Brazil's economy falls into recession, latest figures show

Brazil has fallen into recession, just a month before the general election, latest figures show.

Economic output, GDP, fell by 0.6% in the three months to June, worse than analysts had predicted, and revised figures for the first quarter of the year also showed a fall of 0.2%.

A recession is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

The news will be damaging for the government of President Dilma Rousseff.

According to the most recent poll, Ms Rousseff would lose to a rival candidate, environmentalist Marina Silva, if October's election went to a second round.

The World Cup, held in June and July, was not regarded as generally good for business, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Rio de Janeiro.

"There were more days off for employees

Nike's marketing costs soar on World Cup

Heavy spending on marketing weighed on Nike's performance in its fourth quarter which ended 31 May.

Expenses on marketing soared 36% to $876m (£514m) as Nike boosted promotion ahead of the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

That curbed profits which rose 1% to $698m, compared to the same quarter in 2013.

Between March and May Nike launched a number of new shoes including the Mercurial Superfly, worn by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.

On Thursday, Portugal became