if I could win all three of the major competitions. I have won the League and the World Cup before. I am only missing the Champions League title and if I could win the three, this would be the most special year of my life.
Tell me three things that constitute 'joga bonito' for you. Respect your rivals, try to be as honest as possible and enjoy as much as you can.
What's the most important individual quality for a person to 'joga bonito'? Well, every player has their own qualities but my game is based on touch and dribbling skills.
What's the best way of celebrating a goal? There are lots of ways. Every goal brings a different emotion, but I love dancing and if there is something that really makes me happy, it's the samba. That's what I most enjoy dancing to every day.
Is 'joga bonito' a very Brazilian thing? Not just Brazil. There are many countries with players who like to play beautifully, but when I see Brazil I see a happy country, one that lives for joy.
Brazilian culture, news, fashion, eletronic music, samba, places to hang out, beaches, and much more... Everything you should know about Brazil, but couldn't find it on the web.
Borned in Rio de Janeiro, Gracie is one of nine children, seven of whom are boys. His training in Jiu-Jitsu began at a very early age as a game with his father Helio, now 88 years old. Helio never pushed any of the children to take formal classes until they wanted to do so, however they often went to the Academy in Rio after school and on weekends. 
Royce's reputable career as a fighter began in 1993 after defeating three opponents in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. His brother Rorion came up with this innovative challenge as a way to show Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to the world. Discipline after discipline was defeated by the slight 6'1'', 180 pound Royce Gracie. His opponents consistently outweighed him by more than 50 pounds. In the two-hour duration of the UFC I, Royce Gracie steamrolled three skilled opponents and collected $50,000. Several months later, he raked in an additional $60,000 by disposing of four more combatants in the UFC II. By the time the third UFC rolled around, tougher fighters were starting to line up to take a crack at the unbeaten Gracie. 
"That's why [Royce] is doing the Ultimate Fighting Championship to show people he can subdue his opponents without kicking, without punching, without hurting," Helio Gracie said after the UFC 1. "He doesn't need to hit; he doesn't need to hurt." 
The football world cup fever has started and the first place it has hit is Brazil.
"Just like carnival, soccer is in the Brazilian consumer's blood, Every World Cup year, Brazil lives a lot the competition, because of the belief that we have a lot of potential in soccer. That makes Brazilian women want to dress, even in Brazilian (themed) clothes," factory manager Neucileia Loyola says.
Football superstar Diego Maradona is being well-paid to live a 'nightmare.'
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A dancer for Minneapolis-based funk/rocker Prince was busted at the Rio de Janeiro Airport with 44 pounds of cocaine.
Sad news for the soccer world...
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 20 (Reuters) - Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira believes hosts Germany rather than his own team are favourites to win the World Cup.
President of Brazil's CBF soccer federation Ricardo Teixeira (photo) denied on Wednesday reports that Vanderlei Luxemburgo would replace Carlos Alberto Parreira as Brazil national team coach after the 2006 World Cup.
On Tuesday evening, Brazil media cited CBF sources saying that Luxemburgo, the Santos's current manager and manager of Real Madrid until late last year, was favorite to replace Parreira, alleging the current manager wanted to leave after the World Cup.
Moscow, Apr 9 (EFE)- Brazil's first astronaut returned to earth early Sunday with a Russian-American crew from the International Space Station and was reported in good condition.
Afer received two invitations to participate on hollywood movies "Taxi" and "Dodgeballs", the brazilian model Cinthia Moura will finally debut in the american screens. She couldn't accept the other roles because she didn't have the US work visa. Well, this time was different, after two weeks of tests, she received the invitation for a terror script and went to Canada to roll the movie. It will be her first time in primetime TV (Showtime), in a terror movie series made for TV, "Deer Woman".
Five-times World Cup winners Brazil are vying to stage the finals in 2014.
(Brazil coach) Carlos Alberto Parreira said your national team-mates Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo (who play for struggling Real Madrid) are reserving themselves for the World Cup. Is he right?
So, is playing for Barcelona doubly satisfying because you are proving that it is possible to win while playing nice football?
You're playing so well that the rumours are inevitable. Chelsea's name keeps reappearing. What does your future hold?
The Barca-Madrid showdown is coming up. Will that result decide the destiny of the Spanish Primera Liga title?
