The Supreme Court was to decide Wednesday whether to reopen Brazil's biggest political corruption trial, in which key members of the ruling Workers' Party were convicted.

The 11-member court was to rule on appeals by 12 of 25 politicians, businessmen and bankers convicted of graft in the so-called "Mensalao" scandal, a congressional vote-buying scheme that ran during the first term of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff postponed a state visit to Washington on Tuesday in protest over allegations of U.S. cyberspying on her country.

Rousseff announced the decision after discussing the espionage row with U.S. President Barack Obama Monday in a telephone call.

Brazil on Monday called on the U.N. Security Council to order an immediate end to the international arms flow into Syria.

"It is urgent to immediately stop the flow of arms from the outside, which supplies all sides in the conflict," Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo said.

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff Monday accused the United States of spying on oil giant Petrobras for its own "economic and strategic" reasons -- not for national security.

The latest allegations of online snooping by the National Security Agency emerged Sunday night when TV Globo reported Brazilian oil giant Petrobras -- world leader in deep-water oil exploration -- was among those targeted, along with Google and the French foreign ministry.

More than 100 protesters interrupted a military parade in Rio Saturday held to mark Brazil's independence day and were dispersed with teargas.

Five people were injured and taken to the hospital, civil police said, adding that at least 10 protesters were arrested.

President Barack Obama moved to defuse a row with Brazil and Mexico over alleged U.S. spying on leaders of the Latin American countries, promising them that the United States would cooperate to address concerns over the claims.

Obama told Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in separate meetings at the G20 summit that he understood their concerns.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has halted advance preparations for a Washington visit, officials said Thursday, amid a row over reports she was targeted by U.S. spies.

A spokeswoman for Rousseff said a trip by a Brazilian delegation to prepare for the president's October 23 visit to Washington "was cancelled."

Brazil and Mexico summoned U.S. ambassadors on Monday to demand explanations over allegations that the National Security Agency spied on their presidents' communications.

Brazil's Foreign Minister Luis Figueiredo said the interception of Internet data from President Dilma Rousseff reported by U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, if proven, "represents an unacceptable and unallowable violation of Brazilian sovereignty."

A small plane crashed and exploded in Paraguay, killing six people, police said Saturday.

Two Brazilians and a Spaniard are among those who died when the aircraft crashed into a cornfield late Friday about 280 kilometers (175 miles) northeast of the capital Asuncion.

The Brazilian population passed the 200 million mark this year, according to an official projection released Thursday.

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said that a new tally based on data from the 2010 census established that the continent-sized country is now home to 201,032,714 people.