Brazil has created a special riot force to help police control demonstrations expected during the World Cup later this year. Colonel Alexandre Augusto Aragon, who heads the elite National Security Force, was quoted in local news on Friday as saying that 10,000 riot troops selected from state police forces throughout Brazil will be deployed in the 12 cities hosting World Cup games June 12-July 13.
Brazil posted its lowest trade surplus in 13 years on Thursday, at 2.56 billion dollars for 2013, the trade and commerce ministry said, citing rising imports. The country's foreign trade association AEB had previously warned that 2013 could see the first full-year trade deficit since 2000, which compares with a 19,4bn dollars surplus in 2012
Brazil's general price index, known as the IGP-M, more than doubled in December, posting a rise of 0.60% compared with a 0.29% increase in November, the Getulio Vargas Foundation said Friday.
The Brazilian government said on Friday it will raise a tax on operations with debit cards and travelers checks made abroad, in a move that will raise the country's tax intake by 552 million Reais (234.65m dollars) per year.
The president of the Brazilian Senate, Renan Calheiros had decided to return the equivalent of public funds he used to fly on a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft from Brasilia to Recife, where he underwent a hair implant.
Reports from stadium operators in Brazil have revealed that the most expensive of the 12 stadiums built or renovated for the 2014 FIFA World Cup has a leaking roof, less than eight months after it was finished.
Brazilian Government has decided that any future bidding rounds involving pre-salt blocks will only be launched according to the local industry capability to supply the demand in equipment and services needed by the sector. Local industry has been struggling to keep up with the demand placed by O&G players already involved in pre-salt E&P in Brazil, which are all Petrobras partners, such as BG and others.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke says there is a huge amount still to do in preparations for the World Cup. In his end-of-year statement on FIFA.com, the Frenchman urges Brazil 2014 organizers to work flat out in the months before the June 12 kick-off in Sao Paulo to deliver on their promises.
The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo will receive a loan for 480 million dollars from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to improve freight and passenger transport in the state highway system in order to enhance competitiveness and regional and international integration by reducing transport costs and travel time.
UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution aimed at protecting the right to privacy of internet users. The resolution was introduced by Brazil and Germany after allegations that the US had been eavesdropping on foreign leaders, including Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and Germany's Angela Merkel.