Brazil

• Tuesday, March 26th 2013 - 05:48 UTC

  BRICS summit to discuss creation of development bank with 50bn initial capital

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will attend this week's BRICS summit of five emerging powers hosted by South Africa to discuss creation of their own development bank, the Planalto office announced.

• Tuesday, March 26th 2013 - 05:02 UTC

  Brazilian supermarkets will not sell meat from cattle raised in Amazon rainforest

  

  The main group representing supermarkets in Brazil says it will no longer sell meat from cattle raised in the rainforest. The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets, which has 2,800 members, hopes the deal will cut down on the illegal use of rainforest for pasture.

• Friday, March 22nd 2013 - 07:09 UTC

  Moody’s marks eroding capital position of two of Brazil’s main state-run banks

  

  Moody's Investors Service lowered this week the long-term issuer ratings of Brazilian state banks BNDES and Caixa Econômica Federal, citing their eroding capital position after years of rapid credit expansion, but spared the also government controlled Banco do Brasil.

• Friday, March 22nd 2013 - 06:55 UTC

  Brazil/China closer to promote trade in national currencies; announcement at BRICS summit

  

  Brazil hopes to sign a bilateral accord with China to promote trade in their national currencies at next week's BRICS summit of the world's five emerging powers, Trade and Industry Minister Fernando Pimentel said on Thursday.

• Thursday, March 21st 2013 - 02:33 UTC

  Mexico and Brazil approve visa exemption for short stays

  

  The governments of Mexico and Brazil have agreed to the exemption of the short-stay visas in ordinary passports for their citizens. The move is designed to increase the flow of travellrs between the two nations.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 23:09 UTC

  The Pope is Argentine, but God is Brazilian, says Rousseff; Francis is expected in Rio next July

  

  Argentines are lucky because they have a great Pope, but “if the Pope is Argentine, God is Brazilian”, said Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday following her half hour meeting with Francis and asked by Argentine reporters her impression of the new pontiff.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:29 UTC

  Suspended potash project top officials left Argentina following union threats

  

  Top officials from the Brazilian mining company Vale which suspended a 6 billion dollars potash development project in Argentina left the country for Sao Paulo last Friday following “on instructions from the security department” of the corporation, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 21:51 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ post referendum musings and the ‘Britishness’ feeling

  

  Writing for Penguin News its Deputy Editor, John Fowler, takes stock in the wake of the recent referendum in the Falkland Islands which resulted in a 92%turn out and 99.8% of voters opting to maintain the Islands current status as an overseas territory of Great Britain.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 08:07 UTC

  PM Cameron stops plans to impose visa restrictions on Brazilian tourists

  

  Plans to impose visa restrictions on Brazilian tourists have been put on hold by Home Secretary Theresa May. Like US, Canadian or Australian citizens, Brazilians can visit the UK for up to six months without a visa.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 07:59 UTC

  Petrobras keeps target of 2.5m bpd in 2016 and 4.2m bpd in 2020

  

  Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras has unveiled its business plan for the 2013-2017 period projecting investment of 236.7 billion dollars and maintaining its goal of raising crude-oil output from 2 million barrels per day in 2012 to 4.2 million bpd in 2020.