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It wasn’t long ago that Brazil planned to retrofit its vintage aircraft carrier  Sao Paulo  to last until 2039. No longer. Instead, Brazil will  retire the 32,800-ton flattop  during the next three years, according to a report in IHS Jane’s. With Argentina having given up on carriers, Brazil’s decision will leave the United States with the only operational carriers in the Western Hemisphere. Sao Paulo  was originally the  Foch , a  Clemenceau -class carrier which first launched in 1960. During her 40 years in service with the French navy,  Foch ’s air wings dodged Yemeni MiGs, intervened in the Lebanese civil war and bombed Serbia during the Kosovo conflict. France sold  Foch  to Brazil in 2000, and the renamed  Sao Paulo  carried out exercises and launched Brazil’s AF-1 Skyhawk attack planes from her flat, catapult-launch deck — similar to U.S. carriers and the  Charles de Gaulle , France’s sole remaining fleet carrier. Sao Paulo  does not have the distinction of being Brazil’s fi

Brazilian army troops begin patrolling the streets of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, January 22, 2017. (Photo by AFP) Brazil's Defense Ministry has dispatched troops into the streets of Rio de Janeiro to maintain security as the country's second largest city prepares for a mass carnival amid anti-austerity protests and low morale among police. "From this moment, the defense ministry is mobilizing troops," said the ministry in a statement issued late Monday as troops began deploying in the city. On Tuesday, President Michel Temer issued a decree, saying that the army deployment in Rio de Janeiro's metropolitan area would be allowed until February 22, one week before the city ends its carnival season, a period during which street parties take place every day. Rio de Janeiro's Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao had requested authorization for the army’s policing of the entire Rio state until March 5. Defense Minister Raul Jungmann was to give more details ab