About 150,000 anti-government demonstrators have again taken to the streets in several Brazilian cities and engaged police in some isolated but intense conflicts, Belfast Telegraph said. Anger over political corruption emerged as the unifying issue for the demonstrators, who vowed to stay on the streets until concrete steps are taken to reform the political system.

Across Brazil, protesters gathered to denounce legislation, known as PEC 37, that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crimes - which many fear would hinder attempts to jail corrupt politicians.

Police estimated that about 60,000 demonstrators gathered in a central square in Belo Horizonte, 30,000 shut down a main business avenue in Sao Paulo, and another 30,000 gathered in Santa Maria, the city in southern Brazil where a nightclub fire killed more than 240 mostly university students, deaths many argued could have been avoided with better government oversight of fire laws.

In Belo Horizonte, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who tried to pass through a barrier and hurled rocks at a car dealership. Salvador also saw protests turn violent.

The angry protests continued despite a prime-time speech the night before from president Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was tortured during Brazil's military dictatorship. During her 10-minute address she backed the right to peaceful protest but sharply condemned violence, vandalism and looting. Ms Rousseff promised she would always battle corruption and that she would meet peaceful protesters, governors and the mayors of big cities to create a national plan to improve urban transport and use oil royalties for investments in education.