Brazil

• Wednesday, October 16th 2013 - 08:14 UTC

  Clashes with police in Brazil’s main cities in support of striking teachers

  

  Protesters have clashed with the police in Brazil's largest cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, after marches in support of striking teachers. Soon after a peaceful march by more than 5,000 people ended in Rio, a much smaller masked group attacked shops, set fire to a police car and threw petrol bombs.

• Tuesday, October 15th 2013 - 23:16 UTC

  Lula wishes CFK a full recovery and underlines close relationship between Brazil and Argentina

  

  Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva wished a “full recovery” to Argentine President Cristina Fernández who underwent surgery last week for a head blood clot, and highlighted the close relationship between the two countries: “the last ten years have been the best period in our shared history.”

• Monday, October 14th 2013 - 05:38 UTC

  Brazil considers ‘absurd’ some of Mercosur limitations and points to Argentina

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said it was ‘absurd’ that in the context of Mercosur the free circulation of goods was non existent and expressed disappointment with Argentina’s obstacles, but nevertheless insisted dialogue was the only valid instrument to overcome trade differences.

• Monday, October 14th 2013 - 05:16 UTC

  Rousseff reveals picture of infant Dilma and wishes to drive her own Harley Davidson

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is speeding up her re-election campaign trying to drop the ‘technocrat-no nonsense’ and ‘people distant’ attitudes which have been some of the main complaints about a nevertheless loveable leader.

• Sunday, October 13th 2013 - 12:14 UTC

  Bye, bye Mercosur: Brazil advances on its own in trade agreement with EU

  

  Mercosur has many internal problems and therefore it is much easier to work with Brazil, said European Commission Vice-President for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani who spent this week two days of negotiations with top officials in Brasilia.

• Saturday, October 12th 2013 - 22:11 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil blast IMF for its excess of pessimism regarding emerging economies

  

  Argentina and Brazil strongly questioned the IMF generalized “excess of pessimism” because of a slowing down in emerging economies but also underlined that these countries have the sufficient ‘training’ and recent experience to confront the new challenges.

• Friday, October 11th 2013 - 12:51 UTC

  Over six million ticket requests for 2014 World Cup, with 70% from Brazil

  

  A total of 6,164,682 requests for tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup had been received when the initial application period ended on Thursday 10 October 2013, of which 70.86% were from Brazil, with the remaining 29.14% from the rest of the world.

• Friday, October 11th 2013 - 12:48 UTC

  Brazil begins next year work on new Antarctic base at a cost of 54m dollars

  

  Brazil said on Thursday it will start work early next year on a new Antarctic base to replace the one gutted by a 2012 fire. The new station would be modern and built with more resistant material, Navy Admiral Julio Soares de Moura told reporters as he unveiled the 54 million dollar project.

• Thursday, October 10th 2013 - 05:11 UTC

  Brazil raises basic interest rate to 9.5% and leaves door open for further increases

  

  Brazil Central bank raised interest rates for the fifth straight time on Wednesday and gave no indication of backing off its battle with high inflation. The benchmark Selic interest rate now stands at 9.5%, up fifty basic points from 9%.

• Thursday, October 10th 2013 - 00:57 UTC

  Brazilian annual inflation to September the lowest in nine months

  

  Annual inflation in Brazil reached its lowest level in nine months, but the country still shows signs it hasn't yet come to grips with persistently higher prices. Brazil's 12-month inflation reading continued to retreat, falling to 5.86% in September, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said Wednesday.