Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said Wednesday she will seek re-election in October, even though some are calling for the return of her popular predecessor president Luiz Inacio Lula.

Rousseff, who belongs to Lula's Workers Party and was his protegee, said she hoped to have the support of all the parties allied with her government.

Residents of a northern suburb of Rio torched five buses Monday shortly after a 17-year-old youth died in a shootout between criminals and police, Brazilian media reported.

It again put a harsh spotlight on security in the country, just six weeks before Brazil hosts the football World Cup, with Rio staging seven matches including the July 13 final.

A small church in the Brazilian city of Salvador de Bahia became the first to take the name of John Paul II on Sunday after the late pontiff's canonization at the Vatican.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Salvador in northeast Brazil's Bahia State said the Church of Notre Dame dos Alagados would now be known as the Church of Notre dos Alagados and Saint John Paul II.

Brazil is probing a suspected case of "atypical" mad cow disease detected in the country, one of the world's biggest beef exporters, authorities said Friday.

The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement to Agence France Presse that the alleged case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found during a routine inspection of a slaughterhouse in the state of Mato Grosso.

Just 50 days before Brazil hosts the World Cup, authorities beefed up security Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro after a violent clash between residents and police in a slum near the tourist haven of Copacabana beach.

Dozens of military police, including members of a feared special forces battalion, moved into the Pavao-Pavaozinho slum, which is also near the well-heeled Ipanema district, an Agence France Presse journalist reported.

Brazil's Congress on Tuesday passed comprehensive legislation on Internet privacy in what some have likened to a web-user's bill of rights, after stunning revelations its own president was targeted by U.S. cyber-snooping.

The lower House of Deputies had passed the bill earlier, and late Tuesday the Senate gave it a green light. That leaves only the expected signature into law from President Dilma Rousseff.

Four buses, a truck and two cars were burned Saturday in Brazil when demonstrators took to the streets to protest the deaths of two young men during police actions.

The 17 and 21 year olds died Friday and Saturday in Niteroi, across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, local press reported.

At least ten residents and police officers were injured Friday as authorities ousted squatters from an abandoned building just steps from Rio's iconic Maracana stadium.

With the start of the World Cup two months away, Brazil has stepped up security efforts in the metropolis, where tens of thousands of football fans will fly in for the tournament and which will stage seven matches -- including the July 13 final at Maracana.

A collision between a truck and a bus loaded with passengers killed at least 14 people in Brazil's northern Amazon city of Manaus, local media reported Saturday.

The driver of the truck lost control of his vehicle and careened into an oncoming lane on Friday, crashing head-on with the bus, the G1 news site said.

Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes said he would fine himself after being caught on video appearing to be dropping trash in the street.

Paes, who put in place a tough "zero litter" policy last year, said he did not remember the incident but apologized anyway and said he would pay a 157 reai fine ($67).