Local elections are rapidly approaching in Brazil. According to the Brazilian press, at least five candidates running in the local elections throughout the country are using the name "Barack Obama" in an effort to garner votes. The candidates, who are running for municipal positions, have registered their names as Obama on the ballots. The would-be Obamas include:

• Brazilian Epaminondas Obama, running for a seat outside of São Paulo
• Obama, a woman running in Rio de Janeiro state
• Davi, the Obama of the Community, running in Minas Gerais
• "Barak Obama," running in Paraná
• Alexandre Barack Obama, running in Petrolina
• Barack Obama of Belford Roxo, running in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro
  

Today we're going to start a series about Portuguese verbs. First, we're going to start with the easiest tense (present), working with regular verbs.

In spoken Portuguese, the four tenses you will most frequently hear are eu (I), você/ele/ela (you/he/she), nós (we) and vocês/eles/elas (all of you/them/them), so we're going to focus on them.

Let's use falar (to say/speak) as an example. With regular verbs in the present tense, we cut off the last two letters of the infinitive. With an "ar verb", we add "o," "a," "amos" and "am."

Eu: falo    [ee-ew fah-loo]

Você/Ele/Ela: fala         [voh-say/eh-lee/eh-lah fah-lah]

Nós: falamos         [nois fah-lah-mos]

Vocês/Eles/Elas: falam     [voh-says/eh-leez/eh-las fah-lam]

Let's look at an "er" verb, comer (to eat). Here, we follow the same rules, except instead of an "a," we use "e."

Eu: como    [ee-ew coh-moo]

Você/Ele/Ela: come      [voh-say/eh-lee/eh-lah coh-mee]

Nós: comemos     [nois coh-meh-mos]

Vocês/Eles/Elas: comem    [voh-says/eh-leez/eh-las coh-menn]

Finally, let's look at an "ir" verb, assistir (to watch). This time, we use "e," "imos," and "em."

Eu: assisto   [ee-ew ahs-eest-oo]

Você/Ele/Ela: assiste     [voh-say/eh-lee/eh-lah ahs-ees-chee]

Nós: assistimos     [nois ahs-ees-chee-mos]

Vocês/Eles/Elas: assistem    [voh-says/eh-leez/eh-las ahs-ees-tehnn]

• Reese Witherspoon, the Global Ambassador of "Speak Out Against Domestic Violence," was in São Paulo last week. She was there to promote the joint campaign between Avon and the UN Development Fund for Women in Latin America, as well as bracelets to promote the campaign. She gave one of the bracelets to Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes, a paraplegic Brazilian woman who became the center of the domestic violence debate and whose case helped push legislation to protect battered women.
• Julianne Moore was in Brazil last week to promote her new movie, "Blindness." She came with her children and spent several days in the Amazon and São Paulo before visiting Rio for the premiere and some sightseeing.
• Madonna will be in Brazil in December, where she will be on tour. She will perform at Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã Stadium and at Estádio de Morumbi in São Paulo.
  

A two-meter long leão-marinho (sea lion) washed up on the shore of the Praia de Sepetiba in the west part of Rio de Janeiro on Friday. He appeared to be injured, but before firefighters could move him, he returned to the ocean. However, the sea lion reappeared on Sunday on someone's front porch on the same beach. He is being taken to the zoo for medical treatment and will be released back into the wild if he recovers.