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Bolsonaro home raided, phone seized in Brazil vaccine records probe

Bolsonaro home raided, phone seized in Brazil vaccine records probe

LISANDRA PARAGUASSU and RICARDO BRITO BRAZILIAN police raided former President Jair Bolsonaro's home and seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into his COVID-19 vaccination records. The investigation may answer questions about how Bolsonaro, a strident coronavirus sceptic who vowed never to get a COVID vaccine, was registered as vaccinated in health records made public in February. Bolsonaro confirmed the raid on his home in Brasilia to journalists and reiterated that he had never taken a COVID vaccine. He denied any role in allegedly forging documents. "For my part, there was nothing falsified. I didn't take the vaccine. Period," he…
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Brazil investigates undeclared $3 million jewellery gift to Bolsonaro

Brazil investigates undeclared $3 million jewellery gift to Bolsonaro

BRAZILLIAN Justice Minister Flavio Dino ordered police to investigate an alleged attempt to bring in undeclared jewellery, a gift from Saudi Arabia valued at $3.2 million, to former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. The diamond necklace, ring, watch and earrings gifted to Bolsonaro and former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro by the Saudi government were seized by customs officials at Sao Paulo's international airport in October 2021. The luxury jewellery, made by Chopard of Switzerland, was found in the backpack of a government aide who had travelled to Riyadh with then Energy Minister Admiral Bento Albuquerque. The Saudi embassy did not reply to a…
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Bolsonaro denies ‘illegal acts’ over Saudi jewels; Lula government vows probe

Bolsonaro denies ‘illegal acts’ over Saudi jewels; Lula government vows probe

BRAZIL'S former President Jair Bolsonaro denied committing "illegal acts" after a report that jewellery allegedly gifted by Saudi Arabia to him and his wife was brought into the South American nation without being declared to authorities. The government of Bolsonaro's successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, pledged to investigate the matter. The Saudi embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "I'm being accused of a gift I neither asked for nor received," Bolsonaro was quoted as saying in an interview with CNN Brasil. "There is no illegality on my part. I never committed illegal acts."…
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Brazil riot police deploy at Bolsonaro backers’ camp after capital stormed

Brazil riot police deploy at Bolsonaro backers’ camp after capital stormed

ANTHONY BOADLE and SERGIO QUEIROZ BRAZILIAN police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil's state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s. Hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback amassed at the encampment near Brasilia's army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said, after Sunday's storming by thousands of Bolsonaro's backers of Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro's leftist rival who took office on Jan.…
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Lula takes over in Brazil, slams Bolsonaro’s anti-democratic threats

Lula takes over in Brazil, slams Bolsonaro’s anti-democratic threats

ANTHONY BOADLE and GABRIEL STARGARDTER LUIZ Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as Brazil's president, delivering a searing indictment of far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro and vowing a drastic change of course to rescue a nation plagued by hunger, poverty and racism. In a speech to Congress after officially taking the reins of Latin America's biggest country, the leftist said democracy was the true winner of the October presidential vote when he ousted Bolsonaro in the most fraught election for a generation. Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for the United States on Friday after refusing to concede defeat, rattled the…
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We’ll never forget him – Brazil mourns loss of soccer legend Pele

We’ll never forget him – Brazil mourns loss of soccer legend Pele

BRAZIL mourned the death of one of its brightest stars, soccer great Pele, with fans and friends paying their respects to the sports icon who died at the age of 82 after battling colon cancer for just over a year. Outside Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital, where Pele had been undergoing treatment, fans gathered to mourn the loss of one of the greatest-ever exponents of the beautiful game, displaying Pele memorabilia on a clothesline by the entrance. "I'll never forget him, the Brazilian king of soccer," said 67-year-old Antonio da Paz. "He provided us with joy even in our saddest times." Pele's…
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‘Coup-mongering’ Bolsonarista’s battle cry reveals a radicalized Brazil

‘Coup-mongering’ Bolsonarista’s battle cry reveals a radicalized Brazil

GABRIEL STARGARDTER NEARLY two weeks after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil's most fraught election in a generation, Milton Baldin arrived in the capital Brasilia to try to overturn the result. A small business owner from the deep interior of Brazil, Baldin, 55, joined thousands of hardcore Bolsonaro supporters who had set up an encampment outside army headquarters, from where they were urging the military to stage a coup. On November 26, Baldin took to the camp's stage and made a call to gun owners across Brazil, a group that has surged to nearly a…
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‘It hurts my soul’: Brazil’s Bolsonaro ends post-election silence

‘It hurts my soul’: Brazil’s Bolsonaro ends post-election silence

BRAZILIAN President Jair Bolsonaro broke his silence for the first time since his election defeat on October 30 and spoke to supporters calling for a military coup to stop leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office. Bolsonaro said he had kept silent for almost 40 days, adding, "it hurts my soul." "Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you," Bolsonaro told his supporters at the gates of the presidential residence. In his ambiguous comments, Bolsonaro did not endorse their call for military intervention but said the armed forces…
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro to break silence and accept defeat, minister says

Brazil’s Bolsonaro to break silence and accept defeat, minister says

RICARDO BRITO and BRIAN ELLSWORTH BRAZIL'S far-right President Jair Bolsonaro will not contest his electoral defeat and plans to address the nation later, his Communications Minister Fabio Faria told Reuters, as a growing number of political allies advised him to concede. Some of Bolsonaro's hardline supporters have called for military intervention to keep Bolsonaro in power and stop leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office. Pro-Bolsonaro truck drivers blocked federal highways. The presidential address may defuse the protests across Brazil by small groups of his supporters, which have begun to cause economic disruptions, drawing calls from the…
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro maintains silence after Lula’s election victory

Brazil’s Bolsonaro maintains silence after Lula’s election victory

LISANDRA PARAGUASSU and ANTHONY BOADLE PRESIDENT Jair Bolsonaro had yet to concede defeat in Brazil's presidential election by Monday afternoon, raising fears the far-right nationalist might contest the victory of his leftist rival, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Tens of thousands of jubilant Lula supporters took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Sunday night to celebrate a stunning comeback for the 77-year-old former metalworker, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010. His electoral win follows a spell in prison for corruption convictions that were later annulled. Bolsonaro, who left his residence on Monday morning and headed to the presidential…
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