South Florida

As the world's ninth largest economy begins to bounce back from two years of recession and slow recovery, Brazilian foreign investment in South Florida real estate is booming and the Miami Association of Realtors says Brazil was the top foreign country buying homes here in 2018. 

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg made a campaign stop in South Florida on Monday, meeting with local students and holding a fundraiser in Wynwood where he discussed several national issues affecting the region.

During a nearly 20-minute speech in front of more than 70 people, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said his candidacy marks an opportunity to “change the channel” in Washington and make politics more accountable.

With next year's Super Bowl in Miami-Dade County expected to draw tens of thousands of tourists to the area, a new project aims to promote sustainability and mitigate the environmental impact of the event. 

The 'Ocean to Everglades' initiative, which will begin in the coming months and run through February 2020, will feature beach cleanups, mangrove planting and coral restoration. It also seeks to harness attention on the Super Bowl to create more awareness about challenges facing South Florida’s environment, organizers say. 

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says immigrants and non-citizens in South Florida should not fear a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

During a visit to Miami Thursday to meet with local business leaders, Ross—who oversees the census—emphasized that Census Bureau workers cannot share people’s responses with other government authorities. The comment came in response to continuing concerns that immigrants will sit out the census for fear their answers could be released to federal immigration authorities.

Venezuelan art dealer Romy Moreno was in South Florida last month when she got an urgent call from her husband, Roberto Marrero, in Caracas.

Agents of Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro were ransacking their apartment and arresting Marrero – who is the chief of staff to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó. The U.S. and 50 other countries recognize Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president.

City of Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam is scheduled to announce his 2020 presidential bid on March 30.

First-term U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala says she is working to address climate change in South Florida by pushing for Everglades restoration, carbon fees and federal infrastructure improvements.

Mulling a run for president as an independent, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a speech at Miami-Dade College Wednesday that his presidency would be committed to bipartisanship and restoring civility and dignity in the U.S.

In front of more than 100 students and other invitees, Schultz criticized some Democrats for being too extreme and offered a glimpse of how he would campaign in South Florida.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Academy Award-winning Mexican film “Roma,” has shined a long overdue spotlight on the world’s domestic workers.

In his acceptance speech after Roma won an Oscar for “Best Foreign-Language” film, Cuarón thanked the Academy of Motion Pictures for recognizing a movie about an indigenous domestic worker, which he describes as “a character that historically had been regulated in the background in cinema.”

Miami has the highest household vacancy rate among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, according to a new study by the online loan marketplace, LendingTree.

Vacancies include housing that is for seasonal use or that is for sale or for rent and unoccupied. Using data recorded by the Census Bureau, LendingTree calculated that 17 percent of the Miami metro area’s 2.5 million households are vacant.

Maria Diaz was confident that Saturday would mark a major step toward the collapse of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

As she walked out of a community forum in Weston on Venezuela’s political turmoil early in the afternoon, Diaz—who’s Venezuelan—learned the opposition had successfully sent some humanitarian aid shipments into the country. Carlos Vecchio, the opposition’s ambassador to the U.S., was also at the event and cheered with hundreds of attendees upon hearing the news. He said pressure on Maduro would only intensify.