Brazil

• Saturday, July 27th 2013 - 20:21 UTC

  Cartes declines invitation from Rousseff to attend Pope Francis Sunday mass in Rio

  

  Paraguayan president-elect Horacio Cartes declined a personal invitation from his peer Dilma Rousseff to attend Francis mass on Sunday in Rio do Janeiro, the closing event of the pope’s visit to Brazil, according to one of his top foreign policy advisors.

• Saturday, July 27th 2013 - 05:29 UTC

  Pope admits Church’s sins and calls on youth to change the world

  

  Pope Francis in yet another strong message said on Friday he understands the young people who lose faith in the church because of bad ministers, and confidence in political institutions because of corruption, but also urged them to change the world.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 06:38 UTC

  Francis urges young Catholics to rebel: shake up the church and spread the faith in the streets

  

  Pope Francis urged young Catholics to shake up the church and make a “mess” in their dioceses by going out into the streets to spread the faith. It’s a message he put into practice on Thursday by visiting one of Rio’s most violent slums and opening the church’s World Youth Day on a rain-soaked Copacabana Beach.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 04:39 UTC

  Polar blast covers 80 towns of southern sunny Brazil with snow

  

  A severe cold front dumped snow on more than 80 towns in southern Brazil and leaving one dead, local weather forecast reported. In Argentina, six people were reported dead.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 04:14 UTC

  Defying the weather, 1.5 million turn out to greet Francis as Copacabana beach

  

  A huge crowd estimated in 1.5 million people defied rain and chilly weather to greet Pope Francis on Rio do Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on Thursday. With his captivating charisma Francis repeated a theme of his visit to Brazil urging young Catholics to shun the trappings of materialism and put Jesus Christ at the center of their lives.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Pope Francis warns Latam leaders against legalizing narcotics: attack roots of the problem

  

  Pope Francis on Wednesday warned Latin America against legalizing narcotics and urged courage in the face of deadly drug violence as he met addicts in a Brazilian hospital.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Brazil current account deficit narrows in June, but will be above 3% of GDP in 2013

  

  Brazil's current account deficit narrowed in June from a year ago, central bank data showed on Tuesday, although it may still be unable to cover that gap in 2013 with direct investment from abroad. The country posted a current account gap of 3.6 billion dollars in June.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 05:55 UTC

  Conference in Brazil to discuss oil and gas industry latest practices in HSE

  

  Oil spills have always tormented the oil and gas industry with devastating incidents being reported world wide. A recent oil spill of about 11,480 barrels in Ecuador has given rise to concerns to the neighbouring countries of Latin America.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 05:43 UTC

  For the first time since 2000, Brazil is expected to post a trade deficit

  

  Brazil is this year, for the first time since 2000, is expected to post a balance of trade deficit which, according to the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (Aeb), and should be in the range of 2 billion dollars.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 02:08 UTC

  From Brazil’s largest basilica Pope Francis calls on young people to shun the idols of money and pleasure

  

  Pope Francis held his first mass as a pontiff at the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Sao Paulo before thousands of faithful who gathered despite de cold and the rain. During the Wednesday mass, Pope Francis urged young people to shun the “ephemeral idols” of money and pleasure and cherish traditional values to help build a better world.