Tag Archives: Brazil

The Independent reports: The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was able to combat a new variant that was rapidly circulating in Brazil, a new study has found. The research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the engineered version of the virus, containing the same mutation carried on the spike protein as the highly contagious …

Reuters reports: After two straight days of record COVID-19 deaths in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday told Brazilians to stop “whining” and move on, in his latest remarks attacking distancing measures and downplaying the gravity of the pandemic. Brazil has the world’s second-highest death toll over the past year, after the United States. While the U.S. outbreak is ebbing, …

NPR reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said he had begun the process of reaching out formally to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, making the far-right South American leader one of the last world leaders to do so. In an interview with Brazil’s TV Band, Bolsonaro said that with the vote now confirmed by the U.S. Electoral College, he would …

Reuters reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he won’t take any working COVID-19 vaccine himself and calls the use of masks to limit the spread of the disease “the last taboo to fall.” Bolsonaro’s comments, broadcast on his social media channels Thursday night, alarmed health experts who said they could undermine efforts to achieve vaccination levels essential to halting the …

Agence France-Presse reports: President Jair Bolsonaro drew criticism Tuesday for telling Brazilians not to deal with Covid-19 like “a country of fags,” the far-right leader’s latest controversial outburst on the pandemic. Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the virus even as it has killed 163,000 people in Brazil,  made the comment during a meandering speech at the presidential palace in which …

The Insider reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday called for “humility” in the 2020 United States presidential election and began to pull away from President Donald Trump, despite being considered one of his closest allies on the global stage. Bolsonaro said Trump is “not the most important person in the world,” he said. “The most important person is God,” …

NBC News reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro endorsed President Trump for a second term on Tuesday, becoming the latest international leader to lend their support for the president. “God willing I will be able to attend” Trump’s second inauguration, Bolsonaro said. He added that he won’t “interfere” in the election but “it is from the heart.” First elected in 2018, …

The Guardian reports: Jair Bolsonaro’s efforts to portray himself as an anti-corruption crusader have suffered another blow after police reportedly seized a wad of bank notes from between the clenched buttocks of one of his allies. Chico Rodrigues, the Brazilian president’s deputy leader in the senate, was reportedly caught with the concealed bundle on Wednesday during a police search of …

USA Today reports: Rio de Janeiro delayed its annual Carnival parade, saying Thursday night that the global spectacle cannot go ahead in February because of Brazil’s continued vulnerability to the pandemic. Rio’s League of Samba Schools, LIESA, announced that the spread of the coronavirus has made it impossible to safely hold the traditional parades that are a cultural mainstay and, …

The New York Daily News reports: The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is once again making headlines for his handling of the coronavirus crisis.  “No one can force anyone to get a vaccine,” Bolsonaro told a supporter on Monday, according to the Brazilian news site UOL. The far-right leader of South America’s largest country was responding to a woman who …

Vox reports: The Trump administration has been accused of attempting to pressure another foreign country into helping Trump’s reelection prospects, according to a letter from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. That letter cites Brazilian news articles that report US Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman [photo] pressured members of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration to lower ethanol tariffs in order to …

CNN reports: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday he felt weak and might have “mold in the lung” having spent weeks in isolation after catching Covid-19. In his first Facebook live video since recovering from Covid-19, Bolsonaro said: “I’ve just taken a blood exam. I was a bit weak yesterday. They have also found a bit of an infection. …

Reuters reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday that he has tested negative for the novel coronavirus after weeks quarantined in his residence due to an infection. In a photo posted to social media, Bolsonaro appeared with a box of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug he credited for his recovery despite a lack of scientific evidence about its effectiveness. In …

Reuters reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has had another positive result for the novel coronavirus in the third test he has taken since falling ill on July 7, a secretariat of the Communications Ministry said on Wednesday. “The test carried out on the president yesterday, on the 21st, showed a positive result,” a statement said. “President Bolsonaro is still in …

The Guardian reports: Brazil’s government has fired an official at the national space agency Inpe whose department is responsible for satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest, just three days after June deforestation data reflected a continued increase in degradation. Lubia Vinhas was the general-coordinator of Brazilian space agency Inpe’s Earth Observation Institute, which is an umbrella for divisions that monitor …

The Latin American Herald Tribune reports: The Brazilian Press Association announced  today that it will file a lawsuit before the Supreme Court against President Jair Bolsonaro, whom it accuses of “endangering” the journalists who attended the announcement of his positive COVID-19 test result. “Despite knowing he was infected with COVID-19, President Jair Bolsonaro continues to act in a criminal manner …

The Associated Press reports: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday vetoed provisions of a law that obligated the federal government to provide drinking water, disinfectants and a guarantee of hospital beds to indigenous communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazil’s indigenous population of roughly 850,000 is more vulnerable to the COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, as they live …

Reuters reports: Facebook Inc on Wednesday suspended a network of social media accounts it said were used to spread divisive political messages online by employees of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and two of his sons. The company said that despite efforts to disguise who was behind the activity, it had found links to the staff of two Brazilian lawmakers, as …

The Guardian reports: The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has announced live on television he has tested positive for coronavirus. “It came back positive,” a mask-wearing Bolsonaro told a hand-picked group of reporters on Tuesday lunchtime. Bolsonaro, 65, has repeatedly trivialized the pandemic and flouted social distancing, even as Brazil became the second-worst hit country after the United States, with more …

CNBC reports: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has scoffed at risks of the coronavirus, has undergone another test for Covid-19 shortly after the presidential palace said the right-wing leader had displayed symptoms consistent with the disease. Bolsonaro, 65, told supporters gathered outside the presidential palace in Brasilia on Monday that he had taken a test for the virus and “everything …