Brazil

• Tuesday, February 18th 2020 - 06:31 UTC

  Mercosur urgent health ministers meeting to address dengue, measles and coronavirus threat

  

  Mercosur health ministers will be holding an urgent meeting this week in Paraguay to address the spread of dengue, the outbreak of measles and the possible arrival of the China coronavirus to the region.

• Tuesday, February 18th 2020 - 06:25 UTC

  Bolsonaro insists in a good relation with Argentina, and insists in meeting with Alberto Fernandez

  

  Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday he wants a “good relationship” with Argentina and it is up to the foreign ministers of both countries to agree on a meeting with his peer Alberto Fernandez, since the announced summit scheduled for March first in Montevideo, had fallen through.

• Saturday, February 15th 2020 - 09:05 UTC

  Bolsonaro celebrates crime index falls to its lowest level in more than a decade

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro celebrated Friday after a crime index showed homicides fell to their lowest level in more than a decade during the first year of his term.

• Saturday, February 15th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  Mystery virus Yara, with genes never seen before, uncovered in Brazil

  

  A new, mystery virus, with genes never seen before in any life form, has been uncovered in Brazil, scientists say. The Yaravirus, which was named after Yara, a mythological Brazilian water goddess, was found in Lake Pampulha, an artificial lagoon in the city of Belo Horizonte, according to a new research paper on BioRxiv.

• Friday, February 14th 2020 - 09:51 UTC

  Brazilian base in Antarctica records a temperature peak of 20.75 degrees Celsius

  

  Scientists in Antarctica have recorded a new record temperature of 20.75 degrees Celsius, breaking the barrier of 20 degrees for the first time on the continent, a researcher said on Thursday.

• Friday, February 14th 2020 - 09:50 UTC

  Lula receives papal blessing at the Vatican; not a word in Francis official agenda

  

  Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva met on Thursday with Pope Francis at the Vatican, received a papal blessing and said the two discussed prospects for a “more just and fraternal world.”

• Friday, February 14th 2020 - 08:47 UTC

  Brazil's Real among the worst performing currencies this year, shrinks 8%

  

  Brazil’s currency fell below 4.35 reais per dollar for the first time this week, as weaker-than-expected retail sales figures gave renewed impetus to the selling that has picked up notable momentum in recent days.

• Thursday, February 13th 2020 - 10:15 UTC

  Argentina/Falklands dispute at the Badminton Pan Am Cup 2020 in Brazil

  

  Argentina is threatening a Falkland Islands team to play under the name “Islas Malvinas” or to pull out of an international competition, it has been claimed. Falkland Islands Badminton are vowing to “not give in to bullies” amid alleged tensions ahead of the Badminton Pan Am Male & Female Cup 2020, which is due to commence on Thursday.

• Thursday, February 13th 2020 - 10:10 UTC

  Bolsonaro-Alberto Fernandez summit and “cordial embrace” in Montevideo next March first

  

  Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has proposed a meeting with his Argentine peer Alberto Fernandez on March first in Montevideo when Uruguayan president-elect Luis Lacalle Pou takes office. The information was announced by Argentine foreign minister Felipe Solá, after meeting president Bolsonaro for fifty minutes at his office in Brasilia.

• Thursday, February 13th 2020 - 10:08 UTC

  Brazilian economic model is changing, “lower interest rates and a weaker Real”

  

  Brazilian Economy minister Paulo Guedes said that the economic model has changed and no long is made up of high interest rates and a strong Real. His comments follow concerns that the exchange rate of the Real against the US dollar has been increasing sustainedly for the last few days.