Brazil

BRASILIA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday that a proposed amendment to the Constitution being drafted by the government along with Congress will allow the reduction of federal and state taxes on fuel, electricity and cooking gas.

With the measure, which comes in a presidential election year, the president aims to reduce the price of basic items that have weighed heavily on Brazilian consumers and pushed inflation up to 10.06% at the end of 2021, its highest annual rate since 2015. 

24 Jan 2022; MEMO: Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva has called for supporting Palestinians' right to establish a state, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Da Silva reiterated his view that the UN should be restructured so that progress can be made regarding major issues such as "the creation of a Palestinian state." The leftist leader also called for ending America's power of veto at the UN Security Council.

BRASILIA, Jan 22 (NNN-XINHUA) — Brazil reported 166,539 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the third consecutive day on which the country registered more than 160,000 cases, the National Council of Health Secretaries said.

The new cases have brought the nationwide tally to 23,751,782, it said.

Meanwhile, the country registered 358 deaths in the past day, taking the national death toll to 622,563, it said, adding the released figures did not include those from the state of Ceara.

RAPOSA SERRA DO SOL INDIGENOUS TERRITORY, Brazil (AP) — The mining encampment that stretches across a mountainside in Brazil’s Amazon is dotted with plastic tarpaulin covers. Under them, dozens of men toil in rocky pits, excavating sacks of ore to be transported by truck. Gold will be extracted from the ore.

BRASILIA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - At least seven people died and nine were seriously injured when a wall of rock collapsed on top of motor boats below a waterfall in southeastern Brazil on Saturday, the fire department said.

A tower of rocks suddenly broke away from the canyon wall and came crashing down on several leisure boats, sending out a huge wave over the lake at Capitolio, in Minas Gerais state.

Videos posted on social media showed tourists shouting as the column of rock crashed into the water, smashing two boats.

BRASILIA, Jan 7 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil recorded the first death from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 yesterday, in the city of Aparecida de Goiania of Goias state.

The municipality reported that, the victim was a 68-year-old man with high blood pressure, suffering from “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” who was admitted to a local hospital.

The patient was a contact of a confirmed Omicron case, and had received three vaccine doses.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rejected an offer of aid from Argentina, saying on Thursday that his country did not need the assistance dealing with deadly floods that have affected broad swaths of the country's northeast and killed dozens.

His comments drew a quick rebuke from the governor of hard-hit Bahia state, who said local authorities would welcome help from any nation and that foreign countries should feel free to contact the state directly.

SAO PAULO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas will run for governor of Sao Paulo state in next year's elections.

In televised remarks to journalists outside the presidential palace in Brasilia, Bolsonaro said Freitas would run on the ticket of the center-right Liberal Party (PL), which Bolsonaro joined in November.

"It's certain that Tarcisio will be our candidate," he said.

BRASILIA, Dec 18 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Good and bad news for Brazil’s beef exports. China finally lifted the ban on Brazilian beef and allowed the resumption of shipments to the great Asian market. But several of the main retailers in Britain and the European Union have announced the banning of Brazilian beef in their shelves because meat processors are using cattle linked to the Amazon and Pantanal deforestation.

BRASILIA, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro had a "direct and relevant" role in spreading disinformation about the country's electoral process during live streams on social media, a federal police document reviewed by Reuters on Friday said.

Federal police commissioner Denisse Ribeiro wrote in the document that Bolsonaro's streams had a "clear purpose" of misguiding Brazilians in regards to the integrity of the country's elections.