Brazil

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 21:14 UTC

  Insufficient harvests and soaring prices anticipate another world food crisis

  

  With droughts parching farms in the United States and near the Black Sea, weak monsoon rains in India and persistent hunger in Africa's Sahel region, the world could be headed towards another food crisis, experts say.

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 04:45 UTC

  Unasur calls for dialogue to solve the controversy between Ecuador and the UK

  

  The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) called for dialogue to solve the crisis between Ecuador and Great Britain regarding the diplomatic asylum granted by the Andean country to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who is holed in at the embassy in London.

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 01:42 UTC

  Ecuador insists in Mercosur interest, but admits it will be a long process

  

  Ecuador has reiterated its intention of joining Mercosur but this needs to be compatible with the rules from the Community of Andean Nations, CAN, (to which it now belongs) said Ecuadorean ambassador Horacio Sevilla Borja.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:57 UTC

  Central bank announces first signs of Brazilian economy recovery

  

  Brazil's economy enjoys sound fundamentals for sustainable growth, with an economic expansion likely to pick up speed in the next few quarters, Central Bank President Alexandre Tombini said at a business conference Friday.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:50 UTC

  China’s (and the world) leading bank authorized to operate in Brazil

  

  One of the world’s leading banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has been authorised to operate in Brazil, indicates a Brazilian government decision published on Thursday in the official gazette.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:39 UTC

  First shipment of New Zealand lamb to Brazil, a market of “great potential”

  

  New Zealand's first branded lamb shipment to Brazil is scheduled to arrive at the port of Santos in the middle of next month and be available at 120 stores in Sao Paulo and to diners in restaurants and hotels throughout the country.

• Friday, August 17th 2012 - 17:34 UTC

  Brazilian new middle class pay their bills and like to keep their names clean

  

  Brazil National Confederation of Store Managers, CNLD, and the Credit Protection Service, SPC, report that payment delinquency was down 5.6% in July. At the same time the two organizations revealed that over the last five years indebtedness in Brazil has risen 20% annually.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 04:40 UTC

  Brazilian president riding high in approval ratings despite economic slowdown

  

  President Dilma Rousseff continues to enjoy high approval ratings as Brazilians remain mostly unaffected by the country's recent economic slowdown, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 04:31 UTC

  Supreme Tribunal rejects request to include Lula da Silva in the corruption scheme

  

  Brazil Federal Supreme Tribunal denied on Wednesday a request to include former president Lula da Silva in the so-called “trial of the century” involving 38 former ministers and lawmakers accused of an extended bribes scheme.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 01:38 UTC

  Brazil invites private sector to invest in new highways and railways plan

  

  Brazil's government unveiled on Wednesday measures to lure up to 133 billion Reais (66 billion dollars) in private investment for new roads and railways needed to unclog the country's transportation bottlenecks.