Brazil

• Wednesday, June 29th 2016 - 11:22 UTC

  “Welcome to Hell”, Rio police and firefighters tell arriving passengers

  

  There was a nasty surprise awaiting passengers in the arrivals hall at Rio De Janeiro's Galeao International Airport on Monday. Along with the relatives carrying flowers and taxi drivers waiting with name boards there were lines of off-duty police with banners that had a far more ominous message: “Welcome to Hell”.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2016 - 05:04 UTC

  Brazil inflation should reach Central bank target by second half of 2018

  

  Brazil's inflation will again miss the government target next year, but will be getting much closer at 4.7%, the Central Bank said on Tuesday. For this year, inflation is forecast at 6.9%, well off the 4.5% target. However, even that represents relief for Latin America's largest economy, but sickly economy where annual inflation hit 9.32% in May.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2016 - 04:57 UTC

  Investors suing Petrobras argue top executives knew of the massive bribery scheme

  

  Investors suing Petrobras to recoup billions of dollars in losses argued on Tuesday that the arrests and plea deals of top company executives prove that it knew of a massive bribery and political kickback scheme. Lawyers for the investors asked U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan to rule, ahead of a trial set for Sept. 19, on claims that the company violated U.S. securities laws, according to a court filing.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2016 - 07:28 UTC

  Rousseff signed budget decrees without congressional approval, claim Senate experts

  

  A nonpartisan team from the Brazilian Senate budget analysts on Monday handed potential legal ammunition both to opponents and supporters of suspended President Dilma Rousseff as she tries to survive n impeachment trial.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2016 - 06:28 UTC

  Mercosur presidential summit off, but chair transfer to Venezuela will be done at foreign ministers' level

  

  Mercosur presidential summit next July in Montevideo has been cancelled, but the six-month presidency of the group, currently held by Uruguay will be transferred as scheduled to Venezuela, although some conditions of the event are “pending discussion”, said on Monday foreign ministers Susana Malcorra and host Rodolfo Nin Novoa.

• Monday, June 27th 2016 - 08:01 UTC

  Temer will be absent from Mercosur summit; displeasure with Venezuela

  

  Brazilian interim president Michel Temer will be absent from the next Mercosur summit scheduled to take place in Montevideo, and this decision is considered a strong message to the Venezuelan government of president Nicolas Maduro that will be taking the group's chair for the next six months.

• Monday, June 27th 2016 - 07:15 UTC

  Brazil's recession greater risk than Brexit for Argentina: could chip 1.5 percentage points from GDP

  

  Argentina’s annual rate of inflation was likely to have reached an annualized 42% through May, but should begin to slow in June with a return to growth also on the horizon, Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay said in an address to investors in New York. The minister also said that for Argentina, Brazil's recession had a greater impact than Brexit.

• Monday, June 27th 2016 - 07:04 UTC

  Anti-Doping agency suspends testing laboratory in Rio for coming Olympics

  

  The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the credentials of a testing laboratory in Rio de Janeiro that didn’t conform with international standards, just over a month before the city hosts the Olympic Games.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 22:10 UTC

  Oi telecommunications US$ 19bn bankruptcy, the largest in Brazil's history

  

  Brazilian telecoms giant Oi has filed the largest bankruptcy request in the country’s history, after failing to reach an agreement with creditors.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 12:02 UTC

  Ex-top minister of Lula and Rousseff arrested; Senator Gleisi Hoffmann house raided

  

  A top ex-minister of Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff became the latest official to get arrested in a sprawling corruption probe on Thursday, authorities said. Police also searched the headquarters of Rousseff's Workers Party in Sao Paulo in one of a series of raids across five states in the country.