Brazil

• Monday, August 20th 2018 - 07:08 UTC

  Brazil sending troops to Venezuela border following clashes between locals and refugees

  

  Brazil is sending additional troops to its northern frontier after residents of one of its border towns attacked Venezuelan immigrants, forcing hundreds of them to flee back into their country. Brazil's Ministry of Public Security said over the weekend it would send an additional 60 soldiers to Roraima on Monday, reinforcing a contingent already operating in the northern state.

• Saturday, August 18th 2018 - 07:38 UTC

  UN Human Rights Committee asks Lula be allowed to exercise political rights

  

  The United Nations Human Rights Committee, a panel of independent experts, on Friday said it had requested that the Brazilian government allow imprisoned former president Lula da Silva to exercise his political rights as a presidential candidate.

• Saturday, August 18th 2018 - 06:50 UTC

  Brazil's premium on ethanol will have India become the world's largest sugar producer

  

  Brazil will likely step down to become the world's second-largest sugar producer on low global sugar prices and higher profitability and strong demand for ethanol, according to a report by Brazilian consulting company JOB Economia e Planejamento.

• Friday, August 17th 2018 - 10:10 UTC

  Eliminating glyphosate would be a “disaster” for Brazilian agriculture

  

  A potential ban on the popular herbicide glyphosate in Brazil over concerns it may cause cancer in humans would be a “disaster” for the country’s agricultural industry, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Thursday.

• Friday, August 17th 2018 - 09:25 UTC

  Tribal chief of the “Guardians of the Amazon” murdered by illegal loggers in Brazil

  

  An indigenous leader has been found murdered in Brazil, exposing the growing threat to tribes fighting illegal logging in the Amazon, campaigners and authorities said. Jorginho Guajajara was found dead in the northern state of Maranhao with his neck broken, rights group Survival International said. Police in Maranhao confirmed on Thursday they were investigating the case.

• Friday, August 17th 2018 - 08:43 UTC

  Lula's ban to run for president expected to be confirmed before August 31

  

  Brazil’s top electoral court must decide whether the country’s most popular politician can run in upcoming elections despite being jailed for corruption. The court is expected to declare former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ineligible in the coming weeks, ahead of the Oct. 7 vote, but that may not stop his Workers Party (PT) winning anyway.

• Friday, August 17th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

  Temer endorsing two candidates for October's presidential election

  

  Brazilian President Michel Temer is endorsing another party’s candidate as well as his own in October’s presidential election. On the day the campaign took off, Temer said in an interview published on Thursday by the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that he sees former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party as a candidate who would carry on with his work.

• Thursday, August 16th 2018 - 22:42 UTC

  Brazil corn production next season could reach a first time 100m tons

  

  Brazilian farmers are expected to plant a record amount of soybean acres this coming season, encouraged by strong demand from China, and yield a record harvest next year, consultancy Céleres said in its first forecast for the new cycle. The next crop cycle in Brazil, the world's No. 1 soybean exporter, begins in September.

• Thursday, August 16th 2018 - 21:15 UTC

  Brazilian food giant JBS hit by a surge in feed costs and trade conflicts

  

  Brazilian food company JBS SA would need to raise product prices by another 7% at its processed foods division Seara to offset a surge in feed costs, executives said on Wednesday. Seara raised prices by 3% in the second quarter, the executives said on a conference calls with analysts to discuss second-quarter results.

• Thursday, August 16th 2018 - 15:43 UTC

  Brazilian economy contracts 0.99% in second quarter because of truckers strike

  

  Brazil's economy contracted nearly one percent in the second quarter due to a truckers' strike, the country's Central Bank said on Wednesday. The nine-day strike that ended in late May caused fuel shortages, cut into food deliveries and backed up exports.