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Brazil poll shows jailed Lula extending lead

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BRASILIA: Jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has increased his support by almost five percentage points and would win Brazil’s October presidential election if he is allowed to run, a poll by CNT/MDA showed on Monday.


Electoral authorities are expected to bar Lula from the election due to a corruption conviction.


Despite that, he took 37.3 per cent of voter intentions in the latest poll.


His nearest rival was far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro with 18.3 per cent, followed by Marina Silva with 5.6 per cent and Geraldo Alckmin with 4.9 per cent.


14 KILLED IN RIO


At least 14 people were killed on Monday in Rio de Janeiro during operations by soldiers and police against drug gangs in impoverished favelas and a suburb, officials and media reports said.


The military command heading security in Brazil’s second biggest city said eight people died in the sweep of favelas “and there could be more.”


No details were given on how the people were killed or who they were.


The military command said 4,200 soldiers, backed by armoured vehicles and aircraft, entered the Alemao and Mare favela complexes — poor, densely populated swaths of city in large part run by heavily armed drug traffickers.


Troops removed roadblocks erected by drug gangs, followed up on tip offs against suspected traffickers, and checked vehicles and residents, the military said in a statement.


In addition, “troops distributed leaflets asking for cooperation from the population,” it said.


In all, the military said, some 550,000 residents were benefiting from “the positive effects” of the incursion.


In a separate incident in the Rio suburb of Niteroi, six suspected armed criminals were shot dead by police after a rush-hour car chase that briefly caused traffic chaos near one of Rio’s main bridges, Agencia Brasil and G1 news site reported. — AFP


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