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SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — The number of forest fires in Brazil surged in the first eight months of 2019, official data show, as President Jair Bolsonaro faces growing criticism over rampant destruction of the Amazon. Nearly 73,000 fires were recorded between January and August, compared with 39,759 in the first eight months of 2018, the embattled National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said late Monday. That is the highest number of forest fires for […]
by Allison JACKSON ALTAMIRA, Brazil (AFP) — Forty-six inmates involved in one of Brazil’s deadliest prison riots were being transferred to other jails on Tuesday, an official said. At least 57 people were killed Monday when fighting broke out between rival drug gang factions in the Altamira Regional Recovery Center in the northern state of Para. Sixteen were decapitated in the hours-long battle, but most died in a fire that engulfed part of the overcrowded […]
by Allison JACKSON RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — At least 57 inmates were killed during a prison riot in northern Brazil on Monday as rival gang factions fought each other, an official said. Sixteen of the dead were decapitated in the second major eruption of violence to rock the country’s severely overpopulated and deadly prison system in as many months. Fighting broke out in the Altamira Regional Recovery Center at around 7:00 am (1000 […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian police said Monday that three people have been arrested over the brazen theft of an estimated $30 million worth of gold from Sao Paulo’s international airport last week. Armed men impersonating federal police entered a warehouse at the airport on Friday afternoon, making off with more than 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of the precious metal. No shots were fired. One of those detained worked at the airport and claimed […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rio de Janeiro’s far-right governor Wilson Witzel on Tuesday compared drug dealers to the Shiite movement Hezbollah and warned police would respond like Israel by showing no leniency to “terrorists.” Defending his hardline security strategy that has fueled a surge in police killings this year, Witzel said criminals in Rio’s poorer neighborhoods known as favelas “raped children, killed innocent people and used the areas to sell drugs.” “What […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — A bus carrying 40 people crashed into several cars killing at least 17 people in southeast Brazil Sunday night, according to firefighters and local media. The fire brigade in the Campos de Jordao area, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) from Sao Paulo, confirmed to AFP that the accident was caused when a bus overturned, hitting other vehicles. Media reported at least 17 deaths and a video shot by a […]
by Allison JACKSON RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s economy shrank in the first quarter of the year, official data showed Thursday, taking Latin America’s biggest country to the brink of recession for the first time in two years. Gross domestic product contracted 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, the statistics agency said, marking the first decline in the key indicator of economic activity since the end of 2016. The figure confirms what many […]
by Allison JACKSON / Eugenia LOGIURATTO RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — At least 40 inmates were killed in four jails in northern Brazil on Monday, authorities said, in the latest wave of violence to rock the country’s severely overpopulated and dangerous prison system. The victims appeared to have been killed by “asphyxiation,” the Amazonas state government said in a statement, a day after 15 people were killed in one of the prisons. Officials had […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Clashes between inmates killed 15 people at a jail in Amazonas state in northern Brazil on Sunday, the regional prison authority said. The clashes broke out around 11:00 am (1500 GMT) during visiting hours at the facility, located some 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the state capital Manaus, the prison authority said. © Agence France-Presse
A strong 8.0-earthquake struck northern Peru in the early hours of Sunday, sending residents fleeing their homes and cutting off power to at least one town, with the impact felt as far afield as neighboring Ecuador. There were no immediate reports of injuries following the quake which the US Geological Survey said struck at a depth of 110 kilometers (68 miles). The quake hit t 0741 GMT about 75 kilometers southeast of the town of […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Gunmen killed at least 11 people in a bar in northern Brazil on Sunday, officials said. The shooting took place in the city of Belem, the public safety department of northern Para state said. There was no immediate word on the motive of the shooting. The attackers fled but the news website G1 quoted police as saying one was wounded and is in police custody. The fatalities are […]
by Mauro PIMENTEL RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Tens of thousands of students and teachers held street protests across Brazil in “defense of education” on Wednesday in response to a raft of budget cuts announced by President Jair Bolsonaro’s government. Classes were suspended in federal universities and secondary schools in the first nationwide protests against the far-right president since he took office on January 1. Protesters flocked onto the streets in Brazil’s biggest cities, […]
