SAO PAULO — The founder of one of Brazil’s biggest evangelical churches siphoned off billions of dollars in donations from his mostly poor followers to buy jewelry, TV stations and other businesses for himself, authorities charged Tuesday.

A Brazilian judge accepted charges from prosecutors alleging that Bishop Edir Macedo and nine other people linked to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God committed fraud against the church itself and against its numerous followers.

Sao Paulo state’s prosecutors office alleged in a statement that Macedo and the others took more than $2 billion in donations from 2003 to 2008 alone, but charged that the alleged scheme went back 10 years.

Church lawyer Arthur Lavigne told the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo that the accused denied any wrongdoing. Church officials did not respond to attempts to reach them by phone and e-mail.

Prosecutors said the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God receives nearly $800 million in donations every year from faithful in 4,500 temples across Brazil. The church claims to have nearly 8 million followers in Brazil and many more around the world.

Prosecutors said the church tells its members it needs donations — cash, checks, cars and other goods — to finance new temples and to pay for religious programs on radio and TV.

The church allegedly used fake companies to launder the money, moving the assets abroad and then returning them in the form of loans used by Macedo and his accomplices to buy businesses, prosecutors said.

“There is proof that the money from the donations was used to attend to the personal interests of those being accused” and that they took advantage that the donations were not taxed to make investments in personal business, the prosecutors’ statement said.

Macedo, who founded the church in 1977, owns a large television network, three newspapers and several radio stations. He also owns a tourism agency and an air taxi company.

In the early 1990s, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God was investigated for embezzlement and tax evasion, but nothing was ever proven and the church grew stronger.

Brazil is the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, but recently the number of evangelicals has grown significantly among its population of about 190 million people.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho sliced through the 47-second barrier to triumph in the men’s 100 metres freestyle final amid another torrent of swimsuit-aided records at the world championships on Thurday.

The Brazilian stormed to a world record time of 46.91 to stun Olympic champion Alain Bernard, who came in second ahead of compatriot Frederick Bousquet.

“I saw Bernard in the last 25. I was hurting a lot but I thought he was hurting too because he wasn’t catching me,” Cielo Filho told reporters after beating the absent Eamon Sullivan’s Beijing Olympic mark of 47.05.

“I think the first 50 metres was the key to the race. I think today was just my lucky day.”

It was a bitter moment for Bernard, who had breached the 47 second mark at the French championships in April but his time was not ratified because his hi-tech swimsuit was not approved.

Polyurethane suits will be banned from next year after controversy over the scores of world records they have prompted, seven being shattered on Thursday to bring the total number for the championships to a staggering 29.

The worlds, which end on Sunday, will stand out in the swimming annals with many wanting asterisks to be put by records set in the suits, knowing they could take years to break when the sport returns to mere textile costumes.

If Gisele Bündchen over earn Adriana Lima as the best paid super model, the brunette takes a gold medal as the most beautiful on Twitter, according to The Sun The style NTOs had access to the profile – which is private – the top. Well, always beats a question: is it herself or just someone posing as Adriana Lima? But the amount of photo-making of the routine and the girl – if it’s not her, it must be someone very close. In the sixth (29), she posted pictures of scenes of Maybelline’s new campaign.

The Brazilian leads the list with 49 other super  models that use Twitter. To delirium of fans, the photos posted helped decide the ranking. The photos are really amazing. Hayden Panettiere, Jessica Alba, Taylor Swift, Ashanti, Audrey Kitching, Brooke Burke, DJ Tamara Sky, Tila Tequila and Lily Allen are the top 10. Adriana – aka @ misslima “for twitter users on duty – is so popular that it has several profiles, fan-clubs.

Gisele X Adriana

The magazine “Maxim” lists the ten most sexy women of the year and to the surprise of everyone Ms. Brady was out of the list and Adriana took the seventh place. “We apologize to you Tom Brady, the husband of Gisele Bündchen,  but Adriana will now represents the Brazilian beauty,” says the publication. Who disagrees?

And Adriana Lima has not stopped there. Girl-advertisement of Victorias Secret lingerie, has been voted the sixth sexiest woman in the world by the magazine “FHM.” The news of her pregnancy prints magazines and  newspapers around the world. “Marko little or Adri is coming soon ..:) kisses,” was his last post on Twitter.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Researchers have discovered a new sub-species of monkey in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest, a U.S.-based wildlife conservation group said on Tuesday.The newly found monkey was first spotted by scientists in 2007 in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and is related to thesaddleback tamarin monkeys, known for their distinctively marked backs, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said.

The small monkey, which is mostly gray and brown and weighs 213 grams (0.47 pound), has been named the Mura’s saddleback tamarin after the Mura Indian tribe of the Purus and Madeira riverbasins where the new sub-species was found.

It is 240 millimeters (9.4 inches) tall with a 320 millimeter (12.6 inch) tail.

“This newly described monkey shows that even today there are major wildlife discoveries to be made,” Fabio Rohe, the lead author of a study confirming the new discovery, said in a statement released by the WCS.

The study found that the monkey is threatened by development projects in the region, including a major highway through the forest that is being paved and which could fuel deforestation.

“This discovery should serve as a wake-up call that there is still so much to learn from the world’s wild places, yet humans continue to threaten these areas with destruction,” Rohe said.

(Reporting by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by Philip Barbara)

A last-gasp Kaka penalty snatched Brazil a 4-3 victory over a courageous Egypt in an exhilarating Group B opener at Free State Stadium. Dunga’s side carried a two-goal cushion in at the break, but a quick-fire double had the Pharaohs level until the former FIFA World Player’s second goal of the game injury time.

It took Brazil just five minutes to break the deadlock. There appeared to be little danger when Daniel Alves’s dink found Kaka inside a congested penalty area, but the No10 subtly tricked his way past two opponents before casually sliding the ball home.

Egypt responded swiftly, with Mohamed Aboutrika’s right-wing cross being headed in by Mohamed Zidan, but they fell behind again on 12 minutes, when Luis Fabiano’s head guided an Elano free-kick into the bottom corner of the net.

Elano and Juan both came close to doubling A Seleção’s lead, before the latter did just that by heading home the former’s corner in the 37th minute.

Egypt refused to submit to their more illustrious opponents, though, and scored twice in two minutes to restore parity, Mohamed Shawky’s firm, low drive from the edge of the box preceding a 55th-minute strike from Zidan.

Both sides then had their chances, but the game appeared destined for a 3-3 draw. That was until goal-bound Lucio effort was handled on the line by Ahmed Al Muhamadi. The Egypitan defender was sent off, and Kaka coolly passed the ball into the bottom corner of Essam El Hadary’s net to ensure Dunga’s side made a wininng start to the defence of their crown.