Brazil

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 00:35 UTC

  Tourist arrivals in Chile keep growing but concentrated on Argentina and Brazil

  

  International arrivals in Chile in the first half of the year showed a significant growth of 15% compared to the same period a year before, having totalled 1.850.048 tourists, according to the Chilean Tourism Barometer compiled by Fedetur, the Federation of Tourism companies from Chile.

• Tuesday, September 4th 2012 - 06:15 UTC

  Rousseff comes out in defence of a very much questioned Lula da Silva legacy

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has come out in defence of her predecessor and political mentor Lula de Silva who was the target of strong criticisms from another former president Fernando Enrique Cardoso.

• Tuesday, September 4th 2012 - 00:25 UTC

  Nearly 11.500 humpback whales counted off the coast of Brazil

  

  Whales are returning to the coast of Brazil. Last year, nearly 11,500 humpback whales were counted off the coast of Brazil - a new record, the Baleia Jubarte Institute cheered on Sunday in a report.

• Monday, September 3rd 2012 - 06:29 UTC

  Poll votes for “Brazuca” as the official name for the 2014 World Cup ball

  

  FIFA says Brazilians have decided to name the 2014 World Cup ball ''Brazuca,'' an informal word often used to describe national pride in the country and how Brazilians are referred to in several neighboring countries.

• Saturday, September 1st 2012 - 04:20 UTC

  Brazil breaks ground: grants civil union to a trio under a “polyfidelitous” relationship

  

  Brazilian public notary Claudia do Nascimento Domingues set off a firestorm by granting Brazil's first civil union to a trio, an act so unprecedented that there isn't a word for it in Portuguese.

• Saturday, September 1st 2012 - 04:05 UTC

  Brazilian economy commodities dependency en route to its worst year since 2009

  

  The Brazilian economy expanded 0.4% in the second quarter of the year over the previous three months, and 0.5% over the same period a year ago, according to the latest release from the country’s official Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute, IBGE.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 00:49 UTC

  Brazilian federal workers accept proposal and return to work next Monday

  

  Unions representing 90% of Brazil's striking federal public workers have agreed to return to work on Monday, accepting tough terms set by President Dilma Rousseff, who insisted on putting fiscal discipline over the demands of her own political base.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:32 UTC

  Brazil cuts benchmark rate for ninth time running to an all time low of 7.5%

  

  Brazil’s central bank cut the benchmark interest rate for the ninth straight time on Wednesday to an all-time low of 7.5%, as policymakers keep up efforts to bolster a slow-moving economy which is the world's sixth-largest.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:05 UTC

  Brazilians zest for beauty has turned the industry into the world’s third strongest

  

  Since an estimated 40 million people have joined the middle class in the past decade in Brazil, now the world’s sixth-largest economy, the beauty industry is booming and has become the third in importance globally.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 03:18 UTC

  FIFA begins round of latest inspection of Brazil 2014 Cup preparations

  

  FIFA secretary general Jerome Valke this week began his latest inspection of Brazil 2014 World Cup preparations amid ongoing concerns over delays in stadiums and infrastructure projects.