Brazil send troops into the cities to calm protests

The soldiers will be sent to Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Ceara and the capital, Brasilia.

All of the cities are hosting games in Fifa's Confederations Cup.

The announcement comes after riot police and protesters clashed in fresh protests on Tuesday in Sao Paulo.

Brazil's ministry of justice said that Recife was the only Confederations Cup host city not to request military support.

A source in the ministry said it would be up to local governments to decide how long the troops would stay.

Shops and banks in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, were vandalised on Tuesday by groups of masked activists, who fought other demonstrators trying to stop the violence.

The protest was the latest in a wave of demonstrations engulfing at least a dozen cities.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she was proud that so many people were fighting for a better country.