Hooded youngsters blocked one of Rio do Janeiro's main highways connecting with neighboring Niteroi and set on fire several buses and vehicles to protest the killing of two youths during weekend police operations in the shanty town (favela) of Caramujo. To the north in Salvador-Bahía, Brazilian army patrolling is unable to control crime.
The US government will stand before the Supreme Court on Monday in support of Argentina's position in its ongoing legal fight with bond investors over a ruling which forces banks in New York, with which Argentina does business, to disclose information about the country's non US assets, as investors seek repayment.
The world’s largest ever swarm of genetically modified mosquitoes has been released in a Brazilian town to combat dengue -- a leading cause of illness and fatality in several Mercosur countries, except for Uruguay.
Brazil's economy grew at a 0.24% rate in February, compared to the previous month, the Central Bank said Wednesday. The Central Bank's Index of Economic Activity indicates that the economy grew 1.63% in February, compared to February 2013, while year-on-year growth was 2.41%, up from the 2.29% figure reported in the previous month.
Food prices in Brazil have started to ease and should bring inflation down in coming months, central bank chief Alexandre Tombini said on Wednesday, reinforcing views that policymakers are ready to wrap up their year-long campaign of rate hikes. He reiterated that a significant part of the impact of past rate increases on inflation has yet to be felt.
Notorious Argentine barras bravas football hooligans can travel to the World Cup without intelligence being passed on beforehand to hosts Brazil, a court has ruled. The court in Buenos Aires said that the Argentine government is not allowed to tell another country personal information about its citizens, a lawyer for the United Argentine Fans (HUA) supporters' group said on Wednesday.
Brazil's government ordered 5,000 army troops to one of the host cities for the coming World Cup to provide law and order after a police strike led to civil unrest and looting.On Wednesday, the troops entered Salvador, the capital of Bahia state in northeastern Brazil, the state where police began striking on Tuesday night followed by the ransacking of shops and supermarkets, according to local reports.
Japan Nissan's top executives travelled to Resende, Rio do Janeiro state on Tuesday to inaugurate a complex designed to turn out 200,000 vehicles and engines per year with the goal of capturing 5% of Brazil's new car market by 2016.
United States Vice President Joe Biden is planning to be among the crowds at this summer's World Cup soccer tournament. The White House announced Monday that Biden would travel to Brazil for the event in June. He also plans to attend a U.S. national team game.
A team of French and Brazilian researchers warn that chikungunya virus is poised to invade, and become epidemic in the Americas according to research published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.