Philip Reeves

Brazilians go to the polls to pick their next president in, perhaps, the country's most divisive election ever. The lead candidates are polar opposites on the political spectrum.

Brazil's preparing for the most divisive presidential election since its dictatorship ended in the 1980s. Huge numbers of women are mobilized to oppose far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who has a record for misogyny, racism and homophobia.

Sunday's election in Brazil represents an important gauge of how far to the right voters in Latin America's largest nation are prepared to turn.

Brazilian women took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro. With the vote little more than a week away, women are protesting against what they say are his misogynistic, homophobic and racist views.

As researchers sift through the ashes at the museum in Rio de Janeiro, they expect to find little that survived the fire — including an African royal throne from the days of the Atlantic slave trade.

Jair Bolsonaro, the front-runner in Brazil's upcoming presidential election is in serious condition at a hospital after being stabbed in the stomach while campaigning.

Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed while campaigning in the nation's southeast for the general elections in October. Doctors say it could take months for him to fully recover.

Brazilians await answers on what caused the weekend fire at the country's National Museum, and what was lost in the blaze. The museum housed 20 million items.

Rio de Janeiro's 200-year-old history museum was engulfed in fire overnight, endangering cherished artifacts from Brazilian and world cultures.

A fire has gutted the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, the oldest scientific institution in the country.

"Churches are taking over the leadership role which was supposed to be in the hands of the political powers," says a Catholic youth group member in the Brazilian town of Central do Maranhão.

NPR sat down with Jair Bolsonaro, who is in the lead ahead of other (eligible) candidates for the Brazilian presidency.

Marília Mendonça has reclaimed Brazil's traditional genre sertanejo and created "feminejo," providing women with a voice in a traditionally macho society.

Bereft of hope and opportunity, youth in Brazil's poorer regions are part of a growing multitude in traditionally Catholic Latin America who are turning either to the evangelical Church, or to bars.

Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, has become a hub for black-owned businesses. A startup accelerator there supports companies based on their potential for social and economic impact.

Brazil's northern city of Manaus has become a sprawling city of some 2 million people. The city is also in the frontline of Latin America's war on drug trafficking — a conflict involving police, traffickers and their rivals.

The Brazilian soccer player is the focus of an onslaught of mockery for his habit of hurling himself to the ground and rolling to cry foul. But some Brazilians have come to his defense.

A strike by truckers in Brazil has brought Latin America's largest economy to a halt. The strike has been going on for more than a week.

Despite widespread hunger, deepening crime, nearly nonexistent health care, hyperinflation and a surge of people fleeing the country, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro won re-election.

Venezuela held a presidential election on Sunday as the country struggles with inflation and food shortages. Preliminary results indicate President Maduro has won a second term.