Brazil

• Thursday, July 2nd 2020 - 08:12 UTC

  Brazil's WhatsApp payment messaging service lifts antitrust ruling, but still faces central bank objections

  

  Brazilian antitrust watchdog Cade on Tuesday said it was revoking its previous decision suspending Facebook Inc’s recently launched WhatsApp payments messaging service in partnership with card processor Cielo SA.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2020 - 08:07 UTC

  Integration bridge connecting Paraguay with Brazil in under construction

  

  Construction work is being carried out for the Puente de la Integracion bridge connecting Paraguay with Brazil. The bridge spans the Parana River and connects Presidente Franco in Paraguay with Foz de Iguazu in Brazil.

• Wednesday, July 1st 2020 - 10:34 UTC

  Macron in a rally declares he opposes the trade agreement of EU with Mercosur

  

  French president, Emmanuel Macron, declared his opposition to the free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur. In addition, 265 civil society organizations were also mobilized against the agreement. The decision follows the defeat of Macron in the municipal elections and the strong advance of the Greens.

• Wednesday, July 1st 2020 - 08:36 UTC

  Chinese May imports of Brazilian soybeans at their highest level in two years

  

  Beijing customs data indicates that Chinese soy imports from Brazil (now its largest supplier), reached its highest level in two years in May. China is the world’s largest importer of soy.

• Tuesday, June 30th 2020 - 10:03 UTC

  WHO calls on Brazil to do more and integrate efforts at different levels of government

  

  Brazil still faces a “big challenge” to curb the coronavirus pandemic and should do more to integrate its efforts at different levels of government, a top World Health Organization official said on Monday.

• Monday, June 29th 2020 - 10:29 UTC

  Massive support in Brazil for democracy, and only 10% for a military dictatorship

  

  Some 75% of Brazilians support the country's current democracy, a poll by Datafolha released on Sunday showed, while just 10% of citizens support a dictatorship, the highest and lowest levels of support for the two forms of government in at least 30 years.

• Monday, June 29th 2020 - 10:25 UTC

  Controversy deepens in Rio de Janeiro following the re-opening of the football season

  

  The Rio de Janeiro state football championship restarted once again on Sunday as Botafogo - one of the clubs opposed to what they see as a premature resumption of top-level football - took the field with a banner protesting the decision.

• Monday, June 29th 2020 - 07:23 UTC

  Brazil signs agreement to purchase millions of AstrZeneca Oxford University vaccine to fight Covid-19

  

  Brazil announced over the weekend that it had signed a US$ 127 million agreement to start producing locally an experimental vaccine developed by AstraZeneca that has shown promise to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Saturday, June 27th 2020 - 08:14 UTC

  Brazil fears the Covid-19 “boomerang effect” from smaller towns to major cities

  

  The novel coronavirus, now spreading through the smaller towns of Brazil's interior, risks returning to major cities in a so-called “boomerang effect,” as a lack of specialized medical treatment forces patients into larger urban centers.

• Saturday, June 27th 2020 - 08:10 UTC

  Bolsonaro appeals court ruling requiring him to wear a face mask

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appealed a court ruling on Friday that requires him to wear a face mask in public during the coronavirus pandemic, calling it “unnecessary.” The attorney-general's office, which represents the government in legal matters, said the ruling was redundant since face masks are already mandatory in Brasilia.