Brazil

• Tuesday, May 31st 2016 - 07:00 UTC

  Second cabinet knock out in Brazil: this time the Transparency minister

  

  Brazilian interim president Michel Temer's government has suffered a new blow when his anti-corruption minster resigned on Monday after leaked recordings showed him trying to squash a massive corruption scandal that has ensnarled the country's political and business elite.

• Monday, May 30th 2016 - 09:36 UTC

  Suspended Rousseff claims tapes reveal her impeachment is meant to stop the Petrobras corruption probe

  

  Suspended President Dilma Rousseff said in an interview published Sunday that leaked audio recordings of men backing her impeachment show the effort to oust her is meant to stop a wide-ranging corruption probe that has implicated numerous leading Brazilian politicians and businessmen.

• Monday, May 30th 2016 - 09:25 UTC

  Lula regrets having elected Dilma as his successor, according to taped conversation

  

  Ex Brazilian president Lula da Silva regrets having handpicked suspended president Dilma Rousseff as his political heiress, according to a taped conversation leaked to the media. In the audio between former president Jose Sarney and Sergio Machado, a former head of Transpetro, a state-run natural gas company, who is believed to have entered a plea bargain with the prosecution, the two men comment on Lula's confession.

• Monday, May 30th 2016 - 06:49 UTC

  Petrobras faces “tens of billions of dollars” in claims in US court; trial opens in September

  

  Petrobras will finally get its day in a U.S. court on Sept. 19 in a trial that pits 18 former executives and 13 investment banks, including J.P. Morgan Securities, against U.S. and U.K. investors. Claimants are seeking “tens of billions of dollars” in losses from the Brazilian oil and gas giant.

• Sunday, May 29th 2016 - 14:28 UTC

  World health experts call for Rio Olympics to be postponed or moved given Zika spread fears

  

  More than 100 health experts have called for the Rio Olympic Games to be postponed or moved because of fears that the event could speed up the spread of the Zika virus around the world, according to a public letter published online.

• Saturday, May 28th 2016 - 08:04 UTC

  Operation Condor condemns Argentine ex dictator and 14 top military officers

  

  Former Argentine dictator Reynaldo Bignone and 14 other ex-military officials were found guilty by an Argentine court on Friday of conspiring to kidnap and assassinate leftist dissidents as part of the Operation Condor program. Bignone, 88, the highest ranking figure on trial, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Fourteen of the remaining 16 defendants got eight to 25 years behind bars. Two were found not guilty.

• Saturday, May 28th 2016 - 07:27 UTC

  WHO public health advice regarding the Olympics and Zika virus

  

  Based on current assessment, cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus. Brazil is one of almost 60 countries and territories which to-date report continuing transmission of Zika by mosquitoes. People continue to travel between these countries and territories for a variety of reasons. The best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel advice.

• Saturday, May 28th 2016 - 06:25 UTC

  Rousseff's final impeachment vote in the Senate scheduled for August

  

  “The impeachment effort against suspended President Dilma Rousseff may reach a final decision in August, according to a work schedule presented Wednesday by Senator Antonio Anastasia, rapporteur of the current Procedural Commission for the Impeachment,” the state news agency Agencia Brasil reported on Wednesday.

• Thursday, May 26th 2016 - 06:53 UTC

  Rousseff claims Temer intends to “privatize” Brazil's pre-salt oil reserves

  

  Brazil's suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, on Wednesday accused interim head of state Michel Temer of intending to “privatize” the oil discovered in recent years in deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean and thus deprive the nation's education sector of funding.

• Thursday, May 26th 2016 - 05:36 UTC

  Brazil's senate president caught on recording trying to stifle the Petrobras investigation

  

  The president of Brazil's Senate was put on the defensive with the release of a secretly recorded conversation that reveals him proposing to weaken one of the key tools prosecutors have used to catch politicians and businessmen in a sweeping corruption scandal.