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Brazil judge blocks Amazon Belo Monte dam
A Brazilian judge has blocked plans to build a huge hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest because of environmental concerns.
Federal judge Ronaldo Desterro said environmental requirements to build the Belo Monte dam had not been met.
He also barred the national development bank, BNDES, from funding the project.
The project has faced protests and challenges from environmentalists and local indigenous groups who say it will harm the world's largest tropical rainforest and displace tens of thousands of people.
Judge Desterro said the Brazilian environmental agency, Ibama, had approved the project without ensuring that 29 environmental conditions had been met.
In particular, he said concerns that the dam would disrupt the flow of the Xingu river - one of the Amazon's main tributaries - had not been met.