Brazil

• Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 09:08 UTC

  Food companies and grocers urge commodity suppliers to refuse soybeans from deforested areas in Brazil

  

  Some of the world’s largest food companies and grocers urged commodity suppliers including Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, Bunge Ltd, Cargill Inc and Louis Dreyfus Co. to stop trading soybeans associated with deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado region, a savanna that is a hive of biodiversity and one of the country’s most important carbon sinks.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 08:55 UTC

  Bolsonaro administration says Brazil has guaranteed access to 300 million Covid-19 vaccines

  

  The government of President Jair Bolsonaro said that Brazil has guaranteed access to 300 million vaccines, mainly those developed by Oxford University along with AstraZeneca pharmaceutical and Brazil's Fiocruz foundation, as well as vaccines from the Covax Facility international initiative.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 08:51 UTC

  Brazil's health regulator ANVISA considers Chinese Covid-19 vaccine process non transparent

  

  Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said China’s health authorities are not transparent in their authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, a statement that may further inflame political tension in the country.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  Rio do Janeiro cancels its annual New Year's Eve beach bash

  

  Rio de Janeiro's annual New Year's Eve beach bash, already reduced in scope and format, has been canceled due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, the mayor's office said Tuesday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 21:57 UTC

  US latest attack submarine visits Brazil for the incorporation of three Scorpone class submersibles

  

  The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Vermont (SSN 792) is operating in the US 4th Fleet area of operations and conducted a brief stop for logistics in Rio de Janeiro December 10-15.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 18:10 UTC

  Mass inoculation against Covid-19 in Brazil “only possible” in March with the AstraZenca vaccine

  

  In Brazil, a mass inoculation campaign against Covid 19 will only be possible from March and will rely on the Astra Zeneca vaccine, a senior health official at the country’s leading public biomedical institute told Reuters.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 18:04 UTC

  Brazil risks losing its vote in UN if it doesn't pay US$ 113 million of its debt

  

  Brazil once again risks losing its vote at the United Nations if it doesn’t pay a portion of what it owes to the global organization, which is facing a growing cash crunch as the Covid-19 crisis puts pressure on budgets worldwide.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Distrust of Bolsonaro is holding up the EU/Mercosur trade deal, says EU ambassador in Brasilia

  

  Distrust in Europe of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government is holding up ratification of a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur, the EU ambassador to Brasilia said.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2020 - 09:50 UTC

  Sao Paulo delays release of efficacy data for the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine

  

  Brazil's Sao Paulo state delayed on Monday the release of efficacy data for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac, tightening the timeframe for the regulator approval before a planned roll out on Jan. 25.

• Monday, December 14th 2020 - 09:39 UTC

  Tax reform in Brazil stalled in the midst of political dispute and “fiscal abyss”

  

  Brazil is heading into a “fiscal abyss” and a serious crisis next year, following the decision to postpone parliamentary debate on a bill extending emergency aid spending, lower house speaker Rodrigo Maia said on Friday