Flooding and landslides displaced around 3,600 people in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 110 km (68 miles) apart, while 27 people remain missing, the fire department added

International News via Reuters:

The death toll from the heavy rains in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais has risen to 40, according to figures released by the state fire department on Wednesday.

Flooding and landslides displaced around 3,600 people in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 110 km (68 miles) apart, while 27 people remain missing, the fire department added. 

Juiz de Fora resident Ricardo Dutra was comforted by relatives and friends on Wednesday during the funeral of his 11-year-old son Bernardo Lopes Dutra, while worrying about the condition of his daughter and wife, both hospitalized.  

“I’m trying to pick up the pieces,” he said.

FEELING OF POWERLESSNESS 

As the rains eased on Tuesday evening, authorities and volunteers worked to assist residents who lost their homes and loved ones in the flooding. 

Juiz de Fora Mayor Margarida Salomao urged people living in high-risk areas to leave and seek help at shelters set up by the city government, which is still in a state of calamity.

Brazil’s federal government has sped up relief and humanitarian aid to the region, sending health agents and national defense professionals, according to a statement.

“No matter how hard you try, at some point you feel powerless. You witness a situation like this – people trapped in the rubble – and there is nothing more you can do, your contribution has a limit,” said Nalvan Luiz, a friend of Bernardo Dutra, at the funeral.

Much of Brazil enters the peak of its rainy season during summer, from December to March, bringing frequent intense downpours, thunderstorms, flooding and mudslides.

The Juiz de Fora city hall said this has been the rainiest February in the city’s history, with rainfall already more than double the amount expected for the month.

Reporting by Isabel Teles in Sao Paulo and Sergio Queiroz in Juiz de Fora; Editing by Aurora Ellis

The sector’s growth should be used to maximise social benefits such as reducing public healthcare spending and advancing gender equality

International News via Reuters:

Extreme weather threatens annual revenue growth in the $2.3 trillion sports economy, where expansion is driven mainly by tourism tied to resource-depleting global events such as the just-concluded Milano Cortina Games, a report has shown.

The sector’s growth should be used to maximise social benefits such as reducing public healthcare spending and advancing gender equality.

That entails tackling the threat the industry faces from climate change and nature loss – which it risks exacerbating through its own footprint, said Tony Simpson, partner and global sports industry lead at consultancy Oliver Wyman, the report’s authors.

“Sports has more power than any other sector to drive behaviour because it sees itself as a community asset. And if you’re a community asset, you need to act as one,” he told Reuters.

Elite sports’ $140  billion slice of the industry is dwarfed by sports tourism worth $672 billion and a sporting goods sector with annual turnover of $612 billion, the report prepared for the World Economic Forum showed.

The fastest-expanding segment of the overall tourism industry, sports tourism is forecast to account for 60% of total sports economy revenue increase until 2030. 

Participatory sports and sports-driven revenues in sectors such as broadcasting, nutrition, wearable technologies complete the picture of an economy which the report said is set to grow to $3.7 trillion by 2030 and $8.8 trillion by 2050.

For the report, Oliver Wyman analysts gathered and cross-checked data from organisations including major leagues, investors, sponsors and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, Simpson said, adding the project required more than 5,000 hours of work.

“By showing how large the sports economy is — and doing so through a rigorous process … — this report highlights what’s at stake if we don’t put the right behaviours in place,” he added.

HEATWAVES AND FLOODS

Growing youth inactivity and extreme weather events disrupting competitions, the natural landscape and supply chains could cost the sports industry over $500 billion in lost revenue by 2030, the study found.

“There are fewer young men aged 15 to 25 playing football at weekends than ever,” Simpson said, highlighting a trend that undermines the future fan base.

While women’s rising involvement and more children joining organised activities lift the overall numbers, “the ‘core’ segment — young men playing sport — has shrunk,” he said.

Meanwhile weather events such as extreme heat, floods, lack of snowfall and pollution can lead to competitions being cancelled, hurting media coverage and advertising slots.

Last year, France experienced heat waves ahead of the Tour de France, forcing cyclists to find ways to cope with sweltering temperatures. 

“Broadcasters are increasingly writing into contracts the risk that events may not take place because of extreme weather – which means lower advertising revenues,” Simpson said.

Outdoor activities account for more than 90% of media rights revenues in professional sport and 76% of sponsorship revenues – the sector’s two main revenue streams.

As for community sport, in the UK alone adverse weather conditions translate into around 320 million pounds ($433 million) in lost income and maintenance costs annually.

However, growing awareness among sponsors and investors as sport evolves can help channel its positive effects through “impact investing”, Simpson said.

“Sponsors increasingly want their money to drive outcomes, not just put a logo on a shirt,” he said, pointing to Standard Chartered’s sponsorship of Liverpool FC, which has led the club to set up community programmes for women and girls or support recycling initiatives.

“That’s financial incentives driving social outcomes — and major brands are now pushing for exactly that,” he said.

($1 = 0.7391 pounds)

Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Italy hosted the Winter Games from February 6 to 22

International News via Reuters:

Luxury hotels led a sharp rise in Milan room rates during the Winter Olympics, a local industry lobby said on Wednesday, confirming that visitors to the Games skewed towards big spenders.

Italy hosted the Winter Games from February 6 to 22.

While Alpine resorts such as Cortina d’Ampezzo and Bormio were home to the mountain sports, indoor activities like figure and speed skating or ice hockey took place in Milan.

High hotel occupancy in the city contrasted with weak demand

for short-term rentals.

Ticket prices running into several hundred euros put the events out of reach for many, filling the ice arenas with deep-pocketed spectators.

The average price of a hotel room in Milan rose to 319 euros per night between February 3 and 23, up from 225 euros in the same period last year, industry association Federalberghi Milano told Reuters.

Five-star hotels recorded the steepest increase, with average rates 87% higher than in 2025, while prices rose 46% for four-star properties and about 20% for three-star hotels.

Rates peaked between February 11 and 14, the association said.

Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee

Vujcic, currently Croatia’s central bank governor, was picked by euro zone’s finance ministers last month

International News via Reuters:

The European Central Bank on Wednesday approved the appointment of Boris Vujcic as its new Vice-President for an eight-year term starting in June.

Vujcic, currently Croatia’s central bank governor, was picked by euro zone’s finance ministers last month.

Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Toby Chopra