Brazil

Wednesday, August 7th 2019 - 08:20 UTC
Brazilian drug dealer who failed in attempt to escape dressed as his daughter, found dead in his cell

Prison authorities in Brazil have found convicted drug dealer Clauvino da Silva dead in his cell, three days after an elaborate escape was foiled. Prison officials said it appeared that Silva had hanged himself.
Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 12:55 UTC
No end in Brazil to controversy, while deforestation continues: 67% increase over the same period last year

Deforestation in Brazil's rainforest has jumped around 67% in the first seven months of the year, according to preliminary data from Brazil's space research agency, which the government has attacked as misleading and harmful to the national interest.
Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 10:30 UTC
The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt stretches 5.592 miles, fed with rich nutrients from farms along the Amazon river

Slimy, stinky brown seaweed that ruins beachgoers' vacations from Mexico to Florida may be the new normal unless Brazil halts Amazon deforestation, experts say. The culprit, called sargassum, turns clear-blue seawater a murky brown and smells like rotten eggs when it washes ashore and starts to rot.
Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 09:48 UTC
Bolsonaro argues that disarming people is not going to stop mass shootings

President Jair Bolsonaro argued for his signature policy of relaxing gun control measures, saying they will not stop mass shootings such as those that left 31 dead in the US over the weekend. “Disarming people isn't going to keep that from happening,” Bolsonaro said.
Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 09:47 UTC
Brazilian gang leader caught trying to escape from prison dressed as his teenage daughter

A Brazilian gang leader tried to escape from prison by impersonating his teenage daughter, complete with a lifelike silicone mask and wig, before attempting to walk out the front door in her place after she visited him.
Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 09:33 UTC
Economists forecast further interest rate cuts by Brazil's central bank

Economists lowered their forecasts for where Brazil’s benchmark Selic interest rate will be at the end of 2019, a weekly central bank survey showed on Monday, after policymakers cut rates more aggressively than most expected to a record low last week.
Monday, August 5th 2019 - 12:48 UTC
Brazil to cut down gas imports from Bolivia

The Brazilian oil company Petrobras has announced that in the coming months it will reduce its imports of Bolivian natural gas, which it still considers to be essential nonetheless.
Monday, August 5th 2019 - 09:58 UTC
Sacked head of Brazil's space agency insists that rising deforestation in the Amazon was undeniable

Ricardo Galvao, the sacked head of Brazil’s space research agency, said the trend of sharply rising deforestation was undeniable, a day after he was fired following a public spat with President Jair Bolsonaro over data published by the agency.
Monday, August 5th 2019 - 09:07 UTC
Telefonica Brazil and three sub contractors responsible of engaging slave labor

Leading mobile company Telefonica Brasil and three firms in its supply chain have been found guilty of engaging in slave labor, authorities said this week. A panel of labor judges in Espirito Santo state ruled that Telefonica, publicly traded as Vivo in Brazil, was guilty after workers toiled in slavery-like conditions during the building of a cellphone tower in 2014.
Saturday, August 3rd 2019 - 20:47 UTC
Amazon deforestation: Bolsonaro ready to sack official who exposed him

The head of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research said on Friday he was going to be sacked following a row with President Jair Bolsonaro over deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.