Jair Bolsonaro

With 98.8 per cent of the votes tallied, da Silva had 50.8 per cent and Bolsonaro 49.2 per cent, and the election authority said da Silva's victory was a mathematical certainty.

Lula's voter support reached 51% against 42% for Bolsonaro, compared with 51% and 43%, respectively, in the previous poll.

The survey by IPEC taken over the three days since the first-round vote found Lula with 51% voter support against Bolsonaro's 43%, with a margin of error of two percentage points.

Brazil's currency strengthened more than 4% against the dollar, while the benchmark Bovespa equities index (.BVSP) jumped 5.5%, its biggest one-day gain since April 2020. Several companies rallied over 10%, while preferred shares of state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) closed 8% higher in Sao Paulo.

With 95% of electronic votes counted, Lula was ahead with 47.6% of votes versus 43.9% for Bolsonaro, the national electoral authority reported. As neither got a majority of support, the race will go to a second-round vote on Oct. 30.

Most opinion polls have shown Lula with a solid lead for months, but Bolsonaro has signaled he may refuse to accept defeat, stoking fears of institutional crisis or post-election violence.

Brazil defense ministry said in a statement the pills were in fact "to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension," or high blood pressure in the lungs, another use for sildenafil.

The President of Brazil was admitted to Vila Nova Star hospital, where he was undergoing exams under the care of Dr Antônio Luiz Macedo, the surgeon who treated Jair Bolsonaro after he was stabbed in 2018 while campaigning for president.

Both Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube said the video, which was recorded on Thursday, violated their policies.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus, calling it a "little flu" at one point, promoting treatments that scientists said were ineffective, railing against lockdown measures to slow the spread and speaking out against vaccinations.

YouTube said in a press release the decision was taken ”after careful review” and without consideration for Bolsonaro’s job or political ideology. The far-right former army captain, who has overseen the world’s second deadliest outbreak, has won widespread criticism for railing against lockdowns, touting unproven miracle cures, sowing vaccine doubts and shunning masks.

In her decision, Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber said the investigation of President Jair Bolsonaro is to be done by the top prosecutor's office for dereliction of duty in the process of procuring Covaxin

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga have reubffed allegations of wrongdoing.

Thousands of roaring motorcycles took part in the "Accelerate for Christ" rally in Sao Paulo, led by the far-right president, who wore an open-faced helmet and no mask, in violation of state health regulations.

The Bolsonaro and Biden administrations have reportedly been holding talks on a plan in which Brazil would receive international funding to better protect the Amazon, a crucial resource in fighting climate change.

More than a year into the pandemic, deaths in Brazil are at their peak and highly contagious variants of the coronavirus are sweeping the nation, enabled by political dysfunction, widespread complacency and conspiracy theories. The country, whose leader, President Jair Bolsonaro, has played down the threat of the virus, is now reporting more new cases and deaths per day than any other country in the world.

Under sacked CEO Roberto Castello Branco, Petrobras had increased fuel prices four times so far in 2021, a cumulative rise of nearly 35 percent.

President Jair Bolsonaro reversed course in January, facing delay in the delivery of the only vaccine his administration purchased and watching as other nations began immunizing their citizens while Brazil's 210 million people were on hold.

A shipment of 2 million doses of Covishield, the Indian variant of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, was dispatched from Mumbai on January 22.

On Thursday, Sao Paulo state Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn confirmed that China's Sinovac vaccine "didn’t reach 90%" efficacy, making it less successful than those developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc.