Brazil

BRASILIA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Judge Kassio Nunes Marques took office on Thursday as the newest member of Brazil's 11-member Supreme Federal Court (STF).

He replaced Judge Celso de Mello, the dean of the court who announced his retirement on Oct. 13.

This is the first STF appointment made by President Jair Bolsonaro since he assumed power in January 2019.

President of the STF Luiz Fux praised Nunes Marques as having "an impeccable reputation ... encyclopedic knowledge and, above all, independence."

SAO PAULO (AP) — Small groups of protesters gathered in Brazil’s two biggest cities Sunday to demonstrate against any mandate for the taking of a coronavirus vaccine, supporting a rejection campaign encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro.

People assembled in downtown Sao Paulo calling for the removal of Sao Paulo state Gov. Joao Doria, who has said state residents will be required to take a vaccine, likely the one being developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac and the local Butantan Institute.

“Doria will fall!” the protestors chanted. “Out with Doria!”

BRASILIA, Oct 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro overruled his own health minister, rejecting the announced purchase of 46 million doses of CoronaVac, a potential vaccine against COVID-19 being tested in Sao Paulo state.

Health minister Eduardo Pazuello announced the purchase on Tuesday alongside Sao Paulo’s Governor Joao Doria, a foe of Bolsonaro’s whose state government is participating in the vaccine’s development. The cost of the acquisition was estimated at 2 billion Brazilian reals.

SAO PAULO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday inaugurated the assembly phase of a reactor developed for the country's first nuclear-powered submarine, the Alvaro Alberto.

"We are proud to have this cutting-edge technology. We even have cutting-edge technology other countries do not have," Bolsonaro said during a visit to the navy's Nuclear Power Generation Laboratory (Labgene) in the city of Ipero in southeast Sao Paulo state.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 18 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil registered 461 new deaths from COVID-19, in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 153,675, the Health Ministry said.

The ministry said that 24,062 more cases were registered, bringing the nationwide count to 5,224,362.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, has been the most affected by the disease, with 1,062,634 cases and 37,992 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 289,569 cases and 19,715 deaths.

BRASILIA, Oct 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazil and Paraguay have begun the process of gradually reopening the common border, according to a joint statement released by the Brazilian and Paraguayan governments.

The border posts of Foz do Iguacu-Ciudad del Este, Ponta Pora-Pedro Juan Caballero, and Mundo Novo-Saltos del Guaira were all reopened on Thursday.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s count of COVID-19 deaths surpassed 150,000 on Saturday night, despite signs the pandemic is slowly retreating in Latin America’s largest nation.

The Brazilian Health Ministry reported that the death toll now stands at 150,198. The figure is the world’s second highest behind the United States, according to the tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

Rio De Janeiro, Oct 9 (AP/PTI) Dozens of people converged on the cobblestone streets of downtown Rio de Janeiro for its traditional Pedra do Sal samba party the first since the pandemic began and it seemed Brazil was returning to normal.

Among those dancing Monday were Luana Jatob and two friends, all of whom overcame COVID-19. As a nurse technician caring for coronavirus patients, she knows better than most that occupancy rates at Rio's intensive-care units have surged as the city's seven-day average number of cases reaches its highest level since June.

SAO PAULO, Oct 8 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil said, 31,553 COVID-19 cases were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 5,000,694. And 734 more patients died of the disease, raising the national death toll to 148,228.

On Feb 26, Brazil reported its first case and also the first in Latin America, in the city of Sao Paulo, South America’s largest city.

Brazil has the world’s second-highest death toll, after the United States, and is the third worst hit by the pandemic after the United States and India.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Brazil announced on Monday it has extended a ban on foreigners entering by land, sea or river, in a bid to contain its COVID-19 outbreak.

Arrival by air has been allowed since Sept. 25.

According to the government's official gazette, the measure effectively bars tourists from entering Brazil through its borders with Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.