Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s government has stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus deaths and infections in an extraordinary move that critics call an attempt to hide the true toll of the disease in Latin America’s largest nation.

The Saturday move came after months of criticism from experts saying Brazil’s statistics are woefully deficient, and in some cases manipulated, so it may never be possible to gain a real understanding of the depth of the pandemic in the country.

6 June 2020; AFP: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice banned police raids Friday in the slums of Rio de Janeiro during the coronavirus pandemic, amid growing criticism of recent cases of police violence.

Judge Edson Fachin ruled police raids on the city's impoverished "favelas" could only be used in "absolutely exceptional" cases, and only with prior authorization from the state prosecutor's office, for the duration of the health crisis.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday threatened to withdraw Brazil from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Bolsonaro said Brazil will consider leaving the WHO unless it stops being a "partisan political organization."

Earlier, the WHO showed an opposite view against Bolsonaro's efforts to lift lockdowns, as the COVID-19 epidemic was still plaguing the country.

Replying to loosen the social distancing order, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said a key criteria for lifting lockdowns should be slowing transmission.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - One of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, a paralyzed economy sending investors fleeing for the exit, and accusations that he has undermined Brazil’s young democracy have not loosened President Jair Bolsonaro’s grip on power.

As of Thursday, Brazil had nearly 615,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, second only to the United States. With 34,021 COVID-19 fatalities, its death toll overtook Italy’s.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s death toll from the novel coronavirus has surged past 34,000 to become the third-highest in the world, surpassing Italy’s, according to official figures released Thursday.

The South American country reported a new record of 1,473 deaths in 24 hours, bringing its overall toll to 34,021, behind only the United States and Britain.

Brazil has now confirmed 614,941 infections, the health ministry said — the second-largest caseload in the world, behind the US.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro joined a rally on Sunday on horseback as supporters urged the closing of the Supreme Court for investigating the right-wing leader, as one of its justices compared the risks to Brazil’s democracy with Hitler’s Germany.

Deepening a political crisis during one of the world’s worst novel coronavirus outbreaks, Bolsonaro has slammed the top court for investigating his interference in police affairs and opening an inquiry into his supporters’ alleged libel and intimidation campaigns on social media.

BRASILIA, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s northeast, a harsh place of arid land, cyclical drought and crushing poverty, is emerging as the next crisis zone in the coronavirus pandemic.

As the virus surges in Brazil – which now has the second-most cases in the world after the United States – the country’s poorest region has been hit hard, both by the disease and the painful measures taken to contain it.

The nine states of the northeast have the second-highest number of cases and deaths in Brazil, after the wealthy southeast, where the outbreak began.

BRASILIA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) will show a greater decline in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Brazilian Economy Ministry stated on Friday.

"The harmful effects on the health of the Brazilian population and our economy still persist. Therefore, the economic result of the activity will, in the second quarter, be even worse," the ministry said in a statement, predicting an increase in unemployment, bankruptcy, and poverty in the country.

BRASILIA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed a bill that provides financial aid to pandemic-hit states and cities, but vetoed part of it, according to Thursday's Government Gazette.

The financial aid takes various forms, including 60 billion reals (about 11 billion U.S. dollars) for states and cities in direct transfer and the suspension of debt payments to the central government.

BRASILIA, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil registered a new record in COVID-19 cases and more than 1,000 dead in a 24 hour period, according to official figures.

The South American country has the world’s second highest number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases — 438,238 — after the United States.

According to Health Ministry data, 26,417 new cases were confirmed in a 24 hour-period ending late Thursday.