Brazil president Dilma Rousseff impeached
President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff has been impeached by lawmakers for concealing the economic realities in the South American country in order to win reelection in 2014.
A comprehensive defeat of 61-20 in the Senate was the final nail in the coffin for Rousseff, who is expected to appeal the decision.
She will be replaced in office by the centre-right Michel Temer, who will take the reins of the government until 2018, when a new election will take place.
Since her reelection two years ago, Rousseff's term was constantly marred by scandal within the government, as her favourability rating fell to as low as 7%.
For the last 10 months, the left-wing leader has fought attempts to impeach her from opposition politicians, many of whom's motives have also been questioned. In fact, incoming president Temer was implicated in the infamous Operation Car Wash scandal involving oil company Petrobras, while Rousseff was not.
The impeachment brings to an end 13 years of ruling from the Workers' party, and leaves Brazil in a highly tense situation where Temer is equally (if not more) unpopular than his predecessor.
Brazil's economy has faltered badly due to slumping oil prices. Earlier on Wednesday, the government reported GDP contracted 0.6% in Q2, steering it towards its harshest recession in more than 100 years.
As of 1827 BST the US dollar was 0.03% higher versus the real, trading at 3.2411.