Brazil

23 July 2019; DW: It was a busy day for the president, who stripped the drug policy council of independent members and legalized dozens of agritoxins. Jair Bolsonaro wants tighter control of Brazil's deforestation data.

President Jair Bolsonaro wants tighter control of government data on deforestation. He spoke just days after accusing Brazil's space agency, the INPE, of falsifying data.

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday confirmed that he will nominate his son Eduardo Bolsonaro to the position of Brazil's ambassador to the United States.

"From my part, it is already a done deal," the president said.

He stressed that though his decision is already made, there are some procedures to complete such as consultation with the U.S. government.

Moreover, the candidate must be questioned by Brazil's Senate and approved by both the Senate and the House.

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Thursday that he is considering offering his son, federal representative Eduardo Bolsonaro, the post of ambassador to the United States.

"I think he could be an adequate appointment and could perfectly handle things in Washington," the president said. "We considered this possibility last year and analyzed the pros and cons."

Bolsonaro said this at the inauguration ceremony of the new director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency.

BRASILIA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday revoked a decree loosening gun control, a week after the measure was pushed back by the Senate.

Bolsonaro edited three new decrees and sent a bill to the Congress, a move contradicting the comment made earlier by government spokesman Otavio do Rego Barros, who has said that the decree would not be revoked.

Bolsonaro has signed a decree easing gun control in May. To come into force, the decree needs congressional approval, but last week the Senate rejected it by a vote of 47 to 28.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 25. /TASS/: The heads of state and government of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) will hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan's Osaka on June 28, according to a document obtained by TASS.

The informal meeting will be held in the morning before the G20 summit's main program starts. According to a source in the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, the meeting will focus on financial and economic issues.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Friday that Jorge Antonio de Oliveira Francisco is the new general secretary of the president.

The secretariat was previously held by Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto, who will head the country's postal service.

Oliveira Francisco is a lawyer and a major of the Federal District's Military Police.

Bolsonaro expressed his confidence in his new cabinet member.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecom company Huawei will not be banned from operating a fifth-generation (5G) mobile telecoms network in Brazil, Vice President Hamilton Mourao has said.

In an interview published Friday by daily Valor Economico, Brazil's largest financial newspaper, Mourao said the idea of banning Huawei is not being considered by his administration.

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A series of restriction laws to make closed spaces smoke-free have resulted in a reduction of 15,000 in the number of child deaths in Brazil from 2000 to 2016, according to a study published on Friday.

Several Brazilian states implemented laws against smoking in public closed spaces from 2000 to 2012. In 2011, a federal law established full prohibition of closed space smoking across the country. The law took effect in 2014.

28 May 2019; DW: At least 42 prisoners have been found dead at four prisons in the northern Amazon jungle city of Manaus on Monday, authorities said.

The deaths came one day after 15 inmates were killed in clashes between rival prison gangs in the same city.

The Amazonas state government said in a statement that the victims appeared to have been killed by "asphyxiation." It added that federal authorities had dispatched reinforcements to the state to boost security.

20 May 2019; DW: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has found himself to be persona non grata in New York. And Brazil may encounter similar hostility elsewhere in the world as well while he remains leader.

What was meant to have been a glitzy New York ceremony that saw Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro awarded a "Person of the Year" prize ended up provoking a heated and prolonged bout of political mudslinging.