Brazil had a record number of murders last year, with homicides rising 3.7% from 2016 to 63,880 according to a study released on Thursday, just months before a presidential election in which violence has become a key issue.
Brazil is staging its first presidential election debate with eight of the crowded field locking horns but also one notable absentee – jailed frontrunner ex president Lula da Silva. Thirteen candidates have officially entered the election, which starts with a first round October 7 and is almost sure to go to a run-off two weeks later.
Brazil's auto exports tumbled 21% in July from a month ago, the country's automakers' association said on Tuesday, blaming a monetary crisis in neighboring Argentina for the shortfall and adding that it expects exports to be steady for the year, not higher as it had predicted before last month.
Inflation in Brazil slowed for the first time in two months in July as the impact of a May nationwide truckers' strike dimmed, reinforcing the view that a recent price spike would not last long.
Argentina's main prosecutor's office said it has reached a deal with its Brazilian counterpart to use testimony reached through plea bargains in the Operation Car Wash corruption case in local graft investigations.
Brazil's Workers' Party announced on Monday that former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad will become its presidential candidate if, as expected, jailed ex-president Lula da Silva is barred from running in the October election.
A Brazilian federal court has ordered a block on Venezuelans crossing the border from their economically imploding country, but there was no indication on Monday of the suspension yet taking effect.
The Brazil Health Ministry website reported there have been 1,053 measles cases and 5 deaths, as of August 2, 2018. This negative news is a significant increase from the July 20th Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) report, which said Brazil had confirmed 677 measles cases during 2018.
Far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro picked an army reserve general on Sunday to be his running mate for Brazil's October elections. Bolsonaro, who is the candidate of the Social Liberal Party, announced his choice of reserve Gen. Hamilton Mourao, who belongs to the right-wing Brazilian Labor Renewal Party.
Brazil's leftist Workers' Party nominated its charismatic founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the upcoming presidential contest on Saturday despite him being imprisoned for corruption. In a message from Lula read to the party convention in Sao Paulo, he said, Brazil needs to restore its democracy. Although serving a 12-year sentence for corruption, Lula, 72, remains by far the frontrunner in opinion polls.