Brazil

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 18:28 UTC

  Housing disaster in Brazil: seven-story building collapses in Fortaleza

  

  A seven-story building collapsed in northeastern Brazil on Tuesday, killing at least one person, trapping others — and drawing new attention to the unsettling frequency with which buildings in Brazil suddenly fall.

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 18:10 UTC

  Brazil following closely the Vatican does Synod fear bad international press

  

  A Brazilian diplomat said last week that the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro doesn’t fear the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon taking place this month at the Vatican, but that the Catholic bishops “involuntarily reinforce the campaign of the European lobbies, who are very afraid of the competition of Brazilian agriculture.”

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 17:54 UTC

  Brazilians allowed to double purchases in duty free shops to US$ 1.000

  

  Brazilian Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, signed a resolution on Monday raising the limit of purchases in duty-free shops from US$ 500 to US$ 1,000. The new value for purchases from foreign and domestic airports and border free shops, starts January 1, 2020.

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 17:40 UTC

  Brazilian economy still on the takeoff tarmac, lack of confidence blamed

  

  Brazil's economy is on an erratic path, according to economic activity data released for the third quarter of 2019. The economy shows no signs of a consistent recovery, and economic activity still depends on household consumption, trade, and the service sector.

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 08:35 UTC

  Brazil looking to a dynamic holiday season and temporary jobs

  

  Brazil's National Trade Confederation (CNC) announced that they expect 91,000 temporary jobs will be created in the upcoming holiday season. The figure is the highest estimated in the past six years and, if confirmed, will represent a 4% increase year-on-year.

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 08:10 UTC

  A “ghost ship” smuggling Venezuelan oil probable cause of the massive spill along Brazilian northeast beaches

  

  A huge oil spill off Brazil's northeastern coast may have involved a “ghost ship” carrying Venezuelan oil in breach of US sanctions, a Petrobras expert close to the probe into the disaster said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 07:27 UTC

  Brazil eyes a US$1.45 billion payday as big oil flocks to pre-salt

  

  Brazil expects to pocket some US$ 1.45 billion from the sixth round of oil and gas block licensing for the pre-salt zone offshore. Reuters reports, citing the special secretary to the Economy Ministry, Waldery Rodriguez, that the total minimum sum of signing bonuses for all the blocks that will be tendered on November 7th is US$ 1.9 billion.

• Tuesday, October 15th 2019 - 09:51 UTC

  Brazil's truck makers anticipate a strong 8% growth prospect this year

  

  Brazil’s largest truck makers are expressing optimism again about the growth prospects for Latin America’s largest economy, even as the country continues to struggle to rebound from a deep recession that began in 2015.

• Saturday, October 12th 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  Winners of the Falklands regional student competition have been announced

  

  The Falkland Islands Government and the British embassies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay have announced the winners of the 2019/2020 student competition to visit the Falkland Islands.

• Saturday, October 12th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  Vatican considering giving laywomen in the Amazon official ministries

  

  Deep in the Amazon forest, young couples looking to wed or baptize children often turn to Sister Alba, who fills in where Catholic priests cannot be found. But in many remote areas, there are not even enough nuns to go around, and it is laywomen who play a key role in the evangelization of indigenous people.