One of Brazil's biggest soccer stars is Marta, voted best female player in the world for the past two years. Pelé nicknamed her "Pelé in Skirts." She's played all over the world. And she's only twenty two years old. She will play for Brazil at the Beijing Olympics, and already kicked off the games with a first round match against Germany on Wednesday.  

Born Marta Vieira da Silva in Dois Riachos, Alagoas, she used to play soccer with her brothers, and left home at age sixteen for Rio de Janeiro. There, she went to play for the women's Vasco team, and two years later became an international player. She's played in Sweden ever since.

She helped the Brazilian national team win a silver medal during the Olympics in Athens, and also played with the team when it won a gold in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. She also helped Brazil make the women's World Cup for the first time last year.

Marta is the only female player ever to leave her footprints in the Walk of Fame at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the soccer equivalent of Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

In a country where the national sport is dominated by men, Marta has helped pave the way for female players and also helped garner interest in women's soccer.

Though capoeira, a Brazilian dance form that mixes martial arts and movement, is most prominent in Salvador, Bahia, it is now practiced all over Brazil. In fact, this August, Brazil's big international capoeira festival is being held in a less likely place: Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. From the 4th to the 10th, the city will host capoeira workshops, performances, competitions, conferences, and classes. Over 2,000 Brazilians will participate, as well as 500 foreigners from the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

For more information, see the official site and watch the Globo news coverage.

"Sem graça" is a good term to know since it's applicable in a few situations. If you think of "graça" coming from the word "engraçado," which means funny, you should be able to remember the different meanings. Let's take a look.

1. Not funny

Este filme é sem graça. This movie isn't funny.

Ele não riu da piada sem graça. He didn't laugh at the joke that wasn't funny.

2. Lame

Os programas de "reality" são sem graça. Reality shows are lame.
Ela contou uma piada sem graça. She told a lame joke.

3. Irritated, annoyed, aggravated

O adolescente ficou sem graça quando a mãe dele chegou na escola. The teenager got annoyed when his mom showed up at school.

Eu fiquei sem graça porque a minha namorada estava falando com um homem na boate. I got irritated because my girlfriend was talking to a guy at the club.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has launched an international fund intended to protect the Amazon while preserving Brazilian sovereignty. The goal is to raise $21 billion by 2021 from domestic and foreign donors, and the funds will be used for sustainable development, alternatives to logging, and conservation efforts.

The Brazilian government wants to make it clear that while accepting foreign aid, environmental policy would not be up for discussion amongst other countries, and that the Brazilian government alone will be responsible for environmental programs. The government has also implied that it accepts the link between global warming and deforestation, though until now other factors had been blamed for global warming.

To find out more, see the video below.