Police in Brazil have arrested the vice president of the social media company Facebook in Latin America. Diego Dzodan, an Argentine national, has repeatedly refused to comply with court orders to hand over data for use in a criminal investigation into drugs trafficking, police said. His arrest relates to the messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Facebook.
A member of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff’s inner circle who masterminded her two successful election campaigns, Joao Santana is accused by prosecutors of receiving payment for his services in money illegally siphoned from state oil company Petrobras.
Brazilian miner Vale SA put its prime assets on the block on Thursday after taking the biggest loss in decades, but analysts said the target to make $10 billion in 18 months was unrealistic and expressed concern a fire sale could destroy equity value.
Petrobras corruption investigation keeps gobbling Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff former cabinet members, but also political figures from other leading political parties. On Wednesday the Supreme Court authorized formal investigations into Rousseff’s former chief-of-staff, as well as the mayor of the country’s largest city and an opposition senator, for potential corruption.
Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday joined the two other major credit rating agencies in downgrading Brazil's sovereign debt to junk territory. Moody's lowered Brazil's credit rating by two notches from Baa3 (its lowest investment-grade rating) to Ba2 and changed the country's outlook to negative, a move that follows similar actions by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's.
Brazil’s former president Lula da Silva may have known about or been involved in “criminal practices” including corruption and bribery, Federal Police said, as the widening Petrobras corruption investigation crept closer to the popular leader.
Brazilian authorities have charged the president of mining company Samarco and six others with homicide for the mining disaster that killed 19 people last November. Police in Minas Gerais State have asked for Ricardo Vescovi, along with five other Samarco executives and one contractor to be arrested.
The biggest fireball since the Chelyabinsk explosion has plunged through the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean. The event, which has only just come to light, occurred off the coast of Brazil at 13:55 GMT on 6 February.
President Dilma Rousseff's main coalition partner, the fractious Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PDMB), re-elected a key ally of hers as its leader in the lower house of Congress last week, enhancing her chances of blocking impeachment.
Unemployment in Brazil was 9% during the September-November rolling quarter, unchanged from the August-October period, the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics reported.