Brazil

• Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 14:43 UTC

  Brazil's electoral authority investigating funding of Rousseff's presidential campaign

  

  The vice-president of Brazil’s TSE electoral authority has asked for an investigation of President Dilma Rousseff’s 2014 re-election campaign, citing evidence that it may have been financed with money from a corruption scheme at state-run oil firm Petrobras.

• Friday, August 21st 2015 - 07:49 UTC

  Merkel calls for a free trade accord between the Europe Union and Mercosur

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Brazil's government on Thursday to further open its markets to foreign companies, and said she saw an opportunity to reach a free-trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc. Merkel is on a two-day visit to Brazil with a large delegation of government officials and representatives from German companies.

• Friday, August 21st 2015 - 07:41 UTC

  Rousseff admits a year of recession because of 'massive economic difficulties”

  

  A slump in commodity markets will burden the global economy for some time to come, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told Germany's Handelsblatt business daily, adding she hoped the Brazilian economy would pick up in a year.

• Friday, August 21st 2015 - 07:27 UTC

  Pro-Rousseff march turnout no match for Sunday's antigovernment protest

  

  Brazil unions and left groups staged a string of protests in a show of support for President Dilma Rousseff, although turnout was markedly lower than at massive anti-government rallies over the weekend. The protests hit back at the growing push to impeach Rousseff, who less than a year into her second term is struggling for political survival.

• Friday, August 21st 2015 - 06:57 UTC

  Brazil's July unemployment up for a seventh straight month

  

  Brazil's unemployment rate rose for a seventh straight month in July to the highest in over five years, government data showed on Thursday. The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose in July to 7.5% from 6.9% in June, statistics agency IBGE said.

• Friday, August 21st 2015 - 06:42 UTC

  Brazil's prosecution seeks to charge Lower House speaker and a Senator on Petrobras corruption

  

  Brazilian prosecutors on Thursday asked the Federal Supreme Court to authorize prosecution of the speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, in a massive corruption case centered on state-controlled oil giant Petrobras.

• Thursday, August 20th 2015 - 07:07 UTC

  Two lady leaders under fire, meet in Brazil hoping to recover ground

  

  Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and several other high-ranking German politicians touched down in Brazil's capital, Brasilia late Wednesday. The German delegation set off on its 12-hour flight immediately after a Bundestag vote approving a new bailout package for Greece.

• Thursday, August 20th 2015 - 07:02 UTC

  Victory for Rousseff: Senate passes major bill of fiscal austerity plan

  

  Brazil's Senate approved a bill to roll back payroll tax breaks on Wednesday that is a key measure in President Dilma Rousseff's efforts to reduce a gaping fiscal deficit and restore confidence in her government's accounts. The Senate voted 45-27 to pass the bill which was received from the lower house with no changes.

• Thursday, August 20th 2015 - 06:42 UTC

  Brazilian major contractor admits guilt in Petrobras' massive corruption scheme

  

  Camargo Correa Construcoes e Participacoes, one of Brazil's largest construction companies, has admitted its role in a massive scheme to overcharge state-controlled oil company Petrobras and agreed to cooperate in the investigation as part of a leniency deal, anti-trust agency Cade said Wednesday.

• Thursday, August 20th 2015 - 06:32 UTC

  Brazil in recession, according to the Central Bank's economic activity index

  

  Economic activity in Brazil fell more quickly than expected in June, central bank data showed on Wednesday, adding to evidence that the once-booming economy is suffering a painful recession. The Brazilian central bank's IBC-Br economic activity index fell 0.58% in June from the prior month, the bank said in a report released on Wednesday.