Bahia bends on police strike

The governor of the north-eastern Brazilian state of Bahia, Cesar Borges, has been holding talks with representatives of the police force, who have been on strike for more than ten days.

On Saturday a third of the force in the state capital, Salvador, agreed to return to work on the condition that the government restarted negotiations on pay rises.

Officials in Bahia say that at least 30 people have been murdered in the past week in a wave of assaults and robberies.

Schools, shops and banks have been forced to close and the army was brought in to restore order.

The police force is also on strike in the northern state of Pernambuco, and the wives of military police officers in the southern state of Parana have held protests in demand for a rise in their husbands' salaries.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service