Brazil

• Monday, April 17th 2017 - 14:18 UTC

  Odebrecht's state of the art Division of Structured Operations, better known as “bribe department”

  

  The Brazilian engineering group Odebrecht kept a secret communications system to discuss and arrange the payments of bribes. A detailed spreadsheet mapped out who got what, all veiled under a system of codenames, and overseeing it all, there was an entire department at Odebrecht whose only purpose was to ensure the graft ran smoothly.

• Monday, April 17th 2017 - 08:13 UTC

  Brazil's Odebrecht in nine years paid out bribes equivalent to US$ 3.3 billion

  

  Odebrecht SA , the Brazilian engineering company at the center of a historic corruption scandal, paid about US$3.3 billion in bribes over a nine-year period that ran through 2014, according to testimony cited by local media in Sao Paulo.

• Thursday, April 13th 2017 - 07:30 UTC

  Brazil central bank slashes money cost; estimates Selic rate at 8.5% by end of the year

  

  Brazil's Central Bank cut the key interest rate by a full one percentage point on Wednesday in an effort to inject life into the floundering economy. This was the fifth straight cut, taking the key Selic rate to 11.25%.

• Wednesday, April 12th 2017 - 08:41 UTC

  Corruption quake in Brazil: Justice to investigate, 9 ministers, 24 senators, 39 deputies and 3 governors

  

  An institutional and political earthquake is shaking Brazil: the Supreme Court has opened corruption investigations into nine ministers, three governors, 24 senators, 39 members of the Lower House and other elected officials totaling at least 108 politicians, according to a report published on Tuesday by O Estado de Sao Paulo.

• Wednesday, April 12th 2017 - 08:34 UTC

  Brazil says the RAF Falklands-outbound flight last Saturday was on a search and rescue mission

  

  The RAF Hercules flight which last Saturday landed in the international Brazilian airport of Porto Alegre was flying from the Falkland Islands on a search and rescue mission, as part of a humanitarian effort, according to the Brazilian reply delivered to the Argentine foreign ministry, and reported by political analyst Martin Dinatale.

• Tuesday, April 11th 2017 - 15:55 UTC

  Brazil beef exports should return to normal in May, says the industry

  

  Brazil's beef exports should return to normal levels between April and May as the country's efforts to reverse import bans have started to bear fruit in the wake of a food safety scandal that surfaced last month, industry group Abrafrigo said.

• Tuesday, April 11th 2017 - 08:09 UTC

  Brazil planning concession auctions for another ten airports

  

  Brazilian Minister of Planning, Development and Management, Dyogo Oliveira said the government is considering awarding concession contracts with the private sector for at least another ten airports. Potential terminals include Goiânia, Vitória and Recife, according to the minister.

• Monday, April 10th 2017 - 07:29 UTC

  RAF Hercules photographed by Zero Hora in Porto Alegre airport

  

  The Royal Air Force continues to call at Brazilian airports for refueling in their trip to the Falkland Islands, according to Zero Hora, the main daily from the city of Porto Alegre in Rio Grande Do Sul state.

• Monday, April 10th 2017 - 05:58 UTC

  Brazil's annual inflation drops to the lowest rate since 2010

  

  Brazil's annual inflation eased to the lowest rate since 2010 and came very close to the government's long-missed target, leaving the door open for the central bank to accelerate the pace of interest rate cuts next week.

• Friday, April 7th 2017 - 12:46 UTC

  Brazil's trade surplus in March soared 61.2% to US$ 7.14bn

  

  Brazilian exports outweighed imports by more than US$7 billion in March despite fears that the economy could be hard hit by the country's on-going meat scandal. The country recorded a US$7.14 billion trade surplus last month, the highest level on record for the country and a whopping 61.2% increase on the previous year.