Brazil

• Wednesday, July 15th 2015 - 05:45 UTC

  Brazilian politicians' property raided by police in connection with Petrobras corruption

  

  Brazilian police have carried out search operations across seven states amid an ongoing investigation into a major corruption scandal involving state-run company Petrobras. The police said in a statement on Tuesday that the 53 search and seizure operations took place in “residences, offices, company headquarters, law firms, and public institutions” and were aimed at saving evidence from destruction.

• Tuesday, July 14th 2015 - 06:00 UTC

  Brazil's economic team reaching out to credit rating agencies for a vote of confidence

  

  Concerns that Brazil may lose its coveted investment grade credit rating are again on the rise among government officials and investors who worry that President Dilma Rousseff’s austerity push won’t fully offset plunging government revenues.

• Monday, July 13th 2015 - 09:30 UTC

  Petrobras faces major class action lawsuit in US next February

  

  Brazil's state-run oil producer Petrobras, said in a securities filing on Friday that its motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit in the United States had been denied by the court. Petrobras said part of the complaint against the company relating to bonds issued in the United States in 2012 was denied.

• Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:46 UTC

  Brazil's six-month inflation at 6.17%, highest for half year since 2003

  

  Brazil's inflation was little changed at 0.79% in June, rising to 8.89% over the last 12, reported the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, on Wednesday. May's rate was 0.74%. Main price rises accounting for a third of June's inflation included 29.19% for plane tickets, 4.95% in water taxes and gambling rates, officials said.

• Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:29 UTC

  Brics summit takes off in Russia with an agenda full of economic and political issues

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday with his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff at the Siberian city of Ufa, where the Brics group summit is taking place. Previously, Putin had met with president Xi Jinping (China); Jacob Zuma (South Africa) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the five countries that make up the group.

• Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:18 UTC

  Petrobras 'suspicious' activities could involve as much as 16bn dollars

  

  Investigators with Brazil’s Finance Ministry say they have identified as much as US$16 billion worth of suspicious activity that may be part of a kickback scandal engulfing the state-owned oil company Petrobras.

• Wednesday, July 8th 2015 - 07:37 UTC

  Dilma rejects any suggestion of stepping down and blames “a bunch of coup mongers”

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said in an interview published Tuesday in the daily Folha de Sao Paulo that there's no reason she should be ousted, so she has no fear being removed. Rousseff went further and accused certain sectors of the opposition of being “a bunch of coup mongers”.

• Tuesday, July 7th 2015 - 06:55 UTC

  Brazil's main opposition party ready “to take on whatever the future holds”

  

  Brazil' former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said on Sunday addressing his party's convention, the main opposition force in the Brazilian congress, that the PSDB was ready 'to clear the country of its problems' and accused leader Lula da Silva and the ruling Workers Party (PT) of bankrupting Brazil.

• Tuesday, July 7th 2015 - 06:46 UTC

  Brazilian organizations allege there is an attempt to topple President Rousseff

  

  A raft of Brazilian organizations issued a statement on Monday denouncing what they described as the 'right's' attempts to topple President Dilma Rousseff. The statement was signed by 28 groups including the MST Landless Movement and the Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission.

• Tuesday, July 7th 2015 - 06:23 UTC

  'Impeachment' and 'fresh elections' in Brazil's congressional debate

  

  Brazil's leading political commentator and O Globo columnist, Ricardo Noblat is forecasting that president Dilma Rousseff will not conclude her four-year mandate and could very well be out of office by next October.