Brazil

BRASILIA, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian states on Tuesday suspended immunization of pregnant women with the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on the advice of the national health regulator after a reported death.

The suspension was to remain in place until the health ministry establishes the cause of death of a woman in Rio de Janeiro who received the vaccine, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga told a news conference.

Queiroga said the call was made by a team of experts and was based “exclusively on technical criteria.”

BRASILIA, May 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro rode at the head of a large motorbike rally by his supporters on Sunday amid harsh criticism over his management of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brazil is one of the worst hit countries in the world by the pandemic having suffered 420,000 deaths.

Surrounded by security guards, Bolsonaro led hundreds of motorcyclists riding from the presidential palace in the capital Brasilia for a one-hour trip around the centre of town to mark Mother’s Day.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Preliminary data released Friday signaled deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon in April was the highest for that month in at least five years, a report that comes two weeks after Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said his government would dedicate more energy and resources toward curbing deforestation.

Deforestation rose 43% over the same month in 2020, to 581 square kilometers (224 square miles), according to the government’s Deter monitoring system, which provides daily deforestation alerts based on satellite images.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A bloody, hourslong gunbattle in a Rio de Janeiro slum echoed into Friday, with authorities saying the police mission successfully eliminated two dozen criminals, while residents and activists claimed human rights abuses.

It was just after sunrise Thursday when dozens of officers from Rio de Janeiro state’s civil police stormed Jacarezinho, a working-class favela in the city’s northern zone. They were targeting drug traffickers from one of Brazil’s most notorious criminal organizations, Comando Vermelho, and the bodies piled up quickly.

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 3. /TASS/: President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro extended appreciation to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the release of Robson Oliveira, the driver of ex-player of Spartak Moscow football club Fernando.

"Robson spent two years in custody in Russia and today we extend appreciation to President Vladimir Putin, the Russian ambassador in Brazil and our ambassador in Russia," Bolsonaro said in the video address posted on his page in Twitter.

"The release of Robson was announced today after lengthy talks with the Russian government," he noted.

SAO PAULO, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Brazil began the month of May reporting 2,656 deaths from COVID-19 as well as 66,964 new cases, rasing the national death toll to 406,437 and the total caseload to 14,725,975, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.

The daily average number of deaths in the last seven days was 2,421, while the figure for April was higher than 3,000, according to the ministry.

BRASILIA, May 1 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Russian manufacturers of the Sputnik V vaccine have filed a libel lawsuit in Brazil against the country’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) for “intentionally spreading false and inaccurate information” about the covid-19 inoculator after prohibiting its import, citing lack of data, the immunizer’s Twitter account (@sputnikvaccine) reported.

(Reuters) --- A Brazilian court confirmed on Friday the impeachment of Rio de Janeiro's state governor Wilson Witzel over alleged graft in the purchase of medical supplies and services to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

Witzel, who denies any wrongdoing, had been temporarily removed from power in August 2020.

Investigations by Brazilian prosecutors say that Witzel bought 700 million reais ($128.76 million) in ventilators which have never been delivered to treat COVID-19 patients.

($1 = 5.4366 reais)

BRASILIA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- All Brazilians can be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said Friday.

"We have enough doses for the second half (of the year) and it is possible to guarantee that by the end of 2021 our entire population will be vaccinated," Queiroga said during a press conference held jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO).

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil on Thursday became the second country to officially top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths, losing another 100,000 lives in just one month, as some health experts warn there may be gruesome days ahead when the Southern Hemisphere enters winter.

April was Brazil’s deadliest month of the pandemic, with thousands of people losing their lives daily at crowded hospitals.