Less than a three hour bus ride from Rio de Janeiro is Armação dos Búzios, or just better known as Búzios, a delightful corner of Brazil.

With Brazilians’ love of the water and sports including swimming come the need for rigorous lifeguard training. And that training offers amusing and seductive scenery.

Jorge Selarón is a Chilean artist who has lived near downtown Rio for years. Between the neighborhoods of Santa Teresa and Lapa, over 250 steps that were once unkempt and dilapidated became his life work.

Rio de Janeiro’s sidewalks of mosaic pavement make travel to this corner of Brazil a more intimate experience. Feel chic as you walk along these masterpieces of Portuguese pavement.

In my latest article in The Guardian, I argue it will take both the scale of large companies and grassroots activism to transform our cities and make our living and work spaces healthier and safer.

Conceived and produced by singer Daniela Mercury, the film Rio Bahia Sonora is showcased during the third annual In-Edit 2011 Brazil International Music Documentary Festival.

Weather has had an ugly impact on the world so far this year. Flooding in Pakistan, Australia, and now Brazil have killed thousands. The flooding in Pakistan has caused even more misery in a place where millions of people already suffer; the Queensland disaster has covered an area the size of France; and now flooding in the state of Rio de Janeiro has killed at least 500 people.

Oh to be at Copacabana Beach New Year’s Eve and watch Daniela Mercury ring in the new year at Rio de Janeiro. Daniela Mercury made an appearance before hundreds of thousands, and she and her country, at the start at what will be an amazing decade for Brazil, are off to an incredible start.

The Complexo do Alemão is not necessary on Rio de Janeiro’s visitors’–or locals’–itinerary. A group of poor favellas on Rio’s north side, Alemão was the site of a recent invasion by Rio law enforcement, and has been the host of tragedy after tragedy in recent years. Now a new transportation system offers hope.

Celebrating her roots–and that of Brazil’s–Mercury is ramping up her Project Canibália, which started with her epynomous album released in 2009. A DVD is in the works, with a live performance New Year’s Eve in Rio.