Brazil holds breath as lawmakers vote on Rousseff impeachment

Brasília (AFP) - Brazilian lawmakers voted Sunday on whether President Dilma Rousseff should face impeachment trial in a tense and at times circus-like showdown watched live by millions around the deeply divided country. After nearly two hours of voting the opposition in the lower house of Congress in Brasilia had reached 171 votes -- halfway to its target of 342, or a two-thirds majority, which would send Rousseff to the Senate for the next stage of the process. The vote brought to a boil months of rancorous debate that has seen Rousseff's ruling coalition collapse and prompted huge street demonstrations.

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