Brazil

• Thursday, December 6th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  UN calls on Brazil to improve justice administration

  

  During a three-day visit to Brazil that wrapped up Wednesday the top United Nations human rights official praised the South American country's recent accomplishments in that realm but pointed out that other obstacles remain.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazilian Senate president resigns on corruption allegations

  

  The president of Brazil's Senate resigned Tuesday while fighting allegations of corruption. Senator Sen. Renan Calheiros, a key ally of President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, retained his position as a senator but announced he was resigning the presidency in what analysts said was a gambit to avoid expulsion from the Senate.

• Monday, December 3rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil to propose South American Defence Board

  

  Brazil will propose the creation of a South American Defence Board which would enable the region “to think in the common future, of a very rich region that must be well defended”, said Brazilian Foreign Secretary Celso Amorim.

• Sunday, December 2nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  World meat up 1% in 2007; Brazil main beef exporter

  

  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its bi-annual Food Outlook forecasting that world meat production during 2007 will reach 278.3 MMT, which is 1% above 2006.

• Friday, November 30th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Prison conditions on UN Commissioner visit to Brazil

  

  United Nations High Commissioner Louise Arbour is expected to address conditions in Brazil's prison system and the Government's efforts to promote and protect human rights during her first visit to the country next week.

• Wednesday, November 28th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  “Demoralized” Brazil forces obsessed with Amazon defense

  Brazil's armed forces, the largest military in Latin America, are badly equipped, demoralized over pay and stuffed with generals, according to a report by the latest edition of news magazine Veja.

• Monday, November 26th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Production of giant Tupi oilfield by 2010, forecasts Brazil

  

  Brazil's government oil corporation Petrobras has plans to invest 2 to 3 billion US dollars to begin prospecting in the giant deposit of Tupi which has recoverable reserves in the range of 5 to 8 billon barrels of crude and natural gas.

• Thursday, November 22nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  God has second thoughts: Brazil oil output down 5%

  

  The day after President Lula da Silva said that “God is Brazilian”, following the discovery of massive new oil reserves offshore, Petrobras reported that the country's domestic oil output fell 2.3% in October from September in its fourth straight monthly drop totaling a steep 5% below year-ago levels.

• Wednesday, November 21st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Amazon basin strayed minke whale was found dead

  

  A minke whale that had strayed deep into the Amazon rainforest has been found dead. The 5.5 meters whale was believed to have become lost in the Amazon's many tributaries after leaving the Atlantic more than 1.600 kilometers away.

• Saturday, November 17th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Unusual: whale found deep in Brazil's Amazon rain forest

  

  An 18-foot minke whale ran aground on a sandbar in the Amazon jungle some 1,000 miles from the ocean, Brazilian media reported Friday.