The South Korean HANBIT-Nano rocket – the first commercial flight launched from a Brazilian base – exploded minutes after takeoff from Alcântara Base, in Maranhão state, on Monday (Dec. 22). The vehicle was unmanned.

The Innospace rocket took off at 10:13 pm and, the Brazilian Air Force reported, suffered an “anomaly that caused it to crash into the ground.”

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• Rocket launch from Alcântara Base postponed to Friday.

According to the statement, a team from the Air Force and the Fire Department was sent to the crash site to examine the wreckage. Innospace is also working to determine the cause of the failure.

The launch of HANBIT-Nano had been postponed several times. Initially, the flight was scheduled to take place in November. The date was changed to December 17, but an anomaly was identified, leading to another change, this time to December 19. Another problem caused the launch to be moved to Monday (22).

The spacecraft was 21.8 meters long and weighed 20 tons. It was to carry satellites into space to be placed in Earth orbit. It also carried eight payloads – five small satellites and three experimental devices developed by Brazil and India.

Korea’s Innospace announced it has postponed the launch of the Hanbit-Nano rocket, originally scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 17), to Friday at 3:45 pm. It would have been the first time a commercial flight departed from a Brazilian base. 

According to a statement, the company changed the launch date to allow sufficient time to “replace components after detecting an anomaly in the cooling device of the first stage oxidizer supply system during the final inspection.”

The Brazilian Air Force, which operates the Alcântara Launch Center in Maranhão state, confirmed the postponement.

The space vehicle – which is 21.8 m long, 1.4 m in diameter, and weighs 20 tons – was scheduled to go into space on Wednesday, carrying satellites into low Earth orbit at an altitude of some 300 km and an inclination of 40 degrees.

Protesters in various Brazilian cities took to the streets on Sunday (Dec. 14) against the approval of a bill dubbed Dosimetry Bill (in reference to the calculation of sentence lengths), which aims to reduce the penalties for individuals convicted of the pro-coup riots staged on January 8, 2023, and to benefit former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Opposition lawmakers estimate that, based on the criteria set forth in the bill – which also reduces the time required for a convict to progress from imprisonment in jail to house arrest – Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to just over 27 years in prison, would serve only two years and four months in prison, instead of the seven years and eight months ruled by the court.
 

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• Supreme Court sentences third group of defendants in coup plot case.
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• Amnesty bill rapporteur rules out total pardon for pro‑coup rioters.

The protests were organized by the Brasil Popular (“Brazil of the People”) and Povo Sem Medo (“The People Without Fear”) fronts – left-wing movements that mobilized against the bill’s approval in the country’s main capitals.

“This demonstration was motivated by the vote that took place in the lower house this week on the Dosimetry Bill. We consider this to be a form of amnesty, and we believe that the crimes committed against democracy are very serious and cannot be forgiven, not least because impunity will lead to further coup attempts in the future,” said Juliana Donato, from Povo Sem Medo. She believes that popular pressure in the streets is a movement that could indeed lead to the defeat of the bill in a vote yet to be held in the Senate.

In Brasília, protesters gathered in front of the Museum of the Republic and marched to Congress, where they chanted slogans and held up posters reading “No pardon for coup-mongers.”

São Paulo

Protesters occupied Paulista Avenue in downtown São Paulo. Representatives from labor unions, social and student movements, and political parties opposed to the bill joined the rally.They chanted “no amnesty” several times and carried posters with mes sages such as “Congress is the enemy of the people,” highlighting criticism of House Speaker Hugo Motta for the speed with which he put the bill to a vote.
 

Rio de Janeiro

The demonstrations brought thousands of people to Rio’s Copacabana Beach. The call to action came from Brasil Sem Medo, unions, and students, and was attended by activists, representatives from left-wing political parties, and artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who referred to the demonstration as the second musical act against the setbacks being discussed in Congress.

In addition to the bill, described by participants as a major democratic setback and a “coup,” protesters also spoke out against the six-day work week and one-day rest schedule and for the reduction of working hours, demanded concrete measures to combat femicide, and condemned the time frame that limits the demarcation of indigenous lands.

Angela Tarnapolsky, a retiree, said that at 72, after witnessing much of Brazil’s recent history since the military coup, she could not help but protest. “What brought me here today was outrage at a dramatic situation that has been unfolding since the coup against [former] President Dilma [Rousseff],” she said. She had hoped for a return to democracy with the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but she sees setbacks in the actions of lawmakers and senators whom she called reactionaries. “Not even during the dictatorship did we have a Congress with such a majority of fascists,” she argued.

“We had a very difficult week. How can they put a disguised amnesty bill to a vote at 1 am? I’ve never seen the National Congress meet in the middle of the night, on the sly, in the dead of night, to give some kind of benefit to workers,” singer Teresa Cristina pointed out indignantly during the demonstration in Rio.

Nearly half of Brazilian women (46%) are not treated with respect in the country. This feeling is repeated at home, in the workplace and on the streets – where 49 percent of them say they are not respected.

The figures can be found in the 11th National Survey on Violence Against Women – the largest survey on the subject in Brazil, conducted by DataSenado and Nexus in partnership with the Senate’s Women’s Observatory Against Violence.

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The survey interviewed over 20 thousand women in all regions of the country and reveals that sexism continues to be the rule rather than the exception – 94 percent of respondents classify Brazil as a sexist nation.

“This biennial monitoring and updating of data allows us to measure how things are and what has changed in the country compared to violence against women and perceptions on the subject. In other words, senators and the government need these data in order to create and measure the success of laws and public policies to protect women,” said Marcos Ruben de Oliveira, coordinator of the DataSenado Research Institute.

Sexism

The perception that Brazil is a sexist nation remains virtually unanimous among women. In 2025, 94 percent of them say they live in a sexist country – the same as in 2023. The difference, however, lies in how sexist – the group that considers Brazil to be very sexist rose from 62 to 70 percent in two years, representing 8 million more women.

Since 2017, the percentage has never fallen below 90 percent, and a mere two percent of Brazilian women say they do not see sexism in the country. The surge in the perception of sexism goes hand in hand with the feeling that domestic violence has grown – 79 percent of women believe this type of violence has risen in the last 12 months, resuming the highest level in the time series.

Disrespect

Since 2011, the streets have been the environment most often mentioned as being the most disrespectful. Even though the number of women sharing this view fell from 2023 to 2025, almost half (49%) of respondents still say it is on public thoroughfares that they feel most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the notion that disrespect is greater at home increased by four points – which corresponds to about 3.3 million more women. In the workplace, in turn, there was no significant change, but it remains in second place.

“Even though it is worrying that women are not respected in their closest social circle – which in theory should be a safe and welcoming space – this is consistent with the high rates of domestic violence in the country. Unfortunately, it is not only the streets that present danger and disrespect, as demonstrated by our high rates of femicide,” said Beatriz Accioly, anthropologist and leader for public policies for the end of violence against girls and women at the Natura Institute.

Regional differences

Differences in how respect is perceived also vary depending on the region. The survey shows that in the Brazilian South, for instance, 53 percent of women say that “sometimes” women are not treated with respect – the highest among all regions. In the Northeast, half of the respondents (50%) say that women are not respected. Even though no statistically significant difference is found compared to the Northeast, the Southeast comes next, with 48 percent, followed by the Central-West (44%) and the North (41%).

Despite variations, all Brazilian regions show a significant presence of women who report to have an experience oscillating between occasional respect and complete disrespect, demonstrating that the feeling of instability in how society treats women is widespread. “The data help us gauge how violence against women is no longer restricted to the domestic sphere and has become structural, with long-term social and economic effects,” Maria Teresa Prado, coordinator of the Women’s Observatory Against Violence in the Senate, pointed out.

Education

When data analysis is based on schooling, the picture reveals even deeper inequalities. Among illiterate women, 62 percent say that women are not treated with respect – a much higher rate than among those who have completed higher education (41%). The perception of respect grows as the level of education rises, but does not disappear completely – even among women with a university degree, only eight percent say that women are fully respected. The greatest variations are concentrated in the groups with incomplete secondary and higher education, where more than half of the respondents claim that women are treated with respect only sometimes, revealing that education can reduce – but not eliminate – the perception of disrespect and structural sexism.

“The intersection between education and perception of respect also shows how educational inequalities translate into social vulnerability. Women with less access to formal education not only perceive more situations of disrespect, but also face greater difficulty in reporting or accessing protection services,” says Vitória Régia da Silva, executive director of the Gender and Number Association.

The city of São Paulo and its metropolitan area still have more than 800,000 consumers without electricity, two days after strong winds caused damage in several locations.

The phenomenon was caused by the arrival of an extratropical cyclone associated with a cold front and knocked down more than 330 trees, many of which fell onto the cable network and cut off the power supply.

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At the height of the problem, the metropolitan region of São Paulo had more than 2.2 million customers without electric service. By the end of Thursday (Dec. 11), there were still 1.3 million consumers without electricity.

According to the energy distributor Enel, 802,474 customers remain without the service. In the city of São Paulo, the number is 585,000 consumers, equivalent to 10 percent of the total.

No forecast available

Enel reported that it has restored power suply to about 1.2 million customers out of a total of 2 million affected. The company did not provide a forecast for when the more than 800,000 remaining consumers will have their electric service back. Enel notes that some of the cases are complex and require the replacement of poles and transformers, which takes more time to complete.

Brazil opened 4.6 million new small businesses from January to November 2025, a number that already exceeds the result for 2024, when 4.1 million companies were created. The data show a 19 percent increase over the same period last year, consolidating the best performance since they began to be compiled.

Small businesses accounted for 97 percent of the companies opened in the country in 2025. Among them, 77 percent are individual microentrepreneurs (MEI), 19 percent are microenterprises, and 4 percent are small businesses.

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• Brazil registers record small business openings in first quarter.

The head of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), Décio Lima, says that the growth reflects entrepreneurs’ confidence in the economic scenario. According to him, the country is experiencing “full employment and inflation under control,” factors that encourage the opening of new businesses.

“Sixty percent of Brazilians dream of becoming entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is a gateway to inclusion, job creation, and income,” he said.

In November, the country registered the opening of 350,000 new small businesses, 28,000 more than in the same month in 2024.

Services lead new registrations

The service sector accounted for 64 percent of new businesses opened through November. In this segment, the opening of MEIs grew 24.5 percent compared to the same period in 2024. Next came commerce, with 21 percent of the total, and industry, with 7 percent.

São Paulo (29%), Minas Gerais (11%), and Rio de Janeiro (8%) were the states with the highest number of small business openings in 2025.

The Brazilian film The Secret Agent will compete for the 2026 Golden Globes in the categories of Best Film – Drama and Best Non-English Language Film, and its star, actor Wagner Moura, has been nominated in the Best Actor category. The nominations were revealed Monday (Dec. 8).

The film directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho was highly praised by both Brazilian and international critics and was extremely well received at festivals over the past few months. Wagner Moura’s performance is also noteworthy, with a number of experts stating that both the film and the actor should be among the nominees for the 2026 Oscars.

Notícias relacionadas:

• “The Secret Agent” to represent Brazil at 2026 Oscars.
• Fernanda Torres wins Golden Globe for “I’m Still Here”.
• Brazil: "I'm Still Here" wins Oscar for Best International Feature.

In January this year, Fernanda Torres won the 2025 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Film for her performance in I’m Still Here.