Monthly Archives: June 2015

Avenida Paulista cycle lane inaugurated in São Paulo

Anadolu Agency

SÃO PAULO — An eagerly-awaited new cycle lane that runs along Brazil’s main business boulevard, Avenida Paulista, was inaugurated on Sunday by São Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad.

The entire thoroughfare was closed to vehicles as thousands of people took over the streets on bikes and scooters in a vibrant festival of cycling.

Haddad said the major new 2.7-kilometer (1.7-mile) cycle lane, which received $3.9 million (12.2 million reais) of government funding, was a “symbol of quality of life” in the city.

“The new cycle lane is an example from the city of São Paulo of a gesture toward sustainable future in Brazil,” the São Paulo mayor told Anadolu Agency (AA).

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Brazil cop shoots teens at close range after motorcycle chase

VICE News

SÃO PAULO — São Paulo military police have arrested an officer who was caught on camera this week firing at two teenage suspects who had fallen to the ground from a stolen motorcycle following a dangerous pursuit through the streets of Brazil’s biggest city.

It was meant to be a week when police in São Paulo State celebrated new figures that showed the lowest number of homicides on record, but the shocking end to a police chase in the south of São Paulo city — caught live from TV helicopters — quickly put paid to that.

Footage from the chase, which was broadcast live on the channels TV Bandeirantes and Record, shows a military police officer firing at and wounding the two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, at near-point-blank range after the pursuit ends abruptly.

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HSBC to exit Brazil amid global business overhaul

Anadolu Agency

SÃO PAULO — British banking giant HSBC announced Tuesday that it will close its retail banking operations in Brazil, as part of a global overhaul of its workforce that could cut up to 50,000 jobs worldwide.

Currently the sixth largest high street bank in Brazil, HSBC employs 21,479 people in the South American country, according to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, with 853 branches focusing operations on higher earners.

HSBC plans to sell off its branches and end retail operations by the end of 2016, but will retain a “modest” operation in Brazil to service its largest corporate clients’ international needs.

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