Brazil's top court suspends impeachment of Rousseff.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court has suspended impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff until it rules on a secret vote that stacked a congressional committee with opponents trying to oust her.

The decision late on Tuesday by a judge appointed by the president has stopped the creation of the committee until Brazil`s top court can meet on Dec. 16 to decide whether the unprecedented secret ballot was valid.

The ruling was a reprieve for Rousseff because a court decision could favour her situation by curbing the power of her nemesis, lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.

Cunha, who himself faces a possible congressional investigation on corruption charges, began the impeachment proceedings last week based on an opposition accusation that Rousseff broke Brazil's budget laws.

But the delay could also give Rousseff's opponents more time to mobilise public sentiment against an unpopular president who is besieged by a severe recession and a graft scandal that has ensnared dozens of her allies less than a year into her second term.


By Anthony Boadle.
Full story at Yahoo News.