Brazil creates rights medal named after Black writer, replacing princess
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazil’s leftist government on Monday abolished a human rights medal that former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro had named after the daughter of the country’s last monarch, replacing it with a prize named after a Black writer and abolitionist. The medal will now be named after Luiz Gama, who was a leader of the […]
Brazil grants permit to pave highway through heart of Amazon forest
Sao Paulo, BrazilReuters Brazil’s environmental authority on Thursday granted an initial permit that will allow a major highway to be paved through the centre of the Amazon rainforest, the minister of infrastructure said, in a move that threatens to increase deforestation. Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro on the campaign trail had pledged to repave the road, […]
In Brazil, former education minister and evangelical pastor is jailed in graft probe
Brasilia, BrazilAP A former education minister of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a federal police corruption investigation, further hurting the far-right leader’s bid for reelection. Milton Ribeiro left the post in March after Brazilian media reported leaked conversations of him with mayors who would allegedly be favored by the […]
Brazil’s Bolsonaro says Petropolis mudslide destruction looks like war zone
Petropolis, Brazil Reuters Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that the destruction in the mudslide disaster that killed at least 123 people in Petropolis looked like the mountain city had been hit by a war. “I saw intense destruction. It looked almost like there had been a war,” Bolsonaro said after flying over the […]
Updated: Heavy rains, flooding kill dozens in Brazil’s ‘Imperial City’
Updated: 11.45am (AEDT)Rio de Janeiro, BrazilReuters At least 94 people died in the historic Brazilian mountain town of Petropolis, local government officials said on Wednesday, after heavy rains caused mudslides that buried homes, flooded the streets and washed away cars and buses. Located in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, Petropolis, or the “Imperial City”, […]
Brazil’s Amazon deforestation surges to 15-year high, undercutting government pledge
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest soared 22 per cent in a year to the highest level since 2006, the government’s annual report showed on Thursday, undercutting President Jair Bolsonaro’s assurances that the country is curbing illegal logging. Brazil’s space research agency, INPE, recorded 13,235 square kilometres of deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest […]
As Brazil passes 600,000 COVID-19 deaths, vaccines offer hope worst is over
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilReuters Brazil became the second country in the world to pass 600,000 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, a dark milestone for a government that has been sharply criticised for mismanaging the outbreak. President Jair Bolsonaro has drawn the ire of health experts for his failure to implement measures to contain the pandemic. He […]
Brazil’s Indigenous protest ahead of landmark ruling over ancestral lands
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Hundreds of Indigenous people danced and chanted outside Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to urge the justices not to rule in favour of a cut-off date of 1988 for their land claims, a proposal backed by the farming sector. The protest has drawn an unprecedented 6,000 Indigenous people from 176 tribes to camp […]
Brazil must show Amazon protection is working, top donor Norway says
Oslo, NorwayReuters Brazil must demonstrate it can reduce the ongoing deforestation in the Amazon before Norway will resume payments in support of preserving the world’s largest rainforest, the Norwegian environment minister told Reuters. Norway worked closely with Brazil to protect the vulnerable ecosystem between 2008 and 2018, paying $US1.2 billion into the Amazon Fund, which […]
Differing views: Denialism grows among Christians in Brazil despite climbing coronavirus cases
EDUARDO CAMPOS LIMA reports from Brazil on how church leaders are responding to the coronavirus pandemic…