Normal view

  • ✇MercoPress
  • Brazil's iGaming Market Turns 15 Months Old With Big Questions Still Open
    SiGMA South America closed in Sao Paulo on April 10th drawing more than 18,000 delegates and over 400 exhibitors for three days of debate about the future of online gaming across Latin America. The centrepiece discussion was unavoidable: one year on from the launch of Brazil's regulated iGaming market on January 1, 2025, what has actually been achieved and what remains unresolved?
     

Brazil's iGaming Market Turns 15 Months Old With Big Questions Still Open

23 April 2026 at 00:15

Photo: Unsplash SiGMA South America closed in Sao Paulo on April 10th drawing more than 18,000 delegates and over 400 exhibitors for three days of debate about the future of online gaming across Latin America. The centrepiece discussion was unavoidable: one year on from the launch of Brazil's regulated iGaming market on January 1, 2025, what has actually been achieved and what remains unresolved?

Brazil unveils first supersonic fighter jet manufactured on its soil, a milestone for Latin America

28 March 2026 at 10:21

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva led the ceremony and christened the aircraft by spraying a champagne bottle over the fuselage Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer unveiled on Wednesday the first F-39E Gripen fighter jet manufactured in Brazil, a milestone the country's presidency called "unprecedented in Latin America." It is the first of 15 supersonic combat aircraft Embraer will produce at its facility in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo state, under a total contract for 36 jets ordered from Swedish firm Saab.

São Paulo stock exchange reverses losses and closes higher on US-Iran negotiation signals

7 April 2026 at 20:59

The Ibovespa, the Brazilian market's benchmark index, finished at 188,258 points, stringing together a sixth consecutive session of gains, though the last three with near-zero variations The São Paulo stock exchange reversed its losses in the final minutes of trading and closed Tuesday with a slight gain of 0.05%, lifted by President Donald Trump's statement that he is in "heated negotiations" with Iran just hours before his ultimatum for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz expired.

Brazil's inflation rises to 4.14% in March driven by higher fuel and food costs

10 April 2026 at 15:26

The main driver of the acceleration was higher fuel costs, directly linked to international oil market volatility caused by the war between the United States, Israel and Iran Annual inflation in Brazil accelerated to 4.14% in March, pushed higher by rising fuel and food prices, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported on Friday. The figure reverses the slowdown recorded in February, when the index had eased to 3.81%.

Brazil's lower-house committee approves lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 16

11 June 2026 at 08:32

The initiative resurfaces in an election year, with general elections in October. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opposes the measure, while the right is championing it The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee (CCJ) of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday, by 44 votes to 18, the constitutional amendment proposal seeking to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16. The approval, however, is only the first step in a long process before the measure could become law.

  • ✇MercoPress
  • Chilean executive detained in Brazil for racist and homophobic insults to Latam flight attendant
    Chilean executive Germán Naranjo Maldini has been held since Friday 15 May at the Guarulhos prison on the outskirts of São Paulo, charged with racial slur after directing racist and homophobic insults at a flight attendant of the airline Latam during a flight between São Paulo and Frankfurt on 10 May. The Chilean fishing company Landes, where he served as commercial manager, formally and preventively removed the executive from his position following the circulation over
     

Chilean executive detained in Brazil for racist and homophobic insults to Latam flight attendant

19 May 2026 at 01:42

The executive refers to the cabin crew member as “mono” (monkey) and makes gestures imitating a primate Chilean executive Germán Naranjo Maldini has been held since Friday 15 May at the Guarulhos prison on the outskirts of São Paulo, charged with racial slur after directing racist and homophobic insults at a flight attendant of the airline Latam during a flight between São Paulo and Frankfurt on 10 May. The Chilean fishing company Landes, where he served as commercial manager, formally and preventively removed the executive from his position following the circulation over the weekend of a video showing the verbal attacks.

  • ✇MercoPress
  • Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 Rio-Paris crash
    The Paris Court of Appeals on Thursday found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter in connection with the crash of flight AF447, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 on the Rio de Janeiro–Paris route with a death toll of 228 people. The ruling overturns the April 2023 decision in which both companies had been acquitted, and finds the airline and the manufacturer "solely and entirely responsible" for the disaster, according to the BBC news agency. B
     

Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 Rio-Paris crash

22 May 2026 at 11:48

Flight AF447, an Airbus A330-200 carrying twelve crew members and 216 passengers, stalled during a storm in the middle of the ocean and plunged from an altitude of 11,580 meters The Paris Court of Appeals on Thursday found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter in connection with the crash of flight AF447, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 on the Rio de Janeiro–Paris route with a death toll of 228 people. The ruling overturns the April 2023 decision in which both companies had been acquitted, and finds the airline and the manufacturer "solely and entirely responsible" for the disaster, according to the BBC news agency. Both Air France and Airbus rejected the charges and announced they would appeal.

  • ✇MercoPress
  • Lula and Peña agree to accelerate Itaipú treaty review
    The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Paraguay, Santiago Peña, agreed on Sunday in Campo Grande to intensify negotiations over Annex C of the Itaipú treaty, the instrument that governs the financial terms and energy sales of the binational hydroelectric dam, one of the largest in the world.
     

Lula and Peña agree to accelerate Itaipú treaty review

23 March 2026 at 01:53

Annex C stipulates that both countries are entitled to 50% of the energy generated, but requires whichever party does not use its full share to sell the surplus to the other at preferential rates The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Paraguay, Santiago Peña, agreed on Sunday in Campo Grande to intensify negotiations over Annex C of the Itaipú treaty, the instrument that governs the financial terms and energy sales of the binational hydroelectric dam, one of the largest in the world.

Brazil to expand Antarctica activities with new polar vessel Comandante Saldanha

23 March 2026 at 02:49

The vessel has a displacement of 5.800 tons plus a hangar to host two helicopters, plus the landing platform. Brazil is expanding its Antarctica presence and activities with the introduction of a new polar vessel currently under construction in the county. The vessel “Almirante Saldanha” is considered an operational and scientific leap for the Brazilian Navy in the context of the strategic development of the Brazilian Antarctic Program.

  • ✇MercoPress
  • “We are oppressed in Brazil”: thousands of conservative Brazilians seek new life in Paraguay
    Hundreds of Brazilians camped overnight on beach chairs, plastic benches and tarps outside an immigration center in Ciudad del Este, on the border with Brazil, to secure a spot in a Paraguayan government drive to fast-track residency applications. Some organized an improvised barbecue on a barrel while they waited. Others had traveled more than 1,500 kilometers by bus. All shared a common thread: the desire to leave Brazil for reasons they describe as political, economic
     

“We are oppressed in Brazil”: thousands of conservative Brazilians seek new life in Paraguay

16 April 2026 at 23:08

Paraguay broke a record in 2025 by granting 40,600 residency permits to foreigners. More than half — 23,500 — went to Brazilians, far outpacing the 4,300 Argentines in second place Hundreds of Brazilians camped overnight on beach chairs, plastic benches and tarps outside an immigration center in Ciudad del Este, on the border with Brazil, to secure a spot in a Paraguayan government drive to fast-track residency applications. Some organized an improvised barbecue on a barrel while they waited. Others had traveled more than 1,500 kilometers by bus. All shared a common thread: the desire to leave Brazil for reasons they describe as political, economic and ideological, according to a report by BBC News Brasil.

Lula withdraws from Kast inauguration amid presence of Flávio Bolsonaro

11 March 2026 at 03:55

The reversal came hours after it emerged that Flávio Bolsonaro, a likely challenger to Lula in October’s presidential election, would attend the event as a guest Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has canceled a planned trip to Chile to attend José Antonio Kast’s inauguration on Wednesday and will instead be represented at the ceremony by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Brazilian officials said the change was due to “scheduling reasons.”

  • ✇MercoPress
  • Brazil suspends its dengue vaccine as a precaution after two deaths
    Brazil temporarily suspended the dengue vaccination campaign it began in January, after detecting two deaths and several cases of serious adverse reactions. The vaccine, the world's first single-dose shot, was developed by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo and had already been given to half a million people through the public health system. Health authorities stressed that there is not yet enough data to link the deaths to the product and that the interruption is a pre
     

Brazil suspends its dengue vaccine as a precaution after two deaths

9 June 2026 at 07:43

The vaccine was approved by the regulatory agency ANVISA in late 2025 for people aged 12 to 59, and the campaign began in February with health personnel Brazil temporarily suspended the dengue vaccination campaign it began in January, after detecting two deaths and several cases of serious adverse reactions. The vaccine, the world's first single-dose shot, was developed by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo and had already been given to half a million people through the public health system. Health authorities stressed that there is not yet enough data to link the deaths to the product and that the interruption is a preventive measure.

❌
MercoPress