Stories for December 5th 2011

Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:51 UTC
Top Republican claims Obama is losing the Brazil battle to China

The US top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said President Barack Obama is missing opportunities to strike closer ties with Brazil, allowing China to steal market share from US companies in Latin America’s biggest economy.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:48 UTC
Mujica calls CELAC “a second independence” but warns beware of dogmatism

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica described the newly formed CELAC as a strong step towards the Americas ‘second independence’ and its integration process.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:44 UTC
Crucial week for Euro stability takes off in Paris with Sarkozy-Merkel meeting

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet on Monday in Paris the kick off for a round of talks involving European leaders, the European Central Bank (ECB) and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, culminating in Brussels on Friday with an EU summit.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:42 UTC
Havelange, 95, again beats his detractors: he resigns from IOC and end ethics inquiry

Former FIFA president Joao Havelange resigned from the International Olympic Committee on Sunday, just days before he was to face an ethics inquiry it was reported by the Sao Paulo press.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:39 UTC
Sixth member of Rousseff’s cabinet resigns amid corruption allegations

Brazil’s Labor and Employment Minister Carlos Lupi resigned Sunday, the sixth Cabinet member to leave President Dilma Rousseff’s government since June amid corruption allegations.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:36 UTC
Baush & Lomb takes control of Waicon, Argentina’s top seller of contact lenses

US corporation Bausch & Lomb Inc. has acquired all shares of Laboratorio Pfortner Cornealent SACIF in Argentina, the Rochester based company’s officials announced although details of the sale were not disclosed.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:09 UTC
Mujica dressed with a Venezuelan Army jacket triggers a barrage of criticisms

A major controversy exploded in Uruguay when President Jose Mujica was pictured by international news agencies, during the CELAC meeting in Caracas, wearing a green jacket from the Venezuelan Army.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:00 UTC
China becomes the first to congratulate Latinamerica countries on CELAC

Chinese president Hu Jintao was the first to congratulate the newly formed CELAC and expressed Beijing’s wishes to strengthen trade relations, cooperation and political understanding with the region.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 05:29 UTC
Brazilian press name President Dilma Rousseff “Woman of the Year”

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was elected “Woman of the Year” by one of Brazil’s leading magazines, Istoé, which describes the leader as “one of the most influential persons in the world” who also conducted the country to “a superior level”.
Monday, December 5th 2011 - 05:22 UTC
Brazil and BRIC beat forecast of the man who coined the term

Ten years ago this week, Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, coined the term BRIC, elevating the profile of four countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China, that he thought were poised to become “growth economies.”