Brazil

• Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 07:38 UTC

  Fears of 'deforestation rush' in tropical rain forest if Brazilian congress passes bill to pave Amazon highway

  

  The lower house of Brazil's Congress passed a bill that allows the paving of highway BR319, which crosses the heart of the Amazon basin and which scientists and environmentalists claim threatens the future of the world's largest tropical rainforest. The bill still has to be approved by the Senate.

• Tuesday, December 26th 2023 - 10:12 UTC

  Brazil not giving up rescuing people from war-torn Gaza

  

  President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Brazil was still willing to welcome anyone who wanted to return from the Gaza Strip, Agencia Brasil reported. The head of state made those remarks on Christmas Day over lunch with a group of people who had arrived from the war-torn area on Dec. 23.

• Sunday, December 24th 2023 - 13:12 UTC

  Covid-19 shows social inequalities in Brazil and kills 2 in Bolivia

  

  According to a study by the National School of Public Health (Ensp/Fiocruz) released this week, COVID-19 turned out to be a reflection of the South American country's socioeconomic and health disparities while in Bolivia -a full Mercosur member since earlier this month- two people have died of the disease.

• Saturday, December 23rd 2023 - 09:58 UTC

  Child labor in Brazil goes up under Bolsonaro

  

  According to a study released this week by the statistics bureau IBGE, child labor went up in Brazil between 2019 and 2022 under then-President Jair Bolsonaro, Agencia Brasil reported.

• Saturday, December 23rd 2023 - 09:44 UTC

  Brazilian Air Force flight to repatriate people from Gaza takes off

  

  A Brazilian Air Force (FAB) KC-30 aircraft (the military version of the Airbus 330-200 passenger airliner), took off from Rio de Janeiro's Galeão Airport to bring back another batch group of nationals of the South American country who lived in the Gaza Strip, Agencia Brasil reported.

• Friday, December 22nd 2023 - 09:59 UTC

  Brazil: National Zumbi and Black Awareness holiday signed into law

  

  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Thursday signed into law a bill creating the National Day of Zumbi and Black Awareness holiday to be celebrated on Nov. 20, the anniversary of the death of the leader of Quilombo dos Palmares, Agencia Brasil reported.

• Wednesday, December 20th 2023 - 10:45 UTC

  IMF says Brazil is the 9th economy in the world

  

  According to a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released Tuesday, Brazil is now the ninth-largest economy in the world, thus displacing Canada from that position.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2023 - 10:14 UTC

  Brazil sees bilateral trade with Argentina falling in 2024

  

  Brazil's main financial and business publication, Valor Economico is forecasting that bilateral trade with Argentina is expected to fall in 2024, based on the recent measures announced by the government of president Javier Milei. In the eleven months of 2023, bilateral trade between Argentina and Brazil reached US$ 27 billion, with Brazilian exports totaling US$ 17bn, and Argentina US$ 11bn.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2023 - 10:00 UTC

  Brazilian court orders posts linking Covid-19 vax to VAIDS removed

  

  The 20th Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro Monday ordered the removal of publications on websites and Telegram channels linking Covid-19 vaccines with the alleged development of a “vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” (or VAIDS), Agencia Brasil reported.

• Monday, December 18th 2023 - 10:53 UTC

  Argentina to buy electricity from Brazil due to storm

  

  Following the disruption caused by last weekend's storms to the country's grid, Argentina will import electricity from Brazil on a transitory basis, it was reported Sunday, in addition to other emergency measures adopted to face the crisis and restore supply in parts of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CAMA) and its Metropolitan Area (AMBA).