Protesters and Brazilian police yesterday clashed in Sao Paulo, just hours before the first World Cup match was played in the city.

The stepfather of a two-year-old boy claimed he pushed 42 "blessed" sewing needles deep into a toddler because his lover told him to, police in Brazil said today.

A TAM jet pulled out of an attempted landing today at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, and federal prosecutors sought a court order to shut the entire airport - Brazil’s busiest – until the investigation into this week’s crash that killed at least 189 people is completed.