Brazil

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:45 UTC

  Brazil says President Chavez attendance to Mercosur summit is “uncertain”

  

  The presence of President Hugo Chavez at Friday’s Mercosur summit is “uncertain” reported the official Brazilian news agency on Wednesday adding that the organizers are waiting for a confirmation of his trip to Brasilia.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:36 UTC

  Spectacular Brasilia becomes the legacy of master architect Niemeyer

  

  Oscar Niemeyer, a towering patriarch of modern architecture who shaped the look of modern Brazil and whose inventive, curved designs left their mark on cities worldwide, died late Wednesday. He was 104.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 20:06 UTC

  Brazilian industrial output expands in October, first annual increase in over a year

  

  Brazilian industrial output posted its first annual increase in more than a year in October as a tax break on autos helped support a nascent recovery in the country's beleaguered manufacturing sector.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 19:27 UTC

  Brazil confident for 2014 Cup but recalls the “national tragedy” of 1950 when defeated by Uruguay

  

  Brazil must not repeat the “national tragedy” of losing the 2014 World Cup as it did when it hosted the event in 1950, the country’s Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo said. “We cannot repeat the national tragedy of 1950 when we lost to Uruguay” Rebelo told foreign journalists visiting Brazil as part of the build up to the finals. “It was like losing to your younger brother.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 19:02 UTC

  Paraguay furious with Brazil for confirming Unasur suspension until August 2013

  

  Paraguay declared “entirely unacceptable” statements from Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota who said that the April 2013 elections are “only an important step to re-examine” the country’s suspension from Unasur and Mercosur. Patriota’s statement was supported by Argentina.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 18:45 UTC

  Brazil extends tax breaks to construction industry to spur growth

  

  The Brazilian government extended tax breaks to the country's construction industry in a new effort to encourage investment and boost flagging growth which is putting pressure on the government to further include other stimuli measures.

• Tuesday, December 4th 2012 - 16:19 UTC

  For Spain’s Santander bank Brazil is number one and ‘absolute preference’

  

  Emilio Botin chairman of Santander Bank, the leading financial institution in Spain and among the top largest in the European Union said in Sao Paulo that Brazil is the “number one country in Latin America” and the absolute preference of his institution.

• Tuesday, December 4th 2012 - 05:41 UTC

  Brazil pays tribute to sexiest female bottom and crowns Miss Bumbum 2012

  Carine Felizardo, a curvy exuberant model from the northern state of Para was crowned Miss Bumbum 2012, a title rewarding Brazil’s sexiest female derriere. A jury of six women and five men picked the 25-year-old Felizardo among 15 finalists in the second annual edition of the contest, held in a Sao Paulo hotel.

• Monday, December 3rd 2012 - 05:57 UTC

  Brazil farmland prices quadrupled over the past decade outpacing inflation

  

  Prices for farmland in Brazil surged by an average 14% a year to nearly quadruple over the past decade, well outpacing inflation and nearly matching gains made by São Paulo's blue-chip Ibovespa stock index, a new study shows.

• Monday, December 3rd 2012 - 05:11 UTC

  Brazil ‘trapped and isolated’ in Mercosur, should try trade agreements with US, says former president

  

  Former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said it was convenient to consider a trade integration with the Unites States given the very modest advances with Mercosur, where open trade has stalled or is far less than was expected when the original idea and is subjected to protectionist lobbies.