Brazil: Amazon hydro-electric dam gets key backing

Brazil's environment agency has backed construction of a hydro-electric dam in the Amazon, opposed by indigenous groups and environmentalists.

The agency, Ibama, said the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River had been subjected to "robust analysis" of its impact on the environment.

The government says the dam is key to meeting Brazil's growing energy needs. The BBC's Paulo Cabral said the dam project was now likely to go ahead.